Notes: In which there is mention of potentially deadly effects of a spell that is not usually fatal. I am assuming spells, like pharmaceuticals, have different effects in young children compared to adults.

Warnings: As before, for the usual Potter-style child endangerment and whump.

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Do you really think this is the right direction?" George asked Stark, trying not to sound worried. He wasn't very successful, but he certainly wasn't any more frightened than anyone else.

"Yes," Stark said, so quickly and so firmly that Loki knew he had to be lying. He pointed at a perfectly unremarkable pine. "I remember us passing that tree when we were on our way out. Come on, stay together."

The order wasn't necessary: Loki and his friends were sticking so close to Stark that they nearly trod on the hem of his winter cloak. Clint was walking with them by now: he seemed mostly recovered after their short rest, and Barney had shooed him ahead to join the Hufflepuffs. He and Thor were now bringing up the rear while Stark and Sinclair took the lead.

The first-years were perfectly aware that this arrangement didn't really keep them any safer, but Loki certainly felt a little more secure with the older members of the group surrounding himself and his friends.

Clint, hiking along next to Mitchell, hadn't spoken since his brother sent him to join the other first-years. Loki was used to that from him, and he was slightly surprised when Clint suddenly spoke up:

"I'm sorry I got you into this mess," he mumbled. His glance over his shoulder included Barney in the apology, but he was talking to the Hufflepuffs, too.

Mitchell shrugged and Loki certainly knew better than to speak to Clint, but George growled a little in response, and Clint sort of shrank into himself. Annie said quietly,

"It really was pretty dumb of you both, but I guess you didn't know anyone wanted to kidnap you. Or, well, Thor and Loki, but they mistook you for Loki, didn't they?"

Clint nodded miserably. "Yeah. When they woke us up from the Imperius curse they told us about Thor's dad being the one who captured them, and…what they were going to do, to make him sorry."

"Sorry he hadn't just killed them, most likely," Mitchell muttered.

"Yeah, but I don't think they thought of it that way," Clint said. "I think they really thought he'd wish he'd left them loose and let Voldemort win, after they killed his sons."

"Being crazy will make you think like that," George said.

"It was all my fault," Thor spoke up behind them, sounding even more wretched than Clint. "It was my idea to sneak off and practice flying. I'm sorry, everybody."

Stark glanced over his shoulder at Thor, opening his mouth to reply.

They never found out what he was planning to say, because at just that moment the two Death Eaters came bursting out of the underbrush.

"Stupefy!" they shouted, almost as one, and bolts of red light shot from their wands, hitting both Stark and Sinclair and dropping them in their tracks.

For a confused second Loki was both relieved and bewildered that the Death Eaters hadn't simply used a killing spell on the two. And then, as Thor and Barney scrambled to get between the first-years and the danger, he realized why the stunning spell had been chosen: if Stark and Sinclair were dead, there would be no reason for the other kids not to scatter into the woods, and that would make them harder to track down and catch. With two members of their group unconscious and helpless, the younger kids were pinned in place. Loki wanted to duck into the woods and try to save himself, but he couldn't leave Stark and Sinclair. It was as if his feet literally wouldn't let him run.

"Protego!" Thor shouted, throwing a shield charm between the huddled group and the next spell cast by the Death Eaters. Loki hadn't heard the incantation so he didn't know what spell bounced off the shielding charm, but he was sure it was something very bad.

Felix laughed, and now he looked every bit as crazy and vicious as his wife. "Nicely cast, young Odinson! I'm sure your father will be very proud to know you tried to be a hero. Of course- " he interrupted himself to cast a shielding charm of his own, as Barney tried to disarm him- "by the time we're finished with you, you'll be whimpering for mercy, and he'll hear all about that, too, just before we kill him. But only after we track down his other brat and finish him, too."

Catriona cast a stunning spell that Thor barely deflected. Loki was dimly aware of being grateful after all, for the illegal hex duels his brother and his friends played at: shield charms were quite advanced magic even for fourth year, and ordinarily Thor would only just be learning them. Catriona snarled, and Felix laughed again.

