I really am sorry for how the last chapter ended, but I did need to include some fallout from what happened to the boys and Hel. If any of you read the side story, 'Second Chances and Endings', you'll know what Angrboda [who was Hel, Fenris, and Jormungand's biological mother] died shortly before they were all kidnapped, etc.
If you haven't read that, maybe go over and give it a look and it'll help you understand things a bit better.
Anyway *cough* moving on from the sadness of the last chapter! I promise there's some more lighthearted stuff to be found here...unless something changes while I'm writing but I'll try not to become George R R Martin here.
There was probably a better comparison I could have used but he was the first evil author that popped to mind.
[Psst: over 770 reviews? You guys are awesome]
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter
When Vali and Narvi came back from their short vacation a day or so later, they didn't say anything about Jormungand being even quieter than usual, or Fenris trailing them around all the time, or Slepnir being a little more insistent on keeping his brothers within view.
They didn't say anything to Gabriel, either.
What Vali did say was fairly innocent.
"|Hey, Slepnir, isn't your birthday coming up?|"
Slepnir brightened instantly. "|Hey! It is!|"
Gabriel swung around on his chair to face the room as a whole, seeing his oldest son looking expectantly at him. "|So it is. Did you forget it was December?|"
"|No.|"
"|Hey,|" Fenris said, grinning in a way that was all Gabriel, "|Your birthday's on Christmas.|"
"Really?" Narvi ruffled Slepnir's hair, ignoring the whine of complaint. "|Maybe we should give you Christmas presents instead of birthday ones.|"
Slepnir looked so scandalized at the idea that Gabriel started laughing. "|Don't worry, I'm sure you'll all get cool stuff anyway.|"
"|We should have a party,|" Jormungand said quietly, making Vali look at him in surprise [they hadn't heard him speak since before they left].
"|Yeah!|" Slepnir stood up, bouncing off the sofa where he'd been sitting. "|A double party!|"
"|Double party?|" Narvi questioned.
"|For Christmas, too.|" Slepnir said it like it should have been obvious.
"|Can't have a party without guests.|" Gabriel leaned on the back of his chair, humming in thought. "|Who would we invite, though?|"
"|The Weasleys.|"
"|The Weasleys? Why?|"
Slepnir shrugged. "|I like them. And we don't know anyone else.|"
He had a point there.
"|What about Hel?|" Vali suggested hopefully. Also a reasonable suggestion, considering he'd met his sister a grand total of twice.
"|I'll see if I can contact her.|" As Hel was currently making up for lost time and could be literally anywhere around the globe [except in the oceans, but even that was a possibility] trying was about as good as Gabriel could do.
"|Cake too.|" Slepnir insisted.
"|You want to invite cake?|"
"Faðir!" Slepnir threw a pillow at Gabriel, who didn't bother dodging and let it bounce off his face. "|No! Cake as in for eating!|"
"|I know, I know!|" Gabriel said with a wide grin. "|Of course we'll have cake, what kind of party would it be without any cake?|" He paused, remembering the kinds of cake Slepnir would remember, which were nothing like the kinds they had today. "|What kind do you want?|"
"|Isn't there just one?|"
"|Slepnir, allow me to introduce you to some of the wonders of the modern world. There are so many kinds of cake.|"
Gabriel garnered several important things from the reply letter the Weasleys sent. Yes, they were coming, and so were the two oldest brothers if that was alright. Yes, they would bring something along. And, according to a small warning footnote from Ron, Mrs. Weasley was determined to contribute at least half of Christmas dinner and enough sweaters to outfit an army.
In hindsight, he probably could have expected that this would happen. Mrs. Weasley seemed to have thoroughly gotten over whatever dislike she held for him when the Order found out that he was Gabriel and not Harry.
In any case, time relentlessly marched forward and in what seemed like very little time the house was flooded with [mostly ginger] guests and family members.
Arthur Weasley had greeted Gabriel with a handshake and very sincere thanks, which Gabriel brushed off and Slepnir peered around him at the three unfamiliar Weasley men.
"|You said to invite the Weasleys, didn't you? So they all came.|"
Gabriel had taken the liberty of inviting Michael and Hermione as well, clearing it with Slepnir first since it was his birthday after all, and they were greeted exuberantly by Fenris, who had shown up to the door to see what was taking so long and promptly dragged the both of them into the living room to show off the tree.
It had taken about five hours to decorate, which Gabriel blamed on the fact that everyone had insisted on decorating it a certain [different] way and everyone else blamed on him buying one that big because holy crap, Dad, it barely fits in the living room, but they'd gotten there in the end.
