IDK what the hell was happening but this is the actual CH.5
Disclaimer in Chapter 1. Will add as needed.
When the shadows dissipated Loki would have fallen if not for Haven gripping the back of his suit lightly, he righted himself and blinked several times. Haven gave him a sheepish look, "Sorry, I forgot to warn you. I'm not as experienced at dragging people through the shadows as Death is."
Loki looked over to her with a small smile, "It's perfectly fine. I just didn't expect you to have the ability."
Haven gave a light laugh, "It comes with the title." She hooked her arm through his once more and led him to the blank wall in front of them, she quickly cast several subtle notice-me-nots on them that would allow them to move through the crowds more easily. Loki eyed the spell work curiously as Haven drew her wand.
"What is this for?" Loki hummed, nudging at one of the magic threads that made up the spell.
"Keeps people from noticing us too much." Haven said, "They will see us and subconsciously move out of our way. As long as we don't call attention to ourselves we should be fine." She tapped a few bricks before quickly sheathing her wand and looking to Loki, wanting to see his face as the wall folded back.
Loki's eyes went wide with wonder as the moving brick folded away into an arch, revealing a bustling magical alley. He had never seen a market so fully and openly devoted to magic. Vendors were selling charms next to cages that held magical creatures, people were bustling about with packages floating behind them, and wands were being wielded without thought, out in the open for even mundane tasks. In the other realms the markets had had some magic but nothing as blatant and overwhelming as what was before him.
Haven smiled up at Loki and tugged at his arm gently, "Come on then." They made their way through the crowded alley, people moving out of their way subconsciously. Loki couldn't stop looking around. It was definitely not his usual behavior but magic was always his weakness; to see it displayed so openly and wielded so easily by these mere mortals was strange but such a treat.
Haven glanced back at Loki and smiled, happy that her soulmate seemed to take as much joy in magic as she did. She slowed just a step as they neared their destination, putting her right at Loki's side. "We're here." She said, drawing Loki's emerald eyes right to her own, "I think you'll really enjoy this shop in particular."
Loki blinked in surprise before looking up at the shop before them and reading proud letters that proclaimed Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. "What is this shop?" He asked curiously, eyes straying to the vibrant displays in the windows.
Haven grinned, "A prank shop." Loki looked over at her with a small smile and a cocked eyebrow, her grin widened a bit and she pulled him forward as she released the charm that was hiding them, "Come on then, they'll be waiting."
The second Haven opened the door she ducked to avoid a fanged frisbee heading her way. Loki dodged out of the way a second later, the frisbee just grazing his black hair. Haven popped back up quickly, "Fred! Did you just throw that at me?!"
The question was met by laughter and Loki looked up to see a redheaded male, only slightly shorter than him, with warm brown eyes and a bright smile, laughing at Haven.
"Would I do that dear sister?" The male asked, pasting on an innocent face.
"Is a Malfoy's hair blond?"
"It was George!" He laughed, pointing across the room. Loki looked to see an identical redhead sticking his tongue out at who was clearly his brother.
"It was not!" He retorted, "I value my life!"
"You value the cake you'd lose!" The first snickered.
The second drew himself up, "I know where my loyalties lie...with Haven's buttercream frosting."
Haven grinned, "That's why you're my favorite George."
Fred put a hand to his chest, "Oh! I see how it is!" He cried dramatically.
"Hey!" Another voice interrupted. Loki searched for the voice that was interfering with his chance to discover his soulmate's dynamic with some of her important people. A bored looking woman with short blond hair was sitting at the register with a magazine in her hand, "Customers, guys. Don't you have a meeting anyway?"
Loki blinked and looked around to the multitude of customers who had been watching the exchange just as he had been, taking particular note of the awed looks that Haven was getting. His gaze slid back to Haven and he blinked again when he saw a mischievous grin spread across her face, her eyes sparking with a bit of chaos. Loki discreetly shifted his stance at the look.
"You're right Verity!" Haven announced, "We do have a meeting! To get my special order of Wildfire Wizbangs! They're my favorite after all!" Whispers broke out in the crowd as Haven tugged Loki behind her on her way toward the twins. Loki stayed close to Haven and, as they stepped behind a curtain in the back of the store, he caught a glimpse of the crowd making a mad dash for a particular display, cleaning it out in seconds.
The twins chuckled as the curtain swished close behind Loki, "Thanks, little sister!"
