Notes: It has occurred to me that the kids on the Hogwarts Express don't ever seem to have their trunks with them on the train, and yet they get changed into school uniform before they arrive at Hogwarts. I don't remember this point ever being addressed in Harry Potter canon, so I have created my own little handwave. Also, Harry and his friends always seemed to arrive on the platform about two minutes before the trainwas scheduled to depart, so I've decided to uphold the tradition!

I'll be playing around with the relative ages of the cast for my own purposes. I apologize if anyone finds this jarring.

Not a whole lot happens in this chapter, but after the previous angst-fest I thought a little cheer was in order. Which is also why I'm not waiting to post this!

Warnings: Still with the kid-angst, but at a drastically reduced level. Things are finally beginning to look up for Loki!

Chapter Four

By the time they found Thor and Mum, there were only about five minutes before the train was scheduled to leave. Loki went charging up to his mother to claim his trunk and hug her goodbye. He got kissed, too (he was in no state to be embarrassed about that, and anyway it was all right when it was your mother) and Mum told him Bronwyn was just beautiful before she handed over a tin of sandwiches and biscuits from Bindi, and a brown-paper parcel containing the school clothes he would need to change into later. Then she kissed him again and wished him a good term.

By the time he hugged Dad again and ran for the train, wheeled trunk bumping along behind him, Loki was feeling an awful lot better than he had when he had come downstairs that morning.

The feeling collapsed as he realized he had outdistanced his parents, lost Thor, and had no idea how to get his trunk onto the train without help. He started to lift Bronwyn up first, then had a truly horrible moment imagining the train pulling away with his owl but without him. He was tugging desperately on the trunk, and beginning to panic, when a voice above him asked,

"Do you need help?"

Loki looked up, desperate, and a second voice- this one with a sort of Irish lilt- said,

"Does he look like he needs help, George?" The speaker brushed past him, jumping down to the platform, and said, "Here, you take your owl, and we'll get the trunk."

The next thing Loki knew, two boys his age were dragging his trunk up the steps and into the carriage, just in time as the train began to move. Loki, catching his breath and feeling his heart beginning to finally slow down, looked at the two boys with wide eyes.

"Thanks," he said, when he could speak.

"Not a problem," said the Irish boy, who had messy black curls and wickedly sparkling dark eyes. His friend was fair, snub-nosed, and wore glasses. They looked familiar, but it took a moment for Loki to remember seeing them in Diagon Alley, that horrible day when he learned the truth about himself. The Irish boy said, "I'm Mitchell, and this is George. Are you in first year, too?"

Loki nodded. "Loki," he said. "And this is Bronwyn," he added, indicating the owl, who seemed agitated by the confusion, if her raised ear tufts were anything to go by.

"Right," said Mitchell. "Hi Bronwyn. Let's see if we can find anyplace to sit. Want me to take your trunk?" George made a sort of noise, like he was trying to get a word in, but he finally led the way down the train, carrying Loki's sandwich tin and everyone's parcels containing their school uniforms. Loki followed along behind carrying Bronwyn, and Mitchell came dragging the wheeled trunk along in the rear.

It was only then that it occurred to Loki-

"Wait, where are your trunks?"

George glanced back with an apologetic smile. "Baggage car," he explained. Loki gaped at him, and then felt his face flame. Of course. He had completely forgotten that you were supposed to take your trunk to the rear of the train to be loaded. He knew that, had seen Thor do it last year. George went on, "I wouldn't have known myself, if Mitchell hadn't told me."

Loki glanced back, and Mitchell shrugged. "As long as you and your stuff's all on the train, what's the difference?"

George was already walking on ahead. Mitchell gestured, and Loki gratefully stumbled along in George's wake.

Halfway down the train, George let out a happy cry of, "Annie!" and knocked on the glass door of a compartment. Loki, once again hot all over, looked over George's shoulder.

Annie waved excitedly from inside the compartment, where she was sitting with her older sister. "George! Hi!" she called as George opened the compartment door. "The platform was so crowded, I gave up looking for you!"

Speaking of crowded- Loki could count. The compartment was intended for four adults, and although he supposed five people could squeeze in if four of them were kids, he didn't think there was room for a trunk and an owl as well.

George and Mitchell had sidled past Loki and were greeting Annie. It was obvious they knew each other, had probably gone to school together. Loki stood in the passage, his smile going stiff on his face as he wondered what to do. He knew it would be polite to excuse himself and leave them alone, but he couldn't express how much he didn't want to.

And then Annie turned to him. "Hi, Loki, I was looking for you, too. Come in," she invited.

