A/N The last chapter is still technically fresh but I decided why not try make up for not posting in so long by getting this chapter out as quickly as I could. So I worked on this all day. Just for you guys.

So yes new chapter!

Rating M.

Warnings: Clint swears a lot (and goes a little crazy.) Also talk of torture, but no actual torture in this chapter.

Pairings: The usual!

Thank you very much to all the people who have reviewed!

Chapter Nine

Just Like Loki

Loki was walking down the corridor as he watched Natasha storm by. He chucked to himself. She really was just pathetic, in his opinion. Today just proved it. He saw Barton in a nearby corridor, staring him down in the now-empty area, the Gryffindor's brow furrowed.

Clint ran a hand through his hair. Natasha actually had the nerve to compare him with Loki? This was so frustrating. He wished he wasn't late for class the other day, or that Fury took away house points instead of giving him a detention. He wished Natasha had just sold him out instead of saying he had been good and letting him leave. If all that had happened then maybe they would still be throwing insults and hexes at each other, not arguing about their survival.

"Well, well Barton. You should keep your longing looks to yourself, Natasha doesn't want you," Loki sneered from behind him, having appeared there. He laughed coldly, having heard the end of the conversation. Natasha thought that he was like Clint? Interesting.

"She is right you know. We are very similar. I just lack the filth in my blood, and I have the courage you lack," Loki hissed.

"Oh you know what? Go fuck yourself," Clint snapped, pulling out his wand.

It wasn't the most intelligent come-back he had ever said, but he didn't care. Clint was angry and just not in the mood. Today was awful and Loki was clearly going to make it worse.

"Cute, Barton. Another muggle insult? You have indeed found my weakness," Loki replied sarcastically. He pulled out his wand as well, mirroring him purposefully, just to emphasise their similarities.

Clint's hand clenched, "I am nothing like you," He hissed, taking a step closer.

"At first I denied it as well. But we are the same, Barton. There is darkness inside your heart, just waiting to emerge. Soon, you will be begging to join me," Loki laughed, not even flinching. There was no way the younger boy could take him on and win.

"We are not the same!" Clint shouted loudly, "I would never hurt people like you! I'd never do what you did today. And just to win a game? That was low."

"I suppose you are too ignorant to see the big picture, Barton. That was just the beginning. I will not hesitate to cut you down, piece by piece until I have won," He threatened, wand at the ready. "Because even if you want to join me, I won't let you."

"No, you will never win. Ever," Clint spat, raising his wand. "I will stop you. And I will never join you."

"Stop me like you did today?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, smiling smugly. "You weren't able to stop me from slicing up your love's perfect little stomach, were you? You never saw it in person. The images in your mind weren't as bad. There was more blood. Her screams were louder," Loki smirked down at Clint.

Enough was enough. Clint couldn't stand it anymore. He was absolutely furious. Hearing him talk about Natasha like that, it was awful. Loki was supposed to be her boyfriend. Supposed to treat her right. Not hurt her.

"Cruc-"

Clint stopped himself, his eyes widening in shock as he almost sent the unforgivable cruciatus curse at Loki. The Slytherin had finally driven him that far. He froze.

"Just as I said, Barton. Exactly the same," Loki smiled, amused that things were going his way. Then just as he came, he was gone in a heartbeat.

Clint dropped his wand, staring in horror as Loki disappeared from sight.

"No..." He whispered.

The night was a long one for everyone. Bruce had been worried about Clint and his sharpness, and scared for Natasha. Natasha had barely slept, feeling guilty for comparing Clint to Loki, and blowing up at him. He was just trying to help, and she had snapped. Of course she was still angry with him, telling Coulson, but he didn't deserve to be compared to Loki. Most of the Gryffindor team had some lingering nightmares and thoughts about the images projected in their minds. And Clint just couldn't sleep. He was so scared of himself. How could he have been driven to almost torturing? Clint wasn't evil, or at least he didn't think he was. Perhaps he was finally breaking. Loki had taken over his mind, manipulated him. Clint really didn't like that.

