A/N: *yawn* amg sleepy. WHYYYYY?

Beta Love: The Dragon and the Rose, Dutchgirl01, Flyby Commander Shepard

Castaways

Chapter 3: A Future for the Next Generation

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. - Charles R. Swindoll

"Oi," Loki pouted at Tryggr. "I'd like some time with my mate too."

The frost sabre just stared at Loki, clearly unimpressed. He wrapped his paw and foreleg around Hermione and pulled her close, setting his head over her with a yawn. Bjørn, who had taken to her other side, helped sandwich Hermione between them— two very large mountains of fur, fang, and claws serving as both living heaters and pillows.

Hermione yawned sleepily, barely even conscious, having spent most of the day in conversation with Frigga, both introducing her to all the people who mattered, which was everyone, and showing her around their cave as she tended her most recent patients.

Frigga had been quite impressed that Hermione had taken on so many tasks in addition to taking care of the tribe's mental or spiritual well-being as well as physical. Loki, of course, had been wrangled by All-Father as he and Laufey "talked business." When they had parted for a few hours in between sessions, Loki had sought his mate out, making sure Hermione hadn't forgotten he existed. Hermione tolerated his affections, even in front of his lady mother, rebuking his pranks and mischief with some of her own. Frigga thought it fitting how compatible they were, giving them a serene smile as she watched their antics. Finally, there was someone able to keep Loki in check without discouraging his mischief— something Frigga believed to be quite rare, in of itself.

Yet, Loki faced a block from both Bjørn and Tryggr, who seemed to desire plenty of quality time with their mistress too. Loki stared at them and only got fang-filled yawns directly in his face. Finally, unable to take it any longer, he managed to wriggle himself in between them in order to cuddle his mate, wrapping himself around her as they wrapped themselves around them. He let out a contented sigh as Hermione snuggled into him, the feel of their bodies pressed together bringing him a kind of sweet comfort that nothing else could.

A frantic pounding on the bed-chamber "door" caused Loki to consider shifting into something large and fangy and perhaps sporting a few thousand angry tentacles crossed his mind. "What?"

Thor's head burst through the room past the thick hide coverings. "Brother, I need to talk to you!"

"About WHAT, brother?" Loki growled in total exasperation.

"I think Sif is pregnant."

Loki's head suddenly popped up over Tryggr. "What?"

"Congratulations," Hermione mumbled tiredly, promptly falling back asleep.

Loki looked down at Hermione and then back to a worried-looking Thor and sighed. "Just give me a moment."

Odin married his son and Lady Sif the very next morning, ironically using the Shrine of the Great Frost Mother in which to do so. No future grandchild of his was going to be born out of wedlock, if Odin had anything to say about it, and the All-Father seemed strangely glad that it was Sif who Thor had ended up with and not some random infatuation in Ásgarðr, or worse— a mere mortal. Odin was quite surprised by the turn of events, yet those that knew him found him to be quite happy and even content in comparison to where he had been but a year earlier. No one at all was complaining in that regard, least of all his Crimson Hawks.

Scouts from the Jötunn and Ásgarðr went to check out the area where Bör had last been seen, but no one could find any evidence of either his survival or his demise, save one highly enthusiastic Snorre seal mating with his equally enthusiastic red-furred female paramour.

The Jötunn seemed ready to do a little seal hunting, but then they abruptly stopped, holding back the Asgardian scouts with a shake of their heads.

"Those, we do not hunt," the hunters said grimly. "Those are ones being punished by the Great Frost Mother. Only she is permitted to end their torment, if and when she so chooses."

"That doesn't look like torment," one of the Crimson Hawks said dryly, listening to the two seals getting it on very loudly.

"You're not the one trapped inside a mere seal's mind," they answered, ushering their Asgardian compatriots from the ice floes.

"How do even you tell the difference? They look like ordinary seals to me."

"They wear the mark of the Great Frost Mother," Arneot said with a grim shake of his head. "Any game or great beast we are allowed but those that bear her mark of shame."

"Is there a different mark of honour?" the scout asked in return.

Arneot smiled. "Our priestess and our king both wear that mark."

Thor's impromptu wedding and celebration lasted the greater of two weeks, using the occasion to commemorate both his and his brother's wedding together. While there was much feasting, there was even more celebration of the newfound camaraderie between both peoples. Sif gained a new respect for the Jötunn's respect for the unborn, finding no small amount of amazement in how each Jötunn would gently place their hand upon her abdomen and smile— perhaps seeing something in their vision that Asgardians did not.

Sif, much to the amazement of everyone, seemed quite content with how things had worked out, not that Thor wasn't, but the Warriors Three seemed actually distraught that they hadn't seen it coming, childhood friends or no.

As much as Fandral and Hogun teased Volstagg about being large for an Asgardian, Volstagg pointed out that even he was small compared to their current hosts. One thing was for certain, he certainly wasn't complaining about the food. The banquet tables meant to feed Jötunn were plenty big enough to feed a large group of hungry Asgardians.

At the height of the festivities, Odin stood, squared his shoulders, and very purposely lay down his spear.

"Friends, family, and new friends and new family," Odin said as he looked over the gathered around the feasting table. "Today, I no longer see two species trying hard to not offend the other, but newfound friends and family wishing to get along as all family and friends should. With the marriage of our two peoples and the marriage of my sons, I find many similarities where once was only confusion and misunderstanding. I can only apologise for the blindness which resulted in me choosing to follow the will of my father and the cruelty that first started the war between us. I can only hope that now that we are joined together as a combined people— we might all make our decisions for ourselves hoping that the example we make this day allows our children and our children's children to do the same without the conflict some of us have suffered through until now."

Odin took Frigga's hand in his. "As a joint gift to both our peoples and in celebration of these marriages and the upcoming children I have had the honour of feeling kick, I, in agreement with King Laufey, declare the war to be officially over, and more importantly, the gate to the Bifröst to be rebuilt that both our peoples might travel back and forth between it once more, to be restricted only by the fierceness of the weather and the duties we are all tied to for our respective peoples. I hope, that in the sharing of our knowledge as well as the love between our peoples, we shall become strong together rather than apart. And while I cannot be more sorry my part in this war, I can promise that I see things far more clearly now than ever I did before."