"Those will sell like hotcakes now that the great Haven..." they trailed off as they finally notice the person behind Haven.
"Who are you?" The first asked bluntly as the second eyed Loki and Haven's connected hands.
"Fred!" Haven huffed, "I know your mother taught you better manners than that!" Loki raised an eyebrow, as both ignored her in favor of assessing him. Haven snapped her fingers in front of their faces and they jerked back to focus on her. "I'll explain upstairs." The twins narrowed their eyes at Loki until Haven snapped her fingers again, "Now." Haven growled, Loki couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face when the two jumped, their eyes going back to Haven immediately. They both shot him a scowl before turning and reluctantly leading the way up a small set of stairs.
Loki squeezed Haven's hand lightly, "Still sure they'll be fans after that display?" He muttered softly.
Haven stifled a laugh before whispering back, "They're just trying to play the big brother card. Once they find out who you are they'll be falling all over themselves." They followed after the twins and soon found themselves in a cozy apartment where yet another redhead was sitting in wait. "Hey, Ron." Haven greeted as she nudged the door closed behind her.
The redhead looked up with a smile, "Hey Haven. You were almost late. 'Mione would have had a fit."
"I would not have 'had a fit' Ron." came another voice, Loki looked over to see a slim young woman with long caramel brown hair walk in caring a tea tray, "I would have been disappointed. How many times have I told you guys about being on time?"
"Told?" Ron snorted.
"Hermione you have lectured us on the merits of being on time too many times to count," Haven said, rolling her eyes.
"None of which should count for anything since you're always the one losing track of time while you're reading." Ron huffed.
Hermione set the tray down and crossed her arms over her chest, "At least I apologize when..." she stopped as she caught sight of Loki, "Oh hello. Did I miss an introduction somewhere?"
"No, you did not," Loki answered politely, still letting Haven have the lead to see this fanatic reaction she seemed sure was coming.
The twins were eyeing him again, "We haven't had a"
"chance to be introduced to the strange"
"man that has yet to let go of our sister's hand." Hermione raised an eyebrow but dropped her gaze down to look at Loki and Haven's connected hands, Ron was now frowning at the God.
Haven rolled her eyes at her family and waved her free hand at Loki, "Guys, this is my soulmate." Hermione and Ron exchanged a glance but the twins went in for more intimidation.
"Her soulmate huh?"
"And just who are you that"
"you think you're worthy"
"of our little sister?" The twins growled, leaning toward Loki with dark looks that were probably meant to be threatening but had no effect on the God before them.
Loki saw Haven grin at him out of the corner of his eye and cocked an eyebrow at the twins, "I am Prince Loki of Asgard and Jotunheim, The God of Mischief and Chaos."
The twins' mouths dropped open, their eyes going wide as Ron choked where he was sitting, lurching forward to try and breathe.
Loki almost fell backward as the twins suddenly threw themselves at his feet, each wrapping their arms around one leg. "My Lord! We are at your service!" They chorused exuberantly before beginning to kiss at his dress shoes, babbling praises that began to slowly increase in ridiculousness as they talked over each other.
Haven giggled and Loki looked over to her with wide pleading eyes, she just smiled at him, "Told you."
Over in the seating area, Ron had just managed to pull in a breath while Hermione moaned and drew a hand down her face, "Only you Haven."
Loki looked down at the twins still at his feet and tried to find the differences between them that would allow him to tell them apart, but their frantic movement and babbling weren't helping any. Loki looked back to his mate with a raised eyebrow, Haven grinned, "Fred! George! We didn't get a chance to eat before we left. How about you get Loki something to eat."
The twins jumped to their feet and scrambled toward their kitchen, eyes wide and frantic.
Loki sent Haven a grateful look and she smiled as she pulled him over to the seating area, tugging him gently down next to her on the loveseat that was positioned at the head of the arrangement. Hermione took the seat next to Ron and smiled at the couple, "Pleased to meet you, Your Highness, I'm Hermione Granger, Haven's best friend."
"A pleasure Lady Granger," Loki said politely, Hermione blushed lightly.
"I'm Ron Weasley." The redhead threw out, finally having regained his breath, "Haven's other best friend."
Loki inclined his head at Ron and was about to greet him when Fred and George came rushing back into the room, their arms loaded up with different food and even more floating after them.
