A/N: Hello, people!

I don't own Harry Potter or the MCU or any mythology you see.

I have no beta.

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Harry had been pouring over a book for days, because he'd decided that he wanted to spend more time with his and Loki's children, and the best way to do that, was to join them on their nightly jaunts. Unfortunately, he was human and the dense woods surroundinghis property weren't a safe place to bring a broom, so he needed to learn something different if he wanted to join them.

Loki could change his appearance at will. Loki and Teddy were of much the same mindset when it came to gender. They were themselves first and foremost, and gender didn't matter.

Both could also turn into animals without issue. Harry did not have that luxury, but he sought a way remedy that by learning how to become an Animagus. And honestly, the very short list of steps involved seemed easy upon first glance, but grew more terrifying as he considered them. Meaning after days upon days of reading, he'd finally understood just how difficult it would be.

Holding a mandrake leaf in his mouth for a month without swallowing or chewing it up was troublesome enough. Then he had to make a potion, add the leaf to it, and hope for the further steps involving weather and a full moon, to go off without a hitch. And the atmosphere had to be just right for it all to work in the end. And the thing was, some people took years because they'd get all the way up to the last step, and then their hard work would be rendered useless because the weather decided to do something else.

But Harry was dedicated. Since he was the primary caretaker for Loki's children in the past decade, he wanted to do this. It would be like the Marauders and what they'd done for Remus so he'd have friends with him during his nights as a wolf.

And Loki of course didn't see why Harry would struggle at all considering how powerful Harry was, being the most powerful human sorcerer on Earth. In the god's mind, Harry should just be able to envision himself as whatever creature he wanted, and then his magic would bend to his will and make it happen. Since that was how Loki had been doing it for centuries and it had always worked out for him.

To humor him, Harry actually tried it, and nothing had happened as expected, which had brought him to that point in time where he had been learning all the special pieces of information about becoming an Animagus. And he had absolutely no intention of telling any magical government about it, because it was none of their business and he lost most care for their ridiculous laws.

The plan was for Harry to place the mandrake leaf on the front of his teeth. That would ensure that the leaf was between the teeth and the lips. And with a spell, he'd curse his own mouth shut for thirty days, making it impossible to talk out loud, but also impossible to chew up the leaf, or accidentally spit it out or swallow it.

In the meantime, Loki had promised to be his voice. Which meant that Loki would be spending more time at Harry's home so that he could speak on Harry's behalf. Such as when Teddy had Floo'd over the other day and Harry couldn't speak to him, so Loki and he connected through magic, and Loki did the talking.

Death obviously thought it was a hoot, and she cackled for several minutes when Harry explained the plan to her. She made a comment about Loki missing Harry's lovely voice, though he didn't really understand it. Still, she wished him good fortune, and then asked for permission to kill someone in Norway. In exchange, she promised to take him to see the Aurora Borealis when it was at its most beautiful.

He took the deal. Besides, he could bring Loki to show him one of the rare wonders of Earth. Loki didn't have much experience with Earth's natural beauty and Harry wanted to expose him to more than what he'd seen. Especially since most of what he'd seen of Earth was death and destruction thus far.

The potion portion of the entire process worried him the most, but all he needed to do was follow the instructions. When not under stress, Harry did well in potions. He'd managed to follow all of the Halfblood Prince's instructions fine just by reading them. He had the aptitude, he just needed to keep himself level-headed. And with no one around to sabotage him, he should be fine.

Harry nodded to himself, looking forward to the rest of the month. He was going to give this his best shot and hope beyond all hope that everything worked out in the end. He also fervently hoped that his Animagus form wasn't something super small and therefore slow.

He wouldn't mind being a cat. Or maybe a bird of decent size.

Were there Animagi that turned into magical creatures perchance? A unicorn would be awesome! He could then send Luna a letter and tell her about it!

Loki smiled, unable to help himself as Harry once again rolled his eyes at whatever was happening on the television that's he'd bought when in search of more entertainment. Something about someone famous, doing something scandalous and being foolish enough to get caught. And Harry was unable to complain about it, so it just made him all the more frustrated.

He couldn't help but find Harry adorable, and leaned against the kitchen counter as he watched the young man glare at the television.

He'd taken Hecate's words to heart. He'd been there. He was supportive, and he'd offered to help with Harry's latest undertaking, which was to learn how to become an animal. And while Loki too thought it a worthwhile project, he was disappointed.

Midgardian magic users had severely limited themselves into believing that they could not attain animal forms unless they were of a special breed. Magic was capable of nearly anything, and it was disappointing to see Harry being caged in by his people's beliefs. He couldn't do what Loki did, because he'd been raised to feel his magic differently, and believed he couldn't. It was as if he was blocking himself from reaching the level he should be at already.

So while he did not agree, he had offered his assistance anyway, if only to make Harry smile at him. And yes, did Harry beam when Loki gave his support. And he took Loki's hand and then offered to make him his favorite dessert for after supper.

The god was also extremely touched that Harry would go through such a stressful period of time, all so he could spend more time with Loki's offspring. He wanted to frolic in the fields with them, and wanted to run with them during the nights they went out together. And as Loki had participated in many of those moments himself, it was as if Harry wanted to join their family. Officially.

He already tried his best to take care of them all. It only made sense. And by being so caring and thoughtful, he'd opened up many pathways for Loki to traverse on the way to winning his heart. Harry was like the mother they all needed, in one way or another.

Though if he was being honest, Loki wouldn't not view Harry as a mother figure, because he was already viewing him in another role entirely.