Laufey remained sitting so as to not dwarf Odin in size and he held out his arm. Odin and he clasped arms— Asgardian to Jötunn— and a loud cheer and thumping of feet rattled the banquet tables. "Let us give thanks for those that are here and those could not be. Let us remember them well, for our past is now behind us, and our future lies before us. We have survived in a land that continuously tests our mettle, but the Great Frost Mother never gives us more than we can handle. We must trust in her that she knows what we are capable of. We survived to today, and today we flourish. We have survived the ridicule of our own kind who shunned the old ways that made us strong. Where would we be now without She-Who-Watches-Over-Us? It was she who guided Hermione down upon Håkon those many years ago. It was she who knew that one day, Hermione would move us to safety, bind our wounds, and heal us from within. It was she that opened our hearts again to the whispers of the Great Frost Mother, brought us, through the strands of fate only she and the Norns truly know, our mates— our friends— and now our kin. Let us celebrate until we cannot stand and make our ancestors proud."

The Asgardians and Jötunn roared their approval, slamming their frothy mugs down on the floor as they celebrated long into the night.

Odin was not the only god to be giving gifts to the people that night, as the Great Frost Mother was never to be outdone, having accelerated the pregnancies of both Hermione and Sif. Frigga found herself in the position of midwife for Sif, who had found herself to term, literally overnight, and as a birthing coach for the baffled and twitchy Loki, who was trying to help Hermione. Luna, ever the serene one, butted in to help, saying "I've never helped giving birth to a Jötunn before, but I have helped to birth a centaur and a giant squid baby, so this couldn't possibly be any worse."

Severus helped by shoving a potion down Loki's throat and then Thor's shortly after. Both would-be-fathers were having coping issues simultaneously.

"Oh! That's one head, not two, so you're going good, Hermione!" Luna cheered Hermione on as Hermione went through her contractions.

Sif, a much louder birther, punched Thor directly in the face and almost kicked Lady Frigga too when her leg slipped off the bed. Hermione squeezed Loki's hand as he pressed his head to hers, allowing their joined markings to soothe her mind and body.

When Hermione was "ready" she was transferred over to a birthing pool, and Loki had her lean on him as she placed herself in a squatting position. Not but a few contractions later, Luna caught their firstborn son, wrapped him up in a fluffy blanket, and just had time to hand him to Severus when Hermione went into contractions again, clinging to Loki as the second-born daughter entered the world like a torpedo.

Luna, unfazed, caught the baby quickly, wrapped her up, and had them both sitting on Hermione's chest after Loki moved her back to the resting furs. that had been carefully prepared to be comfortable and clean for the birthing mother and her infants. Tryggr and Bjørn lay behind her, providing warmth for her and the babies, and Loki and Severus both pressed their heads to Hermione's skin, offering her comfort and support through their markings.

The babies, already learned in the way of finding food, took their first meal almost immediately.

"What are you going to name them?" Luna asked.

Hermione, almost asleep despite Sif's screaming, murmured groggily. "Sigrunn," she said touching the girl-child. "Laufey," she said touching the firstborn male.

Loki smiled at her, purring in approval as he snuggled her tenderly.

Severus tried to sneak away, but Hermione's hand locked firmly around his wrist and pulled him down. She said nothing, but the warm thrum of her magic told him everything he needed to know. Stay, and celebrate with us. Luna went over to help Frigga as best she could, if anything to give the pregnant warrior something to punch that didn't bruise later.

Bjørn and Tryggr snuffled and licked the new arrivals, their tails thumping against the ground in mutual approval.

Sif was screaming something unintelligible but everyone was fairly positive that it was "You're never putting that thing inside me ever again!" as another set of strong contractions hit her. She practically wrenched off Thor's entire arm as Frigga caught the baby, had it washed off, swaddled, and pressed him against Sif's chest before Sif even realised she'd actually given birth to one.

"Sven," Sif cooed, her face softening just before she screamed again.

"That… is not the afterbirth," Frigga noted as the second child crowned. "Big push, Lady Sif, your second-born wishes to make their appearance!"

"AARRGHHHHAAAA!" Sif cried. "Out! Why can't you come out as easily as you went in!"

Frigga exchanged amused glances with Luna, who gave her a serene smile.

Frigga managed to maneuver the baby out of the canal with a little work, realising that the baby's shoulder was jammed where it didn't belong, and Sif gave a sigh of relief, panting in her exhaustion. Frigga had the baby girl up on Sif's chest in a jiffy, smiling as Sif touched the baby's head and said, "Kára."

Meanwhile, visitors were coming in to visit Hermione, taking long moments to press their head to hers and touch each child. Laufey came in to anoint each baby's head with a sort of glowing paste to trace their markings, and his eyes brightened when he realised they had named their son after him.

"So, what do you think of Jötunn pregnancies?" Laufey asked with a smile.

"Glad for the blessings of these markings," Hermione said with a warm laughed. "I think Sif would really like them right about now."

Laufey tiled his head, listening to Sif yelling.

"You have got to be kidding me! What do you mean there is another?" Sif's voice cried out in obvious disbelief.

"She made the wrong choice in mate," Laufey said with a chuckle, causing Hermione to snort a soft laugh. "Well, I suppose it is another special gift from our goddess. We have more than enough trials in our lives than to lose our females to birthing complications and have them punch or kick us in the face while doing so."

Hermione clasped Laufey's hand and squeezed it, and he gently traced her markings in a fond, reassuring gesture.

"I've been around for quite a few birthings," Hermione said with a fond smile. "It feels strange to be on the opposite side of it."

"Strange cravings and all?"

"Definitely strange cravings," Hermione said, "but not as strange as Luna's."

"I've seen many a strange craving in my time, Hermione," Laufey said. "None of them compare to Luna's."

"She's always been like that," Hermione chuckled. "Even when she wasn't pregnant she ate some really odd things. Ron, on the other hand, ate a lot of truly disgusting things, which was a totally different issue."

Laufey wrinkled his nose. "Given his transformation, I would imagine that wasn't the only thing about him that was disgusting."

Hermione nodded ruefully. "Only one of many."

"If you will allow it, I will take the afterbirths and offer them to our Great Frost Mother in thanks for watching over your births," Laufey said.

"Thank you," Hermione said with a tired smile. "I appreciate it."

"Rest now," Laufey said kindly. "I will tell the tribe to stop hurting themselves while you rest."

Hermione snorted. "Do let me know how that works for you."

"Worth a shot, hrm?" Laufey chuckled.

Hermione's hand clasped around Laufey's. "Thank you."

"Rest if you can— provided Lady Sif is done screaming in protest of her own products of conception."

Hermione smiled as Laufey tenderly pressed his forehead to hers, the infants', and Loki's before sweeping out of the cave.

"Ah, friend Loki," Arneot chuckled as Loki pulled himself up through the hole in the ice. "How goes the urchin hunting?"