It certainly seemed to leave and effect on Hermione, who stared and then shook her head. "Of course you'd have a huge tree."
Michael had stopped at the sight of Vali and Narvi. "Hey, weren't you two at Hogwarts during the Tournament?"
"The tail end of it," Narvi replied from his position lounging on the couch. "Hi again, by the way, I don't think we were ever properly introduced."
The Weasleys had caught up by now, and Gabriel's living room was quickly overrun by curious redheads. Fred and George brightened as they noticed the other pair of twins.
"Didn't expect you two to be here!"
"Well, it is kind of our house." Vali brushed his hair back from his face. "Well, not so much ours as Dad's. Nice earring." The latter was directed towards a Weasley Gabriel had never met before, who sported an earring made up of an actual tooth - or rather, fang - and a ponytail to rival Vali's. He nodded, but frowned in confusion.
"Wait, your Dad's?"
"Ah yes, introductions." Gabriel clapped his hands, drawing the attention of those in the room. "I'm sure at least some of you have met Vali and Narvi before, though I don't think under those names-"
"I thought you were named Vincent," Ron said, sinking onto another part of the sofa.
"Draws less attention than Vali," replied Vali, waving a hand dismissively. "I mean, it's not exactly a common name."
"I suppose not," Hermione agreed. "But, you mentioned your Dad?"
"As I was about to say," Gabriel continued, "That would be me."
Another unfamiliar Weasley did a double take, glancing between the twins and Gabriel. "Excuse me?"
"Don't act so surprised." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I might look fifteen now but that doesn't mean I am."
"Lucky for us, or else we might have never existed," joked Narvi. "I'm Narvi, by the way."
"Charlie," The same Weasley introduced himself. "But then, how old are you?"
Gabriel tried not to let himself grin [and had a feeling he wasn't doing that well] as Vali and Narvi glanced at each other.
"It's 2013, right?" Vali asked, more thinking out loud than anything else.
Narvi snorted. "For another week or two, yeah."
"Shut up, I was just making sure. It's not like either of us were keeping track of the date."
"Alright, alright." Narvi smacked Vali's shoulder. "Touchy."
"Are you going to keep us in suspense all night?" Fred and George had made themselves comfortable leaning over the back of the sofa, since it wasn't pressed up against a wall, and Gabriel spotted Mrs. Weasley slipping a squishy-looking package under the tree.
"Fine." Narvi flicked George on the head, mistaking one twin for another, probably on purpose. "If you're so curious, I'm nine hundred and fifteen."
Ginny nearly fell off the end of the sofa at the same moment that the doorbell rang.
Gabriel slid past a gaping Earring Guy and out into the hall in time to see Jormungand go running past, swinging the door open excitedly. "Hel!"
"|Hello to you too,|" Hel said, sweeping in and scattering snowflakes over the floor. Sigyn, of all people, followed her in, determinedly avoiding looking Gabriel in the eye. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas," Jormungand repeated gleefully, "And happy...birthday Slepnir!" He had to pause a moment to remember the right word.
"|Is it really?|" Hel smiled at Gabriel. "Lucky I brought presents, then. How are you?"
"Wonderful." Gabriel hugged her, feeling the tingle of the glamour over her left side. "What about you?"
"Egypt was fabulous, your description of the pyramids wasn't even close to really seeing them." Hel brushed the last vestiges of snow off her cloak before hanging it up, revealing a long dress. "|Jormungand, where are your brothers?|"
"|Upstairs! I'll go get them.|" Jormungand darted off again, pounding up the stairs two at a time. Hel grinned after him.
"They seem happy," she said, moving out of the way as Sigyn wordlessly swept past into the room full of Weasleys. A startled "Mom!" reached Gabriel's ears.
"They are," was all he said in reply. "Would you like to see the tree? Everyone else insists that it's too big but I don't see the problem."
"I'm inclined to think they may be right."
The Weasleys looked no less shocked than when Gabriel had left the room, but if the way they were looking between him and Sigyn was any indication Narvi's name had been long forgotten.
Michael's mouth was open. "But-" Ne looked very lost. "If you're their dad - and she's-"
"Exellent deduction, Holmes," Gabriel said dryly, pretending he didn't notice Hel trying not to laugh at the tree which was still slightly bent over at the top despite the fact that he'd made the room slightly bigger on the inside. "Anything else completely obvious you'd like to point out?"
