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Chapter 25

Rayna was showing Cedric the beautiful sculptures and the fountains which were beautiful works of art in themselves when her name was called once again. And, once again, Rayna warned Cedric to brace himself. Cedric immediately saw why. His hand tightened around Rayna's slightly, as the man in-front of him inexplicably scared him more than Thor. He was perhaps an inch shorter than the blonde Æsir, and was more of a lean build. His black hair was slicked back and his green eyes, which were very similar to Rayna's, he noticed, held a calculating look when assessing him, as if wondering the best way to kill him and get away with it scott free. Something told Cedric this man could possibly kill him horribly and painfully and make it look like he'd just run off somewhere to never return. That thought terrified him.

"Loki." Rayna greeted. "You aren't here to threaten Cedric are you? Thor already did that."

"No Rayna, I am not." The 'yet' was left both unspoken and unneeded. Cedric noted that Loki's eyes softened when he focused on his niece and immediately felt that bit safer. So long as Rayna was around, he would be fine. He was sure of it. He made a mental note to never anger her. He loved her greatly for one reason. The other reason being he would be able to escape a painful demise. "Your mother is awake. I came to get you before going to see her. She is in the lounge and wishes to see you."

A bright smile lit up Rayna's face. "Brilliant!" She said.

Cedric smiled at her. "I'll let you go see her then."

"You won't come?"

"This is the first time you'll get to meet your mother. It's a family matter I think. There will be plenty of time for you to introduce me to her. Or reintroduce me, as the case may be. I'll have to wait and see if I remember."

"You will, in a few days." Loki told him. "Come then Rayna. Before Ingrid gets impatient and comes out here. I think we would all rather this be a private thing, yes?"

Rayna nodded. "Will you be alright getting back to your room Cedric? I know it's easy to get lost."

"I'm sure I will be fine." He smiled at her and leant down and kissed her cheek, which was probably a very bold move considering Loki was right there, but he took his chances. But he thought it best not to full on kiss her right now.

Rayna beamed at him, and bid him goodbye, before accompanying Loki back towards the palace. "Please don't terrify him." She moaned to her Uncle when they were out of Cedric's hearing range.

"I'll do what I see fit. I have to make sure he will not hurt you, do I not?"

"That doesn't mean terrifying him."

"It does if it works."

Rayna just rolled her eyes, before smiling. "She's in the lounge we were in earlier, right?"

Loki nodded. "Aye." He caught Rayna's wrist just as she was about to break into a run. "Calm down Rayna. She will still be there when we get there."

She smiled sheepishly and they walked at a quick pace towards the lounge they had been in earlier. When they arrived, Loki gestured for Rayna to go in first. Swallowing, she did so and her eyes quickly scanned the room, seeing Thor and her grandparents were already there. Her eyes soon fastened on her mother, who had stood when she entered. Tears soon filled Ingrid's eyes and she reached out to Rayna.

"Rayna." She said, smiling at her. Her voice was soft, and without the panic and the pleading tone, so different from the one in her memory the Dementors brought up, and so different from the panicked, ordering tone she had heard when her echo had risen from Voldemort's wand. It was then that it really hit Rayna. Her mother was there, standing right in front of her. Suddenly, the restraint she had managed since Loki had caught hold of her wrist broke and she all but flew at her mother and practically slammed into her, crying. Ingrid wrapped her arms around Rayna, resting her head on top of her daughters. "It's alright sweetheart. I'm here now." Ingrid said quietly, so only Rayna could hear her. "I am here and nothing is going to change that ever again."

Rayna just continued to sob, relishing in the fact that she was being hugged by her mother. A mother she had believed she would never see, let alone be hugged by. She realised she had been doing an awful lot of crying today, but couldn't bring herself to care. She had thought herself the luckiest person in the universe when she found out that she really did still have family who cared for her. Now she really was. She felt her mum running a hand through her hair and smiled, even though she was still crying. Now when she heard her mum's voice, she wouldn't have to hear her final moments. After a while, Rayna began calming down, taking deep, shuddering breaths.