"Enough for the whole village, my friend," Loki said with a grin, heaving up the enormous net just before Severus pulled himself up and shook himself off.

"Never thought being a gargantuan whale of a whale would be useful until now," Severus said with a sniff.

"I appreciate you guarding my back, Severus," Loki said with a chuckle. "I'm not sure how they keep reproducing so fast, but from what Laufey says, he has never seen the like of these urchins before."

"Aye, the colours— red and gold— never seen the like of them," Arneot agreed. "It's almost like they want us to eat them. If we don't, they'll eat all of the sea kelp forest and frost algae."

"The water is pristine down there," Loki said. "Not a hint of refuse or old carcasses. They sure are effective little omnivores."

"The one thing the great seawolf whale will not eat— not that our females do not mind," Severus said with an amused grin.

"You're looking good, friend Severus," Arneot said with clear approval. "The hunter's life seems to suit you perfectly. Your little rascal, Kenna, must be keeping you and Eostre on your toes."

"I never thought—" Severus began, looking out over the turbulent far seas. "I never thought I'd have a life after the war, let alone one that felt so very right."

"The Great Frost Mother rewards her people," Arneot said. "Even the ones who haven't realised what they are meant to be. She brought us you as she brought us Hermione, with just enough mystery to test our faith in what she knew all along."

"I don't think Ronald Weasley or Bör Burison has quite the same positive regard," Severus said, eyebrow quirking.

"Yet, every since this Ronald Weasley and Bör Burison met their fate on the ice, our people have been thriving with plenty of seal and a great many oddly-coloured yet extremely tasty urchins."

Loki tilted his head. "Do you think that perhaps Bör and Sigyn might be the reason we have so many of those oddly-coloured and strangely tasty urchins?"

The trio exchanged dubious glances.

Loki's lip quirked into a smile. "I should be strangely horrified that I'm possibly eating the spawn of my transformed grandfather and my ex-fiancée, yet oddly I can only compliment them on having a great many delicious children."

Arneot snorted loudly, letting out a hearty laugh. "I would not wish to be your enemy, friend Loki."

Loki gave him a mischievous eyebrow wiggle.

Arneot's face turned serious. "To be so deserving that the Great Frost Mother shows her hand or Herself is a scary thing. Yet, even in her fury, she turns the punishment into something that helps our people. I cannot imagine being so thoughtful in the face of rage as to still help someone else."

"Good thing you are not one full of rage," Loki said with a chuckle. "Even the twins cannot get a proper rise out of you."

Arneot winked. "They may be able to pull the sealskin over our son's eyes, but I can always hear them coming. They are still only as stealthy as a drunk snow elk in rut."

"You paint a most amusing image in my mind, Arneot," Loki replied, chuckling.

"Hermione makes it look so easy to them," Arneot said. "Being Jötunn, carrying the twins around, doing all that she does, but I think they often forget she has lived amongst us for thousands of years— far longer than the short time they have been with us. Even you, friend Loki, have lived far longer than they."

Loki looked thoughtful. "They do not realise that to us, even to Hermione— now of all times— they are but babies having babies. It took a while for Severus to grasp that his apprentice had become far older than she was when he had seen her last. Arthur is still," Loki said, pausing as he scratched his head, "resisting the idea of the passing of so many years. I think he harbours a great deal of guilt that it was his youngest son who 'condemned' her to the icy wastelands of Jötunheimr and he never knew it."

Arneot hmmed. "He still thinks in a very human way. Very fleeting. Even with all he has gained and seen since being mated to Astera, he is inclined to believe that Hermione's being sent here was punishment, but it wasn't. The Great Frost Mother wanted Hermione to be amongst us. She wanted her for herself and her people, or she would never have been dropped just so right on top of Håkon's head. He feels guilt for not feeling guilty, which is a strange thing."

Loki rubbed his chin with his hand. "I think, as a parent, he believes there are some things he should take responsibility for, but he's still trying to separate himself from that which was not his fault. Much as Håkon still blames himself a little for allowing Snorre to hoodwink everyone. Snorre fooled everyone. In that he was the most cunning of all of us, but he was also the most selfish, and out here on the floes, selfish gains you no favour from the land, its people, or the Great Frost Mother."

"He's doing us all a great favour now," Arneot replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

There was a flurry of movement and loud yelling as Fred and George bolted out across the floes being chased by a pink and highly brassed-off frost beast and an equally brassed-off polka dot-covered frost sabre.

Loki facepalmed, shaking his head. "Amateurs."

"They do realise that Tryggr and Bjørn can keep that pace for hours, right?"

Loki peered out between his fingers. "They do now."

"Seems like just yesterday they were small enough to carry around," Harry said wistfully, watching his two "teenage" sons having mock battles with Thor's son and three daughters just outside the shelter.

Elin shoved large basket of silk-lined sealskins into her mate's arms. "Please take this to Luna. She's been waiting for weeks to finish making the new bed linings for the resort."

"Sure," Harry said, shaking off the reverie.

Elin pulled Harry to her and kissed his forehead. "You silly man. You still look upon our children like they are somehow a dream."

Harry smiled warmly. "You're all a dream. A dream made reality."

Elin shook her head. "Charmer. Go. Before Fred and George somehow con you into doing something for them that ends up with you tied to the back of a wild frost beast."

Harry's eyes widened.

"Yes, I know about that," Elin confirmed, pushing her mate out the door.

"How did you know about that?" Harry sputtered.

Elin shook her head. "My mate, everyone in the village knows that."

"Oh." Harry zoomed out the door only to end up face first outside the shelter, his foot tangled in a trip wire.

Elin rolled her eyes. "Fred, George, you will now help my mate carry those seal-skins to Luna!"

A sheepish dual "Yes, ma'am," came from outside.

"They'll never learn," Hermione said dryly, adding the finishing touches to a woven basket.

"No, I don't imagine they ever will," Elin said. "Gimle and Folka just make them babysit whenever they get too full of themselves."

"They keep trying to pull one over on Loki," Hermione said, starting up on another fishing basket.

"How is that coming?"

"About as good as it did the first day they tried," Hermione said with a wicked grin.

"You'd think after the first hundred years they would learn that it's not possible to get one over on the God of Mischief," Elin said.

"I keep thinking that one day I will be able to resist his insufferable charm," Hermione said.

"And how is that coming along?"

"About as good as it did the first day we mated," Hermione said with a sigh.

Elin grinned, finishing up slicing the fish and setting around the fire to smoke. "Some things are simply not meant to be, Priestess," Elin said with a wink.

