Chapter 11
It took around an hour for Petunia to calm down after that. No, check that, it took around an hour for Natasha to succeed in calming her friend down, and even when she was calmer, she still wouldn't sit back down in the chair and just kept pacing.
"Petunia, you need to relax," Natasha said calmly, keeping one eye on her friend and one eye on the babies. "This is not the end of the world. So Dudley has magic. If anything he's no longer isolated, he'll have Harry and Hermione around him and he won't be left out."
"That's not what I'm worried about Emma," Petunia said taking a deep breath and fanning herself as she paced. "What's Vernon going to say? He already knows that Harry has magic and he's not at all pleased about it, but when he finds out that his son has magic too, and he will, I have no idea what he's going to do. Suppose he hurts Dudley?"
Natasha paused. "You don't really think he would do something like that to his own son do you? I mean, he's not the nicest person on earth but he wouldn't abuse his own child."
The look on Petunia's face made her nervous. "I don't know how he'll react and that's the scariest thing. I pushed him when I insisted that we keep Harry. But I didn't tell you what happened early yesterday morning before he left for his conference."
Natasha's eyes narrowed and she sat forward in the chair. "What did he do?" She asked, eyes narrowed, voice as deadly serious as a razor. Petunia took another deep breath and it looked like she was trying to stop herself from hyperventilating.
"Harry was playing with one of Dudley's toys while Dudley was still asleep, and I guess Vernon didn't like that because he stopped in the nursery on his way down the stairs. It's lucky I stopped in their when I did because when I came in, he was a few feet from Harry with his hand raised as if he was going to hit him. And I heard him say, "You put that toy down, a freak like you doesn't deserve nice things."
Her voice broke on the last word, and she finally sank down on the chair and buried her face in in her hands. "Oh Emma, I've married a monster."
Natasha didn't reply. She was too busy shaking with rage. There had only been a few times in her life when she had been truly angry, the times when she hadn't been dominated by cold indifference.
And this was one of those times.
The walrus had gone too far.
"What do you want me to do Tuney?" she asked in a voice so quiet, it was almost frightening and cold as ice.
Petunia raised her face from her hands and looked at her friend, cheeks streaked and eyes full of tears. "I want to leave him Emma. But he'll find me, I know he will, he'll take Dudley and I'll never see him again. And god knows what he'll do to me and Harry."
She got up again and picked up the small sable haired little boy with the big green eyes along with his blonde cousin who both squealed when they realized they were being taken from their toys. She kissed the tops of both of their heads and held them close. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you," she whispered. "We'll figure something out."
Ω
When Natasha went home with Hermione that night, she was still cold with rage. It was like a hot poison was rushing through her blood. Her fingers itched to throttle the walrus with every ounce of strength that she had and she had to take a few deep breaths to come down from that point to a somewhat lesser degree of angry.
"How dare that man even be allowed to breathe air!" she snarled as she put a sleeping Hermione down in her crib. "How dare he even be allowed to be near children?! He needs to be locked up and squashed like the miserable cockroach he is!"
"Forgive me, but who is a miserable cockroach?"
Natasha whirled around and was temporarily struck dumb when she saw him standing by the window. His blonde hair was neatly tied back and he was dressed in dark jeans and a deep green shirt that made no secret of the hardness of his body at all, but at the moment, she didn't notice that.
"Oh, it's you," she breathed out, and then without even thinking, she walked up to the tall blonde and put her arms around his neck before resting her forehead against his shoulder.
He must have been surprised as well because he froze for a half second before relaxing and snaking his arms around her slim waist and pulling her closer.
It surprised the red head how relieved she was to see him. It had been months, and she hadn't realized how lonely she was. She was never really bothered by it when she was with the Red Room, but now that she had a baby and that baby also belonged to someone else who, like it or not, she had had an intimate experience with, it was a little different. Natasha genuinely felt deep down, buried somewhere but still tangible, that something was missing when he wasn't there.
She would be seriously hard pressed to admit it thought.