"Oh look at you." Ingrid said, holding Rayna at arm's length. "You've grown up. And you're beautiful."

Rayna just laughed and hugged her mother again. Ingrid was glad she wasn't as enthusiastic about it as Thor. She still had bruised ribs from that. As she was hugging Rayna again, she looked up and saw Loki. She smiled widely at him.

"Hello Loki." She said.

"Welcome home, Ingrid." He said approaching her. Because Rayna was still hugging her mother, he just gently squeezed her shoulder and kissed her forehead. "It is good to have you back."

"I'm glad to be home." She replied. When Rayna let her go, she hugged her brother, before putting an arm around Rayna's shoulders and the group sat down to catch up.

Ingrid's eyes were narrowed as she sat watching the fire in her room. Her memories were coming back to her. She had spent a lot of time in Valhalla watching her family. More specifically, her daughter. And there were two things bothering her. Snape and Umbridge. Snape could wait- for now. But Umbridge. That toad had to be gone before the end of the holidays. She could not be allowed near Rayna again. But, she would need help.

Ingrid stood and left her room and headed to find her brother who she knew- from experience- would probably be in the library right now. No matter how he may think otherwise, Loki was quite the creature of habit when it came down to the day to day things. He always frequented the library around this time of day. She found him in his usual place. He looked up at her and smiled.

"I was wondering if you would turn up." He said. "You know, I missed the times where we just read together. I had company, and it was peaceful." He grinned.

"You know you love Thor really. But I will admit that he can give people ear ache at times." Ingrid said. "But, I need help."

He instantly became serious and straightened up. "What is wrong?"

She sat down beside him and said one word. "Umbridge."

He raised an eyebrow. "You are beginning to remember then?"

"Yes, and I do not want that- that woman near my daughter again. I was hoping you and Sif would help me get rid of her."

He smiled, and it wasn't at all like the earlier one. This one was cold and calculating. "Well, I am sure Fenrir would be happy to help too. I haven't personally fed him in a while after all. I wonder if he likes toad." Loki shrugged. "I guess we'll find out. Let us go find Sif." He stood and offered her his arm. "We have business to take care of."

Umbridge had been having a perfectly enjoyable Christmas holidays. Granted, she had no idea why the Potter brat and her filthy half breed relatives had left in the middle of the night, but she would find out. At least that trouble maker was back among her own kind- where she belonged. And when she came back Dolores would do all she could to ensure the next time the group left they wouldn't come back. Hogwarts was a school for humans. Nothing else. Not even those claiming divine status. She snorted to herself. Gods. How could they honestly be gods? They associated with Mudbloods and worse- their uncivilised, brutish muggle families. No actual god would associate with riff raff like that. Which meant they could only be one thing in reality. Half Breeds. And she, Delores Umbridge, a proper Pureblood Witch, was far superior to all of them.

But for now, she didn't have to worry about any of that. They were gone, meaning she could have a nice, orderly Christmas, without anyone causing trouble for the Ministry. She sat down with a large mug of tea and the Evening Prophet and had just gotten to the fifth page when all the lights went out. Even the fire had completely died. She drew her wand. She hadn't felt ay draft, and if there had been, it wouldn't have put out the fire. Someone else was behind this.

"I demand that you show yourself! I am Undersecretary to the Minister! Reveal yourselves!" Suddenly, pain ripped through her head and she collapsed. When she was unconscious the lights flickered on, the candles flickering oddly. "Pitiful." Loki said. "I only had to use one spell. I have met non magical mortals who could withstand more than this.

Sif grinned. "At least you didn't kill her. I've read her beliefs on Werewolves. How do you think she'll react to Fenrir? He's bound to be exactly what she'd hate."

"Which is why she's going to be awake and aware when we let him tear her to shreds. After Ingrid does on the metaphorical side of things." Loki said.

"She is meeting us there?"

"Aye. Fenrir was rather fond of her. It's why I gave a pup of his to Rayna."