"I think," Ginny said slowly, "That nothing here is going to surprise me anymore."
A door slammed open and Slepnir grinned widely. "Hel!"
"|I heard it was your birthday,|" Hel teased, waving a small package she had pulled from nowhere. "|I wonder who this could be for?|"
Slepnir was across the room in an instant, and if Gabriel hadn't been able to tell otherwise he would have thought Slepnir used magic. The package vanished in the same instant and Slepnir frowned at his sister's suddenly empty hand. "|No fair.|"
"|Hello to you to.|" Hel hugged him quickly. "|Happy birthday!|"
"|It's actually tomorrow,|" Slepnir corrected her. "|But Faðir says Christmas day is for families only.|"
"|Wise words,|" Hel agreed. "|How about you introduce me to all of these redheads?|"
"|Okay!|" Slepnir turned around and the first Weasley he came across [who happened to be Charlie] made him stop. "|I don't know you.|"
Charlie looked nonplussed. "Is there a translator somewhere?"
"Get used to it," Gabriel advised, "And if you really want to know just ask the twins."
Gabriel was not entirely sure how he managed to get all nine Weasleys, Hermione, Michael, Sigyn, Hel, and three hyperactive boys seated around the magically-extended table, but it somehow happened and everyone was talking to their neighbors while dishes were passed around. Gabriel doubted anyone realized [or that anyone who did cared] that he had simply snapped it all up a few hours beforehand to ensure that it wouldn't vanish as soon as it was eaten.
The Weasleys took up one end of the table, but even so Sigyn was seated as far away from Gabriel as she could, with Vali, Narvi, and Hel in between her and Gabriel. Slepnir [as the birthday boy] was seated at the head of the table, but kept leaning over to try and talk to Sigyn. All three boys had been ecstatic when they realized that she was there, and Gabriel realized with a start that for the past year Sigyn had been a much more permanent figure in their lives than he had, even though none of them save Slepnir had known her previously.
Bill [who Gabriel had finally been introduced to] was sitting next to Sigyn, and he kept giving her what he probably thought were sneaky glances out of the corner of his eye. It made Gabriel wonder where the Weasleys thought his children had come from. Obviously, you needed a guy and a girl to make kids.
"|You work with dragons?|"
Charlie glanced around at the sudden shout from Gabriel's end of the table. "What?"
"Slepnir really likes dragons." Gabriel grinned across the table. "I mean he absolutely loves them. You probably just made his day."
"Oh." Charlie grinned back. "In that case, I've got a ton of stories - the reserve is down in Romania, but we get a ton of different kinds of dragons." He went on describing different kinds of dragons, keeping Slepnir listening with rapt attention. Various conversations were all going at once and the room was full of people talking and laughing with half-eaten dishes on the table and Gabriel thought he understood why humans liked doing this so much.
Hermione, daughter of dentists though she may have been, just rolled her eyes when the birthday cake - a large chocolate confection - was brought out. "You probably can't get cavities anyway," was her only dry remark when Gabriel raised his eyebrows in a silent question, "So I figure it's not worth fighting about."
Once the food had been finished, however, Slepnir dragged Charlie into the living room to show off all the movies they owned that were about dragons.
"You have a TV?" Hermione asked.
"What's a TV?" Ron questioned, puzzled. Mr. Weasley had drifted over as well, and was staring in delight at the flatscreen.
"Amazing!" He said. "I've never seen one like that before...but why have it around?"
Jormungand was staring at Mr. Weasley in confusion. "|So we can watch movies,|" He said, tone clearly indicating that it should have been obvious.
Gabriel quickly translated, which only seemed to add to Hermione's confusion. "But electricty doesn't work around magic," she insisted. "So unless you've found a way around that-"
"|Of course it does,|" Fenris interrupted. "|Why wouldn't it work around magic?|"
"|It doesn't work around wizard magic,|" Gabriel explained. "|Theirs is different, remember.|"
"|That's stupid.|" Slepnir declared. "|You mean they've never seen a movie?|"
"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked.
"Slepnir is probably about to insist that we watch a movie since you've never seen one before," Gabriel gestured to where his oldest was already rummaging through DVDs. "It's a complete scandal, apparently."
"We've seen a movie," Michael objected. "We all went out last summer, remember? You recommended one."
"Oh, yeah, that Star Trek sequel."
Ron shook his head. "That was intense. I still think they had to have used magic to do some of that."
Bill looked over at the shelf full of movies. "Seriously? Muggles can do something that good?"