Thor for his part hadn't really realized how much he missed her. But then, war was bound to make one remember the important things in life with far more poignant clarity. And aside from his family, Natasha and Hermione were the most important things in his world.
Contrary to popular belief the god of lightning and storms was very family oriented and when he was separated from them in one form or another, he felt it.
They stayed that way for a long time, because neither of them felt the need to move. It was times like that that Natasha felt a little sorry for her friend. Why couldn't the father of her child have more attributes that were easy to care for? Compassion, humor, gentleness when necessary and strength, were some of the qualities that she was learning to appreciate about Thor.
After a time, he pulled back so he could look at her and smirked a little. "I thought I might ask if you missed me, but I feel that I don't need to now."
Natasha smirked in response. "Don't get used to it."
"Then I'll say it, I missed you," he said and she stiffened in surprise, but after a moment, her face softened into a genuine smile. "It has been a little quiet around here," she admitted. "I think Hermione's missed you too."
He followed her back over to the crib and as soon as he laid eyes on his little girl, what was left of the fatigue in his eyes vanished and a smile like the sun came over his face. He made no move to reach down and pick her up because he was afraid of waking her, but she could tell that he really wanted to.
Instead he reached one hand down and brushed his fingers against her cheek gently. She moved in her sleep at his touch and his smile widened. He looked genuinely happy when he was around her and Natasha couldn't help but smile too. They were kind of like a family. An odd and unconventional one where the parents were a god and a non-practicing witch, but a family no less.
"Now what were you saying about someone needing to by squashed like the cockroach they are?" he asked looking up after a minute and giving her his full attention.
Natasha twisted her hands together and sighed. "My next door neighbor's husband," she muttered and immediately Thor's sapphire eyes hardened. "I thought I asked you not to go near him," he said quietly and for a moment, Natasha had a feeling of déjà vu because they looked a hell of a lot similar when they were angry. It was almost frightening.
"I haven't," she protested. "But Petunia has come into an unexpected…inheritance."
The god raised an eyebrow. "I sense you're being cryptic, yet I do not know why."
Natasha sighed again and decided to get right to the point. "Her sister who she's been estranged from for a few years, recently died and left her son to Petunia to raise in her will. And Vernon is…less than pleased."
"I fail to see what this has to do with you," Thor said.
"Petunia's sister was a witch. I told you about my family and how I'm one as well and by extension, so is Hermione. So given the family history, Petunia's nephew will be a magic wielder like his mother was."
She explained what had happened that morning with Dudley and she saw the blonde's jaw tighten when she told him what Vernon had almost done to Harry.
"Very well," he said. "I can understand your desire to help her. I saw it myself the day we brought Hermione home from the hospital. She seems like a very sweet woman who's simply made the wrong choice and is now stuck in a problem that is going to affect her and her children in the long run."
Natasha spread her hands. "Where are you going with this?"
"I'm saying that I think that you should use every opportunity that you have to help her. But please don't at the risk of your safety. Because it wouldn't be worth it then."
Natasha blinked in surprise. "Okay then. I'll see what I can do. But Vernon is not going to prove easy when it comes to this. Petunia's afraid that when he finds out that Dudley's a wizard he'll do something drastic. And when I heard that he would have hit his own nephew if Petunia hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't put something like that past him."
Thor blew out a breath. "This seems a little more complicated than I thought."
You think? Natasha thought.
"So what would you like to do about it?" he asked her and Natasha blinked in surprise. "Me? What do you mean?
He folded his arms across his chest and smirked at her in that way that was both exceedingly attractive and highly irritating. "Yes you. I sense there is something you want to do about this and its almost as if you want to know what I think about it."
He had done it again. Read her like a book without her even having to say really anything. How was he able to do that? No one else could, not even Ivan.
"Alright, so maybe I am," she said finally. "Maybe I want to get rid of the…..walrus for good. Is that such a bad thing?"
