Hello - and the good news is that my daughter got the grades she needed for her second choice university, so I am now up to my eyeballs in preparations. I'm pleased for her of course - but I am REALLY going to miss her.
Things are really hotting up now. We have more of the attack on Asgard, and more news of the ladies. Well done to those of you that guessed what happens next...
As always I have no claim on either the Harry Potter or Marvel characters in this story.
Reviews make a very happy writer - all feedback gratefully received.
Merrick x
Hermione, Frigga, Jane and two very unhappy little boys landed in a somewhat undignified heap, in chilly and impenetrable darkness.
"This is where I hope I haven't apparated us into the middle of the mountain," Hermione muttered under her breath. It took every ounce of nerve to light her wand.
"Lumos"
Hermione sighed with relief. It had worked. She had been here several times over the last few years, but not for a while, and never, ever with four passengers.
Jane looked around the austere little bedchamber with fearful eyes. "Hermione, where the hell are we?"
Her sister in law was busy at the fireplace. Within a few moments, the room was filled with the light and sound of a cheerful fire, and immediately everything looked a little better. Lighting the wall sconces, she turned back and smiled tightly. "Welcome to our safe house. This is one of the bedchambers in the North Tower of Loki's Castle. We'll be safe here. The castle is protected by ancient wards keyed only to the master and mistress of the house – without me, you would never even find the place, let alone enter it. Now we just need to find the supplies that Loki has stashed for us..."
Jane looked utterly blank. "Loki's castle? Since when did Loki have a castle? How did I not know about this before? Don't take this the wrong way, but why doesn't he live here?"
Hermione shrugged, looking to Frigga. "He has never cared for the place. Even when he was miserable in Asgard, he would still have rather been miserable there than here." Frigga smiled sadly. "Ultimately, he loves the Golden City. It is home to him and always has been."
"But where are we" insisted Jane.
"We're about a day's journey east of Asgard, on the Sea of Marmora. On the other side of the inlet are the Mountains of the Moon." Hermione pulled a face "another reason for Loki to avoid the place. He doesn't care for the view..." She paused, one hand on the door handle. "You try and get the boys settled. Loki came here the morning that the trade delegation arrived to leave supplies somewhere. I'll see what I can find. In the meantime there's some bits and bobs in the bag on the chair.
Wand lit, Hermione crept quietly down the tower staircase into the main rooms of the small castle. She had always been quite fond of this place. To be sure it was small, and basic compared to the luxuries of Asgard, but it was quiet - and cosy as castles go. Perhaps they could spend some time here next summer, it would probably be cooler than home, and Loki had always hated the summer heat in Asgard...Providing of course, they were all still alive next summer... as reality checked her a cold premonition crept down Hermione's spine, a conviction that whatever happened next, they were not all going to walk away from this unscathed.
Half an hour later, she had still not managed to find the stash that Loki should have left for her. The Great Hall, the kitchen and servants quarters, the solar and the storerooms failed to yield anything. Hermione sank wearily onto a settle "Why is everything a mystery with you Loki?". She rested her head on the back of the settle and thought back to their last visit. Loki had told her that the best thing about the castle had been its Observatory, which was in a small tower that looked over the sea.
"The Observatory... of course"
A few minutes later, Hermione entered the tower bedroom with a small but very heavy box levitated in front of her.
Jane frowned. "That was a long time for a very small...oh!"
With a tap, Hermione had restored the box to its regular size and turned abruptly to sit down. Suddenly she was very tired. She hadn't slept properly in days, and apparating five people together, even if two were babies, had clearly taken it out of her. She could hear Jane and Frigga's voices but they seemed to be coming from a long way away. The world was greying alarmingly around the edges, and lurched sickeningly before everything went black.
oo0oo
Back in the Palace, all was chaos. In the ruins of the Throne Room, Thor, Loki, Harry and the Avengers fought, with several cohorts of Einherjar against an army of invading Dark Elves. It was strange, thought Harry, that it didn't matter whether a battle was magical, muggle or a combination of both like this, where swords, curses, power and plasma weapons – not to mention a large magical hammer were flying around. Whatever the battle, you were only aware of the your immediate vicinity, of the man or woman at your back – of the elf racing towards you. These guys were a long way from the Lord of the Rings, he thought. More like bugs – cockroaches maybe.