"I don't think there's- " Loki mumbled, hating himself for his awkwardness but perfectly aware he and his belongings would just make the space uncomfortable for everyone.

Becky, who was already in her school robes-her silver prefect badge pinned above a black-and-yellow crest showing the Hufflepuff badger- smiled at Loki and stood up. She turned to Annie and said,

"I'm glad you've found some of your friends, Annie, because I really have to go up front to the prefects' carriage. The Head Girl and Boy are supposed to talk to us about our duties." She turned a businesslike eye upon Loki- or, rather, his trunk. "Hang on a minute, I'll see if I can find- " She stepped out into the passage, looked over Loki's head down the train, and called, "Oi! Rogers, Stark- I need your manly muscles!"

"I like the respectful way she speaks to her Head Boy," said a voice behind Loki. "That's really impressive, especially in a brand-new prefect."

"Definitely the regard you deserve," said a girl, sounding amused.

Loki turned around. Walking up behind him were the two older boys who had spoken to him about scales, the day in Diagon Alley, and with them was a girl with long reddish-blond hair. Like Becky, all of them were in school uniform with prefects' silver badges. The girl wore the red-and-gold lion crest of Gryffindor, while the tall blond boy was another Hufflepuff. His short, dark-haired friend had a green-and-silver badge with a serpent on it.

Slytherin.

"This is Rogers," Becky was saying, indicating the blond boy. "Stark is Head Boy, and Potts Head Girl."

"I won't insist you bow to us," Stark promised, addressing Loki.

"Stop it, Tony, someone might think you're serious," Potts scolded.

"What, you think I'm not?" Stark protested. "You think I'm serious, right?" he asked Loki, who panicked a little and almost nodded. Rogers poked Stark sharply in the ribs and smiled reassuringly at the three first-years.

Becky ignored Stark's teasing, if it was teasing (on the whole Loki thought it probably was, but he was cautious enough not to declare himself on the subject) and explained the problem:

"Could you take Loki's trunk back to the baggage car for him? Please?"

It occurred to Loki that whatever duties the Head Boy- or any prefect- were normally assigned probably didn't include carrying baggage for first years too stupid to figure out where their trunks belonged.

Stark, however, just looked at Loki in mild amusement. "Muggle-born, right?" he asked.

"Tony!" Potts said sharply.

"What?" Stark retorted. He glanced at Loki. "No offense, kid," he said, and turned back to his friends. "I just meant, half the time whoever's meant to be explaining things to the Muggle families leaves out some crucial piece of information- which, if you recall, is how I nearly missed the train last year; I was roaming up and down platform nine and three quarters directing Muggle families who hadn't been told what to do." He looked down at Loki again. "Not your fault, obviously."

To the other prefects he added, "I tell you what, when I'm Minister for Magic, there are going to be some changes made. There'll be a whole under-secretaryship in the Department of Magical Education, devoted to making sure there's a standard, comprehensive briefing for all Muggle-borns and their families, and contacts given them for followup questions they might have before September first."

Loki thought he should probably confess that he wasn't Muggle-born, but since that would mean he was just stupid, he did not quite have the nerve.

"Great idea," Rogers congratulated Stark, still looking amused. "You'll have my vote- I still remember how confused I was in first year. In the meantime, let's get this trunk where it belongs." He looked down at Loki- it was a long way down, owing to his height- and asked, "Do you want us to take your owl, too?"

"Um," Loki began, tightening his grip on Bronwyn's cage.

"It's okay if you want to keep her with you," Potts said quickly.

Stark added, "Just don't let her out of the cage. For one thing, we're supposed to try to keep the train clean and I don't suppose any of you knows a spell yet for cleaning up owl droppings. For another, you might want to open the window."

"Thank you," Becky said sweetly, as the two older boys picked up the trunk and started toward the back of the train.

"Yes, yes, right, we'll see you in the prefects' carriage," Stark grumbled.

"Thank you," Loki echoed, remembering his manners. Becky smiled at Loki and waved goodbye to her sister, then she and Potts set off in the other direction, towards the front of the train. Annie scooted sideways on the seat to make room. Loki picked up Bronwyn and practically fell into the compartment.

He wasn't sure what surprised him more: the welcome he was receiving, or the behaviour of his very first Slytherin.

~oOo~

Loki's guess turned out to be right: Annie, George and Mitchell had all gone to primary school together, in north London. Loki wasn't quite able to hide his envy at the idea of the three of them having each other to be friend with in Muggle school. It turned out George was actually Muggle-born himself.