"Ah, so Ardwyad is one of Fenrir's then. We guessed as much." Sif grabbed Umbridge by the back of the pink fluffy cardigan and Loki took hold of Sif's shoulder. He had one more glance around the neat, orderly rooms, sneered, and then they both disappeared.

Ingrid smiled as she reached up and scratched between Fenrir's ears. While Loki's son wasn't exactly humanoid in shape, she had always had a soft spot for him. As with all Loki's children. There had been a time when she thought that her brothers and father would be so overprotective of her that she would never marry and have children of her own. That thought had been the one to cause her to start planning her trip to Midgard. Fenrir stirred and opened his eyes. The great wolf stood and stretched, yawning, showing massive teeth. He looked down at her and barked excitedly. She smiled. Oh he was definitely the sire of Rayna's familiar. She was not at all surprised that Loki had given one of Fenrir's pups to Rayna to protect her. If Ardwyad was anything like Fenrir when protecting someone or something, then many a threat wouldn't make it past him to her daughter.

Ingrid suddenly found herself brought into Fenrir's equivalent of a hug when his head rested on her shoulder and pulled her to his chest. She buried her hands in his thick fur and smiled. "It is nice to see you too, nephew." She said. "Now, do you fancy helping your father, Sif and I in getting rid of someone who has harmed my daughter?" His howl was the only answer she needed.

Delores woke up to the sound of a very loud howl. It sent a chill through her. She was on her back and was being pulled along and had a massive headache. "Ah, Fenrir's awake. Ingrid must already be here." A voice said. It was the voice of one of Potter's Uncles. Loki.

"Why are we not including Thor and the Warrior's Three? It just occurred to me that they were not here to see this. I am sure they would have enjoyed-" And that was that blasted warrior woman. Honestly, did she have no self-respect? No proper woman was a warrior. She must have some inappropriate relationship going with one of the others.

"She would not have made it there alive." Loki said. "We, at least, can exercise the self-restraint to go through with this plan."

Suddenly, she was dropped, and a thudding on the ground alerted her to something very large moving very quickly towards them.

"Hungry Fenrir?" Loki asked.

Umbridge opened her eyes and nearly screamed. The beast was huge. Its fur was jet black and its eyes were blood red and the thing towered over all of them. "Well, it looks like our guest is awake." Loki drawled as he rubbed the wolf's neck. He turned to her and tapped her forehead, and her headache disappeared. "Believe me, that is by no means a mercy. The more aware you are, the worse it will be."

"The worse what will be? I demand to know why you kidnapped me!"

"To ensure you never harm my daughter again." A new voice said. She looked around and her eyes widened. There stood the long dead Lily Potter. Or Ingrid Odindottir as she apparently was. "You have insulted my daughter, family and friends, supported a smear campaign against my daughter and used a Blood Quill on her. I don't know what else you were planning, but you will not be putting it into action."

"You have no authority over me half breed!" Umbridge spat.

Ingrid cocked her head to the side. "Maybe I cannot order you around, but I can take revenge for what you have done. You think you are so important, but I am sure Hela will be glad to show you how easily your beloved minister will replace you." Ingrid smiled at her, and then walked over to the wolf. She scratched its fur a few times, before moving away.

Loki once again touched Umbridge's forehead and suddenly she was supersensitive to everything. Light, sound, smell and touch. His grin was all teeth and absolutely feral. "That was for using a Blood Quill on Rayna. You know, I saw only a part of your home, and even that was neat and ordered. I do not understand why mortals like you are so obsessed with order. You take life a bit too seriously, and you never get out alive." With that, he grabbed her by the cardigan again and threw her at the wolf's feet. Pain blossomed through her shoulder, magnetised by the last spell he had cast on her. "Enjoy, Fenrir."

Cedric smiled as the large wolf jumped up and began licking his face. Rayna laughed. "Well, at least I know he likes me." Cedric said about Ardwyad. Rayna's familiar, while intimidating, really was an overgrown puppy. His memories were quickly coming back to him now, and while he had been reintroduced to Ingrid, he remembered her from his time in Valhalla and she had really taken her under her wing after he had died and helped him. She had taught him how to watch over those he loved, and had helped him start to learn how to fight. The other warriors there had helped with that too, but Ingrid had been a mother figure to him. He could see where Rayna got her kind heart from.

