Notes: This might be a good time to remind everybody- this is a fic with a happy ending, and I generally define a happy ending as one in which everyone, including the antagonist, ends up in a better place than at the beginning. However, my personal headcanon (seen in the main Housemates AU) is that Thor and Loki's relationship took a serious wrong turn somewhere early on, which contributed to Loki ending up the angry outcast who finally lashed out. In the main series, we had an early crisis that cast a very long shadow over the brothers' relationship.

In case anyone is worrying (and I think I've seen one comment that suggested someone is)- the business with Sif's hair isn't in the cards for this story. However- the Housemates pattern had Thor doing something pretty awful to Loki, early in the boys' lives, and Loki, much later, doing something even worse to Thor. The whole point of this story is blatantly to prevent Loki getting to the point where he does his awful things- but that doesn't mean Thor's off the hook. Sorry about that.

Warnings: This is also the point at which the fic actually starts to get a little bit plotty. Stand back, everybody.

Chapter Nineteen

As Professor McGonagall promised, the restrictions placed on the students really didn't affect them very much: extracurricular activities went on as usual, house members were still allowed to watch their Quidditch team's practice, and three weeks into term most of the constraints inside the castle had been lifted.

Wandering the grounds alone was still forbidden, as was going out when it was nearing dark, even for older students. However, Hagrid and the prefects made sure the younger kids got outside every day, unless it was ridiculously cold. Loki and his friends were able to play with Bronwyn about as often as ever, and she seemed delighted with her knitted rat.

Loki saw almost nothing of Thor in those first weeks, and for a while that was restful. But as time went on and nothing changed, he felt progressively more anxious. Mum and Dad had wanted the two of them to fix things. Their parents had tried over the holiday, and nothing had happened, and now Thor and Loki were back at Hogwarts and things seemed to be as bad as ever.

"It's not your fault," Annie insisted, when Loki finally spoke up about his worries. He had already confessed to his friends about eavesdropping on Thor and his father's conversation, and told them all he could remember about what they had said. "It sounds like your dad pretty much told Thor it was his job to make the first move, didn't he?"

"But what if he… Maybe he thinks I don't want him to. Maybe he's waiting for me to- "

"Maybe there's really a hobbit living in Hufflepuff basement," Annie interrupted. Loki blinked at her, and Annie spelled it out: "Maybe he really thinks all those things, and maybe he doesn't. You don't know, and you won't unless he tells you. So trying to figure out what he wants you to do is… It doesn't make any sense at all. Do you want to talk to him?"

Loki chewed on his lip, thinking, Yes and no. It was easier for Loki when Thor let him alone, but brothers weren't supposed to just, just pretend the other one didn't exist. Now that they were back at school and Thor wasn't around at all, not even silent across the dinner table, Loki missed him again- even though he couldn't really put his finger on what he missed about him. But he didn't want to disappoint Mum and Dad, or be a bad person who wouldn't even try to make it up with his brother.

He wanted to at least try.

"I… think so," he said finally.

"Then ask Professor Sprout to arrange it," Annie said firmly.

"But what if he doesn't want to?" Loki protested.

"Then he'll say no," Annie pointed out.

That seemed reasonable to Loki: if Thor didn't want to see him, he wouldn't. And so, when Professor Sprout took Loki aside at the end of Herbology a few days later and said Thor had agreed to meet, Loki felt a bubble of real hope. He had been wrong about his family before. He hadn't thought his parents wanted to know what he thought or felt, or to listen to him, or to talk and explain things. He had been wrong about that. He might be wrong about Thor, too. Maybe his brother wanted to fix things. Maybe he wanted to be friends after all, and was glad Loki had made the first move. Maybe-

The moment Thor walked into Greenhouse One, where they were meeting, Loki knew his hopes weren't going to come true.

"Come sit down, Mr. Odinson," Professor Sprout said kindly, gesturing toward a chair at the worktable, across from where Loki was sitting. She and Professor Coulson sat down a little farther down the table. Thor, his face set, dropped into the chair and looked sullenly at Loki, who swallowed hard.

"What do you want?" Thor finally asked.

Loki suddenly couldn't remember a single one of the things he had wanted to say to his brother. And besides, it wasn't as if he had wanted to give a speech or anything. What he wanted ("you waaaaanted") was for the two of them to talk together, and for Thor to say he missed Loki and to be glad when Loki said he missed him, too.