"Mitchell's family lived across the street from mine when we were babies," George explained. "His dad happened to be at the house one day when I made my teddy bear fly. He explained all about wizards to my parents. And then when Voldemort got control of the Ministry, Mitchell's parents helped us, and a lot of Muggle-borns and their families, get out of Britain to Ireland."

"We went, too," Annie said. "My mum's a Muggle, and Dad's a Squib, which as far as the Death Eaters were concerned was just another kind of blood traitor. As if Dad could help not having magic!"

"Mum and Dad and I stayed in Ireland for a while after the war ended," Mitchell finished the story. "We came back to London when I was starting school, back to our old neighbourhood, and we three all went to school together."

"I'm glad I found out about wizards good and early," George said. "I hear some Muggle-borns don't even know about Hogwarts until someone from the Ministry shows up with their letter. I think that'd scare me."

"My Mum goes and talks to Muggle families sometimes," Loki contributed. "She's a healer at St. Mungo's and my Dad works at the Ministry, so sometimes when a baby shows magic really early the Ministry asks her to go explain to the mother that she's not crazy or anything."

If a child had magic they nearly always showed it by the age of seven, but it was pretty common for it to manifest much earlier, and Mum always said that a nervous new mother usually found it easier to talk to a woman healer than a Ministry official. Loki had met enough of his father's colleagues in his life to see her point.

Mitchell frowned thoughtfully. "Loki, what's your Mum's name?"

"Frigga Odinson?" Loki somehow turned it into a question.

"My Dad talks about her sometimes!" Mitchell exclaimed. "He said she could cope up a false birth certificate that would fool anyone- helped a lot of Muggle-borns dodge the Death Eaters long enough to get out of the country. My Dad said she was wasted as a healer, when she could have had a brilliant career in crime."

Loki joined in the others' laughter, and really, the idea was funny. But it did make him wonder whether his mother had made a false birth certificate for him, after his real parents were taken away to Azkaban.

Annie went back to the earlier topic: "It must be awfully weird for Muggle parents, when really young kids show magic. My Dad didn't even tell Mum he came from a family of wizards at first, because he thought a Squib couldn't have children with magic, anyway. Gran and Granddad thought the same thing, so they never said a word about being a witch and a wizard.

"And then one day, when Becky was about a year old, Gran was trying to feed her strained spinach, and the next thing Gran knew the jar and the spoon flew out of her hands and out the window. Happiest moment of her life, Gran said." Annie made a face. "Of course, when I came along she kept time thinking up things to feed me that might make me do the same thing, just to see if I was magic, too. Lucky for me she found me making my toy lamb hop around my cot, and she let the spinach alone."

"I think that's how my brother's magic showed the first time," Loki said, amid the general laughter. "Only it was mashed turnip, and my Dad. Mum got there with the camera before Dad could wipe his beard or Thor's face. She says she's keeping that picture to show at Thor's wedding reception."

Everyone laughed again, and then George sighed. "It's weird, the things babies can do with magic without meaning to. I wish I knew how I made that teddy bear fly. I can't do it now at all."

"Same here," Annie agreed. "Although I might be able to do something if you tried to make me eat strained spinach."

They were all still giggling when a gray-haired witch with a dimpling smile came along, pushing a trolley of sweets, and popped the compartment door open. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

Loki was not generally allowed to eat sweets in the middle of the day, and it was evident from his companions' expressions that this was probably an unusual experience for them, too. Still, the journey to Hogwarts was a special occasion. Loki probably would have celebrated it with some kind of treat if he hadn't spent practically all his money already today. As it was, he thought he had better save the little he had left in case some sort of emergency cropped up during the term.

And besides, a few Chocolate Frogs weren't much of a treat compared with your very own owl. As the others stepped into the passage to buy things from the trolley, Loki reached up to the rack above his head to bring down his sandwich tin.

"Are you not getting anything?" George asked, as he sat down again.

"No," Loki replied. "I spent most of my money on Bronwyn- " to his gratified surprise, George looked impressed that Loki had bought his own owl- "and anyway I've probably got enough lunch here to feed the Kenmare Kestrels. Does anyone want a sandwich, or a piece of shortbread?"

"Sure," Mitchell said. "Trade you for a Chocolate Frog."

Annie also had sandwiches- actually, Annie had slices of buttered bread pressed together in pairs, and containers of sliced tomato, cucumber, pickle and cheese to turn into sandwiches, as well as hard-boiled eggs and a bag with a bunch of grapes.

Loki's sandwiches were roast beef with mustard, and chicken mayonnaise. He also had a bag of apple slices and a wrapped-up package of Bindi's shortbread. Under other circumstances, he might have hoarded that and made it last him until Christmas. As it was, he handed it around first, to make sure the others got to try some before they were too full to appreciate it.

