Notes: In which we bring this story to an end, hoping I haven't left any major plot threads dangling nor yet tied things up too neatly. Thank you to everyone who's been commenting or just reading, for your indulgence and enthusiasm with this idea. You are all much appreciated!

Warnings: None needed.

Chapter Thirty-One

Professor Sinistra's practical astronomy classes were always interesting, but Loki and his friends usually found astronomy theory classes kind of dull- there were just so many stars and planets to remember, lists and lists of them. Loki often felt tired after astronomy, all the students did, but today's class ended with everyone in a good mood. The two sets of first-years walked together to the Great Hall for dinner, chattering happily, for the first time in what felt like weeks.

Really, Loki amended to himself, most of the Gryffindors had always been quite friendly with him. It was just that they were also friendly with Clint, and so the tension between Clint and Loki was uncomfortable for them. It had been uncomfortable for the Hufflepuffs, too, but unlike the Gryffindors, the Hufflepuffs hadn't had any sense of confused loyalties. Rightly or not, the Hufflepuffs had decided Loki was the injured party, and they hadn't made any bones about favouring him over Clint. Loki felt a little guilty about that, especially about not making any effort to encourage his own friends to be Clint's friends, too.

Well, he promised himself, there was plenty of time to make up for it. He and Clint were still shy of each other, but Peggy and Maria and Annie clustered around them and talked back and forth as they walked, making it easy for both boys to join in the conversation without feeling too conspicuous.

Once in the Great Hall, they split up to join their own houses, calling final remarks to each other as they went. Loki and his friends were just sitting down at the Hufflepuff table when there was a rush in the corner of his eye. The next thing Loki knew, he and his friends were practically pounced on by first-years from Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Darcy was, of course, in the lead, with Natasha and Ian right behind her and Jane tugging at her sleeve. She was already talking as she reached them:

"I can't believe it, you Hufflepuffs went on a heroic quest all by yourselves and didn't even invite the rest of us along. Do you know how bad that makes us look? Hufflepuffs going to fight Death Eaters, all by yourselves? What were you thinking? Running off without a single Ravenclaw to do the thinking, or Slytherin to do the plotting- "

"We had Stark," Mitchell managed to interject, and Darcy flapped her hands at him.

"Oh, please. There are times when I think Stark might as well be a Gryffindor."

Jane poked her. "Stop that!"

"I wouldn't say that to his face if I were you," Ian warned, and Darcy grinned at him.

"We had Barney Barton, too," Loki reminded her, and that made even Darcy stop for a minute and look serious.

"Is he all right?" Bruce spoke up, before Darcy could start being silly again. He tilted his head toward their Slytherin friends and explained, "They said he didn't come back to the house with Stark, and I, I don't like to go ask Clint- "

"He wasn't hurt, exactly," Annie said carefully. "But he was… he was awfully upset." Her eyes went far-away for a moment, remembering, and she shivered a little. "He was upset," she repeated.

"My mum says he was taken to St. Mungo's," Loki said. Everyone looked at him in surprise, and he realized nobody had told the other kids this piece of information. He felt a little uncomfortable about being the only one who knew it, and more than a little uneasy about telling it. Only he'd already let the cat halfway out of the bag anyway, so he went on, "She says there are, there are healers who can help him. They have, have special training."

"Like a psychologist?" George asked. When the wizard-born members of the group- and Loki- looked blank, he tried to explain: "That's a kind of healer that helps people who… who feel scared or angry or sad all the time. They try to help the person work out why they feel that way, and to help them solve the problem, or at least learn how to think and act differently, so… so they can be happier, and, you know, live their lives." George made a face. "Sorry, I'm not explaining it very well."

"No, I think I know what you mean," Jane said quickly. She glanced at Darcy, who looked thoughtfully back at her. Loki remembered the girls were cousins, and he wondered if there might be someone in their family who maybe needed a healer like the one George was describing. The way Barney and Thor- and Loki- did.

Probably a lot of people, now that he thought about it.

"That sounds like a good idea," Bruce said softly. "I didn't know there were healers like that, but I think Barney really needs someone to help him."

"I didn't know you were such a friend of his," Darcy said, looking curiously at Bruce.