Natasha showed up to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Fury not really caring anyway. She was a Slytherin, after all, and he didn't want to deduct points from his own house. The only downside to Natasha's lateness was that the only available seat was next to Clint. She hesitated, but took her seat before she was scolded further. Clint was still not over the Loki thing. He had almost done it. Almost sunk to Loki's level. He definitely couldn't tell Natasha that. And wouldn't even tell Bruce. He nodded as Natasha walked in. Natasha set her books down, clearly avoiding his eyes. She began to take her notes, strictly business. It was not like Clint to ignore her, but he was so consumed with guilt, he had no choice. He scribbled down notes, probably impressing Fury for once.

Natasha waited until fury had turned away to pass an enchanted note to Clint. 'Sorry.' It said plainly in her neat cursive. It was the best he was going to get from her, after what he had done. But she missed having an ally, therefore she just swallowed her pride. She passed the note over, it set to burn when he finished reading to destroy the evidence of her class disobedience. Clint looked down at the note and frowned, unhappy about everything. Crumpling it up, he felt a burning feeling on his palm and yelped as the flame lit. He grew red as the class turned to look at him, and ducked his head.

"Sorry," He muttered, before looking over at Natasha with a pained expression.

Natasha couldn't help but smile a little, the tiny burn making things feel normal. She caught his gaze and was confused. It couldn't have hurt that bad.

He dropped his gaze again, focusing a little bit more intently on his notes. He exhaled sharply, Loki's words ringing in his head. All he could think about was he almost tortured someone last night. Then again, even Harry Potter himself used that spell. Those thoughts didn't help Clint. Natasha decided her apology fell on empty eyes, as he ignored her again. She went back to her notes as well, wishing the class would end soon. She just wanted to go back to bed, honestly.

Clint finally couldn't take it anymore. His hand shot up, "May I be excused?" He asked.

"If you've got a good enough reason, Barton," Fury snapped, obviously against him as well. Clint had interrupted his lecture after all..

"I think my head is about to explode, if that's a good enough reason for you," Clint snapped right back at him, standing up.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, for Barton's unnecessary sass," Fury announced, the Gryffindors in the class giving a collective moan. "Get out of my classroom," He added, pointing to the door.

Clint rolled his eyes as he stormed out the class, slamming the door and heading straight outside. At least it wasn't another detention. He was happy to be kicked out of class this time, his goal achieved. It was a strangely mild day for November in Scotland, and although there was a breeze, it was sunny, for once. He sat down on the still damp grass, looking out at the loch with a sigh.

Natasha found him outside an hour later, after class finished. Clearing her throat, she gazed down at him, though she kept her distance. Once he noticed her, she spoke, "Dramatic, much?" She asked, standing stiffly.

Clint opened up an eye, before sighing, "Loki's not giving you any trouble is he?"

"I haven't really made myself available to let him," She replied, taking a few tentative steps towards him.

"Good. I'm glad. Like you said, I do worry," Clint mumbled, sitting up a little.

"But that wasn't the reason for your temper tantrum, was it?" Natasha deduced.

"Yeah I kinda snapped," Clint laughed humourlessly, "Sorry."

Natasha sighed, ignoring the apology, while taking a seat next to him in the grass. "I'm sorry about the Loki comment. I was angry, and I guess went for the thing that would offend you most," She admitted quietly, actually apologizing. It was rare, very rare.

"Don't apologise," Clint shook his head, "You had every right to say it. You were perfectly justified," He averted his eyes, shifting away from her a little.

"It's just because you grabbed me…the way Loki has in the past. And said those things..." She explained. "I like to think he was the only one capable of making me weak," She added simply, watching the calm loch.

Clint felt his stomach turn, "You should stay away from me. I'm too much like him."