Looking at Thor's glowering face, Loki knew he had been fooling himself: Thor didn't miss him at all. Or maybe Loki had just waited too long to make the first move, and now Thor was hurt and angry. But even if he was, Loki didn't think it was because Thor had been wanting Loki's company.

This was all a terrible mistake. He should have just dodged Thor as well as he could all term, and worried about next summer when it happened.

But he had asked to speak to Thor, so he couldn't very well sit here saying nothing at all.

"I… I just…" Loki stammered. He was aware of Professor Sprout a few feet away, and knew she would help him if he asked her to. But she didn't know what he wanted ("waaaaanted") and if he couldn't explain it, she couldn't help him.

Finally, he blurted, "I just want us not to be angry at each other." Which wasn't exactly what he wanted to say, but close enough.

Thor slouched in his chair, looking somewhere past Loki. "Well, I'm not angry at you." Loki knew better than to blurt out You're lying, but Thor looked so angry Loki thought he probably could hardly breathe.

"Thor," Professor Coulson said quietly. That sounded strange: teachers generally called students by their surnames. Of course, with two Odinsons in the room, he probably wanted to make sure there was no mistaking which one he was speaking to.

Or maybe there were situations that called for "Thor" instead of "Odinson."

Thor looked at the head of Gryffindor, his expression partly stubborn and partly guilty. Professor Coulson said evenly,

"It probably took some courage for your brother to ask for this meeting. Do you have anything you want to say to him?"

Thor met Professor Coulson's eyes. "No, sir." There was a long pause, while Loki tried frantically to think of something he could say to fix this. Then Thor stood up. "May I please go back to the common room now, sir?"

"Thor, I'm sorry," Loki blurted, desperate.

"What are you sorry for?" Professor Sprout asked gently.

Loki, near tears, shook his head. "I don't know. I'm just.."

Thor looked at Professor Coulson, who made a little frustrated gesture- probably angry at Loki, for wasting their time like this- and then nodded toward the door. The two of them walked out of the greenhouse. As Professor Coulson passed Loki, he reached down and touched him on the shoulder, but he didn't say anything.

When he and Professor Sprout were alone, Loki repeated, "I'm sorry." Professor Sprout moved to the chair next to his and brought out her big white handkerchief. Loki added, "I mean, I'm sorry for, for wasting your time, yours and Professor Coulson's. I should have- I couldn't think of…"

Professor Sprout patted his shoulder. "It's all right. You didn't waste our time: this is one of the things heads of house are supposed to do." She made no move to rise from her chair, so Loki stayed where he was, too. "I'm only sorry it was such an unpleasant encounter."

"I, I forgot everything I wanted to say," Loki admitted, shamed. "I couldn't even… I couldn't make him understand- "

Professor Sprout smiled faintly. "Well, the reception you received was hardly one that encouraged confidences. And, sadly, it isn't possible to make another person understand anything, as much as you might wish to." Loki sniffled into the handkerchief. Professor Sprout went on, "I admit, I have no idea what your brother wanted to get out of this meeting, given what we saw of his attitude. You might be thinking he behaved this way to punish you for something." Without looking up, Loki nodded. "Well, perhaps that was his intent. Or perhaps he feels hurt and angry for his own reasons, or confused, or something else I can't guess at.

"But there is one very hopeful thing about this meeting, and that is the fact it occurred at all. It took a lot of courage for you to ask for it, and the fact your brother agreed to it probably means he still wants something positive to happen between you. After all, if he had just wished to punish you, he could have rejected your request to meet at all. Isn't that so?"

Loki sniffled again. "I… I guess."

"So, although I admit I don't know this for certain, it's possible that, despite how it now appears, this meeting will actually lead to something positive. You've taken the first step, and you've made an effort. Perhaps your brother will recognize that, and reciprocate- make an effort of his own in return. Perhaps he'll ask for the next meeting. If he does, I hope you will do your best to agree to it."

"What if he doesn't?" Loki whispered.

