"Mr. Nott!" Albus joined Scorpius and embraced the man.
"Mr. Potter," he acknowledged. When Frankie joined them he lifted her hand to his lips and brushed them. "Ms. Longbottom."
"How long have you been here?" Scorpius asked.
"Long enough to understand the gravity of the circumstance. Even if, perhaps, you do not fully recognize it." He stood in front of Loki and looked at him with a gaze that the god shifted uncomfortably beneath. It was piercing and cold, immediately at odds with the warmth of his greeting to the young wizards and witch. "I understand you gave them Veritaserum. How much?"
"A lot. I splashed a whole bunch into a goblet with some water, had them drink, and they've been singing like a violin ever since."
"We have not been singing but speaking!" Thor protested.
Nott gave him a strange look then turned to frown at his godson. "Scorpius Hyperion. I am disappointed with you."
He looked at the floor. "Because I gave them Veritaserum?"
"Because you handled it so sloppily. What have I always impressed upon you when it comes to the creation and usage of potions?"
"To be patient…"
"And?" He pressed.
"And precise," he sighed.
"Exactly." He turned back to the four. "Without precision of the dosage you never know when the effects might be lost. Also, if you are going to chain men up in magical handcuffs," he began, drawing his wand, "you ought to at least bother to activate the more powerful enchantments on them."
He made a complex series of motions in the air and three sigils appeared in every cuff as if burned into the metal, one red, one blue, one green.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tony demanded.
"Extra security," he responded dryly. "I would not recommend you strain against the cuffs. Do so and the curses will activate."
"Curses?" Steve echoed.
"What foul manner of magic is this!" Thor glowered.
"The kind of magic I won't hesitate to use." He pointed his wand at Steve's cuff. "The first is Cruciatus. It is pain, more intense than any you've likely know. But merely pain all the less. The second is the Imperius. If you continue to resist, it will attempt to take over and make you docile. If you stay collected through the Cruciatus and throw off the Imperius, the last one…" He grinned. "The last one is Avada Kedavra. I trust you should be able to decipher on your own what that one does."
"Mr. Nott!" Frankie gasped.
"Calm, Frances. If they are smart, none of these will be necessary. As it stands they are merely a precaution." He strode over to Loki. "So you are the villain of this story."
Loki glared at the man before him. In many ways, the god found him unassuming. Thin verging on the point of gauntness but nothing to make one stare, dark hair arranged neatly but unremarkably, a suit with robes about them. Take away the robes and he would likely blend into any crowd he was put into. Save for his one distinguishing feature – eyes that were dark and sharp, offering the only hint that this man might be more dangerous than he initially appeared.
"Scorpius," he murmured, "get me the potion from the cabinet where you got the Veritaserum that is in the cut violet glass."
"That one?" He frowned. "But that's…"
"I am well aware of what it is. I do not intend to make him drink it." He turned. "At once!"
Scorpius scrambled into the other room and came back clutching the small bottle. While he did, Albus and Frankie sank unsettled into the plush chairs. The atmosphere of the room had changed and even the others were beginning to sense it. Tony and Steve had fallen silent and turned away as Nott shifted his attentions to Loki. Only Thor glanced at his brother, but he could find no words.
"Thank you." He took the top off of the flask while Scorpius joined the other two, perching on the arm of Albus' chair. A pearlescent smoke wafted out and Nott held it under Loki's nose. "Tell me what you smell." The other hesitated. "Tell me, you inveterate liar," he insisted. "Tell me the truth."
"Fire. Iron. Apples." He looked away when he had spoken.
Nott smirked as though he had been expecting just such a response.
"Well done. You may return this to where you found it," he said. "And in exchange bring me four small empty phials." He then gave his full attention back to the green-clad man. "How very interesting. Now I would recommend that you look at me, Loki." His wand pressed into the flesh of Loki's throat. "Else I will have to force you."
"Do not harm him!" Thor commanded, breaking the silence. "If any harm comes to him, I shall…"
"Harm?" Nott interrupted. "His body will be unscathed, I promise."
"Mr. Nott?" Albus asked carefully. "What are you going to do?"
"Nothing too severe. I simply want to look upon him." He quirked his head to the side. "That I might understand why he seems to think it necessary to murder us. Now that I have given you an opportunity, I will also give you a time limit. Ten seconds. Beginning now. Ten… nine…"
At the count of six, Loki's gaze snapped upwards. "Good. Wise decision."
The darker wells of Nott's brown eyes met Loki's acidic green ones. For several long moments, nothing happened. At least nothing that Thor or the others chained with him could discern. The younger ones looked at each other nervously. None, however, broke the silence. As the seconds ticked by, Nott's expression twisted into a smirk, a hungry smile that stretched across his features and made his eyes dance with cold amusement. The silence between them was broken by a raucous laugh bursting forth from Nott's lips.