Rayna managed to pull Ardwyad from Cedric and he lay down and curled round her legs. It was lucky she was next to a bench so that she could sit down. "He's very excitable." She said. "He almost gave Trelawney a heart attack."

Cedric laughed. "Yes, I remember watching that. Killed by a wolf indeed."

"The shriek was still funny mind you."

"Oh yeah." Suddenly he looked uncomfortable as he sat next to her. "When do you think your uncle's going to drag me onto the training fields?"

"Probably this afternoon." Rayna said. "I have a training session, and then two days off for Yule tomorrow, and probably the hangover day the day after. I don't see why they're bothering today. I've had no training sessions since we found you anyway."

"Good thing I trained in Valhalla then." Cedric said.

"Yes, very good thing." She said. Rayna leant into him, and Cedric wrapped his arm round her shoulder. "You'll probably do far better than Sirius' first attempt."

"I missed that one. I think."

Rayna grinned and happily recounted the tale of her godfather's disastrous first training session to him. Cedric was laughing by the end of it. "I have to remember to stay on your good side. I'll get hurt if I don't."

"An accurate observation." A voice said. They looked round to see Loki. "Go get ready for your training session, Rayna. I wish to speak to Cedric alone."

Rayna rose an eyebrow at Loki. "I did ask you not to do this."

"And I replied that I would if I felt it would work. Go."

"No."

"I have a lot more practise in being stubborn than you do. I give you my word; you will get him back in one piece. I just want to talk to him."

"Go, I'll be fine." Cedric said.

Rayna huffed. "Alright. I'll see you later." She left reluctantly, Ardwyad beside her, and Cedric stood, fighting the urge to run.

Loki's face was impassive. "Know you cannot lie to me, Cedric. And if you ever do, and it concerns something that will hurt Rayna, I will kill you. If you ever hurt my niece in any way whatsoever you will not stand a chance. It will be slow and painful. Do you understand?" He normally did not threaten people so blatantly, but this was needed. He didn't want to leave any doubt as to what he would do if Cedric hurt Rayna.

"I do. I swear I would never hurt her, and have only the best intentions towards Rayna." Cedric said, meeting the god's eyes.

"Good. I will see you on the training fields then." He turned and strode away. Cedric knew that had he been anything less than honest, he would never have lived past that meeting.

The next morning, Rayna felt someone gently shaking her awake. She yawned and opened her eyes slowly to see her mother leaning over her, smiling. "Good morning. Happy Yule." She said.

Rayna shot up and hugged her mother. She had always dreamt of her mother waking her on Christmas, like Petunia had always done for Dudley. Ingrid laughed. "Are you going to let me go, or do you not want your present?"

Rayna pulled back. "You got me something?"

"Of course I did. It's not much. It was the best I could do at such short notice. You can expect more for your birthday. At least I will have time to buy things for you."

"You don't have to mum." Rayna said. "You being here is enough. For years all I wanted was my mother waking me up gently on Christmas. And I'm happy with that."

Ingrid smiled and cupped her daughter's cheek. "I know." She said. There were unshed tears in her eyes. "I watched you every Christmas, and the way Petunia and her family treated you broke my heart." They hugged again. "I will never let you suffer that sort of pain again."

Rayna smiled. "I know you wouldn't."

"Now, your present." Lily grabbed something from the bedside table and handed it to her. It was heavy and wrapped up in blue paper.

Rayna opened it to find a book with Yggdrasil etched into the front of the heavy black leather cover in gold. She opened it to a random page and saw neat writing detailing a healing potion. "How many spells are in here?"

"As many as I could think of and put in as possible in the time I had. It's a grimore for you. I have already placed spells potions and rituals in it. You can place more as you go along if you cannot already find it in there. As well as creatures and magical artefacts."