"To want to care for your friend?" he asked sitting down on the couch in the nursery. "No, it's not. But you're a mother now and killing your neighbor's husband simply because you do not like him wouldn't be a very wise decision. Knowing you, you wouldn't get caught, you're too good for that, but is that really something you want to undertake?"
Natasha sighed again and sat down next to him. "It isn't particularly high on my list of priorities to off my neighbor's husband. But what's the solution then? I've talked to my adoptive father and he said there are a few options, but only if she wanted to leave him. And right now…..I think she's sort of stuck. She doesn't want to leave because she's not sure where she would go. She doesn't work, has never had a postsecondary education and has no other living family. Her sister, parents and grandparents are all dead and she doesn't know anything about her sister's husband's family."
Thor rubbed the side of his chin. "I suppose, as the mortals say she is caught between a rock and a hard place then."
"I just want to think of some kind of legal situation where she can keep the house, it will belong to her and she can raise the boys away from an abusive husband," Natasha said.
"And so she can stay near here."
Natasha sat up fast and frowned at him. "I didn't say that."
Thor gave her a soft smile before reaching down and taking her hand. "You didn't really need to. I could tell."
Natasha bit the edge of her lip, knowing he had hit the nail on the head. "Is it so wrong to want to have one friend? To want our daughter to have playmates that will understand her? Because that's what I have now. I'm a domestic at the moment, but there's nothing completely wrong that. It's kind of nice to settle down for a while, to have a friend and act like a normal person."
"And you weren't normal before?"
Natasha gave Hermione's father a look. "How is killing people for a living normal? I stole military secrets, know every martial art form and have been genetically altered so I will live longer than a normal human. So no, normal didn't define me at all."
"None of us are what one might consider normal Natasha," Thor said. "I am a god, you are a witch, and Hermione is a cross between the two. We're a family but we are by no means a traditional one."
"It's not only that," Natasha said not meeting his eyes. "For a moment there, when Petunia had Dudley and before her nephew showed up, I believed I could have both. A normal life with my daughter and friends as well as an international career. At least that way, I wouldn't have to worry all the time about missing y-"
She cut off in mid statement, completely shocked by what she had almost said. Fortunately, he hadn't seemed to notice her temporary lapse as his gaze had turned back to Hermione who was still sleeping in her crib.
"You'll think of something," he said.
Natasha took a deep breath. "I really hope so. For Harry and Dudley's sakes at the very least."
Ω
Natasha was relieved when Thor decided to spend the night. He explained to her that time in Asgard was a little different than time on earth. It went a little slower there and right now, his father was in the midst of negotiations with the other Nine Realms, so for right now he wasn't needed.
It had been months since Hermione had seen her father and Natasha had been a little worried about how her little girl would handle the separation. All the anxieties were quelled however when she got up the next morning.
As usual, Hermione had risen with the sun and was eager to play. The moment Natasha walked over to the crib, she looked up with this big smile on her face that said that everything was alright with the world.
"Ma…Ma…Ma….." she said, trying to form the words. Natasha bent down and picked her up, causing Hermione to illicit a small giggle. "Come on little one," she said. "Let's get you dressed. I don't know how long your father's going to be here and we want to spend every minute with him don't we?"
Hermione responded by waving her hands in the air.
When she got down to the kitchen, she was a little surprised to see the coffee machine out on the counter along with the toaster. One of the cupboards was open and she could see the blonde looking inside.
An amused smile came onto her face at the sweetness of the situation. Was he making breakfast?
"I didn't know that you knew how to cook," she said and he turned around, amazing her because he looked a little sheepish.
"I have spent a few months on earth before I met you Natasha, so I did pick up a few things," he said and her smile widened. "Of course you did, it's just hard for me to picture the god of lightning and storms operating a coffee machine and a toaster."
She set Hermione down and bent down in front of her. "Can you walk to Daddy sweetheart?"
The baby girl with the short strawberry blonde curls all over her head looked up with her big blue green eyes, cocked her head at her mother as if to say, you want me to walk all the way over there?