"Oh this is marvelous! I haven't had amusement such as this in years!" He drew in breath to suppress the laughter. "I would highly recommend," he finally said, "that if you intend on breaking down other people's doors, you at least go through the trouble to make sure that your own are locked and secured." His smile was sardonic and it made Loki twitch. "And for all that you seem to disdain humans, you yourself are a rather miserable pile of secrets."
"Nice old school reference, Uncle Theo," Scorpius grinned, though only he did. "And I brought you those phials."
"Thank you." He took them gingerly. "I attribute it to spending too much time around you and your friends. And the Muggle amusements you favor so much."
Scorpius and Albus shared a smirk.
"We are almost done. For now. One last bit." His hand slipped into his robe and when it came out it had a small silver knife it in.
"Uh, what do you think you're doing to do with that?" Tony's voice spoke up. "Because if you're going to kill us, couldn't you do it with something cooler? I mean, don't you have like some kind of magic sword or something, a better way to go out than something smaller than my pinkie?"
"One of us does," Nott said, his dark eyes glancing momentarily at Frankie. "But that is for later. Do not worry, I do not intend to kill you. All I intent to do is take a little off the top."
With quick motions, he cut a lock of hair from each. Tony complained loudly and profanely, Steve remained still as a beam, Loki twisted as much as he dared and shot vicious looks at him, and Thor winced, as if it pained him to see any part of his golden locks shorn away.
"Done. Now come." Nott motioned towards the three. "They will be secure enough down here for a few moments. Should they attempt an escape, I've no doubt the screams would alert us. And I would speak with you three about what we are to do next."
"Don't you think that's a conversation you should be sharing with the class?" Tony spat.
His eyes rested on Loki. "No. I don't."
His robes trailed behind him as he pushed the children up the steps and into the study. They fell onto the room's large leather couch while Nott busied himself lighting a fire in the room.
"Better." He turned. "Are you all comfortable?"
"I feel like we've all been sent to see McGonagall," Frankie grumbled.
"I am no head of the school." He sat down and his expression finally started to finally soften. "So forgive me if I seem sharp. It is only out of worry." He looked into the fire. "I did not like what I saw."
"You used legilimency," Scorpius said.
"Of course I did." He shook his head. "This is a dangerous business. I will warn you all of that going in. And I have not been the first person inside his mind. Far from it," he laughed mirthlessly. "But all of this was your idea Albus?"
The boy squirmed. "Once we found out they were heroes, yeah."
"Tell me. Truthfully Albus – and I will trust you to give me the truth without having to pry. Is this about your father or your brother?"
He swallowed before he answered, as though the idea was giving him difficulty. "No. No, it's not that, it's more than… It goes back farther than that. You know?"
"Farther than all of the fights you've had with your brother?" He quirked an eyebrow.
"No, maybe not that far, I just meant the last fight." He sucked in a breath. "But not about me. Not really. I mean, I wouldn't care… James picked on me all the time as a kid but that wasn't what bothered me. All those times when I was a kid wanting to be all those things like you said," he went on, looking at Frankie, "it was about us. Not just myself."
"Us. You and Scorpius?"
"No. All of us. You and me and Scorpius and the Slyterins like Professor Slughorn and... and my namesake." He gulped. "And even people like Frankie. Everything they still say – I hate it!" He burst out. "Nobody ever talks about the Battle of Hogwarts without mentioning how Pansy Parkinson wanted to hand my father over. But they all omit Slughorn and those who stayed to fight."
Frankie's expression had gotten cold as well. "I know what you mean. All anybody ever talks about us in the war was Diggory dying, like a martyr. Not the ones who fought. Not those who stood up."
"And if I've wanted an adventure, if I've acted like a stupid Gryff some of the time, it's not for me! I might not have even been a Slytherin, but I wanted…"
"You wanted people to see the best of our house. Instead of the worst." Nott nodded. "Understandable. Though remember, it is unwise to ground your own sense of worth – or by extension the worth of your house – on the opinions of others. You are clever and skilled and talented, particularly at transfiguration. You do not need the accolades of others to tell you this."
"I know. But I want to do this. I want to try myself, test my limits. And I want… I want to know firsthand that Slytherins can be as skillful and as good as everybody else. I don't care if anybody thanks me at the end." He sighed. "But I wasn't there for the Battle of Hogwarts. I wasn't there for all that Snape did. All I see around me is a shell of a House that has stopped speaking for itself. I wouldn't care if it wasn't me, but the opportunity fell into my lap. So I want to stand and show everybody what a Slytherin can do. That our way of getting things accomplished is no worse than Gryffindors or Ravenclaws but we can stand and fight if need be. And if nobody cares afterward, then at least I've proven it to me." He looked to his side. "And to you and Scorpius."