George and Mitchell had apparently convinced their parents to let them buy their "lunch" on the train, which given the contents of the trolley would have been enough sweets to make anyone sick. Shared around with Loki's and Annie's lunches, it was just enough to make them all a bit giddy- especially when Annie ate a green Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean and it turned out to be boiled-spinach flavour.

They were still laughing, and feeding bits of roast beef, chicken, and Owl Treats to Bronwyn, when someone knocked on the compartment door. Outside in the passage were a red-haired girl and a boy in shabby clothes. Mitchell reached over to pull the door open.

"Hi," he said, in his friendly way.

"Can we come in?" the girl asked, in a sort of central-European accent that made Loki think of the Durmstrang professor who had come to dinner one time. Even Thor had been too intimidated by him to say much, but this girl certainly wasn't scary.

"Sure," Mitchell said instantly. George and Loki started making room by bundling wrappers from the sweets and sandwiches into the bag from Annie's lunch, at least until Loki noticed the way the shabby boy was looking at the food.

"Sandwich?" he offered, holding out the tin.

The girl had half a sandwich and a Liquorice Wand, but the boy ate practically everything left of the lunches, and Loki thought he might have finished off the Owl Treats too, given a chance. Loki had never seen another child as hungry as that, and he was very glad Bindi had packed him such a ridiculously large lunch.

The girl's name was Natasha, and the boy's was Clint. Apparently they had been sitting further along the train with Clint's older brother, Barney, at least until Barney had started using his little brother to show off hexes he had learned over the summer.

"One of the prefects came along and broke it up," Natasha explained. "A tall boy with blond hair."

"A Hufflepuff," Clint grumbled, as if being rescued by a Hufflepuff was the worst thing about the whole experience. Loki thought probably that Thor would have thought the same thing.

"And we figured we had better find someplace else to sit," Natasha explained. Loki and his new friends exchanged glances- Loki was quite sure he wasn't the only one hoping Clint's older brother didn't come looking for him. At the same time, he was glad to think that, as much as he and Thor quarrelled, Thor almost never cast actual hexes on him.

"Well," said Annie peaceably, "there's plenty of room for you here."

There actually wasn't plenty of room, but there was enough. Annie got out her watch and established a sort of rota so that they could all take it in turns to sit by the window. Bronwyn, even though short-eared owls were active in the daytime, eventually fluffed her feathers and went to sleep.

About an hour after this meeting, Loki looked up at another knock on the compartment door. Standing outside in the passageway were Thor, Sif, Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg.

He swallowed the impulse to tell Mitchell not to open the door- which was stupid, of course, there was no lock and they certainly were not going to be able to keep them out.

"Hi," Thor said, a little awkwardly.

"Hi," Loki replied, working to keep his voice even. George, Annie, and Mitchell glanced at Loki, and then Mitchell said coolly,

"Can we help you?" Which was an awfully nervy way for a first-year to speak to an older student before they had even gotten to Hogwarts yet. Probably Mitchell would be Sorted to Gryffindor, Loki thought.

"We just wanted to tell you," said Fandral, "there are a lot of first-years in an open carriage further up the train."

"If you wanted to go meet them," Sif said.

Loki glanced at Thor, who looked even more awkward. It didn't take much thinking to realize Thor and his friends wanted this compartment. The question was whether there really was a carriage full of first-years, or whether that was a trick.

Of course, if Thor and his friends really wanted the compartment, they could easily eject Loki's group by force, so on balance it seemed wisest to go quietly. The first-years got up and gathered their belongings.

"It's the next carriage but one, that way," Thor said, gesturing toward the front of the train. As Loki sidled past him, he added, "That's a really pretty owl."

"Thanks," Loki muttered, and followed Annie, who was following Mitchell.

"Did you know those kids?" Annie asked quietly, as they walked up the train.

"Yeah," Loki said. "That was my brother and his friends."

"Oh," said Annie. He wondered if she was thinking about the difference between Loki's brother, who turned up when he wanted the compartment, and her own sister, who made sure she was settled with friends before leaving her. Maybe, Loki thought, that was just the difference between brothers and sisters.

And then they were passing through the second set of doors into the next carriage but one, and a chorus of voices called out, "First year?"

"Yeah," Mitchell called back.

"Have a seat," invited a boy with curly dark hair. "We're all trying to guess where the Sorting Hat will put us."

"Nice owl," said a girl with dark hair and blue eyes, and the brown-eyed girl beside her nodded.

Loki found a seat, put Bronwyn's cage on the floor by the window, and squeezed over so Annie could sit beside him.