Chapter Five

In the Arms of an Angel

"Busy?"

Harry finished sealing an envelope when he turned in his chair to see Susan standing at the entryway to the sitting room. Her hands were behind her back inserted in the pockets of her jeans with a curious smile on her face.

"Not at all," he said as he motioned for her to come in. "Hedwig."

His Snowy Owl alit upon the desk preparing herself for a delivery.

"It goes to Rita Skeeter."

The owl blinked in acknowledgement and set off with the letter clasped in her beak. Susan crossed her arms and leaned on the desk.

"Rita Skeeter? Isn't she the one who usually makes you look like you're hiding under the stairway at Hogwarts madly talking to snakes?"

Harry smiled and leaned back making the wooden chair with a high-pitched creak. "We've come to a mutual agreement. She doesn't write lies about me and I give her front page stories."

With her interest peeked Susan had to inquire, "Front page? I know you're famous and all, but how can you guarantee a front page story?"

He had wondered why Susan had never asked him about the prophecy included in his last article until it clicked that the Prophet story had been released the day of her aunt's murder.

"Well … um, I sort of called Voldemort out."

She was so stunned that she forgot to flinch at the Dark Lord's name. "You what?"

He shrugged his shoulders trying, but not succeeding, to look like he wasn't nervous. "Rita had an article on the day you were attacked …"

"That you gave to her," she added finishing his sentence.

"Yeah." He studied her for a moment then continued. "You remember the ruckus at the Ministry before school ended?"

"Uh huh."

"I was there."

Susan dropped off in thought and then her eyes sharpened in realization. "You fought Death Eaters?"

Harry nodded. "It was a trap. I don't think they actually thought we were going to fight back."

Susan shook her head. "The Prophet said that Ministry Aurors were there -- that Professor Dumbledore was there."

"The Aurors were there to clean up the mess. Dumbledore brought Tonks and Kingsley … Remus was there and Sirius too."

Susan looked at his face when he mentioned the last name. Something changed; she wasn't exactly sure what, but she noticed he looked much more somber and chose not to explore the unknown identity of Remus and Sirius any further.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Harry blinked away his dark thoughts. "Do?"

Susan tilted her head to the side and he watched as her hair fell from around her shoulders to hang loosely to the side almost brushing the desk. It was then that Harry noticed this was the first time that she didn't have her hair in a long plait hanging down her back. She followed his eyes down and watched his face.

"It's not often that I get to let it loose," she indicated with a dip of her head. "If it bothers you I can braid it up."

"No," he said a bit too eagerly. "Um, I mean no it doesn't bother … I mean … bugger."

Susan's hand came to her mouth with a slight giggle until she straightened up and grinned brightly. "Well, I'll leave it loose then."

The twinges of embarrassment worked their way to his ears with a burning sensation. It had been months since he had been shy or embarrassed at a girl's teasing and that had been under the not-so-tender mercies of the ever-sobbable Cho Chang. But with Cho he had felt like he was always on guard against the possibility of being cried on at a moments notice. With Susan he was just trying to be someone she liked.

"So, is there anything I can do?"

Back to that "do" thing.

"Um …"

"I'd like to help if I could."

He was still in a fog as to what she was talking about. "Help with what?"

She uncrossed her arms and let her hands slowly fall to her thighs.

"Remember that thing with You-Know-Who?" she said with some type of wonderment that he had forgotten the topic at hand.

It dawned on Harry exactly what she was asking. He hopped up shaking his head.

"No, absolutely not."

Wanting desperately to end the subject before it barreled on into a place Harry did not want it to go he walked, with determination, out of the room and hung a sharp left to head downstairs to the kitchen.

The sound of his shoes increasing speed down the stairs was quickly followed by the only other occupant of the house and with an inward groan he realized he was trapped in one of the few rooms of the house that didn't have a door that locked properly.

Coming up with a plan he pushed through the door and rounded the table thinking that Susan would follow him around, but as always his plan didn't work out quite right. She stood at the door and crossed her arms in determination.

"I know what I'm asking, Harry," she said rather blandly. "Unlike most people I've actually seen him and what he can do."

He looked anywhere but at the girl barring his way in his own home. "You have no bloody idea. Nobody does."

"Then why don't you enlighten me."

Feeling like a trapped ferret under the watchful eye of a proud Hippogriff Harry paced quickly back and forth wishing she would step away from the door.

"He's slowly killing everyone I've ever cared about or that has strong connections to me."

Harry stopped and turned to her. "The Weasley's are in hiding, Hermione and her parents have left the country until school starts, Neville and Luna are under the Fidelius Charm." He stopped and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "They're scared, and they have every right to be. They're smart to be."

Leaning into the table on the knuckles of his clenched fists he tried to scare her as much as he could. "The only reason I wanted you to stay here is because he can't get at you. Have you ever felt the Cruciatus Curse, Susan?"

He saw the recognition in her eyes of the night her aunt was tortured.

"I didn't think so," he almost spat. "You can't imagine the pain. You can't think, you can't feel anything but the unbridled pain, and you'll do anything to make it stop. You never understand exactly how many nerve endings you actually have until you've felt him say Crucio."