"I love it." Rayna said, ghosting her hand across the page, taking in the precise neat handwriting, recognising that her mother had obviously spent hours putting this together, ensuring there were no mistakes.

"I hope it will help you in whatever trials face you in your life. But know we, your family, will always be there to help you through it."

Rayna smiled. "Thanks mum."

Ingrid felt curiosity well within her when she saw the draw that was partially open in Loki's sitting room. She knew from experience that he had obviously rushed to hide something from whoever was entering if he had left it partially open. He had just gone into his bedroom to grab the book he had found in the library that he had thought would interest her. It contained information on Horcruxes for her. She opened the draw to see a golden chain and a locket. Picking it up she saw a quaternary knot with the Old Norse word for daughter engraved in an ark over it and an emerald at the centre.

Ingrid turned round as Loki re-entered the room. He stopped short when he saw what she was looking at. "I am going to guess this was not for Hela." Hela was not one for gifts. Either giving or receiving. She felt it made her weak in some way. Ingrid guessed that she had some of her self-confidence issues from her father; she just manifested them in her own way.

Loki hesitated, and then shook his head. "No. I was planning on asking Rayna if she would let me adopt her. Now you have returned and I understand if you want Rayna to continue thinking only of James as her father. I have another locket anyway, without the lettering. Just in case she said no."

"When were you going to ask?"

"Tonight, just before the feast." Loki said.

"Loki, if you did adopt her, she would not forget James was her birth father." She walked over to him and placed the locket in his hand. "I would not mind if you adopted her. I couldn't think of a better person to fill the role seeing as James cannot be here to do it." She leant up and kissed his cheek, before taking the book from him. "I will see you tonight, Loki." With that, she left the room.

Rayna, once more, found herself struggling to breathe as she was strapped into a dress for the feast tonight, and couldn't help but think this was becoming a theme for when she had to attend feasts. This dress was red velvet with tight sleeves to her wrists, but over sleeves that were loose and moved apart from the sleeves covering her arms. There was gold leaf trim and a gold studded belt and the dress was off her shoulders. Her hair was in a loose hair do and the circlet her grandfather gave to her placed on top. Amdis placed a necklace with Yggdrasil on the pendant around her neck and her maids stepped away, allowing her to see herself in the mirror.

"You always make me look so beautiful." She said. "Thank you."

"You are beautiful, My Lady." Gerda said. "We just help show it off a bit."

"Again, thank you." There was a knock on the door. "That will be Loki. He said he wanted to talk with me before the feast."

The three entered Rayna's sitting room and Amdis opened the door. She curtsied. "Prince Loki." She said.

"I would like a word in private with my niece." He said.

Both women nodded and left the room.

"What do you want to talk about?" Rayna asked.

"I have talked with my parents, your mother and Thor, and all of them have agreed this is a good idea- if you like it of course."

"What idea?" She asked.

"Rayna, I had been thinking about this before your mother returned to us. But your father did not return with her. I know I could never truly replace him, but I would like to do what he cannot by adopting you."

"You want to adopt me?" Rayna asked stunned.

He nodded. "You are like a daughter to me anyway. I have come to see that in these past few months. I would like to officially be your father."

Rayna hugged him. "I'd like that too." She said. "But I'm going to need to get used to it before I start calling you dad or anything."

"That is understandable." He said, pulling back and smiling down at her. "Here, I have a gift for you." With a gold shimmer a locket appeared in his hand.

"It's beautiful. I love it, thank you." She said, lightly running her hand over the lettering.

"Here." Loki unhooked the pendant she already wore and placed the locket around her neck. Then he offered her his arm. "Most others should already be at the feast. We should not keep them waiting."

Rayna smiled widely and took his arm. This was the best Christmas she had ever had. Her mother had returned, now she also had a father and Cedric was back too! He had promised her he would dance with her at least once, acknowledging she had to dance with several members of the court so as not to offend anyone. She hoped to be able to dance more than once with him.

