AN Not much happens in this chapter. Just getting a few things out of the way. I hope you enjoy it, and this will be the last chapter that shows the date up top.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is only for fun.
Chapter 6: Loki Takes A Vow
End Of August
Sirius ran the hairbrush through his hair, then sat it down and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He's been at Loki's cottage for a month now, and thanks to Loki's medical treatments, which were a mix of muggle, magical, and potions, Sirius now looked and felt physically better. He had gained weight, so his ribs no longer showed, and his face was no longer sunken. Sirius looked nothing like the walking skeleton that had escaped Azkaban and more like an older version of his younger self. After falling asleep the first night. Sirius slept for three days, and when he woke on the third day, Loki immediately started his treatments and fixed him food with a lot of vitamins, and nutrition, including iron. It took Sirius another three days to get out of bed, but now he was almost entirely recovered; it was a good thing they had magic, or else he would still have a long way to go.
After tucking his black dress shirt into his black trousers, Sirius turned away from the mirror and left the bedroom; the clothes he was wearing belonged to Loki, so the trousers were a little long, covered over the top of Sirius's feet because Loki in his male form was a few inches taller than Sirius, something he loved to tease him about. And speaking of Loki, when Sirius walked out of the bedroom into the open area that was between the living room and kitchen, he found Loki sitting at the round kitchen table that sat in that area. He had some chains and cuffs laid on the table, and they'd been lying three for weeks as Loki carved ruins into them, which glowed green with Loki's magic. Next to the chains and cuffs sat a tall stack of ancient-looking books.
"I will admit you have good taste in muggle clothing," Sirius said; Loki looked up from the cuff he was carving on, and Sirius watched as Loki's eyes traveled up and down his body before turning back to the cuffs with a smirk on his lips.
"You do look nice in my clothes; the legs are a bit long, though," Loki replied as Sirius walked up to the table; his smirk turned to a smile as Sirius scowled at the reminder of being shorter than Loki.
"It's not my fault your male form is freakishly tall," Sirius said; Loki rolled his eyes and sent magic around Sirius's ankles. The trouser legs resize themselves to fit Sirius perfectly, something he's been doing a lot, as Sirius has taken over his clothes, helping himself to whatever of Loki's he wanted.
"And I can not help that you are short," Loki replied. "I'll never be able to get my clothes back to their normal state." Loki had offered to buy Sirius new clothes. However, Sirius, still trying to keep some of his pride, would only accept socks and underwear, deciding he'd steal Loki's things until he proved he was innocent, then Sirius would go to Gringotts and get a few bags of gold and go on a shopping spree.
"Quite bitching." Sirius said as he sat in the chair across from Loki. "And I am not short. I'm 6'1. That's just above average."
"6'1?" Loki asked, "Sure you are." Sirius picked up a roll of parchment paper that lay on the table and tossed it at Loki, who caught it without even looking up and just sat it back down.
"You are an evil person." Sirius accused.
"Ah, but you love me anyway, darling," Loki replied, a grin on his face.
Sirius didn't deny or confirm Loki's statement; instead, he probed his legs on the table and ran his hand through his hair, then picked up one of the books that were lying there and started flipping through it, causing Loki to look up with a frown.
"Careful, that book is older than Thor, and I combined," Loki said; Sirius didn't say anything but turned the pages more carefully.
"How are the ruins coming along?" Sirius asked; Loki was fixing the chains and cuffs he had for Peter Pettigrew; once they caught him, Loki would put the chains on him, and if they worked as Loki claimed, then Peter would not be able to use magic in any way to escape, not even turn into his animagus form.
"I am nearly finished," Loki replied as Sirius sat the book back down; he wasn't sure how they would catch Pettigrew. They would have to sneak into Hogwarts because a couple of weeks ago, in her female form Loki had gone to see Dumbledore about The Defense Against the Dark Arts job, only to be told that Dumbledore had already hired someone for the position, which didn't seem to bother Loki, though; for some reason, she appeared confident Dumbledore would get in contact with her soon about a different job.
"When I go on my shopping spree, I think I'll buy Harry some new clothes," Sirius replied, thinking about the shape Harry's clothes were in when he saw him.
"I have no objections to buying our son things he needs, but is there a reason you picked clothes?" Loki asked.
"When I saw him a few weeks ago, he was dressed in clothes about five sizes too big and were old and faded. His shirt even had holes in it," Sirius answered. "I don't think the Dursleys ever bought him anything new."