"I am certainly not complaining," Hermione said and squeaked as a giant black-furred frost sabre appeared, snagged her by the scruff, and dragged her out of the shelter, purring.

"Some things never change," Elin chuckled, continuing to weave her fishing basket.

"Xeno, sit, sit," Molly tutted, ducking as one of her grandchildren threw a stuffed giant squid over her head. "Louis, you pick that up and put it away, young man."

A red-headed, freckle-faced boy sulked into the next room. "Yes, grandma."

"How are you doing, Xenophilius?" Molly said, handing him a cup of chamomile tea.

"I had a dream about her again, Molly," Xenophilius said. "She was holding my grandchild, but her skin was so blue."

"She couldn't breathe?" Molly gasped, horrified.

"No— she was just blue. Luna, my grandchild, and the man she was with. But they seemed so happy. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean." Xenophilius sighed.

"Arthur would have said that maybe it means she is happy wherever she is. He always liked to believe in good omens." Molly rubbed her nose and sat down. "I never should have demanded he go and find Ronald. They released the Pensieve memories for me to view— I think they were tired of me going to the Ministry and demanding to know where my son and husband were. I had no idea that he'd really cursed that girl. Hermione."

"What happened to him then?" Xenophilius asked. "You never said anything about it before."

"I think it was because of my Ronald that Luna and Harry disappeared," Molly said sombrely. "There was a team that was sent to trace where Ron's spell had sent Hermione. They never came back. I, in my desperation to see Ron home, nagged at Arthur every hour of the day until he promised to go find him—then he and—neither of them came home."

Molly drank down her tea in one long gulp. "Arthur and I—we were never really meant for each other even though we put on our best faces for the boys and Ginny, but he always tried to do good by me, but I never realised what I had while he was here, just what I didn't."

"That's what happened when my Pandora died," Xenophilius said. "And I think my unwillingness to limit my Luna is why she never knew any fear, but she also never really accepted her mother's death. I hope my dream was a true one. She deserves to be happy."

"How is Ginny doing?" Xenophilius asked.

"Pregnant with her fourth," Molly said. "Seems like only yesterday I caught her with that Ravenclaw boy. I'd never believed Harry when he said he hadn't left her, that she'd left him. I always thought those two would be married someday. How very wrong I was. When Harry disappeared, Ginny never asked about him, Not even once. Seems like I'm always mucking things up. I didn't believe that Hermione girl either— when she told me she wasn't dating Harry and that Viktor Krum at the same time."

"The Prophet, Molly?" Xenophilius shook his head. "Rita Skeeter's drivel? Anyone could have told you not to put a knut's worth of belief in her sensationalist rubbish."

"I know," Molly sighed. "I was just so terribly protective of poor Harry. He was like another son to me. I had begged Dumbledore to let us take him back in the day, but he had insisted Harry had to go to his aunt instead. Some sort of 'powerful familial magic' rot. Then, I turned around and didn't believe him when I should have."

"Well I don't see any ghosts haunting you here, Molly Weasley," Xenophilius said kindly. "I'm pretty sure they are alive somewhere, living a good life far away from the drama here, and even if they aren't, there are no ghosts come back to torment you. You have Bill, Charlie, Percy, and Ginny, and all of them have given you grandbabies, even Charlie, who you thought would end up marrying a dragon before finding a good woman. I'd buck up and see what you have and not linger on all you think you've lost. I think I'm going to follow my own advice and believe that Luna is happy out there somewhere."

The front door burst open, and three small red-headed children ran in to enthusiastically attack Molly's legs. A very pregnant Ginny followed tiredly behind, looking rather world weary. "Hey, mum."

"You should get some rest," Molly said.

"Say, mum, could you watch the kids for me today?" Ginny asked. "I need to be in Wales this afternoon."

"Oh, I guess I could if it's only today, dear," Molly said. "Remember I have a bakery to run. Whatever do you need to do in Wales, Ginny?"

Ginny fidgeted. "Actually, it's a job interview."

"Oh! That's wonderful, dear," Molly replied. "I'm glad you found a place that lets you take your children with you. I hope they appreciate the head on your shoulders instead of all those other places you used to want to be a Quidditch star."

Ginny flinched.

"Ginny," Molly said, narrowing her eyes. "What are you interviewing for?"

"Backup chaser for the Holyhead Har—"

"Ginevra Weasley," Molly said, gritting her teeth. "You can't possibly think it's a good idea to try and keep a job with a traveling sports team and take your children with you. That's a horrible idea."

"Well, I'm glad you think so, mum," Ginny said. "I was thinking that I could leave them with you on the days they call me in."

"Oh no, you're going to con me into watching your kids so you can travel the world and try to break your neck falling off brooms, Ginevra," Molly said. "You need to suck it up and be a mother and be with your children. Besides, your Morgan has been more than a good provider."

"But it's not fair, mum! I should be able to go out and work too!"

"Work, perhaps, but Quidditch? Be real, Ginny," Molly said with a frown. "You're thirty years old now, and you have three darling boys plus another on the way. How do you expect to play Quidditch with your stomach bulging out like you're carrying a boulder, hrm?"

"But—"

"No buts, Ginerva," Molly said, firmly putting her foot down. "I don't mind watching them occasionally on weekends, but I run a bakery now, and I don't want them trying to put their hands, heads, or bodies into my stone ovens. It's not a safe place for children. Too many hot things and busy people with not enough time or eyes to keep young kids out of trouble."

"Mum, I never get to go out and do anything," Ginny protested. "I should be able to go out and work too, doing what I like!"

Ginny froze as she abruptly realised she'd taken it just a little too far. Molly's eyes narrowed.

"Do you think I didn't want to be able to go out and do what I wanted to do when I had you and the boys?" Molly growled, clenching her teeth together. "I loved you all, but that didn't mean I didn't want to get out and do things, feel a little independent! I've finally managed to get the bakery off the ground and made it successful, Ginny, but I'm not going to do your mothering for you just so you can go fall off a broom!"

"Mum! I need this job. I need something for the kids all the time. Morgan is out there all the time. I never get to see him but for a few times here and there in-between games and after the Quidditch season—"

"Ginevra, have you looked in a mirror recently?" Molly asked, raising her voice incredulously. "Do you think even one safety check is going to let you even get near to a broom looking like that? The reason they have backups in the first place is for when their players get injured or pregnant!"

"I can do this, mum!" Ginny yelled.

"It's not about whether you can do it," Molly retorted. "It's whether you should at all!"

Molly narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to get hurt?"

"No!"

"Are you trying to miscarry?"

No!"

"What did the healer say when you went last? What are you having this time?"