Bruce shrugged uneasily. "I'm not. I hadn't thought about him much for years, until I got here and saw him again. But… like I said, he and Clint lived with my aunt and me for a while, when I was little. And… and he wasn't always angry and scary. I got remembering that, after the day we saw him with Professor Slughorn watching Stark test that broom. He could, he could be really nice sometimes. Like he wanted to be kind to Clint and me, only then he'd get angry again and- " Bruce wiggled. "I talked with my aunt, over Christmas. She remembers him that way, too. She was hoping the next place he and Clint went, someone would help them."

"Well, someone's going to help him now," Jane said encouragingly. Bruce nodded, then smiled quickly at Loki and his friends.

"Anyway, we're glad all of you are safe. Even if you were idiots to run off and get into danger like that."

"Without us," Darcy returned to her original complaint. "Don't forget that part. If you're going to be idiots you have to let the rest of us in on it. Remember that, the next time."

"Promise," Mitchell said, laughing. And then he stopped, his face going still. Loki turned to see what Mitchell was looking at.

Thor and his friends- and Mr. Longbottom- were standing behind the Slytherin and Ravenclaw first-years. All of them except the teacher looked awkward and rather shy. Mr. Longbottom started to say something, but before he could Jane had caught Darcy by the wrist and dragged her away. The rest of the group excused themselves to Loki and his friends, and then followed.

Natasha, who hadn't spoken so far- not that this was unusual for Natasha- waited a moment as the others scooted away. She leaned toward Loki and said quietly,

"Clint told me that you pushed him out of the way, when the Death Eater tried to curse him. Thank you."

She was gone before Loki could reply, leaving him to face Thor and Thor's friends. He took a nervous breath.

And then he realized, that was just habit, and a silly habit at that. There was no reason for him to be nervous of his brother anymore, or even of his brother's friends. Thor's friends still didn't like him, of course- except perhaps for Volstagg, who least didn't seem to want treat him as an enemy anymore- but that didn't really matter. Thor wouldn't let his friends hurt Loki. Not now. And besides, they only disliked Loki because Thor did. Used to. If Thor wasn't angry at him and Loki let them alone, they'd probably be happy to let him alone, too.

Which didn't explain why they were all here right now, in front of everyone, unless-

"Loki, we all owe you an apology," Thor said, speaking much too loudly for indoors. He sounded as if he was calling to a team mate across the Quidditch pitch. By the end of the sentence, most of the kids sitting down to dinner were looking at him.

Loki started to answer, to tell him they could talk about this later, privately, and anyway Thor had already apologized. He didn't have a chance: face red but determined, Thor went on,

"I said some really cruel, stupid things about you not being my brother because you're adopted. That's nonsense, of course, and I know it: you're adopted, so your mum and dad are my mum and dad, and you're my brother, every bit as much as if you were born in our family. I should never have said what I did, and I'm sorry for doing it. I was… I was angry, and I felt like being ugly to someone, so I picked on you because… because I thought it was safe to. Because whatever happens, we'll always be brothers. I just didn't stop to think about how unfair that was of me, or that if I kept acting that way maybe one of these days maybe you'd decide you didn't want to be my brother anymore."

"I'd never do that," Loki protested, appalled. Of course he wouldn't. Thor wasn't a Death Eater, after all. You might as well say it was right for Thor to disown Loki just for making a nuisance of himself.

"I hope not," Thor said, and glanced at his friends. Loki expected Volstagg to speak next, although really, Volstagg had nothing to apologize for, since he had made a few obviously-friendly overtures already and had defended Loki to his friends besides.

He was more surprised than he could say when the next person to speak up was Sif.

"I'm sorry, too," she said, looking uncomfortable and mutinous and like she was being forced to speak- or perhaps would just have preferred to say this in private. Truthfully, Loki would have preferred it as well, so they could fix things between themselves and then just let everyone else forget Thor had ever done or said such things to his brother. This had to be really embarrassing for Thor.

Which, Loki supposed, was why Thor was so determined to make sure he did say it all in front of everyone: so there was no mistake about whether Thor knew he was wrong, or was sorry for what he had said. The Hat really had put him in the right house.