Upon seeing that her mother was serious she turned in the direction of Thor who was watching the whole exchange with an indistinguishable expression on his handsome face. Then her face broke into that familiar baby smile and she began to toddle toward the blonde.
"Da…..Da…..Da…." she said, trying to form the words, and Thor bent down and held out his arms. It took about ten seconds for her to get over there and when she did, she tripped on the last step, but her father swept her up at the last second and lifted her up into his arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead before holding her close.
As Natasha watched them, she began to feel her throat tighten. She wasn't a crier, she never had been, but a small part of her felt like this was how things should be. She never worried about how she was going to live the rest of her life as a single mother when Thor was there. Maybe it was because she saw him so little.
As Thor played with Hermione, Natasha knew that she should appreciate the times he was here more, because he wasn't just here for his daughter, he was here for her too. And try as she might deny it, she couldn't help but feel a warm glow when she thought that.
It was then that she noticed the steaming cup of coffee sitting on the counter and headed for it, thankful for the distraction.
Hermione let out a high pitched squeal of a giggle and beat her tiny fists against Thor's chest when he caught her after throwing her in the air.
Natasha took a sip of her coffee. "This is nice," she murmured watching the two of them as they played. Thor looked up at her and smiled and she knew he had heard it. "I know," he said, walking over and kissing her on the forehead. "Why can't things on Asgard be this simple? It has been complete madness up there since I was last here."
"So what's a war in Asgard like?" Natasha said as she tossed some bread into the toaster oven and took her coffee to the table.
Thor sighed and sat down, Hermione still in his lap. "Far worse then what you would call nuclear war here. It's rather hard to describe, but no mortal would be able to survive it. Except maybe for you and those in the same occupation. I have a feeling you would be in an ideal position to succeed."
"Comforting," Natasha smirked, taking a sip of her coffee. Thor glanced down at Hermione.
"When did she start walking?"
Natasha glanced up. "A couple of months ago. There was a toy on the coffee table in the living room that she wanted and I had gotten up to move to the book shelf. She crawled to one of the chairs and used it to pull herself up before she walked across the room. She wasn't even the slightest bit wobbly."
"Well she's a demi god," Thor said looking down at his daughter with. "Everything that will be challenging for everyone else will be simplistic for her."
"I wouldn't go banking on that just yet," Natasha said. "She's just learning to talk and she's having accidental bursts of magic. That's why I'm kind of glad that Petunia's boys are wizards too. She'll grow up with children who understand her."
Thor nodded, understanding the point.
Natasha got up and turned to the window. "I just hope I figure something out soon about what to do with the walrus."
Ω
It was a little bit harder to say goodbye this time. Hermione frowned when her daddy bent to kiss her goodbye as if she knew he was going. And when he had disappeared again, she pointed toward the spot where he had been as if she was trying to ask where he went.
"Da….Da…Da…..," she said and Natasha sighed. "I know, Daddy was here, and now Daddy's gone. I know it's hard, its hard on me too. When you get older you'll understand. Daddy's not a part of this world so he can't be here all the time, but he is a part of you and whenever you need him, he'll be here for you."
Natasha was surprised when later that day, there was a knock on the door and she opened it to reveal a pink cheeked Petunia, sans babies.
"Petunia! Come in, it's cold outside. Where are Harry and Dudley?"
"I left them by the sitter. I think I've found a lead on this whole Diagon Alley thing," Petunia asked, rubbing her gloved hands together as she stepped inside. Natasha shut the door and turned to face her. "You did? Where is it?"
"It's in London, behind this pub called the Leaky Cauldron. I remembered because I was looking through some of Lily's old school books and I found a map to get to it hidden in the back. I guess they give it to the parents of Muggleborn students so they can find it."
"When do you want to go?" Natasha asked, moving Hermione to her other hip. Petunia reached out and chucked the baby girl under her chin, causing her to giggle.
"Tomorrow. It's already too late to go now and I need to get some more answers on how I'm going to hide Dudley and Harry's accidental magic from Vernon. This weekend has been like a breath of fresh air, I don't have to worry about him barging in the door every night, demanding supper and worried that he's going to do something to Harry or Dudley."