"Twins!" Ginny cried, slamming her hands down on the table. Her eyes widened in horror, and she paled. "I've gotta go." She picked up her coat.

"Mummy! Where are you going?"

Crack!

Ginny was gone.

Famous Quidditch Star, Morgan Labatt, Steps Down To Take Care of Family

It was a sad day for Quidditch fans when Quidditch protege, Morgan Labatt, made the decision to take the position of sports columnist for the Daily Prophet. Mr Labatt, who had taken the Wimbourne Wasps so far in just the last decade, stated "It's time I took a job that let me bring the little ones in with me. The Prophet is allowing me to do that.

The Daily Prophet, which has been under new ownership ever since Rita Skeeter was found spying on Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, in an unregistered Animagus form, has created a few new accommodations for their employees to make it a more family-oriented paper. Daycare facilities on site have allowed many columnists to make the best of working and having children.

"Being a single dad is tough, but family is very important to me.," Labatt said. "I'd been thinking about trying to cut back before, but I had been trying to pull in a lot of time in order to set aside money for education for all of them. I realised though, they need me now, so I'm going to try and be there for them."

"I really couldn't have done it without the support from my parents and ex mother-in-law. They looked after the kids for the first rough months until I could get a job that let me take care of them and work at the same time."

Morgan Labatt's sports column has been a massive hit ever since it first started, and many people seem to think it is because his unique perspective on the sport, having played it for nearly ten years

As to what happened between Morgan and his ex-wife, Ginevra, no one really seems to know.

"Get anything out of her?" the woman asked as she filed her "claws" to an even sharper point.

"Nothing," Fury said, tapping his eye patch with a sigh. "She's ranting on about magic and gigantic blue people stealing the faces of her friends and trying to break into some place called Gringott's to take all her money."

"So, do we need to bring in a psychiatrist?"

Fury sighed, sitting down in the swivelling chair. He took a swig of the coffee in front of him and made it all disappear in a few seconds. "She's talking about magic and such, but I think we need to call Doctor Strange and see if there might be anything to it. He's much more into that sorcery, magic, finger waving, incantation crap than any of us."

"Has she tried to do any finger waving aor incantation— crap?"

"Not that I can tell, but we took her broomstick and stick away from her, so who knows? It could be linked to something in her head. Can't do anything without having one or another of something. We've had a few supes that had items they had linked to their powers, so it's possible. Maybe she is one and no one was around to teach her, so she came up with some really odd cover story to try and make sense of it." Fury rubbed his eyelids with his fingers.

"She's also very pregnant," the clawed woman said, using the points to scratch her hair behind her ear. One pointed, furry ear flicked idly. "Let me be the the first to say that having children only makes the strangeness worse in supes. I craved iron deposits. It was embarrassing."

"Only because you actually ate the rock and ore together, Ironcat, and it all made sense considering when you get pissed off, you're covered in metal," Fury said.

"Fine, be logical," Ironcat muttered. "Still, pregnancy does odd things to supes. If she is one, hallucinations of blue people stealing your friends' faces is probably only one of many problems. Did you x-ray her abdomen to make sure she wasn't giving birth to squid children or baby godzillas?"

Fury eyed Ironcat and gave a slight nose twitch.

"What? It's possible!"

"Possible, but not likely even around people we deal with everyday," Fury mumbled.

"So, why were we even called in to bring her in?" Ironcat asked, yawning in a very feline manner that showed all of her sharp teeth and feline tongue. "We're S.H.I.E.L.D. not psychiatrists."

"Unlike you, my friend, who manages to placate even the most paranoid government official into thinking you are a sweet, harmless kitten," Fury told her, "people claimed she was running around London screaming that blue aliens had somehow stolen her dead friends' faces. The higher-ups wanted us to make sure they weren't really blue aliens stealing her dead friend's faces because— because who the hell knows if it was true at this point."

"And they didn't just think this crazy lady landed on her head after watching too much Avatar and Sabrina the Teenage Witch?"

"I preferred Bewitched, myself. If you were going to do magic, wiggling your nose seems like a far more effective way to go about it than pointing a fancy stick at someone."

"Wands, Fury, they are called wands," Ironcat mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever."

"Do we at least have a name for her?"

"Ginny."

"Well, that's a seemingly normal name."

"Yeah, well, she thinks I'm someone called Mad-Eye Moody, and that it's all a big conspiracy since I'm supposed to be dead too."

"Where do they all come from, Fury?"

Fury shook his head. "They can't all come wrapped up in a basket and arrive on my front stoop."

"Are you saying if someone delivered Starke in a basket to your front stoop you'd be less likely to want to punch him in the face?"

"No, I'd still want to punch him."

"Psh, at least people know who Iron Man is. No one shows any love for poor, little Ironcat," she pouted.

"You're an assassin," Fury said, shifting his eyes over.

"Details."

A young man burst into the room. "Sir! She's gone!"

Fury stood up. "What? How?"

"We don't know sir. It's like she just disappeared somehow. The cameras blank out and then she's, well, not there anymore!"

"Get me red team and tell them to tear this place apart until they FIND her!"

"Yes, sir!" the man said, disappearing.

Thud.

Fury turned to see Ironcat sprawled out on the floor, unconscious.

"What the F—"

"So sorry," a liquid voice said directly in his ear. "Obliviate."

Nick Fury crumpled to the floor.

"It was so good to see you guys again" Kingsley said warmly. Then he sighed. "The Unspeakables have successfully extracted Ginevra from some Muggle para-military holding facility and she's been placed under guard in Mungo's for now. I'm not exactly sure what she saw when she got a look at you folks, but I think it probably broke her mind."

"Well, it has been almost a decade now," Amelia said with a smile.

"It was my fault, Kings," Hermione said. "I wanted to show Loki my old haunts. I never expected— I never thought I might run into Ginny, of all people."

"No, Hermione, how could you have?" Kingsley said. "At least I know where that crazy portal goes off to now and why it shall remain in permanent lockdown. I'd say I'm sorry it put you lot in danger, but it doesn't seem like any of you are complaining on how it worked out."

Amelia, Harry, Hermione, Severus and the others all smiled smugly in return.

"Well, the Unspeakables will keep a lid on it, and at least I can rest easy that some very important people didn't just vaporise into thin air on my watch," Kingsley said. "How I'm going to explain why I have a large box of frozen seal sitting in my foyer to my wife, however—"

"It should last you quite some time," Hermione suggested.

Kingsley arched a brow. "So it would seem. I will be sure to deliver these letters to the families after we arrange for the stories to match up. I'm sure Xenophilius, at the very least, will be glad to know his daughter is okay."