"Guys!" Hermione exclaimed as they dumped everything out on the coffee table in front of Loki.
Fred stood back up quickly, his hands going to his reddened cheeks, "We know!"
"But we didn't know what our Lord would like!" George finished as he started frantically organizing the mess on the table.
"Is there anything else we can get you?" Fred asked, his eyes going to Loki before they widened even further, "George, The God of Mischief is sitting on our couch!" He squeaked uncharacteristically.
George's head shot up from his organizing, "Oh Merlin!" He shot to his feet and gripped his brother's arm as both of their breathing started to pick up, "My Lord, we are sorry we don't have anything more suitable!"
Haven's quiet snickers from her spot next to Loki turned into a squeak as the couch below them transfigured without warning into a grand gold throne with plush green cushions. The sudden change pushed Haven into the lap of her bewildered mate, who only just managed to catch her before she fell completely.
Two quick flashes of blue and the twins dropped to the floor, unconscious.
Still holding Haven carefully, Loki looked over to see Hermione with her wand out. The young woman blew out an exasperated breath, "Honestly."
Haven laughed, "Told you they were fans." Loki looked back to his mate to find her smiling brightly at him. "Your mere presence got them so worked up that they had a bout of accidental magic! As twenty-two-year-olds!"
"I honestly did not expect them to react so...enthusiastically." Loki said truthfully, "I have had worshipers in the past but none reacted quite like that."
"My brothers were always a bit mental when it came to you and your legends." Ron chuckled, "Imagine they never thought they'd meet you, let alone have you in their apartment."
"Indeed." Loki said, his lips twitching up at the corner, "It shall certainly be interesting to see how this goes."
Hermione nodded as she finally went back to the tea tray she had brought in, "They'll be out for about forty minutes, so any constructive work we want to get done we should do by then."
Haven smiled at her friend before wandlessly summoning a plastic container and a fork from the table, "Excellent." She looked at her mate with a cocked head, "Hungry? They brought out some of the cherry chocolate cake I sent them the other day."
"Is it any good? I do have a bit of a sweet tooth." Loki admitted.
"Haven's baking is the best." Ron piped up, even as Haven took the lid off the container.
"But it's not exactly the healthiest breakf-" Hermione began smartly.
Haven and Loki weren't paying attention to the lecture. Haven was offering Loki a bite of the cake, holding it out for him with a small smile and a challenge in her eyes. Never one to back down, especially not in the face of something so potentially delicious, Loki took the offered bite and moaned softly the second the rich flavors hit his tongue, his eyes closing reflexively. Haven's cheeks went pink at the sound from her mate but couldn't stop a pleased smile from spreading across her face, "Just wait until you try it when it hasn't been under a preservation charm."
Loki's eyes opened again, locking on his mate, "My Lady, if it is much better I may sell all my possessions for you to make me more." He purred.
"You just have to ask," Haven said, her blush darkening a bit.
Hermione cleared her throat loudly and the two soulmates whipped around, "So how long have you know each other?" Hermione asked, "Not long I suspect, especially with your lack of focus on anyone beyond one another."
Loki's mouth pressed into a thin line, remembering just what he had been doing yesterday before he had miraculously been brought directly to his soulmate, luckily Haven stepped in. "Death brought him to me." She answered easily, "We've known each other for less than a day so yeah the new bond effects are still pretty strong."
Hermione groaned lightly, "Haven...please tell me you didn't order the personification of death to bring you your soulmate. You know that meeting is supposed to happen in its own time! The Fates have rules about this!"
Haven pouted even as she fed Loki another bite of cake, "I didn't tell Death who exactly to bring, but even if I did you know I don't follow rules." She wrinkled her nose, "Especially the rules of those three! They hate me!"
"Ever think they hate you because you don't follow their rules?" Hermione shot back.
"Perhaps," Loki interjected, "We should continue on before our time is up."
Haven turned back to him with a sheepish smile, "Right. And I did promise to explain things at breakfast."
"Cake is hardly breakfast," Hermione muttered.
They ignored her, Loki looking at Haven intently, "Yes, you have dropped some hints. The most disturbing being the block on your magic. I would like to know what exactly I have been brought into."