Susan's face was ashen gray, as he knew she was imagining what her aunt had gone through.

"I'm trying to be hurtful, Susan, really. I need you to know that the Cruciatus is not the only spell he knows, it's just his favorite."

He pushed himself back up and turned his back on her, opened the pantry and withdrew a bottle of butterbeer. "We have a connection, you see." He popped the cap off and drew a long swig. "When he killed my parents and then tried to kill me he left me with a scar and through that scar, that everyone and their brother stares at, we have a connection."

He set the bottle down and looked to the floor. "I've seen him, through his own eyes, torture and kill so many people."

"Did you see," Susan whispered, unsure if she really wanted to know if he witnessed her own nightmare encounter with Voldemort.

"No," he answered before she could say anything else. "I've been learning to block him out."

Harry turned around and found her eyes. "I seen what you've seen, Susan … a hundred times more. I've felt what he feels when he does it every time. It's mixture of unbridled hate and a twisted sort of glee at being able to cause that much pain. He's not human. He's a monster of the worst sort. And you want to help?"

Color started to return to her face. "Yes."

"You're barmy."

She finally left the doorway and approached him; her arms were at her side. "We're a lot alike, you and me."

He chuckled resolutely. "I guess we're both barmy."

Her face remained stoic, not responding at his attempt to lighten the mood.

"We're both alone, no family anymore, nobody to turn to, nobody who understands as we do."

She stopped inches in front of Harry almost pinning him against the counter. "What are we going to do?"

He held her gaze and hardened his eyes. "I'm going to kill him."

She blinked and her face lifted a little. "You're a strong person, Harry, but…"

"It's already written. I have the power," Harry said as he broke the connection with Susan's eyes. "'Course I don't know what the hell it is at the moment, but I can kill him."

Confusion showed on her face. "What? What do you mean 'it's written'?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "That's what you missed in the Prophet."

Being this close to Susan made him feel uncomfortable. He felt if he met her eyes again she would be able to tell that he was terrified at what he was fated to do.

"Tell me."

"A prophecy, in the Department of Mysteries, that's what the trap was all about at the Ministry." He stopped and started again. "See, it's what started the whole bloody thing."

"Tell me," she whispered.

He looked back up in her eyes once more and Harry could see her compassion. Somewhere deep inside he found a little peace when she looked at him like that.

"Voldemort found out that there was someone who was fated to be born at a certain time, to certain parents, who would have the power to face him … stop him … kill him."

"You?" she added softly. "But how do you know?"

Harry's hand lifted to his fringe and brushed away the hair that covered his scar. "He marked the one who would do it."

Susan's eyes lifted and then dropped back down to his once more. Her hands came up and cradled his face. "So you're the chosen one."

Harry's eyes started to burn and redden. The heat rose to his face at being trapped not only by the girl holding his face but also by thinking of the prophecy once more.

"You're not alone in this, Harry. I'm not either." Susan kept her voice so very soft and full of hope. "I'm going to help you and you're going to help me. We're going to get through this together."

Susan lifted up on the balls of her feet and placed her lips upon his scar, kissing it lightly. However when she broke away she didn't back away and instead traveled downward kissing his eyes that had seen so much pain, his cheeks that had been slapped with the uncertainty of fate, and finally his lips that would soon be the avatar of Voldemort's fate when Harry would end the reign of their family's killer.

From the place inside him that she had touched earlier Harry began to feel the beginnings of hope rekindle. He felt another chance at redemption and the thought of not being good enough started to seep away as his hands found her waist and gently pulled her closer.

Susan fingered her way through his hair to the back of his neck as she deepened the kiss. Their tongues caressed one another emoting tenderness and warmth. She tugged away at the loneliness he had felt all of his life at never knowing what being with someone who finally seemed to understand him.

The kiss lightened and he felt her grip at his neck lessen when he figured out that this was the end of whatever they had only just started. He followed suit and let his hold on her waist ease as well.

Susan finally pulled away and Harry watched as she opened her eyes. They looked as if they were trying to focus as she took a small step backward. It was then that her knees seem to lose all their strength and forgot how to function properly. He saw her drop slightly and he slipped his arm around her waist.

Her hand came up to her head and she blinked a few times. "Oh, wow. That's never happened before."

Harry looked a little worried before he saw her smile.

"Okay now?"

She nodded and stood straighter tugging at her tank top and looking a bit flustered. "Sorry."

Concern seeped out of his body and he kept his close distance in case she had another relapse.

Susan saw what he was doing and laughed slightly holding a hand up. "Really, Harry, I'm fine. Just a little swept off my feet."

Confusion crossed his face and he looked down to make sure her feet were planted firmly on the floor.

Susan's giggle flittered through the kitchen. "Not literally. I mean …" She fanned a hand at her face. "I mean … that was some kiss."

Pride welled up inside pushing aside the goofy feeling that had started to edge its way around him. He noticed Susan had seen the change in his demeanor and rolled her eyes. She laughed and he was almost startled at how genuine she sounded.

"Oh, Hannah is going to be sooo jealous."