Sif glanced at Thor, and at Mr. Longbottom, then turned back to Loki. "I went around telling people you weren't Thor's real brother, and that was cruel and, and stupid of me. This isn't an excuse, but… I have three little sisters, and I get tired of babysitting them, and when I used to come over to play with Thor I felt like I didn't want you around because you were younger than us and… it was mean of me. Nobody was asking me to babysit you, I just acted like it. I'm sorry."

"I didn't know you had little sisters," Loki said, rather foolishly. Thor never talked about his friends' families. All Loki knew about them was that they were Thor's.

"Yes, well, sometimes I'm not very nice to them, either," Sif admitted. "And that isn't any excuse."

"Well, I was a real pest a lot of the time," Loki ventured. It was true and he knew it, only he couldn't have admitted it before, back when Thor and his friends seemed like his only chance to not be alone. He'd been a terrible pest, whether he'd wanted to admit it or not.

Sif shrugged. "You could have been worse. And it wouldn't have killed me to let Thor include you sometimes, like he wanted to at first. Anyway, I'm glad you weren't hurt too much, chasing after Thor and Clint- any of you," she added, looking around at Loki's friends- "and I hope you can forgive me a little bit." Loki was nodding, when Sif suddenly lowered her voice. "I thought Thor was making it up. About you being adopted. I thought it was just something he said because he was angry. I thought he was just…not teasing, but saying it. I wouldn't have spread it any further if I'd known it was true. Not that it makes it any better that I did."

"Well, that time last summer, when I said I was going to tell on you about your jinx duels- I didn't mean that either," Loki said. "I was just angry. And... a little scared. I wouldn't have told on you." Although, he supposed, he actually had, now, and he glanced nervously at Thor as he spoke. Thor made a rueful face and shrugged.

"I'm sorry, too," Fandral spoke in a rush. "I thought I was being funny, but there was nothing funny about it. Sorry."

"It's okay," Loki muttered, beginning to be nearly as embarrassed as Thor's friends. Hogun also muttered a little, and then Volstagg glanced at Mr. Longbottom and said,

"I should have spoken up about all this, ages ago. I pretended it wasn't my responsibility, but I'm certainly old enough to know it's wrong to pick on other kids, especially younger ones, and that what they- we- were doing wasn't making things better for anybody, including Thor." He looked sheepishly at Mr. Longbottom again, and then said, "Sometimes the best way to show you're a loyal friend is to tell your friends when they're wrong. Anyway, I hope we can… start over." He looked rueful. "I know it's too late for an offer like this to matter very much to you, now that you've got people besides us to go around with, but maybe sometimes you might want to… "

Loki nodded, reflecting that an offer like this, given before Loki had any friends of his own, would have sounded like permission to tag along everywhere until Thor and his friends were even sicker of him than they ever had been. So really, it was just as well it was made now, when Loki wouldn't clutch desperately at it and make an even bigger nuisance of himself than he already had.

"Maybe we could all do some extra flying together," Thor suggested. "If we can borrow some broomsticks, I mean," he added to Mr. Longbottom.

"I'm sure we can arrange something," Mr. Longbottom agreed.

"Okay," Loki said. "I mean, that would be nice. Really nice. Thank you," he said, to Thor, his friends, and the teacher.

Mr. Longbottom smiled, and ushered Thor and his friends back to the Gryffindor table.

~oOo~

After dinner, Loki, Annie, Mitchell and George decided they had better go to the library. They were armed with notes loaned them by their first-year housemates for the classes they had missed that morning. George had asked Dennis about Transfiguration and Charms the previous afternoon- Mitchell poked him in the ribs for that- but Dennis explained that, with eight students missing, Monday afternoon classes had been cancelled and all the students sent back to their respective common rooms.

"The school couldn't get along without us," Mitchell preened.

"I think Professor McGonagall was just afraid all of us were going to end up doing something really stupid," Pippa spoke up, as she handed over her class notes from the morning.

"That makes more sense," Annie said, and even Mitchell had to admit she was right.

The four friends could have worked in the common room, of course. That is, they could have if they had been able to stop telling stories to their friends about what now felt like an adventure, and buckled down to their work. Which, of course, they knew they wouldn't. The obvious solution was to go to the library, where at least Madame Pince would make sure they didn't waste any time talking.