"We will have to correct that; we'll take Harry out to buy him an all-new wardrobe once we have custody of him," Loki replied.
"Maybe we should think of getting a bigger place?" Sirius looked around the cottage, which wasn't small but wasn't exactly big either and only had two bedrooms.
"Why? My cottage is just fine." Loki asked.
"It only has two bedrooms," Sirius replied.
"I am aware of that. Harry can have the guest room as his, and you can move into my room with me," Loki suggested. "Problem solved."
"No, the problem isn't solved. We aren't a couple anymore. Don't you think sharing a bedroom would be awkward?" Sirius asked.
"Has it been awkward living here with me?" Loki asked. "Did you feel awkward when I helped you take a bath? Or when you spent six days sleeping in my bed."
"No," Sirius answered truthfully; it hadn't been awkward living with Loki. It felt a little weird at first, with Loki abandoning him and Harry then finding out who he truly was and what he did, there still were no awkward feelings, and it felt the same as it did before Loki had left him. Even if Sirius denied them being one, in many ways, he and Loki have acted more like a couple than exes trying to be civil to work together; they were always joking, teasing, and even flirting with each other, and Loki made it no secret that he still found Sirius attractive and he wanted more from Sirius than just being co-parents even if he did keep his word and hadn't pressured him.
"If you do not wish to share a room with me, you can sleep on the sofa." Loki said, "Your choice."
"I stand by my earlier statement," Sirius said, "You are an evil person."
They both fell silent, and Sirius glanced over to the chair in the corner; lying in it was Loki's scepter; Sirius had no idea how the thing worked, but once Loki figured out how to use it without putting him under mind control, he used it to help put Sirius's mind back together, healing him from the damage Azkaban did to him. Though, Sirius's mind wasn't all that far gone, to begin with, not compared to most people in that place. So, using the scepter probably wasn't necessary, but Sirius wasn't complaining; ever since he was around that thing, he felt more powerful, and his magic felt different, almost as if it was changing somehow. It even had a bit of yellow in its color. He mentioned it to Loki, who figured it was how the mind stone affected him but said it probably wasn't anything to worry about.
Sirius turned from the scepter and held out his hand, and allowed his magic to flow through his fingers. Then held his other hand over the magic and started forming a ball. Sirius wasn't even sure what he was doing, he was just bored and thought about how neat it would be if it floated on its own, and it started doing just that, making Sirius's eyebrows go up.
"What are you doing?" Loki demanded; Sirius shrugged, losing his concentration and the magic ball disappeared. Loki looked at him for a moment before going back to the cuffs.
"I'm bored, Reigny," Sirius complained, running his hand through his hair again.
"Then find something to do," Loki said.
"There is nothing to do," Sirius replied, just as Loki's owl, Thori, flew through the open window and landed on Sirius's leg, holding a letter out to Loki.
"Ah, finally," Loki said, reaching out and taking the letter from the owl's talons, Thori hooted, and Loki made a mouse appear in his hand and tossed it to him. The owl caught it and flew off on top of a bookcase to enjoy its feast.
"You spoil that owl." Sirius pointed out, his eyes on the letter Loki just got.
"Thori is a good owl," Loki said, opening the letter and reading it. Sirius's frown deepened when Loki smiled.
"Who is writing you?" Sirius demanded in a jealous tone.
"Albus Dumbledore," Loki replied, standing. Sirius's jealousy turned to confusion as he watched Loki shift into her female form, then magically change her clothes to a green dress along with a black cape and the weirdest witch hat Sirius had ever seen; it was black, trimmed in green with two gold horns sticking up on either side that made Sirius think of the helmet Loki wore during the New York invasion.
"Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, staring at the hat.
"Yes, " Loki answered, holding out her arms. "How do I look?"
"I'd lose the hat," Sirius said as Loki picked up her wand and tucked it in her belt.
"You said you were bored. Turn into Padfoot and come to Hogwarts with me," Loki said, "I'm going to see Albus Dumbledore about a job."
"Job?" Sirius asked. "I thought Dumbledore said there were no jobs open?"
"It's the weirdest thing, the ghost that taught History of Magic disappeared, and there's now a teaching position available," Loki replied.
"What did you do?" Sirius demanded, more curious than worried; Binns was already dead. Not much Loki could have done to him.
"You flatter me, love, but out of all my powers and abilities, vanquishing ghost isn't one of them," Loki said.