Haven nodded solemnly and adjusted herself on his lap so he could release her and take his 'breakfast' and she could focus on him more directly. "Before I was born, Magical Britain was going through a bit of a Civil War. People, after years of propaganda and fear-mongering, had convinced themselves that magic was split between light and dark, one wholesome and good while the other was evil and destructive." Loki's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, Haven gave him a small smile, "Yes, I know. They're idiots. The leader of the 'dark' side was a powerful wizard who called himself Voldemort. The leader of the 'light' was a manipulative old fool named Dumbledore. Unfortunately for Dumbledore the dark was winning; so being the 'creative problem solver' he is, when he heard a prophesy telling of one powerful enough to defeat the Dark Lord he decided to take control and play it to his advantage. He found two babies who the prophecy may have applied to and began plans for each. The Dark Lord, who had heard the first bit of the prophecy, decided on the child he thought most posed a threat and went off to kill her before she could destroy him. Voldemort killed the girl's parents but when he went to kill her, the killing curse rebounded and turned him to dust, freeing his soul to roam and earning her the title the-girl-who-lived."
"You," Loki said, watching his soulmate closely. Outwardly Haven was relaxed but Loki, having been trained since birth for politics and its intricacies, saw the tension around her gorgeous eyes.
"Yes. Me." Haven said softly, "Through some crafty manipulations, Dumbledore put me with the last of my blood family, despite the fact that my mother expressly said that I should never have gone to them. They were magic-hating, vile people whose treatment of me Dumbledore thought would give him an advantage when he needed to make me trust him and take his orders. It worked for quite a while. When I came back into the magical world at eleven I was pretty malleable, easy to push in directions that he needed me to go. He made sure that I hated the Hogwarts House that would have made me too much of handful and would have trained me to notice his manipulations early. He also put the block on my magic to keep me average, so I wouldn't stand out and take his spotlight or grow powerful enough to oppose him. He set up little 'tests' for me every year and, when Voldemort showed back up, pushed me toward him to test how ready I was to fulfill the prophecy for him. It wasn't really until my fifth year that I started to suspect something and that's when things started to pick up. Voldemort had been resurrected the year before and was building his strength once more. Dumbledore faked his death so his spy would be able to prove his 'loyalty' to Voldemort. After that Dumbledore stopped being so subtle."
"He approached both I and Ron." Hermione jumped in, Loki turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, "We're Haven's best friends. We're the closest to her so we would be the best choices to spy on her. He offered us money and future success to spy on and lead Haven toward what he had planned for her."
"For me, he offered me Haven herself and the fortune that would come from bonding with her." Ron said with a scowl, "Said there was a way to fake a soulmate bond and that I would be able to get the recognition I deserved if I was the soulmate of the-girl-who-lived and the eventual Savior of the Wizarding World." Loki moved one hand to set on Haven's leg in a subtle gesture of possessiveness, Ron caught it though and held up his hands, "I didn't take it, obviously. I want to find my own soulmate. And Haven has always been my sister, not someone I saw that way." he looked to Haven with a goofy grin, "Not enough money in the world for me to bond with you like that."
Haven stuck her tongue out at him, "Prat." she looked back to Loki, "Anyway, after they rejected his offer, Dumbledore tried to close the ranks of his organization around me to keep me controlled but a great majority of them were more loyal to me at that point so it didn't work as well as he hoped. As we worked on taking down Voldemort we also began plans to get out from under Dumbledore, for me to run to the States at the very least. That was if I survived the martyring that Dumbledore had set up for me. Turned out I had been carrying around a piece of the crazy Dark Lord's soul around with me since he killed my parents. When he sent the killing curse at me this time, it killed off his soul piece and allowed me to meet Death officially for the first time. Death spent over twenty minutes spouting off cryptic verses and giving me weird half answers before sending me back to this side of the veil. Shortly after that, I killed Voldemort, ending that war. Once it was over and I was clearly still alive, Dumbledore started his campaign to have me declared a Dark Lady and have me arrested. The Wizarding Community has always been all too eager to flip-flop their opinion on me but with my recent victory, it was a bit harder to sway them this time. But Dumbledore was and still is making some slow headway on that front." Haven sighed, "Almost a year ago, a month after I defeated Voldemort, the plan was still for me to disappear completely from the British Magical World. Then Dumbledore tried to have me assassinated. That was when Death presented itself to me again and declared me its Mistress."
"Apparently she was always destined to become Death's Mistress." Hermione piped up, her lecturer tone coming out full force, "But she had to collect all of the Hallows and die again after that before she could fully take up her rightful position and the powers that went with it."
