The last chapter!

This was originally two chapters, but I was concerned that the pace of the story was flagging a bit, so I took a sharp knife to it, and effectively took twenty four hours out of the timeline. This means that Hermione and Loki don't actually stay for the last day of Odin's funeral feast, but I think that this works ok.

Loki, already dressed for the evening's formalities, in his very best clothes, sat on their bed and watched as his mother's maid finished dressing Hermione's hair for the night's feast. It came to him suddenly, that this was a scene that he would be seeing very often in the future. It was a pleasant thought that brought a warm smile to his face. Seeing him in the mirror, Hermione smiled back...

"What?"

He shook his head, smiling, conscious of the maid in the room. "I'll explain later. Will you be long?". Hermione rose, and was ushered into her dress by the maid, who laced her firmly into it. She gasped as the lacing tightened. "I don't know why they call it a feast. No-one laced this tight is going to be able to eat very much." Thanking the maid, she checked her appearance in the mirror. The gown, a dark bronze silk, had a deep V neckline, and clung tightly to her waist and hips before falling heavily into the skirt.

Loki reached into his pocket and retrieved a box. Coming to stand behind her, looking over her shoulder he produced a stunning amber necklace, which he fastened around her throat, dropping a kiss onto her bare shoulder. In the box there was a pair of matching earrings, which Hermione put on. She looked, thought Hermione, elegant, dignified. Regal.

Like a Princess.

It felt very strange.

She touched the necklace wonderingly. "It's beautiful. Thank you"

He smiled. "You are far more beautiful than any jewel." He offered his hand. "Shall we go down"

x-x-0-x-x

"Hermione my dear, you look simply breathtaking. I knew that dress would be wonderful on you. And Loki, how splendid you look. I am very impressed." Frigga was probably more excited about this evening than they were Hermione thought fondly, and had clearly gone to some trouble. She had to agree with her about Loki though, who looked quite magnificent in black dress armour, heavily accented with gold.

Now she thought about it, he also looked unaccountably nervous.

Thor had requested that the company assemble in the Throne Room in advance of the evening's feasting. Once the company was gathered, Thor entered the room alone, Jane having quietly joined Frigga, Hermione and Loki a few moments before. Obviously on cue, Frigga took Hermione's arm, and drew her and Jane gently to one side, leaving Loki standing alone in the centre of the Throne Room.

Suddenly anxious, Hermione turned to Frigga, her eyes concerned. "What is going on?" Frigga's took her hand, both happy and nervous...

"Watch – this is a very important moment - for both of them"

Thor had taken his place on the throne, Gungnir at his side. Loki, now the focus of every eye in the hall, slowly ascended the steps with his usual elegance, finally sinking gracefully to one knee at his brother's feet. Hermione's eyes widened.

Loki reached up, and placed his hands between those of his brother. His voice was strong and clear, and utterly certain...

"I Loki, Prince of Asgard, do become your liege man of life and limb, swearing fealty to the Realm of Asgard, and to Thor, its King and All-Father.

To speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth , until my Lord King release me or death take me."

Bowing his dark head, he kissed Thor's hand, sealing his oath.

The vast room was completely silent.

Thor rose, lifting his brother from his knees. For a frozen moment, the two men stood, face to face. Then, taking his brother's shoulders, Thor kissed him formally on both cheeks, before pulling him into his arms. The brothers clung to one another for an endless count of seconds, before parting. If both of their eyes were wet, only Hermione, Jane and Frigga were close enough to see.

The ripple of applause started at the back of the hall, and within seconds the whole room was clapping and cheering.

Loki was home.

Hermione found herself clapping too, her eyes wet, realising the huge significance of what had just taken place.

Not a surrender, but a formal re-affirmation of their brotherhood. A recognition that Asgard and the Nine Realms needed both of them. That they needed each other.

Thor allowed the cheering to continue for some time before calling for silence.

"My friends, I have one more pleasant duty to perform before we proceed to the feast.

This morning, my Brother asked my permission to take the Lady Hermione, of Midgard as his bride, and it has been my great pleasure to give my consent, for the Lady is full worthy of him, and of the title Princess of Asgard."

