Harry felt the bruise forming on his arm from his brutish uncle's tight grip as he protested that he didn't know what happened and the glass just disappeared on it's own. He didn't mention that he could talk to the snake. He was pretty sure none of them noticed that. His protests didn't do any good though. They never did. He still ended up in the cupboard for a week without food thanks to his freakishness whatever that meant. He wished as he cried himself to sleep, as he had hundreds of times, that his parents hadn't died and could take him away from here. Little did he know that particular wish was about to be granted.

Loki was finally free, and the first place he went was back to the human world to find his son. He highly doubted that the prophecy had been fulfilled yet, so he would be stuck there for who knew how long, but his son was more important. He would have to figure out how to 'come back to life' and what all needed to be fixed and such after so long away, but he could figure that out later. His first priority was his son. He hadn't even been home yet before he found himself striding up to a house that was a perfect copy of all the rest with a lawn that was perfectly manicured and a garden that was perfectly in bloom. The whole thing made him sick. That much order and sameness. He was chaos personified. This was like hell for him.

Loki felt the powerful wards trying to block him, but nothing could keep a god from his blood. He walked through them like butter, not even setting them off since he clearly didn't mean any harm to the boy. He wondered what his son would be like after so long. He would be almost eleven now. He'd missed so much of his life, but at least he was here now. He could raise and guide the child through the last of his childhood into adulthood. He could help him to fulfil his destiny. At least he hadn't missed it all. He walked up and rang the doorbell. No point in being rude from the off. When the horse-faced woman opened the door, he was rethinking that though. He recognized her and couldn't believe anyone would have been foolish enough to put his son with her of all people. Not when there were so many better options. Hell, /any/ option would have been better.

"You!" Petunia spat. "You're supposed to be dead!" She was as afraid as she was disgusted.

"No, just severely injured. I just got released and I want my son," Loki said coldly.

That brought Vernon into the room. "Here now. You think you can just walk in here after all these years and take him away? We demand to be compensated at the very least for all the time and work we've put into raising the little freak."

While the conversation had been going on, Loki had been extending his senses into the house, looking for his son. The fact that he could sense him in what seemed to be a boot cupboard under the stairs pissed him off. He could admit though that he could have been hiding in such a place for other reasons, so he tried not to jump to conclusions. Perhaps a game of hide and seek with his cousin, or hiding from a stranger at the door. That was the only reason that he made the offer he did. "Very well. You get me an accounting of everything you've spent on him and I will return it. If he was raised well, I'll even throw in a quarter million pounds on top for my thanks." That would cover things and at the very least make them regret if he hadn't been treated well and judging by the colors their faces were turning, that did seem to be the case.

"You see here..." Vernon started to bluster.

That was the last straw for Loki who pulled his wand and put it to the obese man's neck. "No, /you/ see here. I want my son. Now. Should there be a need to compensate you, I will return with your payment within forty-eight hours. If I find he has been mistreated, I promise you that you will regret it for the remainder of your days. Is that understood?"

Vernon was frozen, the wand in his neck a very effective deterrent as his mind went through all the horrific things this freak might be capable of doing to him with it. Petunia was quivering in fear, but still had to at least try to save themselves. "Please. Just give us a few hours to say goodbye. We'll have him all packed up and ready to go by dinnertime." She tried to sound like a loving aunt who would miss her nephew dearly.

"And give you time to try and cover things up or make threats? I don't think so. /If/ your act is genuine and you truly care for him, I will bring him to visit, but I /will/ leave with him now." He stepped around them and headed for the cupboard where he could sense his son, and when he saw the locks on the door, from the outside, that were engaged, he knew for certain that his first instincts were correct. His son was being abused here. Were he hiding himself, he could not have locked himself in. The desperate eyes he could see peeking through the slats on the door were the last straw. He went over and didn't even bother trying to unlock it. He just ripped the entire door off and then knelt in front of it, taking in the first sight of his son in almost ten years. Vernon thought he was distracted enough not to notice and was enraged at the destruction to his property, but Loki was aware of far more than the fat man realized and his wand turned and cast off a silent petrificus totalus without ever taking his eyes off his son.

Harry wondered if this was all a wonderful dream. If it was, he didn't ever want to wake up. He looked over the stranger, wondering about his odd dress, but the most prominent thing to him was the fact that he looked like Harry. "A-are you really my Dad?" he asked in almost a whisper.

"I sure am, kiddo. I'm sorry I wasn't here before. It's something of a long story, but I wanted to be and I came as soon as I could. Can you forgive me?" His only response was an armful of boy and Loki hugged him back just as desperately, running a hand through the child's hair, ignoring the dirt and grime there. That could be fixed and all that mattered to him right now was that his son was finally back in his arms. He had missed him more than words could express. The tears he felt on his shoulder were echoed in his own eyes. "Is there anything you want to take from here before we leave, little one?" Loki asked softly.

Harry considered for a moment, thought about his little treasures; his two broken crayons and the half melted army men that he'd rescued from the trash, but he shook his head anyway. A dad was so much better than all that and part of him feared that if he let go then the man would disappear. His aunt's voice cut through his thoughts though. "Nothing in this house belongs to him," Petunia snapped. "Just fix my husband and go."

If she hadn't been so hostile about it, Loki might have done just that. Instead, he stood up, picking his son up with him, wrapping the boy's legs around his waist without loosening his grip in the slightest, and turned towards her. "It will wear off in a few minutes. Or a few hours. Hard to say how much power I put into the spell in my distress," he said dismissively as he headed for the door. He paused in the doorway and turned back as she sputtered. "Just know that this isn't over," he warned darkly before striding out. Harry was a bit too old to be carried on his hip like this, but neither of them were complaining as Loki headed for the edge of the wards. It wasn't as though the boy was heavy to a god's strength and he didn't want to let go any more than the child did.

Loki did feel the need to give him a warning before the apparated away though. "This is going to feel very strange and might even make you feel a bit sick the first few times, but it will get better, but it's the easiest way to get us home okay?"

Harry nodded, tears welling up again at the word home. He was really leaving. With his very own dad. It was all of his dreams come true and he didn't care how weird anything was. He wasn't going to risk being sent back. Not ever.