"Well, they've got electricity, which is one step farther than wizards have gone in the last, what was it, century or so?" Gabriel pointed out. Mr. Weasley looked even more fascinated.
"But how do they put dragons in movies when they don't know they exist?" He questioned.
"Well, this one in particular is animated, so there aren't any actual people in it-" Gabriel held up his hand when he saw another question forming. "I'm not going to explain animation to you and if you're that curious we might as well just watch it."
Gabriel had a nagging feeling that he may have started something beyond his control by introducing Mr. Weasley to animation.
Mrs. Weasley, at least, didn't seem to appreciate her husband's newfound obsession, but she was at least somewhat mollified by the reaction to the sweaters she'd made. It was a little funny to see Fenris going around with his tunic sticking out from under a blue knitted sweater, which didn't bear a letter because he had never been formally introduced to the Weasleys.
"They're cute, you know." Michael mused, watching Jormungand tinker with an iPod to see if magic would really make it break.
"Of course they are," Gabriel scoffed. "They're my kids."
"I can tell." Michael glanced back at Gabriel. "I mean, even if they look like you do now, they sort of act like you."
Gabriel hummed noncommittally in response and automatically moved out of the way as Hel sat down next to him.
"It's nice to be here," She remarked, and then seemed to notice Michael. "Oh - did I interrupt something?"
"Not at all," Gabriel reassured her before Michael could say anything. "This is Michael, by the way."
"Hi," Michael said, waving tentatively.
"Hello," Hel replied. "So you're a wizard, correct?"
"Yeah," Michael agreed, barely reacting to the male specification. "I mean, I'm a wizard."
"This new kind of magic is fascinating," Hel mused. "I've noticed that it's restricted to humans, though."
"Isn't there just one kind of magic?" Hermione had wandered over and was frowning thoughtfully.
Hel laughed. "Of course not! What kind of narrow worldview is that?"
Hermione frowned even deeper and seated herself on the arm of the sofa. "But what other kinds of magic could there be? I've never read any."
Hel shook her head. "You think humans would have discovered this? From what I've heard of your society, they would never bother trying to find out what kind of magic those fantastic creatures you know of have, much less other kinds."
"You mean creatures have different magic?" Ron frowned. "What's different about it?"
"Can you turn yourself invisible with a thought?" Hel challenged. "Or - what is the name of that serpent in the lake?"
"You mean the Loch Ness kelpie," Gabriel supplied.
"Exactly. Can it not change it shape into anything at all, with merely a thought? Do you mean to say that you can do that?"
"Well, there's Animagi," Hermione replied, "But an Animagus can only change into one animal."
"...I've never heard of Animagi," Hel admitted. "But don't you think that assuming everything has the same magic is like assuming that humanity is the only life in the universe?"
"Muggles don't have magic," Ron pointed out.
"How do you know for sure?" Gabriel asked. "You're right, of course, most humans don't have a single bit of 'magical' power in them, but who's to say that they don't have something else?"
"Do they?" Ginny looked interested, as opposed to skeptical, like most of the other guests.
Gabriel gave it a moment of thought. "Not like the kind of power you know, no," He said finally. "But I've met the Winchesters, and I've got to say I've never seen a pair of humans do so much." It was precisely the absence of power that made it so remarkable, but Gabriel would be damned before he admitted any of this to the brothers themselves.
"But what other kind of magic is there?" Hermione persisted. "There's wizard magic, but what else could there be?"
"What else is there in the world?" Gabriel asked rhetorically. "Pagans, for one, are on a whole different level."
"...You mean like the old gods?" Ginny frowned. "But you're an angel, so shouldn't that mean-"
"I assume you're referring to Daddy dearest." Gabriel waved a hand dismissively. "Sure, there's Him upstairs, but there are also gods, small g, plural. Kali, Balder, Hermes - now there was someone who understood the whole appeal of tricks. I mean, until the Romans came along and bastardized the entire pantheon and turned him into Mercury. Had horrible personality troubles after that, kept switching between Greek and Roman, never quite the same. Oh, and Coyote! Damn, nearly forgot him, but what can you do? The Native gods were never quite as popular in history."
Hermione's expression had been growing increasingly more incredulous. "You mean to say that every single god that has ever been worshipped actually exists? And you know them?"
"Not all of them. That would be a little impossible - do you have any idea how many there are? Humans are quite imaginative when it comes to religion."
"But how d'you know them?" Michael asked eagerly. "I mean, you're an angel an all."