"She would have come, but the resort is full up with guests," Hermione chuckled. "She did send some trinkets for her father so he'll know it's her."

Kingsley eyed the empty cage on his desk with considerable amusement. "Miniature Frost Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"

Hermione smiled. "So it would appear, if only to her."

Kingsley shrugged. "Okay."

Kingsley started as a "small" Tryggr curled up in his lap and wedged his head under his hand, clearly enjoying his much smaller and more portable size. Mini-Bjørn whined from the other side of Kingsley's chair, pouting.

Kingsley petted Tryggr cautiously. "How big are these guys, usually?"

"Big enough to predate on a Jötunn," Severus answered calmly.

"And how tall is that exactly?"

"About 35 foot on average."

Kingsley swallowed hard and made sure to rub Tryggr's ears very soothingly. "Well, I'll tell you what. I will send an owl to some of our old friends. I know Minerva would jump at the chance to see you all again. You can spend the week here with me and we can catch up on old times. I can even poke Mr Grumpy Malcontent and get him to join us for dinner tomorrow."

"That would excellent, Kingsley, thank you," Harry said with a smile. "I really wanted to show my kids Diagon Alley."

"You mean the Quidditch shop," Former Unspeakables Jefferies said.

"Well, yeah!" Harry said with a grin.

"So who is watching this gateway you guys were talking about?" Kingsley said.

"Håkon's father, Raynor, lives by the Bifröst terminal," Loki said with a tilt of his head. "Håkon and his mate, Gunnvor, hunt for him so he doesn't want for food, and his grandson, Rangvald, keeps him from getting bored."

"We wanted to alternate him out with others from the village, but Håkon's father likes the solitude in-between visits from family. He thrives out there on the floes," Unspeakable Carleton said. He was silent a moment. "Arthur and the twins thought it best not to tempt fate by visiting. Considering what happened when Ginevra saw Hermione and Harry walking into Gringott's— it was probably wise."

Kingsley nodded. "Not sure how she saw through the glamour spell," he said. "It's tight and strong from what I've seen of it."

Amelia frowned. "She was touched by a fragment of Tom Riddle through the diary Horcrux as a child," she said grimly. "For all we know it gave her some remnant of his touch— his vision. There is no way of knowing what else might have stuck with her all this time, unseen by us all because it's far too insidious."

Harry shook his head. "I thought destroying the diary broke the connection?"

Severus shook his head. "Horcruxes shatter the mind and the soul, but for a moment, she was one with him and that kind of willing connection, even if innocently done, allowed a bit of that darkness to claim her. What you did kept more from happening immediately, but we don't have records of what it could do over time, as no records of such things were ever kept."

"Perhaps seeing two people such as you, Harry, and Hermione, people who are so heavily rooted in her past back then, caused her to have a crisis of the mind that had far less to do with actually seeing you and more to do with remembering something she'd hidden in herself for the last ten years." Kingsley rubbed his chin with his fingers. "But I am only guessing here. At least she is safe at Mungo's, and Molly knows where she is now. As for her ex-husband, maybe now he realises that she wasn't in her right mind when she served the papers, not that she's in any condition to take care of the kids."

Hermione's complexion took on a slightly blue cast, and Loki put his arm around her.

"What is is, my love?"

Hermione eyed Kingsley. "Have your healers carefully examine the children. You said she had three, yes? And two more on the way?"

Kingsley nodded. "What for, exactly?"

Severus, realising what Hermione was thinking, turned to Kingsley. "Dark Magic, latent. The echo."

"Does this mean I have that in me too?" Harry asked, fidgeting nervously.

"No, Harry," Hermione said. "I've healed you enough to know you've dodged that particular bullet. If anything because Tom Riddle's own hand killed his magic inside you."

Harry sighed with relief. "Thank Merlin for that. Never thought I'd be thankful for him being obsessed with destroying me himself."

Hermione pulled a small bag from one of her pouches, holding it out to Kingsley. "See that she gets a pinch of this in her tea, twice a day for a week. I doubt my showing up with do her any favours. This powder is used to leech magical poisons from the body. She'll probably hack up nasty stuff for a few weeks, but if she does— it's working."

"What is this, Hermione?" Kingsley asked.

"A gift from our Goddess," Hermione said serenely.

"No really," Kingsley said. "What do I tell the healers?"

"You may have to make something up this time, Kingsley," Amelia said. "Tell them it's something the DoM uses in the most extreme cases of dark magic exposure or infection, but information regarding the components involved is restricted and can never leave their department."

Kingsley sighed heavily. "They hate when I give them compounds they can't identify, especially when they really do work."

Amelia grinned. "Welcome to my old world, Kings."

"If it works on Ginny, then all the children will need it," Hermione told him.

Kingsley tsked. "Very well. As bad as this sounds, I hope this stuff works so something can be done for her and her children."

Hermione chuckled. "Have a little faith," she said, her unfamiliar accent hanging thickly on every word.

"Hermione, you were hardly the religious type when last we spoke," Kingsley said.

Hermione's lips curved into a smile. "Let's just say I've had some very personal humbling experiences in the few years I've been alive."

Kingsley arched a brow, but left it at that. "Amelia, what do I put down as to the current status of Ronald Bilius Weasley?"

Amelia looked to Hermione, who looked to Loki, who looked to Severus.

Severus sighed, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. "He was transformed into a female frost seal on the very first day he arrived in Jötunheimr by the land's quite formidable magic. He is currently fornicating his way through life, bringing prosperity to our people through his, excuse me, her many, many delicious children."

Kingsley slid down into his chair and hugged Tryggr like a stuffed toy, burying his face into the feline's soft, white fur. "Is that seal you brought me—"

"No, Kings, that was from one of the few that aren't."

"Oh, thank Merlin. Delicious or no, I don't want to explain to Molly at any time in the future that I ate one of her grand-seals."

Severus perked at that. "I would be glad to—"

Hermione slapped her hand over Severus' mouth, giving him a pointed look.

Severus seemed to pout using only his eyebrows.

Kingsley stood up and brushed himself off, realising his robes had a wide swath of frost-sabre fur across his lap. "I'll go take this to the healers, then. Make yourselves at home."

"Mrowl!" Tryggr said, trotting after the Minister for Magic.

"Brrrowww!" Bjørn protested, following too, both of them wanting to tag along on the next exciting adventure.

Kingsley gave Hermione a look.

Hermione just shrugged. "They like you. Just consider them very furry bodyguards that you pay in seal and fish."

"They aren't exactly intimidating at the moment," Kingsley said.