At this Frigga took Hermione's hand and led her forward, for Thor to join their hands together before the whole company.

Thor leaned forward. "Now kiss her brother..."

And he did.

x-x-0-x-x

The second feast, Hermione thought, was a distinct improvement on the first.

A number of the diplomatic visitors had now left, so she ended up seated between Loki and Fandral, who flirted outrageously – much to Loki's disgust - but was charming, funny and attentive to his dining companions. Besides, thought Hermione wickedly, she enjoyed watching Loki twitching like an irritated cat when Fandral told outrageous stories of their exploits as boys.

There was no sign of Sif, which was probably a good thing.

As the evening was drawing to a close, Frigga drew her sons, Jane and Hermione to one side.

"I realise that tomorrow Loki and Hermione will return to Midgard. If you are both planning to get married this year, we need to make some plans before they leave. Can we meet tomorrow morning after breakfast?

Loki smiled. "After lunch if it please you Mother, Hermione and I have plans for tomorrow morning."

x-x-0-x-x

Loki's plans for the morning, thought Hermione drowsily, curled up against him, were very much to her taste. A palace servant had brought breakfast up to them, earlier, the remains still on the table by the side of the bed. And Loki could wake her up like that whenever he wanted to. There seemed to be no rush to get up anytime soon, although they would never hear the last of it if they were late for lunch again.

"Hermione" Loki's voice was warm and drowsy...

"Mm hm?"

"Where do you want to get married?"

She smiled, he could feel it against his throat. "Here I suppose. We could get married at Hogwarts, but we can't take everyone responsible for Asgard out all at once. It would be much easier to bring everyone here, providing Thor approves."

Loki chuckled darkly. "He'll approve. He wants all of the Avengers, several of SHIELD, Darcy Lewis and Eric Selvig at his wedding, so there shouldn't be any problem for us. Things are very different now compared to Odin's day when the Bifrost was practically closed.

No, what I meant was, as King of Asgard, Thor and Jane will have a huge state wedding in the Throne Room – probably combined with Jane's coronation as Queen. Is that what you would like too?"

"No", Hermione giggled. "I have no wish to be Queen thank you. I'll settle for slumming it with the Lord Chancellor. I hear he's much better in bed – not to mention MUCH better looking"

Loki said nothing, but couldn't help looking smug. "Seriously though. Do you want a big state wedding in the Throne Room, or would you prefer something a little -smaller?"

Hermione looked up, propping herself on her elbow. "What did you have in mind?"

Loki sat up, swinging his legs out of bed. "Come on, you're going to need to put some clothes on or we're going to shock the servants...

x-x-0-x-x

After lunch, the two couples met with Frigga in her chambers. Always organised, Frigga had arranged for a large round table to be moved in, and parchments pens and ink were left in the centre.

Almost immediately, the two brothers were wrangling over details...

"I am the eldest, and the King. Of course we should be married first."

"Thor, you have not even announced your betrothal yet – and don't you dare try to one-up our announcement once we have gone..." Frigga smiled, clearly this was all old and dearly familiar territory to her. "Moreover, your wedding will be a huge formal state occasion. Representatives from all over the Nine Realms will be attending. It will take a huge amount of organisation.

"And yours will not?" Thor's eyes lit up. "I have an excellent idea. Let us make it a double wedding"

"NO" The reply came simultaneously from Loki and Hermione. "It is a kind thought brother, but Hermione and I have other plans for our wedding."

"Go on" Frigga was clearly intrigued.

"Let us be candid. Prince of Asgard or no I have few friends in the Nine Realms. My behaviour over the last ten years has ensured this, and in the future I have many bridges to rebuild. In the meantime however, Hermione and I intend to be married quietly in the walled rose garden. No more than one hundred guests – possibly less. Hermione has no family, although there will be friends attending. We will also need to invite friends and colleagues from Hogwarts. The numbers should fit easily. Afterwards, if it has to be a public occasion, we could have a full marriage feast, or we would prefer something private in the summer dining chamber.