"Dennis has terrible handwriting," Mitchell complained as they walked along the corridor leading out of their basement. "Much worse than mine, even. And you know what mine looks like."

"Pippa's writing is quite good," Annie replied. "You can use them to check and make sure you get everything written out properly."

"Olivia's is good, too," Loki reported, examining the parchment his classmate had loaned him.

"Girls always have better handwriting," Mitchell said confidently.

"Mine isn't so bad," George argued, glancing back at Mitchell as he walked around a corner.

And crashed solidly into Professor Fury.

Annie shrieked, George squeaked, Mitchell yelped and Loki nearly fainted, but when George stumbled backward Loki helped the others catch him. All four kids spluttered terrified apologies, gradually realizing Fury did not seem very… furious… with them.

"I really haven't eaten a student yet, you know," the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher remarked. Loki's face got hot and Annie blushed, but Professor Fury just said calmly, "I was coming to look for you, Odinson. Stop looking so panicky, what did I just tell you?"

"You- you haven't eaten a student yet?" Loki squeaked.

"And don't have any plans to." Professor Fury looked around at Loki's friends. "You lot go wherever you were headed. I'll send him to catch up with you in a minute." Loki's friends looked at him- rather as if they expected never to see him again- and Professor Fury actually flapped his hands at them. "Go on- shoo."

Annie, George, and Mitchell reluctantly shooed, leaving Loki standing in the corridor, nervously facing the teacher.

Professor Fury sighed. "You know, Odinson, if you'd just told me why you wanted to know about the Campbell-Hardwickes, I would have tried not to scare you quite so much." Not knowing how to answer that, Loki just nodded anxiously. Professor Fury went on, "Your dad had a word with Professor Coulson and me, before he left. Just so you know, neither of us were aware you're adopted."

Loki had been wondering about that. "You weren't?"

Professor Fury shook his head. "No. Neither of us worked closely with your dad, we didn't know your mother, and in those days nobody was telling family stories or sharing baby pictures around the office. Especially after the Ministry fell- there was no office, we were just scattered all over the place, keeping in contact as well as possible so we could fight together, but we were comrades-in-arms more than friends.

"Shacklebolt knew about you, because he and your dad were always close, but he was probably the only person in the Ministry who did. And your dad asked him to keep it quiet, I suppose because he and your mother hadn't decided what to tell you." The professor paused. "If I had known, if anyone here at Hogwarts had known you were adopted, I'm pretty sure your parents would have told you before you came. They wouldn't have risked you finding out by accident, from a stranger. Although I don't suppose finding out the way your dad says you did was any easier."

Loki, remembering, shook his head. Professor Fury reached out and, totally unexpectedly, patted Loki lightly on the shoulder. It was as if he thought he ought to offer some sort of comfort, but didn't have any idea how that worked. It was almost funny, really.

"Anyway," Professor Fury went on, "the Campbell-Hardwickes are Azkaban's problem again, not yours. They're brother and sister, incidentally. Not a married couple." Loki blinked in surprise, and Fury's mouth quirked a little. "I wish I'd thought to tell you that. When you brought them up, I suppose I assumed you knew a little bit about them already, but if I'd mentioned they were siblings you might have figured out on your own that you weren't their son."

That was true, Loki thought, but there was no point in wishing. Besides, there was no telling what kind of story he might have told himself instead, anyway.

"Next time, if there is a next time, I hope you feel like you can just ask the questions you need to have answered," Professor Fury said. "Ask your parents. I'm pretty sure they've learned their lesson about hiding important facts, or assuming things." He grinned suddenly. "But if they haven't- well, I'd be happy to have a word with Clarence for you. Okay?"

"Okay," Loki agreed quickly. Now that was a terrifying thought.

Fury nodded. "All right. Run along and join your friends."

Loki did. A few minutes later he was slipping into a chair across from Annie at a library table.

"What did Professor Fury want?" Mitchell whispered, avid with curiosity.

"I think he just wanted to make sure I was okay," Loki said, after a moment.

"Are you?" Annie asked, her brown eyes serious.

Loki thought about it, looking from Annie to the equally concerned faces of George and Mitchell. Finally, he answered,

"I think… I think I will be."