"Wonderful! This does make it more fun!"

"Fun if you're a snivelling coward, you mean," Thor shouted back, which was a stupid, foolhardy thing to do. And then Loki realized Thor was trying to concentrate the Death Eaters' attention on himself, to protect the others as long as he could and maybe to give Barney a chance to think of something.

Felix's smile went even more crazy at the edges. "Ah, yes. A true son of Odin. It really will be a pleasure to break you. Although perhaps we'll let you watch us finish your brother, after we've made you tell us where he is. Ten years old, you say. How many times do you think a boy of ten could endure the Cruciatus curse before it simply killed him? Perhaps we'll practice on these pups before we go looking for your brother. Crucio!" he shouted unexpectedly, aiming his wand slightly to one side of Thor.

He was aiming at Clint, since Thor was obviously attached to Clint. Loki, right next to Clint, saw the Death Eater's wand come up and- he didn't even notice himself moving- he shoved Clint as hard as he could just before the red blast emerged.

And then he was on the ground, screaming and struggling as his whole body was engulfed in unimaginable pain. It was like being skinned alive at the same time you were being boiled in oil and torn limb from limb. He could hear himself shrieking, and maybe there were other noises around him, too, other people shouting, but Loki couldn't tell because all he was aware of was the torment he was feeling.

And then it was gone, and Loki was lying on the ground, feeling it cold and wet against his cheek. He gulped, blinked, and was able to focus on a boot in front of his face, as if someone had stepped forward to protect him.

Loki found himself able to move- the Cruciatus curse just caused pain, not immobility, not once the pain passed off and you were able to command your limbs again- and he tried to scrabble to his feet and find his wand. He couldn't quite control his limbs yet, and he fell.

Dimly, he heard Catriona sneer, "Wrong brat," and Felix laughed. Loki rolled over to look at the Campbell-Hardwickes, and he could see the delight they took in hearing him scream. In that moment he knew for sure it would make no difference to them if they knew he was their son. He was on the wrong side. He was an obstacle. And these two wouldn't- maybe couldn't- maybe had never been able to- see other people as real creatures who had a right to stay alive and not be hurt just because. They'd see him as a traitor to their way of thinking, and they'd use that terrible curse on him over and over until his heart couldn't stand the pain anymore and he just died of it.

Catriona raised her wand, and in front of Loki a black shape collapsed. No, not collapsed- Thor dropped to his knees in front of Loki because that posture put as much of himself in front of Loki as possible. He did it on purpose, even knowing what the Cruciatus curse felt like, trying to protect a younger child.

The Hat had certainly put Thor in the right house.

Loki's hand closed on his wand and he pushed himself up so he was at least sitting upright. Catriona's wand came down, aiming at Loki and Thor, and Thor's was rising to cast another shielding charm-

- and Loki was fuzzily aware of a white shape above Catriona's head, descending soundless and soft, though remarkably fast, and he remembered stories about angels, wondered if they were true after all-

- and then Catriona stumbled forward with a cry of pain and rage, as she was violently struck in the back of the head by a barn owl. Solomon, Thor's owl, flapped away, turning to rejoin the combat, and that drew the Campbell-Hardwickes' attention away from the children for a critical few seconds. Catriona aimed her wand at the owl.

"Expelliarmus!" Thor yelled, and neither Death Eater was able to cast a shield in time. Catriona stumbled backwards, her wand flying out of her hand-

- to be snatched in midair by Bronwyn, dropping from above the treetops, as neatly as if they were just playing a game on the grounds of the castle.

And, as she always did in their games, the mottled owl flew straight toward Loki with her prize.

Felix, face distorted with rage, pointed his wand at her. He was so angry that he wasted a couple of seconds swearing instead of casting a curse that surely would have left Bronwyn a bundle of dead feathers in the snow. Loki screamed in terror, scrabbling to his feet to try to cast a spell, any spell, to defend his pet.