"Just wait until someone tries to hurt you," Hermione said with a sly grin.

Kingsley seemed to get an idea. "Mind if I take them to my board meeting?"

Hermione looked like she was going to say something, but Loki pulled her close to him and said, "By all means, Kingsley. You do know the safe word, don't you?"

Kingsley pondered a moment. "No, I don't," he said, sweeping out the room with the two miniaturised beasts trailing after him.

Loki beamed at Hermione. "I LIKE him!"

"Wait until you meet Minerva," Hermione said knowingly.

Many, many years in the future…

"Sven, Kára, Róta, Hilda!" Sif called. "Stop trying to pick up Mjölnir and come sit down at the table."

"Yes, mother," the siblings muttered as they gave the hammer one last tug before dragging themselves off to the table and sitting with the other kids.

The hammer seemed to sigh with relief as a clutter of spiders moved him off to a secluded corner of the shelter, stealthily under the radar of the children.

Two young Jötunn worked between themselves to carry a large trussed up roast of some sort to the table. "Grandmother says you can't have a real celebration without haggis and she went all the way out to the glaciers to get a 'proper sheep' to make it with."

Thor chuckled, clearing room and then lifting up the platter to deposit the large haggis onto the table. "Who can argue with that kind of dedication," he laughed. "Especially for a woman who built her own greenhouse for 'proper' herbs and vegetables."

"We saved you spots!" Hjortr and Brandr called to the twins. "Over here Sigrunn! Laufey!"

The twins rushed over to sit by their friends, taking their places at the table. They waved at a boy that was looking around for the right familiar faces. "Over here, Rangvald!" they called, and the son of Håkon and Gunnvor rushed up and sat down with them.

"Hey, leave room for Grandma Minerva!" Kenna said, and the other children moved over to make room.

King Laufey and Amelia ducked into the doorway and seated themselves. "I fear that Arthur's fishing expedition has not returned this evening, so we will have to save some of food for the stragglers," Laufey said.

"Awwww," the children complained. "Even the haggis?"

Amelia and Laufey exchanged amused glances. "Aye," they said, imitating a very distinctive accent.

"Ach, don't be worryin' about that," Minerva said as she ducked her way into the door, "I was sure to make extra for that crew. They can heat it up when they get back tomorra' or whenever."

The children bounced excitedly as Minerva sat between them, all of them giving her hugs as she did so.

"Minerva, wherever is your mate?" Laufey asked as they all seated.

"Egil is—"

A gruff-looking Jötunn with extra facial hair grunted as he came in with a long line of smoked fish. "Here I am. Just pulling the smoked fish off the smoke pits," he said with a smile. "Did I miss the arrival of the guest of honour?"

"Nay, they seem to be late."

"Well, it's been a month now, so they hardly haven't had time to seal the deal," Håkon said with a shake of his head, earning him a thump on the head from Magnus. "Hey!"

Magnus shook his head at Håkon. "I seem to recall you being barely able to crawl out of your sealskins for the first few months."

"That's hardly the same," Håkon sputtered. "Gunnvor denied me for years!"

"Only because I was waiting for you to be assertive!" Gunnvor said pointedly, elbowing him in the ribs.

The pair glared at each other.

"They keep threatening to make me a sister," Rangvald said to the other kids.

"Hey, what's wrong with a sister!?" the girls chimed together, causing the male children to fidget and avert their eyes.

"Now, boys," Magnus rumbled. "Do not dig your graves so deep that, when it comes time, no female will wish to be within a week's journey of your person."

The young boys flushed and settled in their seats, saying nothing.

"Besides, where would we be without our females?" Håkon said. "The Great Frost Mother is female too."

Rangvald hung his head.

"Can we eat yet?" Lang asked hungrily, eyeing the tasty food.

King Laufey thumped his son upside the head. "Not until our priestess gives the proper offerings to the Great Frost Mother. You did remember to give her a portion of your fish for the offering?"

Lang paled and slithered out the resort's main doors to hurriedly fetch a portion of his catch and take it to the priestess.

Arneot stared at his son. "Orvar."

The boy stared at his toes.

"Get moving before I sacrifice you to the Great Frost Mother for her patience."

Orvar bolted out the front door to do as his father bade him.

Harry eyed his sons, but they proudly looked victorious.

Severus leaned over to speak to his daughter. "Kenna, I take it your mission to remind Hjortr and Brandr not to embarrass themselves at tonight's dinner was successful?"

Kenna beamed. "Yes, father."

"That's my girl," Severus said with a sniff.

"Do you think the priestess will wait to give all of the offerings?"

King Laufey shook his head. "She will wait until the offerings are fair and appropriate."

"But— what if we don't have anything to give, and we're starving."

Håkon shook his head. "You know that the Great Frost Mother never asks for more than what we can give. Even our very first great hunt does not take everything."

"And we have not suffered from starvation since long before you, boy," Magnus said, eying his son with a suspicious look.

Gunnolf shifted his eyes guiltily and looked as though he'd been caught thinking something blasphemous.

"Don't be so hard on the boy, Magnus," Loki said as he stepped in the door. "He's probably convinced he's dying of starvation as we speak."

Magnus harrumphed, eyeing his son.

Gunnolf turned a deep shade of purple and tried to make himself blend into the seat.

"Any chance of dragging Hermione to the table before the children start eating it, Loki?" Harry asked, casting a look at his sons.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "She was on the way to the flows quite some time ago, but someone rushed up at the last minute to beg her not to go until they had fetched their offerings."

Arneot slapped his forehead with his hand. Luna leaned into his shoulder and patted him on the back. Their son rushed back into the gathering and skidded into the seat next to his friends, trying to look less guilty.

"I believe I found the guest of honour," Hermione said as she pulled open the door. "He was trying to offer himself to the Great Frost Mother."

"I was not!" Kingsley sputtered ducking into the doorway.

"It sure looked as though you were, my mate," a Jötunn woman said as she glided in. Her eyes were a rare dark rosewood colour that set her aside from other Jötunn. She carried herself elegantly, but there was a warmth in her bearing that was undeniably compassionate.

"Lene, my old friend," Magnus chuckled. "I was beginning to worry you would never leave your bed."

"Can I help it that I fould my mate quite enjoyable company, Magnus?"

"Oh, I'm sure he found you just as enjoyable, Lene," Håkon said with a wink.

Kingsley blushed deep purple. "Take pity on me, my friends, this is— new to me."

"Well it is your retirement celebration mixed with a healthy dose of welcome to the village," Magnus said. "You were far more accommodating and easier to teach than Arthur."

Kingsley looked around. "Arthur not hear yet?"