With a slash of his wand he almost decapitated one of the elves - the boy wizard that had defeated Voldemort with expelliarmus and stunning spells was long gone. These days he had little compunction about using the full range of spells available to him. When plasma weapons and gravity grenades were flying there was little point in not rolling out the big guns.
oo0oo
Mundungus Fletcher stood paralysed in the centre of his room listening to the sounds of battle echoing around him. They had come for him. The creatures that had killed his friends had found him even here, and all that stood between him and death were these strangers... His eyes widened as the door opened. With a gasp of relief he recognised the tall burly red haired guard that he had seen on his arrival. These were the good guys.
"They're here for you mortal." Dallan's face was grim. "Fear not. The King values your hide, although the gods know why. Lock yourself in the dressing room. There are no windows, you will be most secure there. We will keep you safe."
From the royal apartments two floors below, the sound of running footsteps was heard, heading in their direction...
oo0oo
Loki had no time to use his powers, no time for the concentration needed to kill opponents without killing friends. He and Thor were the focus of too many of the Dark Elves' attentions, this was knife and spear work, something he had been trained for for over a thousand years. And the man at his back had been his training partner for much of those years... In the corner of his eye he saw Rogers and Romanoff also surrounded by elves. They were doing very well, but in a single moment, Romanoff was knocked off balance by a blow to the side of her head with a plasma spear. Momentarily dizzy, she did not see the blade raised to finish her. The blast of power from Loki's spear flew past her face, blowing her attacker clear across the room. Startled blue eyes met his and Romanoff nodded her acknowledgement that Loki had undoubtedly saved her life, before returning to the battle. Sensing movement behind him, Loki whirled back to see a black obsidian blade flying towards him. Before he even had a chance to think, the elf in question stopped dead – literally. Looking down he realised that his left hand was coated in ice – tapering into a jagged spear that disappeared into the chest of his opponent…. Blood was coating the ice, but this wasn't only black elf blood. This was red blood. His blood.
oo0oo
Hermione opened her eyes, to find herself lying on the settle. Frigga was watching over her with an enigmatic smile on her face.
"Welcome back dear, how are you feeling?"
Hermione tried to sit up, but gave it up as a bad idea when her head and stomach lurched simultaneously. "Awful. What happened?" She looked at Frigga – horrified. "Did I faint? I've never fainted in my life before?"
Frigga crouched beside her, a cup of water in hand. "Here, drink, but only a little at a time or you'll make yourself sick..."
Hermione smiled weakly. "Do you know, I remember saying the exact same thing to Loki, in another tower a long time ago..." She took a little water and felt better. "I think I might try to sit up now..."
The room lurched as she sat up, but steadied, and her stomach at least appeared to be under her control again, although her head ached abominably. Looking around the small chamber, she saw that Jane was curled up asleep with the two boys on the bed.
Frigga smiled. "They would only settle with her, so it made sense for her to get a little rest too. I will be sending you to join her in a moment." She looked at Hermione "Is there something you want to tell me Hermione?"
Hermione's face was confused. "I don't know ... what do you mean Frigga?"
"Oh I don't know. You've been "a little under the weather", Loki tells me you have suffered some sickness, now the fainting..."
"It's the stress" replied Hermione, a little more sharply than she had intended. "plus the fact that Loki or Harry or Thor may even now be as dead as those wizards back on Earth."
Frigga shook her head. "Is it possible that you hadn't realised? Oh Hermione my dear, it is not death that is causing all this, but life. If I am not very much mistaken you are with child."
Her first instinct was to deny it, but the the horror dawned on Hermione's face – now it all made sense. But if Loki knew she was pregnant... she gripped her mother in law's hands fiercely. "Promise me that you won't tell Loki. He cannot be distracted, and he needs me at his side if we are to see this through. Promise me Frigga..."
Her mother in law's eyes were concerned, but Frigga understood what it was to stand beside the man you loved in defense of your home and family, and knew that Hermione would be satisfied with nothing less. Had it not been for the need to protect Jane and her grandsons, they would both be back in Asgard, fighting alongside her sons even now.
"I promise... on one condition. That you take the opportunity to get some rest."
Hermione looked doubtful. "I don't think I could sleep, knowing what is going on at home..."
"You would be surprised. Your body is exhausted. For your sake and for the sake of the child you carry you must rest. If you cannot sleep, at least lay on the bed and be comfortable. I will keep watch..."
Hermione removed her shoes and stretched out on the bed, pulling one of the blankets from her bag over her. Only minutes later, she was fast asleep.
Footnote: In the real world Loki's Castle is an underwater volcanic rock formation, but if you image search "map of Asgard" you will find several references to Loki's Castle on the Continent of Asgard. The location I give is as per the maps shown, but I have taken the liberty of renaming the Asgard Mountains as The Mountains of the Moon - home of the Cave of the World Serpent - to tie in with Keeping the Stars Apart.
Merrick x