Sirius watched Loki suspiciously for a moment before putting his feet down and standing, then turned to Padfoot and walked over to her. Loki laid her hand on top of his head and teleported them both to Hogsmeade. From there, they walked up to the castle, through the front door, and straight up to Dumbledore's office; the letter Loki received must have had the password to get past the gargoyles in it because Loki knew it to get passes them and up the spiral staircase into Dumbledore's office, Sirius following right behind her.
"Ah, Ms. Ikol, it is good to see you." Dumbledore greeted, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.
"It's good to see you are doing well, Headmaster." Loki greeted, giving a friendly smile as she took the seat; Sirius sat on the floor beside her legs. "I was a bit surprised when I got your letter. Is there any news on what happened to the poor ghost?"
"I have no idea. After all these years, Professor Binns just vanished without a word or clue where he went; Professor McGonagall thinks he finally realized he was dead and just moved on," Dumbledore replied.
"Weird," Loki replied; Sirius watched as Loki paused; her eyes went to whatever was behind Dumbledore and narrowed. Sirius raised a little to see what Loki was looking at was a sword hanging in a glass case.
"Ah, yes, the sword of Gryffindor," Dumbledore replied, "Harry Potter pulled that out of the sorting hat back in June and used it to kill a Basilisk that had been let loose on the school."
"Basilisk?" Loki asked.
"Yes, but don't worry, Harry is fine, he got bitten, but Fawks here saved him from death," Dumbledore answered, then told Loki the whole story of what happened in the Chamber of Secrets this past June and what led up to it.
"I am thankful Fawks was there," Loki replied.
"As am I," Dumbledore said., "But we must get back to why you are here."
"Right; you offered me the teaching position in your letter, I believe," Loki said; though her voice sounded casual, Sirius could tell she was angry but keeping calm.
"Yes, terms begin in a few days, and I don't have the time to find a new teacher." Dumbledore said, "I know you from back in the day. You were one of my best Order members, but what concerns me, it's your past with Sirius Black. We know he has escaped Azkaban and possibly after Harry Potter."
"My past with Sirius Black will not interfere with me being a good teacher, and if you trust me with the job, I'll protect not only Harry Potter but all the children from threats," Loki replied, "But Harry will be my main focus."
"I am glad to hear that," Dumbledore said, "I have already hired Remus Lupin as the Defense teacher. You know him. He was an Older member, an old friend of Sirius's. I was hoping to have two here that know Sirius well and may be able to think like him and help catch him if he shows up trying to get into Hogwarts or get to Harry Potter."
"If the criminal tries anything, goes after Harry or anyone else, rest assured I will stop him," Loki said. Sirius knew Loki was not talking about him, but Peter Pettigrew.
"That's good to hear. You always were an extraordinary witch," Dumbledore replied, giving Loki a chance. "I am happy to have you aboard Hogwarts; you'll make a fine addition to our staff."
"Just one thing, Headmaster, I have two pets I wish to bring, my owl, Thori; he'll, of course, stay in the owlery with the others, but also...Jinx here, my faithful companion. I hope it's alright; I assure you he's well-behaved."
"Jinx isn't one to chase cats or go after owls?" Dumbledore asked, "Can he handle being around large crowds? My students do tend to get a little rowdy sometimes, and of course, he can't be vicious towards the professors and other staff members."
"Jinx can handle crowds, loves children, and will not harm any staff members." Loki promised, "He is intelligent and well-behaved. I swear sometimes he's more human than dog." Sirius snorted at Loki's comment as she leaned forward and scratched between his ears.
"As long as he doesn't chase after anyone else's pets or act vicious towards staff or students, I see no reason he can't accompany you. After all, we allow Hagrid to keep Fang on the grounds, and he often brings him into the school," Dumbledore answered.
"Thank you, Professor," Loki said, pulling her hand away as Dumbledore brought out some papers for Loki to sign and started going over the rules and her salary; Sirius noticed a slight shimmer of Loki's magic and knew she was no longer sitting in the chair; it was one of her doubles, and after a few minutes Sirius's canine hearing picked up a gasped, from Loki, somewhere in the office before she appeared back in the chair, replacing her double, and now holding her hand close to her; this was all missed by Dumbledore because Loki used magic to conceal it; he thought her double was Loki all along, but Sirius's canine sense was able to pick it up.
A few minutes later, Loki and Sirius left Dumbledore's office. Once they entered a deserted corridor, Loki teleported her and Sirius out of the castle and into a field surrounded by woods, with a run-down-looking cabin sitting in the middle. Sirius shifted to human and looked around.