Haven nodded, a small smile coming on her face. "That's when the plans changed drastically. I found myself suddenly very immortal and with a fully opened instinctual awareness of Death and the universe. It was...liberating. So my plans changed."
Loki's lips quirked at the side, "Vengeance."
Ron let out a startled laugh even as Haven grinned, "Vengeance." she agreed.
"Merlin, he really is your soulmate!" Ron snickered.
"Tell me of this plot my Lady." Loki purred, brushing his thumb along her knee where his hand still rested. "I wish to hear more details of your life later but what you have already given me, makes me see that it is deserved. I will help where I can."
Haven's grin turned to a pleased smile and she gave her mate a quick kiss on the cheek, Loki froze for a moment but quickly relaxed with his own smile. "So the plan," Haven began, ignoring Ron's quiet laughs, "overall, is to take the entire British Wizarding World under my control for a time. I will kill Dumbledore off as well as some of the more unsavory politicians that are dragging the community down. Then, when I feel that I've gotten my revenge on the sheep of this community, I will set up a more appropriate government with my family and friends at the head, so that I know it will be in good hands, and then step back from the Wizarding World completely with my only contact being with my family. Basically a final 'screw you Magical Britain' since I would be forcibly taking them and then throwing them away!" Haven explained happily.
Loki looked at her with raised eyebrows, "That does sound like a good plan." 'Especially that last part.' Loki mused internally. "May I ask why you are just now getting the block off your magic? And where you are at in the planning process?"
Haven nodded, "Of course. I didn't know about the block until Death told me when it informed me I was its Mistress. After that, with the new powers, I wanted to leave it on while I worked to control them. A lot of the powers I got from my position are lethal, for obvious reasons, so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't accidentally kill someone I wasn't supposed to or didn't want to. I would have been fine letting it stay on for a bit longer, but Death was certain that I had gotten my control down well enough so I had it taken off." Loki nodded in understanding.
"As for the planning." Hermione took over, "We have pretty much everything planned out, it's just set up and putting things into action that we're waiting for." she leaned over the arm of the couch and pulled a thick folder from a small bag, "The take over should take no more than forty-eight hours after Hogwarts has been secured, Hogwarts being our starting point of course. After Haven took her place as Mistress of Death and the personality changes settled, she has had even less patience for idiots so I'm not foreseeing that her 'rule' will last more than a month."
Loki gave a small frown, "You seem to have everything planned." he looked down to Haven, "What exactly did you ask Death to bring you help for?"
Haven gave him a sheepish smile, "The setting up of the new government. I have no idea where to start and none of the people I have on my side are anywhere near the level of competence needed to set up an entire government."
Hermione nodded solemnly, "I've tried to read books on the subject but all the information is just so...contradictory and whenever I try to come up with a plan I end up tangling things into a terrible mess."
Loki gave a light chuckle, "Governments will tend to do that and politics itself is a messy business." his mind was already working through some possibilities for such a government, ones with a few back doors that would allow him and Haven to easily retake control if needed of course. "I would be delighted to work out the plan for the new government. With my royal responsibilities, I've often wished to have a way to change Asgards system so to make one from scratch will be quite enjoyable for me."
Haven beamed at him, "Well you'll have some time before the takeover. The plans are all ready but I have some things I want to have done first. My supporters are doing some training right now and Fred and George are actually working on a couple things that we need for securing Hogwarts since we have a smaller force. In the meantime, I'm currently having fun messing with Dumbledore's reputation in any way I can." her smile went softer, "I'd also like to make sure you're kids are safe here before we get caught up in everything."
Loki gave her a grateful look and he pulled up Haven's hand to kiss the back of it, "Thank you, my Lady." Haven blushed a bit.
Two groans drew everyone's eyes over to the twin heaps on the floor. "Bloody hell..." Fred muttered, rubbing his head.
"What happened?" George huffed.
Loki gave Haven a mischevious look and nudged her into a more luxurious pose across his lap as he lounged back in the throne he was sitting on, "Well now," he drawled, Fred and George popped up tolookover the table with wide eyes, their mouths opened and shut silently as they took in a regal looking Loki and Haven with her smug grin, "Do you think I am worthy to be your sister's soulmate now?"
Next time: Death retrieves Sleipnir, Death House, and Reapers.