~oOo~

Epilogue: Summer in Elder Cross

"Loki, watch yourself!" Volstagg shouted, and Loki ducked just in time as the bludger sailed past his head.

"That's the way!" Thor called, flying by at top speed in an effort to catch up and direct the bludger toward Darcy, who was handling the quaffle for the other team. Mitchell swung his own bat- with a two-handed grip that nearly knocked him off his broom- and sent the bludger back at Thor. Thor swerved as the heavy ball came his way, and the bludger went after him.

"Heads up!" Pippa shrieked, as Thor and the bludger came charging through the opposing team's ranks.

"Pippa, behind you!" Sif yelled from the ground. The younger girl looked around to see the snitch glittering through the air, and her upper body jerked backward a little as her broom's acceleration left her behind. Ian just barely got out of the way as the snitch buzzed past him, with Pippa in pursuit.

"Go, Clint!" Natasha, Jane and Annie shouted, and Clint also set out after the snitch, his brother calling encouragement from his position in the makeshift goal. The snitch turned as it reached the containing spell that Dad had set to keep the game within bounds- and also from being noticed by any Muggle who might happen by. Pippa twisted sideways, the powerful broom she was riding practically turning itself in pursuit of the snitch. Pippa reached out as Clint tried to catch up, and her fingers closed around the snitch.

"Got it!" she cried, and on the ground her team shouted in excitement. Loki, Becky and Annie cheered their housemate- then remembered they were on the other team and tried to look sorry.

"Nice flying," Clint called to her.

"Thanks," Pippa replied. "It was all the broomstick, really."

"That Lightning Bolt isn't easy to fly," Clint pointed out. "I nearly fell right off when I tried it. Good job."

"Thanks for letting me try your broomstick, Thor," Pippa added, as the two teams landed.

"Glad to," Thor replied. "You flew it really well. Does anyone else want to try the Lightning Bolt? Loki, do you want another turn?"

"No, thank you Thor," Loki said. "It's a little too much broomstick for me. Are we playing another game?"

"I think," said Mr. Mitchell, as he walked toward them across the grass, "your mother wants you all to come back to the house and have something to eat first."

There was a little muttering, but mostly from Sif, Thor, and Pippa- the other kids were mostly ready to have lunch. They gathered up the broomsticks- every one they could bring or borrow from around Elder Cross- and walked back up the lane to the Odinsons' holiday home.

It was the first week of summer holidays. Exam results had arrived, and to his relief Loki had done quite well in everything, even Potions. He hoped next year he'd do even better- with any luck there would be no distractions as serious as the ones he'd had this year.

Mum had suggested the family have an early weekend in Elder Cross, and invite all the boys' friends to visit for an afternoon. The group had turned out to be much bigger than she had probably expected- it was a good thing the weather was nice, so they could to have lunch in the garden.

Loki was mostly responsible for the numbers: in addition to his three closest friends, he had asked to include the rest of his first-year friends in the invitation. Clint was Thor's friend as well as Loki's, and Thor's circle of friendship had expanded a little so Barney was invited too. The Bartons were spending the summer with Bruce and his aunt, and they had all come together by floo. And then Thor had asked Becky as well, since she was in several classes with Volstagg and had always been friendly to Loki.

The all-inclusive Quidditch game had been Thor's idea. He'd also been generous about letting anyone who wanted try his Lightning Bolt- of Loki's friends, only Pippa and Mitchell were good enough flyers to really take advantage of its speed and handling, but it was still fun to fly it gently. The game was a lot of fun: their age differences didn't seem to matter for this afternoon, at least, and by now there seemed to be less of a divide between Loki's friends and Thor's friends.

Loki, walking along with George and Annie, looked up with a smile as his big brother fell into step beside him.

"Want to play again after lunch?" Thor offered, and he sounded sincere.

"I think probably Pippa and maybe some of the others will want to," Loki said, "but Dennis would like to visit with the owls, because he's still deciding what kind he likes best. So maybe we should all just see what everyone wants to do after lunch?"

"Okay," Thor said. "You're welcome to join us, you know."

"And you're welcome to come play with the owls, if you want to," Loki told his brother. Then Mitchell called to Loki and the others to catch up, and Fandral to Thor. Thor smiled and patted Loki on the shoulder, and both sets of friends all went on to the house together.