There were a few beats of silence.
"You said you thought it was a good idea," Frankie finally spoke. "Why were you so keen on it if you don't think it should be about glory seeking?"
He reclined into the tall-backed chair. "Concern for my kind, perhaps not unlike Albus'. But on a larger level. The Muggles are getting into difficulties they cannot always comprehend. This tesseract, this source of power threatening the whole planet but also there as a potential boon – shall we have no part in it? Shall the wizarding world be passed by, with no say in our planet's future? When we have ample talents to defend it?" He stirred the fire with his wand. "We cannot allow this to continue on. The world is changing. One way or another, something will happen that will prompt us to enter it." He smiled. "And if it is on a Slytherin's terms, perhaps so much the better?" He smiled for the first time in their conversation.
"Well, if Albus has his heart set on it, I'm in, glory of Slytherin house or not." Scorpius' hand drifted over to Albus' and gave it a squeeze.
"And I suppose I'll have to go along just to keep these two out of trouble," Frankie huffed.
"Don't even act like you don't like it Frankie," Scorpius smirked.
"I am glad to hear it," Nott said. "But if we are to do this, we must do it properly. We have some time, Loki was not lying about that, but the time is not infinite and we must therefore move quickly. There are some items I have at my castle which I think perhaps we ought to retrieve. And elsewhere as well." His eyes came to rest on Frankie. "Things for which I might require your assistance Frances."
"What? What is it? What can I do?"
"You have access to Hogwarts, unfettered and unquestioned because of your father's position." He hesitated. "Do you know where the sword that your father used to slay the great snake is kept?"
She paled and for a moment, Scorpius and Albus thought she would turn scarlet, walk out of the manor and refuse.
"Yeah, I know where they keep it. But I'm not a Gryffin…"
"A sword is a sword," Nott said sternly. "Any who can grip the handle may wield it. The threat is potentially immense and it would be a powerful weapon. We cannot afford to set it aside if we have access to it." He then turned to Albus. "And I would have an artifact of yours as well."
"Of mine? What?"
"The cloak you secreted from your father's household the night you left." Albus flushed. "Scorpius confided in me about it."
"Scorpius!"
"I'm sorry Al." He gave him an apologetic grin. "But I thought it would amuse him to know you'd got one over on your dad and your brother."
Albus crossed his arms and huffed but nodded. "Fine. It's in my trunk upstairs."
"Excellent. We all should…"
There was an ear-piercing scream from the basement and the three younger wizards jumped up.
"Looks like somebody decided to test the magic of the restraints," Nott said coolly. "The trickster if I am not mistaken."
"I'll go make sure he's not escaping," Scorpius said, dashing out of the room and down the hall in the direction of the scream.
"And I'll go back to Hogwarts and see what I can find." Frankie stood and made to leave herself but Nott extended his hand.
"Not yet. I will accompany you on that journey. Wait until I return from my own castle. For the moment, join Scorpius and Albus in continuing to guard the rest. And make sure that you and your friends do not reveal anything of significance in front of Loki. As I said – I am not the only one who has wandered the halls of his thoughts and the more he knows the greater chance that others are aware of that which we would keep secret." He set his hand on Albus' shoulder. "And a quick word with you Albus. I have a particular task I want to set you to."
He leaned over and whispered in his ear for several moments. Albus turned slightly red at the tips of his ears but nodded. "I understand."
"Good." Nott threw a handful of powder into the fire and it burned bright green. "Now each to your tasks."
Albus stepped towards the door but paused and pivoted.
"Mr. Nott?" He looked at him amid the green flames. "You knew he would try that when you activated the spells, didn't you?"
His response was a twitch of a smile. "Nott Castle!"
"Told you that was going to happen," Scorpius said disdainfully to the haggard looking liesmith as the trio came back downstairs and settled down to watch.
Loki seethed.
"This affront to Asgard shall be remembered!" Thor warned. "I shall not forget that you have hurt my brother in this fashion!"
"Silence your oafish mouth!" Loki snapped.
"I only want to see to your safety, brother," Thor said quietly.
"I do not need you to see to that."
"You should listen to him. Try it again and you'll see where it gets you," Scorpius threatened, crossing his arms.
"It is kind of you to be such a good brother," Albus remarked quietly. His emerald eyes locked with Thor's lapis ones and the smile on the boy's face was soft and sad. "Looking out for him even though it is clear he has hurt you."
"I could not do less, for he is my brother!" He looked at Loki. "No matter what he might say."
"Compassionate words indeed," Albus murmured.
Scorpius and Frankie exchanged a glance, but they all fell back into silence.
So yes, Frankie is a Longbottom. :) I don't think they have a canon kid, but I love Neville and I wanted to use somebody outside the Potter-Weasley family so there you go.