"Hello?" Gabriel waved a hand at Hel, who looked at him in surprise. "Where did you think these guys came from? I hid out with the pagans for ages. Believe me, my siblings would have been the exact opposite of thrilled if they knew I had kids."
"You were a god?" Ginny sat up in surprise.
"Why not?" Gabriel grinned. "I mean, being worshipped and followed by thousands isn't exactly a bad deal, even if it's died out quite a bit."
"You've got a point there," Ron muttered, then winced when Hermione smacked him on the head. "Ow! Hermione!"
"So are you a god - er, goddess, too?" Michael asked Hel, who stiffened. The reaction did not go unnoticed by anyone sitting nearby.
"Technically, they all are," Gabriel intervened quickly, "But none of them are old enough to have gotten a proper domain - I mean, you can't just look at a baby and decide that it's going to be the goddess of wrath or something like that, they've got to grow up first." He made a face. "And then, well, it all sort of died out before they got old enough."
"Died out?" Fred frowned, having wandered over. "What do you mean?"
"Well, there were all the old religions, and then Christianity started getting popular in Europe - and Islam in the more southern areas, I suppose - and it sort of steamrollered over everything else. Strangely enough, people don't usually count Judaism in with that group, even though they worship basically the same thing."
"Which is?" Hermione trailed off leadingly.
"Dad," Gabriel said simply. "And I'm included in that whole mess as well, archangel and all, but it's not quite the same thing, you know?"
"I think I get it." Ginny leaned against the back of the sofa. "But why become a god? Being an angel was pretty good, wasn't it?"
Gabriel's grin fell.
"Not necessarily," he said, noting that interest had suddenly sharpened with his slip-up. "Come on. Being personally worshipped?" He covered his face with another wide smile. "Way better than just getting prayed to all the time. That happened with godhood, too, but much more personal and much better benefits."
"There aren't any benefits to being an archangel?" Michael asked carefully.
"Besides being one of the six most powerful beings in literally all of creation?" Gabriel shrugged. "Not many."
Attention was sharply diverted after that when whatever Jormungand did to the iPod created a bang like a gun going off. Looking over sharply, Gabriel saw a sheepish-looking Jormungand hastily putting out sparks that had leaped onto the cuffs of his hoodie and a smoking iPod lying on the floor.
"|I'm not buying you a new one.|"
"|I know,|" Jormungand said glumly. "|I just wanted to see what would happen.|"
Hermione cornered Gabriel in a relatively deserted kitchen a few minutes later. "What you said," she began, "About your siblings not being happy if they knew you had kids - were you being serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well-" Hermione looked nonplussed. "Because they're your family."
She looked even more confused - and a little bit worried - when Gabriel started laughing.
"Hermione," he said, turning to face her properly, "The last time I talked to one of my brothers, he stabbed me. With my own sword. Trust me, there's not a whole lot of family love going on between us."
Hermione had gone slightly pale. "But - if he was your brother-"
"That doesn't mean he gives a shit about me."
"Is that why you became a god?" Hermione asked after a moment.
Gabriel laughed, but it was quieter and a little more tired. "Are you trying to host a therapy session, Hermione? Because I don't do touchy-feely."
"But if it was only one of your brothers," Hermione pressed, "Then surely-"
"Hermione," Gabriel interrupted, "Listen to me. Do you have any idea of how many siblings I have? Hundreds of millions of them. I haven't even met most of them." He leaned back against the counter. "The whole idea of a family sticking up for each other and loving unconditionally is nice, but that's a human thing. However you spin it, angels and humans are just built differently." Gabriel shrugged. "It might be because you just have shorter lives. Maybe not. But the story stays the same."
Hermione surprised him with a hug.
"Whoa!"
"I don't know if angels can tell," Hermione said, breath tickling his ear, "Or if it's just you being thick, but that's really sad."
"Well, hey, I've always got family down here."
"Still." Hermione pulled away. "Gabriel..." It was the first time she'd called him that, as if Hermione was seeing for the first time beyond the vessel. "You know we're here for you, right?"
"That's super touchy-feely territory, Hermione, I don't know if I can go there." Gabriel had to take a minute to recover his voice, and he grinned reassuringly at her. "What do you say we rejoin the party?"
He ignored Hermione's protests that he hadn't answered her question and swept back into the living room. "|Hey, Slepnir, what do you think about pulling some of those Christmas crackers? They brought magical ones!|"
SORRY SORRY SORRY
I really mean it this time, though.
Read and review, please!