"He and his mate are taking a few of the others and their children out fishing on the flows for the next few days. As I understand it, Minerva has saved them food," Severus said with a weary sigh.

"Not everyone can just turn into a whale and scoop them up in their mouth, Severus," Håkon muttered.

"Jealous, Håkon?" Severus asked, arching a brow.

"Perhaps, a little," Håkon replied.

The sound of rumbling in the nearby sea marked the offering to the goddess had been taken. Hermione smiled. "My friends, our goddess has blessed us with so very much. Through remarkable twists of fate and even the selfishness of others, we have found our way to each other and back to the honouring of She-Who-Watches-Over-Us. She has never given up on us, and some of us found our way to her and to here in the most seemingly random course of events."

Hermione tilted her head and smiled. Bjørn and Tryggr smooshed her between their large heads, rumbling after they squeezed through the main door.

"Someone really needs to expand that main door," Minerva commented. "Before the wall goes to pieces."

Hermione gestured for Kingsley and Lene to take their places at the head of the table. She winked to Minerva, her eyes sparkling. "Somehow, a goddess dismissed as false, guided her people to flourish in the harsh colds where other creatures would not. She guided her chosen people to meet with the mortals of Miðgarðr, and they did flourish together until the reigning gods believed that this gave her too much power, and they plotted against her, driving the Jötunn to an ever shrinking habitat."

Hermione smiled. "Yet, our goddess was not lacking guile and tenacity of her own. She crafted a new realm from the rubble cast aside from other gods— the parts of the great Ymir that no one else desired.. She bound it in ice and frigid cold, freezing seas, and placed the most dangerous of animals to roam the land and seas, making it inhospitable to all— all but the frost Jötunn. Here, in the north, the frost giants lived hard but quality lives where the weather was far too inhospitable for any but those accustomed to such cold. The other lands were given to the rock giants, where the forests are so dense that even seeing a giant between the trees is nigh but impossible. She brought the Jötunn home here—to Jötunheimr— so they would flourish again."

"So great was her reach that she saved a mortal girl being cursed by one of her best friends and dropped her on poor Håkon."

Håkon sputtered and pretended to ignore Hermione, but he was smiling.

"So far was her foresight that allowed one of her own people to be adopted into the family of the enemy only to bring him back and foster the very peace though impossible."

Hermione took Loki's hand and squeezed it.

"The Great Frost Mother asks only for what we can give, tests us only in what we can survive, and in return her bounty is more than great. Her protection remains strong. Her judgement is both righteous and just. She has never given up on us, even when our people were at their lowest."

"See what she has given us," Hermione said with a warm smile. "Friends, family, mates, children." She scooped up a handful of rainbow-coloured spiders and pressed her face into their clutter, accepting their cheers and leg hugs. She let them reestablish themselves in her hair. Meanwhile, those who have turned their back upon her— she who gave us life again— they cower in their city behind high walls, sheltered from the danger and the cold. Yet we— we are free. Free to make our home anywhere in the ice and snow as She intended us. This is her greatest blessing: each other and the freedom to live in the Realm she made for us. The ability to love those we love without fear that it will never work between us due to some unfortunate species barrier."

"While the next generation may never know the hunger we once did, and even more so the times long before me, we can rest in knowing that those that came before us would be proud to know what we have become. We honour them as we honour Her. And I know—"

Hermione closed her eyes, emotion making it way into every line of her face. "I know Sigrunn would be proud of us. She would love the world we have now, as she loved the world she had before."

"Now, in celebration of our latest friend, who is now our brother if not their mate— let us feast in honour of Kingsley and his mate, Lene, and speak of all those things he will get to look forward to when she starts craving the purple spotted octopus and the jellyfish of a thousand painful deaths." Hermione grinned as Kingsley paled. Lene wiggled her eyebrows at Kingsley.

"I look forward to taking you on your first great hunt, Kingsley," Magnus rumbled, enjoying Kingsley's obvious trepidation. "And here you thought retirement would be the end."

"I could have warned him," Severus smirked, "but what would have been the fun in that?"

"You've had enough fun tormenting those poor twins," Minerva ribbed.

"Torment? Hardly," Severus scoffed. "Simply reminding them that I do not have to be a god to see them coming."

"I'm sure it wouldn't have anything to do with their antics at Hogwarts," Minerva said knowingly.

Severus gave her a perfectly neutral look.

Hermione laughed warmly, leaning into Loki with love in her eyes. Her fingers traced the line of his chin and pressed her forehead tenderly to his.

"Ewww, mummy and daddy are at it again," Laufey the younger complained.

Sigrunn, true to her namesake, thumped Laufey on the head. "Shut it, I want a sister."

Hermione chuckled and turned to the gathered. "My friends and family, let us eat and be thankful for what has been given to us however small or large, for there is no telling when that small thing—" Hermione held a small, extremely fluffy rainbow-coloured frost spider in her hand, "will move mountains for our sake, as the Great Frost Mother created this world for us."

The gathered all stomped their feet in applause.

"To family," Loki said, raising his mug as he sat down beside Hermione at the table. He shared a meaningful look with Thor while Sif tried to keep her spawn from diving into the food first. "May we never have to lose them again to realise what we have."

And as the celebration of life, family, and friends went long into the evening and even until morning, only to end up with the children snuggling into a pile with Bjørn and Tryggr. Far away, Odin sat on his golden throne in Ásgarðr, staring across the vastness of space as only his one eye could see. His lips curved into a tight but genuine smile.

"You may not appreciate this irony, father," Odin said to himself, "but you will be infamous amongst our people as you so wished— but not quite in the way you desired. Now, you are the very reason this peace shall be forevermore, and pregnant females shall crave the succulent flesh of your many, many delicious children, just as the goddess intended."

"Sire?" the guard interrupted. He carried a very large basket of sea urchins. "Where would you like this… offering?"

Odin smiled. "Give them to my darling wife, Frigga," he said. "She's been craving them something fierce."

(giant clutter of frost spiders tug a curtain away from an ice sculpture)

Fin.

(spider waves)

"Goodnight!"

"Hope you enjoyed the story!"

"And the tea."

"Garruph!"

"And Bjørn!"

"Mrowl!"

"And Tryggr too!"

(Bjørn and Tryggr slurp the clutter of friendly spiders.)

"Eeeee!"

A/N: And HEA was had by all— except for a few notable idiots that deserved what they got. So next time you are on a nature cruise and you happen to see a really large pair of seals making hay on the shore, check to see if it has the mark of the Great Frost Mother. You never know— who's been really, really naughty.