"He hasn't been drinking again has he?" Natasha asked as they stood in the entryway narrowing her eyes.
"I…..I don't think so," Petunia whispered, but those were not the words that Natasha wanted to hear.
"Petunia, if you could stay in that house, keep Harry and Dudley, have your own job, and never have to speak to or see Vernon again, would you?" Natasha asked.
"In a heartbeat," Petunia said earnestly. "I don't want him around my boys."
Then her eyes widened. "Please tell me that you're not thinking of killing him though are you?"
Natasha burst out laughing, although the idea had crossed her mind. "Of course not, that would be far too messy." Petunia laughed nervously, although she looked a little unnerved.
"I was thinking, what if we could use magic to do it?" Natasha asked and for once all the nerves dropped off Petunia's face. "Oh," she whispered. "Do you really think you could do it?"
"I'd have to practice," Natasha said. "I haven't used magic in a while so it would take some reading up on. But I think I could do it. All we need to do is basically erase his memory of memory of you, Harry, Dudley, everything he knows. After that, my father, who works in the British Secret Service, can relocate him somewhere overseas."
She stopped when she saw the hope shining in Petunia's eyes. "You really think it can be done?" she asked. "That me and the boy can really be free?"
Natasha paused. "Before I answer that, I need to know, is there still some part of you that still loves Vernon and doesn't want this to happen?"
"No," Petunia said without hesitation. "I think a small part of me will grieve for the person that he was. But I don't love him anymore. He abused me when I was pregnant with Dudley and he tried to hit Harry when he was barely a year old. He's become someone I don't recognize and the dashing soldier I married is gone. So no Emma, I don't love him anymore."
Ω
With Petunia's declaration firmly in her mind, Natasha dropped Hermione off at the neighborhood sitter the next morning and then she and Petunia took off for London.
The night before, Natasha had called Ivan and asked him, if it was within protocol to relocate someone overseas, and while she hadn't given him any details, he had cautiously said that it could be done.
With that in mind, Natasha had borrowed one of the old spell books that was in Petunia's sister's trunk. She had flipped through it twice at the kitchen table that night until she found the spell she had been looking for, plus a few others that might be helpful.
"Obliviate," she whispered. Not only would this spell erase Vernon's memory of who he was it would also take him out of all of the family pictures and take his name off of all the family and financial documents so it would seem as if Petunia owned everything.
Petunia was nervous, but hopeful about the plan, because if it worked, then all of her problems would be taken care of. Vernon would never bother them again and everything he owned would be left to her.
There were only two problems. The first one was when would be a good time to do it, but that could be easily resolved and the second was whether or not Natasha had enough power behind her spell to render it effective. She hadn't done a lot of magic in the past two decades since her parents, so it was with some trepidation that she opened up the wooden box and took out the cherry wood wand.
It grew warm in her fingers as if it were welcoming her back and that made Natasha both nervous and a little excited. She went through the motions of casting spells with the wand for most of the night. It worked with varying degrees of success. Sometimes the spell would do exactly what it was supposed to and other times all she would achieve was a shower of sparks from the tip of the wand.
It all served to make her little nervous, because if this was unpredictable, she wouldn't be sure of the results when she used it. Well if he put up a fight, she would just have to put him down like the dog he was and when he was unconscious, she would use the spell.
"Are you sure about this Petunia?" Natasha asked as she drove. The blonde turned to look at her.
"Am I sure about what? Erasing my husband's memory or going to the place where my sister became a witch?"
"Well….both."
Petunia sighed in the passenger seat. "I'm not sure of anything at this point Emma. I'm about to become a single parent raising two boys. I wouldn't have it any other way, but the process of getting rid of Vernon is making me a little nervous. Suppose something goes wrong?"
"There's nothing we can do until it actually happens," Natasha reassured her. "We're going to Diagon Alley to learn as much as we can so the children will know what to expect before they go to school. Hermione deserves to be informed and so do Harry and Dudley. Let's just focus on that for the time being."
They found the Leaky Cauldron with little to no problems, but Natasha braced herself as she went in. She knew they were dressed like Muggles so they were bound to draw attention, but she pasted the hard Black Widow indifferent smirk on her face and led the way.
When they walked in, Natasha could see right away it was one of those old world pubs. There were worn wooden tables and chairs on the right side of the room, as well as stuffed animal heads hanging on wooden plaques on the wall. On the left side of the room, there was the bar where a man with a scraggly beard in a dirty apron was wiping down bottles. He saw them enter and turned to the two women with a big toothy grin.
"What can I do for you ladies?" he asked as they walked up to the counter. Natasha gave him a smile that was polite enough to be considered friendly, but tough enough to convey that she meant business.
"Can you show us the way into the Alley please?" she asked and the man nodded his grin never faltering. "Right this way then."
He came out from behind the counter and beckoned them to follow him into a back hallway. Natasha looked a little wary but Petunia's expression was brightening as if she was beginning to remember this place the longer she was there.
When the wall separated them from the rest of the bar area, the bartender pulled a wand from his pocket and tapped the stone wall in a series of successions and then put it away. There was a moment of silence and then there was a hard grinding noise where the bricks in the wall began to shift back to reveal a street beyond that reminded Natasha of a cobblestone street in the Europe of three hundred years ago.
The shops were brightly colored with large glass windows and vendors selling their wares. Natasha saw what looked to be an animal emporium with owls and cats in cages. There was a store where they sold racing brooms and Natasha looked back in her distant memory and remembered her father saying something about getting Antonina the best racing broom that money could buy.
There was a soft smile on Petunia's face as she looked around. "As much as I hated that this world took me from my sister, I did always like this place. It was so bright and alive."
"Welcome to Diagon Alley ladies," the bartender said. "My name is Tom, and I will leave the doorway open for what you come back. Most Muggles are a little overwhelmed when they get here, so feel free to take your time."
Natasha wasn't a Muggle, but she had lived like one for almost two decades so she knew she gave off the appearance. "I'm not a Muggle," she said to him as he turned to go. "But thank you for your concern."
She took Petunia's arm and drew her off down the street before Tom could respond, smirking the whole while as she heard him sputtering behind her.
"Where to first?" she asked. "You know this place better than I do."
"I haven't been here in over five years," Petunia protested. I'm not sure I know the place as well as you think."
Natasha walked past a store marked Flourish and Blotts that was marked with a large quill at the top. "Well we're looking for books," she said and pointed to it. "Why don't we start there?"
They spent the next few hours perusing for books and Natasha was fascinated by how much was there. The Romanov's had a magnificent library back in Russia, but she barely remembered it, and of course, in the fire everything had been burned to ash.
It wasn't until she got up to the counter with a few books on underage spells and charms as well as a few thick manuscripts on wandless magic that she realized she didn't have any money. But Petunia surprised her by coming to the rescue with a small sack of Galleons. When Natasha questioned where she got it, Petunia said she had found it in Lily's old trunk.
Not questioning the good fortune, they paid for the books and hurried back up the street as it was starting to get late.
As they passed the last store to get to the Leaky Cauldron, Natasha looked and happened to see that it was a menagerie. Petunia gave a small sigh next to her and the red head glanced up. "What's wrong?"
Petunia pointed to a beautiful chocolate brown owl sitting in the window. "I always wanted one. Lily had a nice one that she bought on her first trip here and I was so jealous. I thought the pets were the most wonderful parts about that place."
Natasha nudged her. "Why don't you get one then?"
Petunia rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, what would I do with an owl? And what if Vernon sees it, what's he going to say
"Well for starters you could use it to contact the boys when they're away at school," Natasha coaxed. "And we could keep it at my house for the time being."
"That's not for another ten years, they're barely a year old," Petunia countered. "But then she smiled. "If anything it would be nice to have a unique pet. Okay, I'll get it."
Natasha followed her into the store where Petunia asked the owner for the brown owl. She began to wander around and look among the cages, when she came across the cage of a gorgeous storm cloud grey owl. Its head was tucked under one wing and said wings were shot through with black and white feathers.
Hermione would love this owl, Natasha thought to herself.
"Did you find something?" Petunia asked from behind her and Natasha turned to see her with the cage with the chocolate brown owl in one hand.
"Oh I was just admiring this one," Natasha said gesturing to the owl. "Hermione would probably love one like this."
Petunia gave her a searching look and then called to the clerk, "I think we'll take this one too sir."
"Petunia!" Natasha hissed. "What am I going to do with an owl? I don't need one."
The blonde gave her a look. "Trust me Emma, I'm doing you a favor. I saw the look in your eyes when you looked at this owl. You want it. And you're going to regret it if you leave here without it."
About a half hour later, they were in the car driving back to Surrey with a pile of books and two cages with hooting owls in the back seat.
There was a funny glow about Petunia's face, and aside from when she was with Dudley and Harry, Natasha had never seen her look so happy. It made her feel sorry for the fact that Petunia wasn't a witch. She would have been a good one.
"You seem to be in a good mood," she observed as they drove. Petunia smiled. "I'm not sure what it is, but even though she's gone, I feel…..closer…..to Lily." She turned to her friend. "Does that make sense?"
"I think so. My sister was a part of this world as well and she died a long time ago. Sometimes I imagine what she would say if she saw me doing the things I am now without her. I wonder what she would think." Natasha mused.
It didn't take long to get back to Surrey even after stopping to pick up the babies from the sitter, and Natasha took the two owl cages into the house and put them up in the spare room where she would be able to deal with them later. As long as Vernon was in the house, Petunia wouldn't be able to keep Aesop with her. It was what she had named her owl. Apparently it had been the name Lily had given to her owl.
Natasha hadn't decided on a name yet, but she wasn't really worried. Hermione was enamored with the beautiful bird and kept trying to reach over to touch it.
"Are you sure you don't want to keep the books with me Petunia?" Natasha asked as her friend was about to take a wriggling Dudley and Harry into the house.
"It'll be alright Emma," I'll just put them in Lily's trunk in the attic. He won't know and everything will be fine."
But it only took Natasha two hours to realize that everything wasn't fine.
Ω
Later that evening, Natasha had just put Hermione down for her bedtime when she heard a sound from next door.
There was the sound of a door slamming and for an instant, she though she heard someone scream. At the sound, she flinched and dove for her wand that she kept in the wooden case on the other side of the bed. Yanking it out, she stuffed it in her pocket, and snatched up Hermione who immediately woke up and stared at her mother with wide eyes.
"Don't worry sweetie," Natasha whispered as she hurried downstairs. "We just have to go make sure that your Aunt Petunia is alright."
After putting on her and Hermione's coat, she locked the door and hurried across the lawn to Number 4.
Just as she got to the door though, she heard the sound of breaking glass and someone whimper. Feeling more alarmed than ever, Natasha reached for the doorknob, only to see with a jolt that it was already open.
"Please just put him down Vernon," I promise he won't do it again!" she heard Petunia cry out from the kitchen.
"You let this little freak in our house, pollute my son and you still want to keep him?!" Vernon raged. Natasha crept down the hall from the front door. As she passed the living room, she saw Dudley in the playpen, standing up, gripping the edge of the bar, eyes wide. She stole in that direction.
"It's okay Dudley," she whispered. "I'm going to put Hermione in with you." She sat the little girl down next to him and whispered a basic protection spell over them. She had been practicing a bit with her wand ever since Hermione was born and some of the spells were actually very useful. When she had finished the incantation, there was a flash at the magic took hold. But just as a precaution, she pushed the playpen behind the couch and out of sight.
"He's my nephew!" Petunia screamed back sounding near tears. "My sister asked me to look after him. What's so wrong about that? Now put him down!"