Her mother, uncle and grandparents were all waiting for them outside of the hall, where they would enter together. Her mother was wearing a dress that was mostly green silk but had a gold designs on the top of the dress and top of the sleeves, which fell to the floor, and blended with the large skirt. Ingrid's eyes immediately zeroed in on the locket around Rayna's neck and hurried forward to hug her. "I'm glad you accepted. You need a father."

Rayna laughed. "I think I'm old enough to get by if I had decided not to accept being adopted."

"Yes, but it's good to have two parents." Ingrid said. "I always wanted you to have everything."

"Well, seeing as we are all here now, we should enter." Odin said.

"Yes, or we may find Volstagg has eaten the tables in hunger." Thor joked, grinning widely.

As they entered and passed the gathered members of the court, people bowed and curtsied to them, all standing behind their chairs. When they reached the top table, everyone followed Odin's lead and sat after him.

When Cedric had first entered, he hadn't known where to sit, but Sif and the Warriors Three had beckoned him over to their table and he had sat with them. From where he was sat, he could see all of the top table perfectly, and he could see Rayna who was even more beautiful than normal. He knew she didn't like being at the centre of attention, but right now she seemed confident in herself. It looked like she had finally found where she belonged. He was glad, and would do anything he could to ensure it stayed that way.

Rayna once again danced with Loki before anyone else, and then Thor. "I had been wondering if you would let Loki adopt you." He said grinning. "I am glad you did."

"Me too. Besides, he seemed to have taken on the role anyway. Cedric's still too scared to talk about what Loki said to him."

Thor laughed. "Yes, he does seem weary whenever Loki is around. I think Loki's pleased with the result. Cedric will need to get over that. Mostly at least."

"Mostly?"

"A healthy amount of weariness around him, and myself, will be good. He will keep in mind to treat you well."

Rayna fixed her uncle with a look. "You really don't need to worry about that."

"It is our duty to worry about it. Do not worry though; I will keep your father from killing Cedric just to keep him away from you." Rayna couldn't help but smile when Thor referred to Loki as her father, but it would still take some time to get used to it.

After she had danced with her grandfather, several male members of the court introduced themselves and asked her to dance, one after the other. It took a while before she managed to dance with Cedric, but she did well at hiding her impatience, talking kindly with each of her dance partners.

Finally, Cedric asked her to dance. "You look beautiful." He said as they danced.

"You look quite handsome too." She said. And he did. The armour he was wearing with a blue cloak really suited him.

"Thanks. It seems everyone wants to dance with you and your mother."

"It felt that way." She nodded. "I'll need a drink after this dance. And I also need to warn you."

"What about?" He asked, still smiling.

"Loki adopted me."

"Somehow I'm not surprised. I'm terrified for myself, but very pleased for you." He said and then he grinned at her. "A few days ago, you were an orphan, but now you have both your parents. Your Christmas must be going really well."

"It is. And I have a present for you."

"You didn't have to."

"Oh it's nothing gift wrapped. Tomorrow evening, we're going to the Bifrost, and Heimdal will send us to your home, so we can tell your parents about your return. I managed to convince grandfather to let me go. And it will be just me, you and Sif too, so we won't be filling up your house. It would have also been the Warriors Three and my uncles- sorry, my uncle and my father- but I managed to talk him down."

"Thank you. May I ask, why Sif? I would have thought Loki or Thor-"

"Sif will know when best to back off. Thor and Loki will be so obsessed with my safety that they wouldn't be more than ten feet away. It's a miracle I can get to my classes unescorted when at school."

He laughed. "I can't wait to go, then." He said. "And reintroduce you. What do you think they'll say when I tell them I'm dating a princess?"

"Honestly? I don't think they'll care about that." Rayna said, smiling.

A/N: I think I'll end it there. I would add more, but then you all would probably have to wait another few days, so the scene I was going to end with will be in the next chapter. Besides, I think this is a nice little ending for this chapter here. Please Review and tell me what you think! I hope you enjoyed!

www. polyvore yule_ball /set? id= 87397706 (-Rayna's ball outfit.)

www. polyvore life_is_full_strange_twists /set? id= 85427361 (-Ingrid's ball outfit.)

Just take out the spaces!