Professor Sprout looked sad. "Perhaps he won't. And if that happens, you will have to decide whether you want to try again, yourself." Loki cringed at the thought. "It may also be necessary to ask your parents to come to school, so that your family and we teachers can all talk together about what to do." Loki gave her a look of pure horror, and Professor Sprout said calmly, "We generally do try to solve things within the school, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time a conference with parents was needed to work out a problem. But, for now, let's give your brother some time to decide how he feels about this meeting. All right?"

"All right," Loki muttered.

Professor Sprout patted him again. "All right. Shall we return to the castle?"

Without looking up, Loki nodded. Then he followed Professor Sprout from the greenhouse.

~oOo~

A few days after the disastrous meeting with Thor, Mitchell got a letter from his parents. He read it at the breakfast table as usual, but the only bit of news he shared with his friends was that his parents said hello to them.

At the mid-morning break, though, Mitchell drew his friends aside, to sit on a staircase out of the general flow of foot traffic, and brought out the letter.

"Mum and Dad don't want me to talk about this too much," Mitchell explained as he handed the parchment to George. "They say there's a rumour one of Dad's old pals really is one of the escapees. So far he hasn't been in touch with his family, but some of Dad's old friends have, you know, heard things."

"Yeah," Loki agreed, blushing as he thought about his own bad habit. "I know all about hearing things." His friends giggled, and Mitchell went on,

"Dad says the Ministry isn't giving out the names of the escapees because they're hoping not to put their families and friends on the alert. They think that might give the Department of Magical Law Enforcement a better chance of catching them sneaking home."

"I can't imagine that'll work," George objected. "I mean, unless they'd never been arrested before or something. You'd think if they were genuine crooks they'd know something about making contact on the sly."

"Maybe they figure there's no harm in trying," Annie said.

Loki suddenly thought of something.

"Has your dad heard any rumours about the other two?" he asked. Mitchell shook his head. "So does that mean they're not his old friends?" The four knew what that could mean, and Mitchell winced a little as he shrugged.

"He didn't say," Mitchell said.

"But- " George prompted.

"Probably," Mitchell muttered.

"So that means they most likely are Death Eaters," Loki said quietly.

"Not necessarily," Annie protested. "Surely Mitchell's dad doesn't know every petty crook in the wizarding world."

"Well- " Mitchell said sheepishly, and then grabbed George's arm to look at his wristwatch. "Is that the time? We're going to be late for class!"

Fortunately, the staircase they were sitting on led down to the dungeons, not far from the Potions classroom. They came tearing up just in time to join the crocodile of students filing into the classroom. Professor Slughorn stood just outside the door, speaking to Mr. Filch, as the students entered.

"No, Argus, I am quite sure I haven't used boomslang skin in any potion since last spring, nor can I recall offhand the last time I touched the jar- probably during inventory over the summer. Nor have I given any student permission to do so. If I had, I would have noted the amount used in the dispensing journal as usual."

"Well, Professor," said Filch, with grim relish, "I thought that jar was out of place when I was cleaning the store room last week, so I made a point of turning the label inward, and today it was facing outward again. If you didn't move it, I don't know who did. Then I looked at the book to see how much should be there, and some is missing. There's been pilfering, there has."

The professor made some reply, but Loki and his friends didn't hear it in the clatter of cauldrons as the students set up their workstations.

~oOo~

Quite a lot of the students had delivery of the Daily Prophet every day, including Becky and Rogers. There had of course been a flurry of stories right after the breakout, naming possible escapees- always the worst of Voldemort's old followers- and scaring the students silly. However, the names kept changing while the stories remained the same, and after a while even the first-years realized they were almost entirely made-up, just guesses and speculation by the newspaper writers.

After the first few weeks, when no crime spree broke out and there was nothing concrete to report, the stories dwindled away.

Until the Friday morning the Prophet's front page carried a banner headline: Escape from Azkaban: A Healer's Own Account.

"The Ministry isn't going to be pleased about that," Mitchell remarked, leaning forward to try to read over Becky's shoulder.

"Can we see that when you're finished with it?" Annie asked her sister. Becky promised she would give them the paper in the common room that evening. She kept her word, and Loki and his friends retreated to their corner, on the floor, to read the story. Half the house was already doing the same thing with other copies of the Prophet, so there were a lot of groups poring over the paper and buzzing together. Anyone who wanted to do homework had by now given up and gone to the library to get away from the noise.

"How a routine healers' visit to the notorious prison turned to heart-stopping terror- a first-hand account by healer Crescentia Pinkstone!" George looked at Loki. "Do you know her?"

Loki shook his head. "There are a lot of healers at St. Mungo's. I think she was at the party my parents gave over the holidays, but I just said hello to her."

The four spread the newspaper on the carpet and crowded round. Madam Pinkstone described the healers' arrival at Azkaban, a towering fortress on a bare island in the North Sea, in a way that made Loki feel cold all over. He hoped he didn't have another nightmare after reading this.

"The seven prisoners had been complaining of various ailments, nothing urgent. We had no way of knowing it was all a ruse," went the story.

"You know, it's odd she doesn't mention any names either," Mitchell said.

"Maybe the Ministry okayed the story as long as the paper didn't print them," Loki suggested. "Or they told her not to say them."

According to Madam Pinkstone, one of the prisoners suddenly became violently ill, distracting both healers and guards. Three of the remaining prisoners had then attacked the guards, while one of the others grabbed a healer's wand and then him, using him as a human shield as the other three escaped the infirmary.

"I thought for certain he would be killed," Madame Pinkstone relates. "But he was left outside, Confunded but otherwise unharmed, and the prisoners still inside the infirmary surrendered shortly after the escape. It almost seemed the point was for those three to get out, no matter that helping them would result in longer sentences for the prisoners who helped them."

"Wow," George said. "That's really strange. Why would anyone help someone else escape and then stay to face the music themselves?"

Loki hugged his knees. "I can think of a few reasons. Maybe the ones who escaped had some really strong reason for wanting out- like something to do with their families- and the others were good friends of theirs and wanted to help."

"But they can't have gone near their families," Annie pointed out. "Not if Mitchell's dad is right about the Ministry keeping watch for them."

"That's true," Loki agreed. "So the other reason might be, the prisoners who stayed behind helped with the escape because they felt like they had to. Either they were really loyal to the ones who got away, or else really scared of them." Loki let go of his knees and leaned forward. "If they were loyal, that says maybe they were in the same gang together. And the main gang that's locked up in Azkaban together is- "

"The Death Eaters," Mitchell finished the sentence for him.

Loki nodded. "Only I can't imagine the prison would let a bunch of Death Eaters into the infirmary at the same time, even if they really were all sick."

"I can't imagine the guards not smelling a rat," Mitchell agreed. "No matter how sick they seemed. They'd probably bring them one or two at a time."

"So the prisoners must have seemed to have nothing much to do with each other," George said. "And that means, if they got together to cover the three who escaped- "

"They probably were scared into doing it," Loki agreed. "If they weren't all in the same gang together in the first place, that's the only explanation that makes sense." He winced. "And that still probably means- "

"Death Eaters," Annie said. "There might be other prisoners who'd scare the rest of them that much, but the first thing you'd think of is Death Eaters."

"So why would they take your dad's friend?" George asked Mitchell, who shook his head, looking confused.

"No idea," he admitted.

"Wait," Loki said suddenly. "One of the prisoners was from Scotland. Your dad didn't tell you which friend he was talking about, but could he have been the one? I mean, your dad has Scottish friends, right?"

"Sure, I guess," Mitchell replied. "He didn't say this was one of them, though. And there were Scottish Death Eaters, too."

"I know," Loki said, "but… think about it. The Ministry knows who they're looking for, yes? So they're keeping an eye on the places and people those prisoners would normally go to. And none of them has turned up in any of those places, in Scotland or England."

"That might not mean anything," George argued. "Maybe they never came back to Britain in the first place. Maybe they went the other way. They could be hiding out in Romania by now."

"That's what I'd do," Annie agreed.

"So would I," Loki agreed. "But we still have Mr. Mitchell's friend. Why take him? Even if he tried to get in good with the Death Eaters for some reason of his own, once they were in prison together, why would they let him escape with them instead of leaving him behind with the others?"

"Okay, I give up," Annie finally said, after they all thought about it. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that maybe they took him along because they needed him for something," Loki explained. "And, okay, there could be a lot of things he might be good at, that would help them. But… suppose what they really need is someone who knows Scotland? Like, knows his way around, or places to hide, or something like that? Maybe that's what they need."

"You mean, they might be planning something, somewhere in Scotland?" Mitchell asked.

Loki nodded. Annie and George looked horrified.