"Where are we?" Sirius asked.
"Remus Lupin's place or at least the address in Dumbledore's files," Loki said, frowning as she looked around, still holding her hand to her.
"Did you hurt your hand?" Sirius asked, turning to her; he reached out and gently took hold of it and looked her palm over; it was a little burnt; he conjured up a bandage and began to wrap it around her hand.
"I was thinking Fawks for saving Harry, and I touched his head, and it burnt my hand," Loki explained. "I guess since the phoenix is a fire creature, it doesn't mix well with a monster of ice."
"If you being Jotunn makes you a monster, wouldn't that mean Harry was one too?" Sirius asked. He was starting to get a bit annoyed with Loki constantly referring to herself as a monster; she wasn't, and neither was Harry for being half Jotunn.
"Of course not," Loki said, pulling her hand away. "Harry isn't full Jotun, and I'm hoping Fawkes being able to heal him means that gene did not pass to him, that your genes were more dominant. Harry does look more like you." Loki frowned at her bandaged hand. "Stupid penguin, I was unable to get my sword after it burnt me."
"Your sword?" Sirius asked, "Are you talking about Gryffindor's sword?"
"I do not know how Godric Gryffindor got his hands on it, but it is not his sword; it is mine." Loki replied, "Odin had Eitri forged it as a gift to Thor for reaching his one-thousand year. Being the spoiled brat he was, along with never one for sword fights anyway, Thor did not like it or want it. I tried to show him it was a good sword, which resulted in him telling me if I liked the stupid thing so much, I could keep it, I did, and it served as my primary weapon for over a hundred years. Then one time, I was on Midgard and somehow found myself in the middle of one of the Goblin's stupid rebellions. The thieving bastards stole my sword, I never saw it again until now, and I'm getting it back."
"Did you get a gift when you turned a thousand?" Sirius asked, smiling a little; he still didn't know if he genuinely believed Loki when she told him she was fourteen hundred and ninety-two years old."
"I did," Loki said, turning and walking towards the cabin, "A beautiful gold dagger, with a handle encrusted with emeralds and black diamonds, thankfully Odin allowed Frigga to decide what they gave me after what happened with Thor's gift."
"Do you still have the dagger, or did goblins steal it too?" Sirius asked, grinning more.
"The dagger is no longer mine," Loki replied as they stepped to Remus's front door. "And not it wasn't stolen by goblins. I sent it to Harry for his birthday."
"But Harry isn't a thousand years old," Sirius replied, laughing at the look Loki gave him. Then she turned and knocked on the door; after a moment, Remus Lupin opened the door, looking confused, which turned to surprise when he recognized Loki.
"Reigna?" Remus demanded, "Where did you? How did? Why are you here?" His eyes went to Sirius, and since Sirius no longer looked like his picture in the paper, it took Remus a moment to recognize him. "Sirius!"
"Hi, Moony," Sirius said; Remus threw the door open wider and charged out with his wand, suddenly raised and pointing at Sirius, who put his hands up and backed away a little.
"Remus, stop!" Loki cried, jumping between them and holding her hands out, "Please, let Sirius explain."
"He has nothing to explain. I know what he did. He turned on his friends and sent Voldemort after them. He sent Voldemort after his own son." Remus yelled, "How did he even find you? Why would Sirius want anything to do with you after what you did? And why would you want anything to do with him after what he did? Do you want Harry dead too?"
"Don't you dare say Sirius and I wish our son died," Loki said, her voice low and calm but still managed to sound threatening.
"Reigny, stay calm." Sirius, knowing Loki's tone, put his hands on her shoulders. "Moony doesn't know the whole truth." He turned to Remus with pleading eyes, "Listen to what we have to say, please, then decide for yourself if you believe us."
"Fine, explain, but I'm not lowering my wand," Remus warned.
"That's fair," Sirius said, letting go of Loki and stepping out from behind her. Then told his side of the story, trying not to take long but also being detailed, even explaining about switching Secret Keepers, something he had already explained to Loki. Once he woke up after his three-day sleep, he retold Loki the story, being more detailed and not leaving anything out, and that's the exact version he told Remus now.
"That's a convincing story, Sirius, but how do I know you are telling the truth?" Remus demanded.
"I'm innocent, Moony," Sirius said, "I saw Wormtail in the paper; he's hiding as the Weasley family's pet rat; he was on the youngest boy's shoulder."
