The Confectionary Chronicles || HP/SPN

Lollies and Loki- CH27

A/N: Translations from Old Norse words in this chapter will be in the author's note below, instead of individually marked with a * because of the number

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:

Hermione adored Vashti– the little phoenix chick was everything she could have ever dreamt of for a life-long companion; she was sweet, inquisitive and as in love with Hermione as Hermione was with her. She couldn't fly or travel by flame yet but she was usually content to just travel around either in Hermione's pocket or curled up inside her blouse or dress, against her heart.

Vashti also liked to sleep either nestled in the crook of her neck, or nesting in her hair. The tangles in the morning were positively frightful– "elf locks", Richard Granger had commented with an amused chuckle one morning– but Vashti was worth every snag of her hairbrush, and it didn't take long for Loki to offer to teach her how he used his powers to style her hair so as to avoid the horror that had become untangling the knots every morning.

It proved much more difficult then Hermione had been expecting, which she shamefully admitted to herself was because she'd viewed the more 'cosmetic' magic as silly and frivolous when compared to other magic she was learning. It was a humbling lesson that she'd taken on board, one that was reinforced every time she painlessly untangled her hair or twisted the curls into fancy loops and braids interwoven with fresh flowers, colorful beads and tiny golden bells without lifting a finger, and she determinedly vowed not to make such a judgmental mistake again.

Vashti brought more with her more than just companionship, unconditional love, and a valuable life lesson– she was a living reminder, to Hermione, of her god. It was partly due to Vashti's colouring; it was obvious to most who knew him that Loki favoured the colours green and gold*, and Vashti's molten-gold irises also reminded Hermione of Loki's when he wasn't trying to hide how otherworldly he was, but mostly it was because of how Vashti was so hot to the touch, just like her god was; a little ember of flame that didn't burn.

When Loki had given her knowledge of what he called "Beast-tongue" (taking Norse mythology into account, Hermione suspected it was a form of Allspeak), he explained that he'd given her the ability to understand animals that had enough intelligence to be capable of speech (and she was still agonising over the revelation that some animals were capable of sentience– she hadn't eaten anything with meat in it since her birthday, her inability to come to terms with the new knowledge an ongoing conundrum). One day, Loki told her, Vashti would also be capable of speech, but she was currently too young, much like a human newborn would be, though unlike a human newborn Vashti's development was much quicker– she was already nearly twice the size she'd been when she was born. 

Hermione was thrilled by the idea of it, of a best friend who would be there with her for however long she ended up living– witches and wizards, she'd learned, had a lifespan that was, on average, about double that of normal humans– who she could hold conversations and share secrets with.

As well as being too young to speak, Vashti was also too young to fly or travel by fire, though she occasionally let out determined puffs of smoke from her feathers which was always followed by disgruntled chittering and beak click-clacking when not so much as a flicker of flame appeared. Hermione always distracted her when Vashti seemed to be getting truly distressed by her lack of results, which wasn't hard– preening her feathers always had her little sweetheart forgetting about flying or flaming or anything else in favor of crooning and trilling and melting in a bundle of happy, feathery fluff.

This distraction had also proven itself useful when Vashti's talons had started growing out– a phoenix's talons, Hermione quickly learned (amongst many, many other things to do with raising a newborn phoenix chick) from the large pile of books Loki had provided her on phoenixes, were capable of cutting through solid stone if the phoenix willed it and their beaks could tear solid steel to shreds. Vashti didn't start slicing everything to ribbons on purpose, of course, but she wasn't so good yet at willing them to not destroy Hermione's things and Hermione had to purchase a pair of clippers for bird claws when Vashti started leaving deep scratches and gouges on her skin, much to both of their distress. Preening Vashti's feathers served as an excellent distraction while she clipped the little chick's talons.