"So they could be hiding under the stands on the Quidditch pitch," George said.

"No, no," Mitchell said quickly. "Hogwarts, and Hogsmeade village, are practically the only places that everyone in wizarding Britain knows their way around. Practically everyone goes to Hogwarts, right? They'd only need a guide if they were going to some other part of Scotland."

Loki, who had been getting worried about exactly the same thing as Annie and George, exhaled. "Right. I didn't think of that."

"I'm sure the Ministry has," Mitchell said. "But just in case, do you think you had better write to your dad and ask him?"

"It might be better if you write to yours," Loki said, after thinking about it for a minute. "He's the one who knows who his friend is, and anyway he might have talked to Magical Law Enforcement already. But if he hasn't, he can speak to my dad."

"Good idea," Mitchell agreed. "I'll write him a letter tonight, after Astronomy."

"You can send it with Bronwyn, tomorrow," Loki offered.

"Thanks," said Mitchell, folding the newspaper. "Anyone for a game of Owl Snap before class?"

~oOo~

Bronwyn came back early the next week with a note from Mitchell's father, saying he would talk to the proper authorities and telling Mitchell not to worry.

"As long as those guys are in some other part of Scotland, I have nothing at all to worry about," Mitchell assured his friends, offering Bronwyn half a sausage as a thank-you.

It seemed the Ministry thought the same thing, or maybe something else had happened, because the last restrictions on the school were lifted within the week. Loki and his friends were able to go outside and play with Bronwyn again, without needing an escort or anything. After Bronwyn dropped her knitted rat and flew away, the four friends decided to walk around the school grounds just because they could.

As luck would have it, they came upon the empty Quidditch pitch just as Thor and his friends were leaving it, carrying their broomsticks. Clint was with them, and he was also carrying a broom, one of the old school ones.

Loki froze for a moment, unsure what to do. He was still supposed to have a teacher around when he was in contact with his brother, but he didn't want to just run away from him again. He was pretty sure Thor wasn't going to chase him or anything, and he didn't want to hurt Thor's feelings or make him angry-

"Hi, Loki," Volstagg called, waving. "Out for a walk?" It was a pretty silly question, but Volstagg's tone was almost friendly, so Loki nodded warily. Volstagg went on, "We were just having some extra flying practice with Clint, here. He's getting quite good."

"Oh," Loki said uneasily. "That's… that's nice. I hope you had fun?" He glanced from Volstagg to Thor, and then Clint. Both of them looked away without speaking. Hogun, Fandral, and Sif seemed to be very interested in something going on back at the Quidditch pitch. The silence stretched out awkwardly.

"We should get back to the common room," Volstagg said finally, edging backwards and guiding the others with him. It should have been funny, for someone so big to look so hesitant, but Loki was too busy being uncomfortable himself to think about that. "Have a good evening," Volstagg said. Loki mumbled something even he couldn't understand.

"We should go, too," Annie said quickly, giving Loki a push. "Come on."

They went back into the castle by different doors, and Loki's friends didn't pick at him to talk about what had just happened. He would have, if he'd had anything to say about it, but it was the same old thing it had been all year, and he seemed to be all out of words.

Not quite the same old thing, actually: at breakfast the next day, Loki had the impression he was getting strange looks from the Gryffindor table, even from first-years who were friendly to him. He couldn't figure it out, and he was a little afraid to ask the other Hufflepuffs if they noticed anything strange.

By Friday, Loki was pretty sure it wasn't his imagination: the Gryffindors were either avoiding him or peering at him out of the corners of their eyes, and he was beginning to feel like his skin didn't fit whenever he was near them.

But it wasn't until their flying lesson with Ravenclaw ended that he got an explanation. Jane sidled up to him as they were leaving the field and said, "Can I talk to you a minute?" Loki nodded, and she said, in a rush, "Loki I'm sorry I don't want to hurt your feelings but you should know that your… that Thor is- "

"Is what?" Annie prompted.

Jane turned scarlet, glanced at Bruce who had caught up to them, and blurted out:

"Darcy told me Natasha said that Clint told her that Thor told him… Thor's telling people you're not really his brother. He says you're adopted, so you're not his real brother at all."

Loki just stared at her, his mouth falling open. Once again, he couldn't think of a single thing to say.