Frigga frowned. "Are you sure that this is what you want Loki, Hermione?" She looked worried, and Loki realised that she was concerned that he was once again playing second fiddle to his brother. He reached across the table, and took her hand in his. "Truly Mother, we discussed it this morning, and this is what we both want. We thought sunset and candles would be nice..."

x-x-0-x-x

That evening, just before supper, Hermione and Loki walked back up the path to Hogwarts castle. They were still wearing the clothes that they had worn to bid a formal farewell to Thor Frigga and Jane in the Throne Room a short while ago. The family had then ridden down to Heimdall's observatory together to say a more private goodbye. Loki had suggested that they change into Midgardian clothes then, but Hermione was tired of pretending. They were leaving Hogwarts for Asgard in the summer, there would be no way to keep this quiet, once they started to say goodbye to their friends.

It was hardly surprising therefore, that Professor Malfoy was a little startled to see Professors Lawes and Granger walking hand and hand up the drive, wearing what appeared to be fancy dress. Hermione was wearing a long full skirted gown of sky blue silk, her dark hair formally dressed, held in place by a sapphire and diamond comb, set in gold. It was Professor Lawes however that had Draco's mouth dropping open. He was dressed head to toe in black and silver leather, trimmed with gold and green. Black leather vambraces, intricately decorated in silver covered each forearm, a matching belt was round his waist from which hung an ornate dagger, and a black cape hung from his shoulders, brushing the grass behind him.

"Tell me" drawled Draco, "either I missed the invitation to the costume party, or there's something that you two haven't told me."

He looked 'Professor Lawes' straight in the eye. "I've had my suspicions for a while. If you're William Lawes, I'm Godric Gryffindor"

Hermione looked up at the man beside her, smiled and nodded agreement. "Draco, allow me to introduce you to Loki, Prince of Asgard, and my fiancé".

Draco's normally inscrutable face was a picture in shock.

"Loki. THE Loki, brother of Thor, Norse God of Mischief and Lies? Caused a bit of a ruckus in New York a couple of years ago?"

Loki smiled serenely. "Retired God of Mischief and Lies. I don't do that kind of thing anymore. And the New York thing, wasn't entirely me..." He kissed Hermione's hand. Draco rolled his eyes. "I have a new role now - at the end of this term, I will be returning to Asgard permanently, as Lord Chancellor to my brother the King. Hermione will be coming with me, to be my wife".

Hermione frowned at him. "Loki, we should tell Professor McGonagall first. Draco, don't say anything to anyone for now please"

Draco nodded his acquiescence. "You can rely on me Hermione. I don't believe I have congratulated you on your engagement by the way." He shook Loki's hand and hugged Hermione. "Now be off with you, the Headmistress will know you're here, and will be waiting."

x-x-0-x-x

Minerva McGonagall stood on the observation tower above her office. She had been notified of the Bifrost's landing by the faithful Miggs. Seeing the couple walking up the drive, completely comfortable in their Asgardian garb told her everything she needed to know. Watching the conversation with Draco, watching as he hugged Hermione, and shook Loki by the hand only served to confirm her suspicions.

Re-entering her office, she sat down behind her desk, and reached for a sheet of parchment.

"Albus, it appears that we will be needing to recruit more teaching staff...again"

The End...

Loki's oath is a combination of the oath of allegiance taken by Prince Charles at his investiture as Prince of Wales, and the oath of fealty to Gondor taken by Pippin in the Lord of the Rings. I don't know why, but Loki's oath of allegiance is one of my very favourite scenes, which actually existed on my laptop before I even started this story and I found myself getting quite emotional when I came to actually put it into this chapter. To anyone not familiar with the concept of this kind of oath, take it from me, it is a very big deal indeed. There is a response in the LOTR which talks about the Steward rewarding loyalty with love and disloyalty with vengeance, but I just couldn't hear Thor saying that to Loki, so I gave it a miss.

Thank you to everyone that has read, reviewed, followed and favourited this story, particularly those who have faithfully reviewed every chapter. I cannot tell you how much I value that support.

You are all cordially invited to the wedding of the year, which will form the last of a short series of one shots

published - as "One Hand One Heart" - very soon - next week if all goes to plan.

MM x