"If you do not believe us, I have proof," Loki said. She made a newspaper appear and held it out to Remus, who snatched the paper out of her hand and looked at it before his eyes widened, and he turned to Sirius, lowering his wand. And Sirius somehow sensed Remus now believed him.
"Remus?" Sirius asked. Remus stepped forward and hugged him. Sirius laughed, hugging Remus back. "Good to have you back, Moony."
"I'm glad you didn't do it, Padfoot," Remus replied, pulling away, "I will help you catch Pettigrew and prove your innocents, but." He turned to Loki, "I still don't trust you. You abandoned Sirius and Harry. Why are you even here?"
"Reigny, it's your turn," Sirius said, "Go ahead, tell Remus everything."
"Everything?" Loki asked, picking at her uninjured hand.
"Everything," Sirius replied. Loki took a deep breath and told Remus the same story she had told Sirius. When Loki switched to his male form to reveal he was Loki, Remus raised his wand again, but Sirius stopped him. After Remus calmed down, Loki continued his story, explaining why he had attacked earth. The only things Loki left out were trying to kill himself and getting tortured.
"I found Sirius, nursed him back to health, and I will help prove he is innocent." Loki finished, switching back to her female form.
"I don't know what to think," Remus said. "I believe you, but yet, you still killed a bunch of innocent muggles. You should be locked up."
"Remus, give me a chance to prove I have changed. I will not do something like that again, I swear," Loki said. "I do feel guilt and have never gone that far before, not when it comes to innocent people, and I admit I've killed because of war and defense, even for honor, but never innocents. Well, unless they annoyed me somehow."
"That's not helping your case," Remus replied.
"How about we make a deal?" Loki asked, "Let me help catch Pettigrew, prove Sirius innocent. I owe him that. Then, if you still feel I should be handed over to the authorities, I'll allow you to hand me over to Thor. In the meantime, I will work on becoming a better person and give you no reason to want to send me away."
Remus sighed and looked between Sirius and Loki, "Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut about you being who you are, but only for Padfoot. He deserves his name to be clear, but I want you to make the unbreakable vow that you won't hurt anyone innocent."
"Alright," Loki answered, "But the vow is only until Pettigrew is caught."
"Agreed," Remus said, "Sirius, you'll have to be our Bonder."
"Are you sure about this, Reigny?" Sirius asked.
"Of course," Loki replied.
"Okay," Sirius said, reaching out and pulling Loki's wand out of her belt; this spell was too important not to use a wand. Sirius cared about Loki and Remus, and he wasn't risking doing anything wrong. Remus and Loki stepped toward each other and gasped hands.
"Do you, Loki of Asgard, promise to help find Peter Pettigrew and help prove Sirius Black's innocence without taking any life or harming anyone unless in self-defense or protecting someone else, no harming anyone innocent?" Remus asked.
"I promise," Loki answered. Gold flames shot out of Loki's wand and wrapped around Remus and Loki's hands.
"And do you, Loki of Asgard, swear that when Peter Pettigrew is caught, if I believe you have not redeemed yourself, you will allow me to hand you over to Thor without fighting," Remus asked.
"I swear," Loki replied; another gold flame shot out and wrapped around their hands, sealing the unbreakable vow; Sirius had a feeling Loki was going to keep her word, but the part of him that still found it hard to trust her completely feared Loki breaking the vow, and killing herself. However, Sirius wasn't sure it would kill her; being a god, he can remember when seeing her duel someone back in the day, no spells ever affected her; at the time, Sirius had thought she was just that good at dodging and using the shield charm, or the spells just missed, but now he wasn't sure, Sirius hopes he didn't get to find out.
AN I didn't think Remus would be so forgiving or trusting of Loki after finding out the truth, so I felt his making Loki make the unbreakable vow made sense, I thought about Sirius not telling him at first, but he would have recognized Sirius's animagus form moment he saw it. I have an idea in my head for Sirius and what the mind stone did; it'll come out a bit later; I don't plan to make him overpowered or anything, just a little more powerful than cannon, plus giving him some new abilities.
I thought since a Phoenix has a connection to fire and all that, it hurting a frost giant since they have a connection to ice makes sense. If they touch one, it burns them, and their tears can be deadly to them, it was able to heal Harry because he's only half, but as shown earlier, the tears still caused him a lot of pain. I'm not sure if anything will come of this later, but I thought it would be a neat thing to add.
Next Chapter, Harry will be going back to Hogwart.