And then he tumbled back into the snow, shoved out of the way by Barney Barton, the older boy's face savage with anger.

"Crucio!" Barney screamed as he levelled the Unforgivable curse at the Death Eater. The bolt of red light that came from his wand wasn't anything like as strong as the practiced evil of the Death Eaters, but his rage fuelled it. Felix screamed as he fell to the ground.

Barney wasn't finished. "Crucio!" he howled again, as Felix staggered back to his feet and tried to point his wand. "That's for my parents! Crucio! And for hurting my brother, and Thor and his brother! Crucio! And, and for all those poor stupid Muggles who never did a thing to hurt you!"

Loki hadn't thought it was possible for him to be any more scared, but Barney losing control like this and attacking the Campbell-Hardwickes as if he was a Death Eater himself was nearly the scariest thing that had happened yet. Clint's brother had gone crazy with fear, and anger, and all the pent-up hurt that had made him do so many mean things to so many other kids all his life.

And now he was face-to-face with the people responsible for his pain, the ones who had wrecked his life and his brother's, who were part of the group that had left them both orphans that nobody wanted. All the stories he had ever told himself, angry ones about payback and revenge, were bursting out of him, pressured by fear and the knowledge these two had every intention of killing them all if they could.

Unforgivable curses were Unforgivable for a reason- and of course there were dozens of spells meant to actually defend you, instead of just hurt your enemy like Cruciatus did- but Loki thought maybe Barney could, in fact, be forgiven just this once. As long as someone could stop him, without Barney blindly turning the curse on them, too-

"Accio wand!" came a cry from somewhere to Loki's left, a woman's voice that somehow sounded familiar. Barney yelped as his wand flew from his hand, and he looked around with a snarl, to see who else was attacking them. As he did, a man's voice shouted, "Stupefy!" and Felix dropped to the snow.

Loki turned in time to see the tall figure of Mr. Longbottom running toward them across the snow, followed by the short, plump, unspeakably welcome one of Professor Sprout. Behind them loomed Hagrid. Bronwyn, who had landed in the snow beside Loki, took off to join Solomon in a low tree branch as the three teachers ran up to secure the two Death Eaters.

Loki sat down hard in the snow. A moment later, Thor had dropped to his knees beside him, and Loki found himself wrapped up in his brother's arms.

"You're okay," Thor said, his own voice shaking, into the top of Loki's head. "It's all right."

Loki got an arm free and around Thor, and held on hard.

~oOo~

It was a long walk back to the castle. Mr. Longbottom removed the stunning spell from Stark and Sinclair but they both needed to hold into someone to stay on their feet at first, let alone walk. Thor helped Stark, putting one arm around the older boy while continuing to hold onto Loki with his other hand. Hagrid helped Sinclair, and Professor Sprout and Mr. Longbottom used hover charms to transport the immobilized Death Eaters. Mr. Longbottom had to walk with one arm around Barney, who clutched Clint's hand and cried quietly the whole way back to the castle.

They didn't encounter any more inhabitants of the Forest as they made their way back to the castle. That was probably on account of Hagrid's presence: maybe the creatures who belonged here trusted him to make sure the witches and wizards behaved themselves. Even without any delays, it was completely dark by the time they stepped out of the Forest. They finished the trek by wandlight, and when he finally saw the lights of the castle in front of him Loki thought he was going to burst into tears of relief.

Professor Sprout ordered all of them to the hospital wing, and to make sure no one tried to disobey she escorted them herself, while Professor McGonagall and Mr. Longbottom took the two Death Eaters and Sinclair away. Mitchell protested, but calmed down when Professor Sprout promised him that Sinclair would get a chance to tell his side of the story.

The last thing Loki remembered that night was sitting down on the edge of a bed in the hospital wing, and kicking off his boots. Then he lay down, still fully clothed, and after that there was nothing.