"It was one time Clint, you're not like him at all," Natasha assured him, surprised to hear him say that. "It was a mindless comparison made from anger. Comparing you and Loki is like comparing water to flame."

He shook his head, "Well fire and water must be more similar than we thought. You should leave," Clint couldn't believe he had never seen it before. He scared Natasha, made her feel weak the way Loki does.

Natasha studied him before standing up from the grass. "You're being dramatic, you know. But I'll go." She sighed, making her way up the path. Had that one time truly convinced him that he was like his enemy? She doubted it. Part of her debated about whether to look for Loki.

Clint watched her go with wide eyes. This was for the best. He didn't want to scare or hurt her any more than she already was. Then again part of his mind nagged at him to come clean. Because if he didn't, Loki could use the incident to his advantage, even turn Natasha against him.

"Natasha?" Clint called after her tentatively.

Natasha paused, turning to face him. She raised an eyebrow. He was so bipolar today. She attempted to make her demeanour pleasant, "What?" She asked.

"I need to confess something," He patted the grass beside him, his expression sad.

Natasha took a deep breath in, sitting beside him. He had courage, and she could tell whatever it is shamed him. She slid down beside him.

"Okay?" She said, waiting for his confession.

"After you left last night, Loki showed up. He had overheard us or something, and was taunting me, telling me how alike we were," He shuddered, closing his eyes, "And he pushed me and pushed me...and I snapped. I..." Clint took a deep breath, "I almost used crucio. I didn't but...there's my proof. I'm just like Loki."

Natasha was silent for a few seconds. So they were alike after all. She looked down at the waves below for a second, biting the inside of her lip. The idea of torture did make her quite nervous, especially when someone as sweet as Clint was capable of it. She realized she had been silent for a while, that probably not making the best impression on him.

"At least you had the strength to stop," She ended up finally saying, her gaze not meeting his.

Clint shook his head, "Don't," He whispered, staring at her, his expression guilty, "Just... don't. Don't defend me. You should condemn me."

Natasha turned to him, "You didn't. You almost did, but you didn't. It sets you apart, in my book," She said quietly.

He clenched his fists, "Goddamn it, I never knew I had the potential for evil."

"You don't have the potential for evil. He just pushed you there to break you down. It means you're human. That you can make mistakes. In Loki's eyes, his curses are never mistakes." She sighed. "You're not him."

"I would have expected you to have left by now. Expected you to be repulsed," He admitted, turning his head to look at her, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Natasha said, keeping her eyes on the clouded sky. "Repulsed? Maybe." She admitted.

Clint winced, "I'm repulsed by myself," He admitted, before tilting his head, "You're brave, you know."

"Not really." Sure, she had been through a lot, but her continuing along was never considered as brave.

"Yes really. If you weren't brave you wouldn't be here," Clint swallowed.

"Don't make yourself out to be worse than you really are," Natasha instructed. "You're about as scary as a kitten to me, Clint," She lied smoothly.

"A kitten. Well I'm actually a lion, remember?" His voice was emotionless as he stood up, deciding to head back inside, "So are you eating dinner with us again tonight? Or are you going back to your own table?" They started to head inside, wanting to get to dinner.

"I should probably go back..." She mumbled, obviously not so enthused. Either option wasn't particularly appealing. She couldn't make his table her regular if Loki had to trust her still.

Clint nodded, "Sure. Well...have fun over there then," He murmured, turning to head for his normal table.

"I'm looking forward to it." Natasha said over her shoulder, heading back to Loki's table and taking a seat.

Clint bit his lip as he sat down at the table, starting to play with his food, ignoring the usual chat.

"So I heard you had a little freak out today in Fury's class," Bruce sighed, deciding to get to the point. He ignored the rest of the conversation, staring at Clint. Neither needed to join in on the Quidditch talk.

"Yeah. Let's not talk about that," Clint muttered, not looking up from his food.

"You sure?" Bruce asked, pretty innocent. He just saw Clint wasn't acting like his normal self. Clint's whole posture was tense and he was frowning. It just wasn't his usual happy friend.