Harry had a problem and it was named Death. Meaning, his darling eternal friend had decided that she wanted to be around as often as possible while Harry was going through his training to become an Animagus. And she talked and talked and talked. And all he could do was sit there and listen, or spell a certain amount of space in front of him, to not register sound. Which he couldn't do because what if there was an emergency?

And so Death lounged on his nice sofa, eating his bloody cupcakes even though she didn't need to eat at all, and she talked his ear off.

The talking consisted of rumors, gossip, taunting over how attractive Loki had been looking recently, and information on how things were going back in Britain. Since Harry hadn't sent a letter in ages, nor had he Fire-Called anyone, he was a bit out of the loop since Teddy's last time coming over. And when he had, they hadn't gotten up to much.

Bill and Fleur had another child. Ginny was getting married in a few months. Ron and Hermione were expecting, as well as Neville and Hannah.

Honestly, people were either getting married or having children. And then there was Harry who wasn't dating in any capacity and was still childless in a sense.

Why did it have to be so difficult for him to find happiness?

Of course he was happy where he was, though having to hide from Asgard because the All Father was an arsehole who couldn't admit that he messed up big time, was troublesome. Still, he was glad to have Fenrir, Jor, and Sleppy. And Hel visited whenever she got the need to put her work off for a few days. He did consider them to be his children, they just didn't come from him personally.

Nothing was ever boring at least. It was just… Harry wanted more than one night stands and light flirtation with strangers.

And judging by Death's taunting, she was 'shipping' he and Loki. Harry didn't know what the hell shipping was supposed to mean in the context she was using it in, but Death was all for it.

As for Loki, he was very kind and willing to help out whenever Harry needed him. He also visited his children on the regular and the man had practically started to glow he was so happy. Compared to when they first met with Loki's poor flirting lighting the way, he was in a much better place now than he was before.

And he was still an Avenger despite his sentence being up. Because he ended up preferring life on Earth much more than life had been on Asgard. And Thor was of the same mindset, which had shocked the both of them. Thor was supposed to be the happy Gryffindor type who was a little naive and didn't see beyond what was in front of him. But even Thor wasn't happy with his parents and refused to go home no matter how many times Lady Sif was sent to coax him back.

And the brothers hadn't fought in ages apparently, though there were still pranks and teasing done. And the rest of the Avengers had softened up toward the gods. So Harry could understand just why Loki was so happy recently. Everything was going so well.

"Harry."

The demi-god tilted his head back, catching a good look at Loki who appeared out of thin air. He waved, since he couldn't actually speak yet, but it was only a couple of weeks left and then he'd be free! And hopefully aware of his Animagus form as well!

There was a smile on Loki's face. A very sexy one. And with his hair styled back as it was, Harry felt as if he was looking at the stereotypical bad boy. And Loki pulled the look off very well. He also looked delicious in green. Loki would have made a perfect Slytherin.

Death, who was still on his sofa, cackled suddenly, reminding him very much of Bellatrix. "Oh, Master! I do so enjoy your mind and the roads it travels! And I agree by the way!"

Stop listening to my thoughts!

He sent a glare her way, before giving Loki his undivided attention, waiting for him to say something.

"My brother wished for me to give you this on his behalf," Loki explained as a small book appeared in his hands. "He wanted to gift it himself but he has been called back to Asgard and feels that he will not be returning for some time. This time he cannot simply ignore the summons, but before leaving he handed me this."

Harry accepted the book and looked it over. The gold, foreign words on the cover, shifted suddenly and became English. Asgardian Myths and Legends. It was something Harry could read in his spare time, so that he may learn more of what made the Asgardians the way they were.

It was also very sweet.

"He likes it," Death announced. "Now go and tell Fury that more people will die if he shoots left instead of right. See what he does with that information. I'm curious to see what his conscience will have him do."

Both Loki and Harry frowned at her, but Loki eventually nodded with a sigh. "I am due back immediately. I shall visit you as soon as I can. We must go and stop some mad scientist from unleashing his strange experiments in Russia."

Harry felt himself pout as his mood soured a bit. He would much prefer it if Loki could simply stay with him.

Loki noticed his annoyance and smirked. "I'll return to you, worry not little sorcerer."

He took up Harry's hand, and placed a small kiss on the inside of Harry's wrist. He was gone a moment later, nothing to even show that he'd been there, had remained.

Death snorted. "Thor is a unique one. One of the Asgardians that I can tolerate because he is actually good. And I think it's so sweet how he's welcoming you into the family on behalf of his father."

Harry's head snapped around and he eyed the being, wanting answers.

She grinned darkly. "Oh yes! You see, when Asgardians court someone, the head of the family is suppose to extend an offer of acceptance as well. Odin is the head of Loki's 'family' and he should have been the one to gift you, but Thor took the reins instead. If you were found acceptable to wed Loki, the gift would mean you are welcomed into the family. Thor is saying he accepts that you're going to be his new brother."

It was a moment before it all clicked, and Harry simultaneously felt like a moron, but also liked he'd just been given the greatest gift ever.

Because Loki had to know what it meant, and he'd gone right along with it. Meaning he wanted to court Harry.

"Right in one!" Death announced, stuffing another cupcake in her mouth. "Took you forever to get it," she mumbled, mouth unattractively full.

Harry was too preoccupied to care though. Loki wanted to court him, or was already courting him and he hadn't noticed!

The tingle in his gut meant excitement. Harry was being courted! It meant a relationship!

And because it was Loki and they were already connected in many ways, he knew that it had a bigger chance of working out than any other relationship would. Because Loki didn't care about his riches or his reputation.

Suddenly, things were looking up.

A/N: Another is done!

Part of the 2017 Christmas Bundle.

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CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON.