Loki awoke slowly and comfortably. Warmth surrounded him, and it almost lulled him back to sleep, but he fought off the urge and looked around.

He was in Hermione's room. The events of last night were clear in his memory, and he smiled, looking downward.

Hermione herself was snuggled into his chest, still asleep. His arm was draped around her back, and he moved it up to stroke her hair.

She let out a soft noise. Her eyes fluttered open slowly to see Loki smiling down at her. She smiled back at him.

"Good morning," she murmured.

"Good morning."

She sat up and stretched, arching her body so that her beautiful breasts were on display. Loki grinned.

She grinned back at him. "Enjoying the show?"

"Most definitely." He reached for his wand, muttering a clock spell. "Nine thirty."

Hermione shrugged. "It's Saturday. No one needs us up, currently."

"Well, in that case," Loki murmured, sitting up to kiss Hermione.

She returned the kiss, but when they broke away she grimaced. "Sorry. Ouch!"

"Did I hurt you?"

"Er… sort of?" She shifted and let out a hiss. "I'm not going to be able to walk properly!"

Loki chuckled. Hermione smacked his chest.

They decided that it would be best to get dressed and get breakfast. Loki wasn't hungry – well, he was, but not for food – but Hermione was, so they headed up to the Great Hall once they were presentable.

They didn't count on a fourth-year walking by just as they left Hermione's room. She stared at the pair with wide eyes, then dashed off.

Loki groaned. If the whole school didn't know they'd slept together by noon, he'd hit himself with a Jelly-Legs jinx.

Hermione stood stock still, face crimson. "Maybe… she'll think we were just talking?"

"Not a chance."

Hermione indulged herself in a soft curse. "This was not the way I wanted people to find out."

"Too late. We shall just have to make the best of it." Loki took her hand and began to walk to the Great Hall. She fell into step beside him with a small smile on her face.

As soon as they opened the doors, the Hall went silent, then erupted in a buzz of whispers. Hermione held her head high and headed up to the teachers' table, Loki at her side.

"That went well," he murmured, ignoring the stares from approximately half the female population of the Hall.

"If you say so. I may need my hand back to get breakfast, though."

Loki released her hand and went for his own breakfast. Suddenly, an owl dropped a letter in front of him, right onto his empty plate.

He raised an eyebrow and opened the envelope. The letter enclosed was written partly on parchment and partly on a sheet of bright white paper.

Loki decided to start with the parchment. It was apparently from Luna.

Dear Loki,

I haven't been able to find Thor yet. However, I did manage to find out that while he was on Earth, he was part of a team called the Avengers. I found one of the members of this group and had a rather lovely conversation with her. She wrote a note to give to you, so I enclosed it with this letter.

We made another dinner date for next Saturday, so if you could reply by then, that would be lovely.

I hope your research is going well, and that your memories come back to you soon. They're very important, you know.

Sincerely,

Luna

Loki shook his head. Luna was so…odd. He passed the letter off to Hermione and opened the other note.

Loki,

I heard from this girl that you lost your memories. To be honest, I don't know what to think of that. It feels too easy, like you're escaping the consequences of your actions in New York.

Still, Thor's been worried about you, so I guess it's fair. I haven't seen him in a while – he headed back to Asgard to place the Infinity Stone in a safe place. If I see him, I'll tell him you're alive.

Luna said she'd be in New York for awhile. She said she could get a message to you, so I'll send a message through her if Thor comes back.

-Black Widow

Loki raised an eyebrow. This letter just raised more questions than it answered. What had he done in New York? What was an Infinity Stone?

Hermione reached for Black Widow's letter, and he handed it to her. She scanned over it, eyebrows furrowing.

"We should send a message to Luna, telling her about our developments," Hermione said.

"Agreed."

Together, they stood and left the Great Hall, leaving the still-whispering students behind.

They were about to go into Hermione's rooms when all of a sudden, a bright light came down into the courtyard. Loki immediately turned and dashed into the courtyard, approaching the pillar of light with little caution.

Hermione ran after him and grabbed his arm. He stopped and glanced at her, and she shook her head. He nodded, turning to watch the light pillar from where he was.

The pillar faded, revealing a tall, well-built man with long blond hair. The man looked around curiously and caught sight of Loki.

"Brother!" the man called, jogging over to Loki. "I was worried about you. I'm glad to see you're safe." He caught sight of Hermione and smiled. "And who might this be?"

"Hermione Granger," she said. "And you must be Thor."

"I am." He turned back to Loki. "What kinds of stories have you been telling about me?"

"Very few, given that I've lost my memories," came Loki's dry reply. "The only reason I recognize you as my brother is due to this excellent lady and her efforts."

Thor started. "Lost your memories? How?"

"We're not sure." Loki noticed an audience building in the halls around the courtyard. "Perhaps this is a conversation to be had in private, however."

"Of course. Where can we go?"

Hermione led them to her office, shutting the door firmly in the face of a particularly inquisitive student and placing privacy charms on the room. Thor watched this with a rather impressed look on his face.

"Humans can manipulate magic?" He glanced at Loki. "You've got competition, brother."

"I don't know what you mean."

"You… right. You were always good at illusion magic, making one thing look like another. You even turned yourself into animals." Thor chuckled. "I remember one time, you turned yourself into a snake." He turned to Hermione, who was now seated on the couch beside Loki. "He knew I love snakes, so he turned himself into a snake. When I picked up the snake, he turned back into himself and stabbed me, yelling 'Surprise!'"

Hermione was shocked. "He stabbed you?"

"Yes, but we Aesir are much more resilient than humans. It was only a flesh wound, really."

"Right." She looked at Loki with an expression that promised words in the future. "In any case…"

"I've lost my memories, as I said," Loki said. "I remember precious few things. But yesterday, we discovered the reason for this."

"There's a black hole in Loki's mind. It seems to have taken all his memories. The only things he remembers are the things we've brought back using potions."

"Among those things are some faces, some moments – and a name. Thanos."

Thor looked confused. "I have never heard of this Thanos. But we can ask Father if he has."

Neither Hermione nor Loki missed Thor's use of 'we'. "I'm not going to leave Hermione," Loki said. "You can ask Father if he knows who Thanos is, but my place for now is here."

"What? No. Your place is at home. You belong with me, in Asgard. We can heal your mind, and we can find this Thanos and get our revenge for taking your memories."

Loki glanced between Thor and Hermione. She nodded slightly, looking resigned.

"If I come back to Asgard with you, Hermione is coming with me. I'm not abandoning her."

Thor looked between the two with an odd expression. "I see." He paused. "You… you really love her."

It wasn't a question, but Loki nodded.

Thor smiled slowly. "This is wonderful! Mother will be pleased. Of course she will come with us." He stood. "We should make haste. Father will want to hear about Thanos, and Mother will want to hear that you're safe."

"I have to tell Minerva I'm leaving, first," Hermione said. "How long are we likely to be gone?"

Thor frowned. "That, I don't know. Time passes differently in Midgard compared to Asgard. And if we should have to search for Thanos… Perhaps a few months?"

"Months?! I can't just leave for months! I have students I have to worry about! And – my friends! I can't just drop everything and disappear for a few months!"

"We shall explain it to Minerva, love. She'll understand."

"But – someone has to teach Potions…"

"I can give you some time. I will go and explain to Father what happened to Loki, and you can join me when you're ready."

"How will we get to Asgard without you?"

"Just call on Heimdall. He will open the Bifrost for you, to bring you to Asgard." Thor headed for the door. "I should be going." He opened the door to see Minerva McGonagall, looking as intimidating as she ever did – which is to say, very.

"I was just about to knock," she said dryly. "How kind of you to spare me. Hermione, what is going on?"

"Minerva! This is…"

"My lady, I am Thor, son of Odin." Thor took Minerva's hand and bent over it, brushing his lips to her knuckles. "I am Loki's brother, and I have come to bring him home."

"And we'll be bringing your Potions Mistress along with us, for a time," Loki added. "By your leave, of course."

Minerva's lips pursed in amusement. "Why do I get the feeling that informing me was an afterthought?"

Loki opened his mouth to reply, but her look cut him off at the knees, so he stayed silent.

"I didn't think it was an afterthought," Hermione muttered. "My job was my first thought when they said we were going to traipse off to another planet."

"Another planet? Hermione –"

Thor held up a hand. He turned back to Loki and Hermione. "I shall leave you to it. Meet me in Asgard when you are prepared." With that, Thor scooted past Minerva and headed back out to the courtyard.

Minerva stared at Loki and Hermione with an unreadable expression. "I certainly hope you have a good explanation for all this," she said.