"I don't want to fucking talk about it, Bruce!" Clint snapped in response, before standing up, "You know what? I'm not hungry."

Bruce jumped the tiniest bit as he snapped at him. He wasn't acting anything like the best friend he knew. He chewed his lip a little, shaking a little as he raked a hand through his mess of hair. This whole situation was too much. His emotions were in a bit of a frenzy. Not good.

"Clint, wait-" He started to say. But he was already gone, storming out of the great hall.

"God! Merlin! What is wrong with me?" Clint groaned as he paced about the corridor, burying his head in his hands.

Tony was walking down the hall, late to dinner when he saw his friend, "Well, you do have a bit of a Napoleon complex," He mused, with a tiny chuckle, unaware of Clint's actual emotional distress.

"Oh shut the fuck up Tony, I wasn't talking to you!" Clint growled, rounding on him.

Tony's eyes widened slightly. "Calm down, Barton. Who pissed you off?"

"I swear to god, if you don't leave me alone," Clint pulled out his wand, approaching Tony.

"I was just walking by. Don't be a little bitch about it." Tony said, rolling his eyes and turning to go.

"I'm not being a little bitch! I'm so fucking stressed out! It's just...not fair!" He shouted loudly.

"Don't take it out on your friends. It just makes you seem like an asshole," Tony called back, flipping Clint off, not caring who heard.

"Yes I know! I get it! I'm exactly like him!" Clint groaned, slumping down to the floor, his back against the wall.

Tony turned back, hearing him slide to the floor. Clint was seriously screwed up, a little more than Tony had previously thought. So Tony wasn't the nicest guy around, but he wouldn't just leave his friend.

"Just like...?" He asked, moving back towards him and offering a hand up.

Clint shook his head and drew his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around, "Loki. I'm just...like Loki."

Tony retracted his hand, giving him an odd look. Of all things, he hadn't been expecting that. "Uh, because you've got a thing for Natasha? Because otherwise, I really don't see it..." He said honestly, shrugging at the comment.

"No...merlin! I'm so like him," Clint mumbled weakly. "I can't take any more of this. Tony. I'm going insane."

"I can see that, but why?" He asked, pausing only slightly before putting an awkwardly comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's a mind trick. Whatever he told you, which I assume he did, was just to freak you out."

"I was snappy with Natasha, I've been acting dark...and I almost used that curse on Loki," Clint swallowed, closing his eyes.

"You almost cursed Loki?" He asked, kind of surprised. "I mean snappy with Natasha, I understand. I would be too, if she didn't scare the shit out of me. But a curse...I assume you don't mean one of the little hexes."

"Yeah. Not just any curse. I almost...almost-"

"Tortured him..?" Tony asked, now very curious, "Took control of him?" Now he just offered guesses, "Killed him?"

"T-The first," Clint mumbled in response, unable to look up at Tony.

Tony nodded a little, looking down at his hands. He usually had a clever comment for everything, but now, he was speechless. "I guess you didn't, and that's what matters."

"I am so grateful I was able to stop. I'm so glad I stopped. But god, I came so close. I mean he...no I'm not gonna try to defend myself," He sighed, looking up at Tony eventually, "Leave? Please..."

"Yeah. I'll go," He nodded, seeing that he needed some time on his own. He smiled weakly at his friend. "I hope you get all this stuff sorted out..." He moved from the wall, heading back down the hallway.

Clint pretty much ignored him, nodding a little, his expression pained. He knew Natasha, despite the fact she was now his 'friend', saw him as another Loki. Maybe she was scared into being nice to him? Perhaps she wanted away from both of them, wanted them both chucked in Azkaban. Now, more than ever, did he need Bruce. However, he had shoved his friend away. Clint really was just losing his mind.

A/N I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review. They make my day!

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I hope I can post again soon! I hope you're enjoying this! I'm so sorry for whiny/crazy!Clint.