"No!" Vernon roared. "I'm going to deal with this little freak before he pollutes our lives any further. I should have taken him to an orphanage the day he should up on the doorstep!"
Natasha came around the corner into the kitchen and came face to face with a truly horrifying sight. Vernon was holding Harry upside down by the legs over the kitchen sink. The baby was screaming and his face was red from crying. Vernon had a knife in his hand and when Natasha looked across the kitchen, she saw that Vernon had tied Petunia to the handle of the screen door with what looked like barbed wire as she was bleeding from various places and her arms were cut, the sleeves of her blouse torn. Vernon's face was purple with rage and he shook Harry hard, causing the baby to scream even louder.
"This little freak has already begun to pollute my son, teaching him to do all sorts of freaky things. It has to stop!" he bellowed.
And that was enough.
Natasha stepped forward, and raised her wand. "No," she said in a calm voice as deadly as the edge of a knife. "The only thing that needs to be stopped is you."
At the sound, the both of them turned toward her and when Vernon saw the wand in her hand, his face went from purple to white. He pointed a shaking finger at her.
"Y-You…..you're one of those freaks," he said his voice shaking, piggy eyes going wide. "You're one of them."
"I'm going to stop you right there," Natasha said and if anyone who knew her before was there, they would know that the poisonous Black Widow had returned. "The only freak in this room is you. What kind of person holds a child over a sink full of water threatening to drown him?"
She pointed the wand at Harry and yelled, "Accio!"
The screaming child flew out of Vernon's surprised hands and landed softly in Natasha's arms who walked over and handed him to Petunia who had just gotten herself free.
Vernon opened his mouth to start in on a rant, but Natasha didn't let him finish. "You Vernon are the freak and I've had to watch Petunia put up with a monster like you for the past year. Not anymore."
Dursley must have decided that words weren't going to stop her, because he barreled at her as fast as his short legs would carry him. Natasha waited until the last second before casually sidestepping. He crashed into the wall and the picture on it fell off and landed on his head, stunning him temporarily.
Natasha knelt down and pointed her wand at his temple. "Silencio, Petrificus Totalus," she muttered in quick succession. She was glad she had learned those spells particularly. Vernon was famous for his foghorn like voice, and throwing his weight around, literally.
There was fear in his piggy eyes as he looked up at her, but Natasha didn't feel one ounce of remorse. "I want you to listen to me very carefully you pathetic piece of scum, because you're not going to like what happens next. But I don't really care."
She glanced up at Petunia who was clutching Harry. But she didn't look frightened anymore. She nodded at her friend and Natasha glanced back down at Vernon, who was struggling in vain against his invisible bonds.
"You will never terrorize your wife, son or nephew ever again, because after this, you're not going to know who they are. You are going to go somewhere where you will never be able to hurt anyone and where no one will ever see your miserable face ever again."
She glanced up at her friend. "You have anything you want to say Petunia?" she asked. The blonde shook her head. "Nothing at all."
Natasha dug the point of her wand into Vernon's skull as if it were the barrel of a gun and smiled when she saw the panic in his eyes.
"Lights out," she whispered. "Obliviate!"
There was a bright flash as the magic took hold, and Vernon stiffened before going limp. There was a breath of silence in the kitchen where Natasha dropped her head and took a deep breath and Petunia wandered over, Harry in her arms.
"He's not dead is he?" she asked and Natasha shook her head, suddenly feeling very tired. "No, he's just unconscious."
Petunia stared down at the body of the man who was no longer her husband for a long moment.
And then, to Natasha's surprise, she brought her leg up in a swift manoeuvre, and kicked Vernon as hard as she possibly could in the ribs, before staring down at him with enough malice and disdain that even the Black Widow was a little impressed.
"That was for Harry you bastard." She glanced up at Natasha. "He won't remember anything?"
Natasha shook her head and brushed off her hands as if congratulating herself on a job well done. "And good riddance."
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And there we have it! Vernon is gone for good. Don't forget to review!
