Chapter Seven

The Bringer of

Devine Vengeance and Justice

Peter Pettigrew, as nonchalantly as he could, glanced at his watch for the third time in the last ten minutes as he stood in Diagon Alley at the entrance of Knockturn Alley at the orders of Lord Voldemort himself. He was clothed in a hooded cloak without his traditional Death Eater mask. A warm breeze flowed down the deserted street masking the minute insect sounds normally associated with the nights of summer.

His eyes were watchful for movement of any kind as he stood in wait for what he hoped was an empty threat from the son of his one time best friend. His Lord had ordered Wormtail's presence in the most public of places in hopes of discrediting the statements made in the Prophet that seemed to be the instigator of the stiffening backbone of the wizarding public.

Pettigrew shivered in remembrance at the memory of the articles Harry Potter had arranged in print. The timed boy he had come to know while he himself was transformed into the Animagus rat that was once the pet of his best friend Ron Weasley had seemed gone forever, lost in the rage of vengeance that his godfather had lost his freedom and a large bit of his sanity to fifteen years ago.

Now Pettigrew knelt at the feet of the only power that would protect him. Granted that very same power would be wielded at him in anger from time to time, but he still remained alive, for now.

Another glance at his watch showed five minutes past the deadline given in the article. His breath slowed in relived satisfaction in knowing that his life was still his own at least for another day.

A noise sounded from the head of the street from the direction of the Leaky Caldron. Footsteps.

Pettigrew's heart immediately began to race. His wand was in his hand and the Killing Curse on the tip of his lips at the slightest glimpse of the mop-haired boy he remembered from a year ago. He remained motionless with the nervous anticipation he felt in presenting his Lord with the cold body of the boy who fouled so many of his nefarious plans.

The hollow clopping of hard shoes against the cobblestone street echoed strangely to his ears. The gate was smaller than he remembered from his past dealings with the boy-who-lived. They were lighter and he wondered if they didn't, if it was possible, sound the least bit feminine.

Pettigrew's breathing slowed as he rationalized that the approaching figure wasn't, in fact, Harry Potter at all, but a blonde girl he recognized from the few years at Hogwarts not long ago. It was the same person that should have been at Bones Manor only a few days ago.

He quickly remembered the fate of the niece was still unknown, at least at this point. He looked up and down the Alley checking to see if there was an escort … none. A plan formed in his head that if he was unable to present his Lord with the body of Potter then this should, at least, hold his punishing hand, and at the very least he might reward him with the …

Pettigrew's hand reached up to scratch the sudden itching at his neck when he felt a thin wire tightening at an alarming rate.

"Wormtail!" hissed a very familiar voice. "James and Lily send their regards, traitor!"

Pettigrew's eyes widened in panic as he tired to aim his wand behind his back at the form that was garroting him with much success.

"Expelliarmus!" Susan cried out as a jet of light disarmed him.

Harry's anger took control as he planted his knee into Wormtail's back for more leverage as they were pushed back into the wall from his prey's panic. The air whooshed from his lungs, but his hands didn't lose a bit of their strength as he pulled at the garrote's grips.

His eyes found Susan's as she stood in front of them and waited patiently with her wand pointed at Wormtail's midsection in case their plan did not go as they thought.

Pettigrew flailed back and forth in a vain attempt to dislodge his attacker. Breathing wasn't becoming so much of an issue as the thin wire that encircled his next started to draw blood and in the neck moment he felt a gush down the front of his robes as important arteries were severed.

His last thoughts were that all hope was lost and a moment of regret at, not betraying his best friends and their son, but a regret that comes from choosing the wrong side in the war and making an enemy of this bringer of vengeance.

The garrote snapped together and came to a halt as it encountered solid bone centered in the back of what was once Peter Pettigrew's solid neck. His body fell forward and took Harry's along with it in a dull thud.

(OoO)

The sound of retching sounded through the wall from the facilities as Harry divested himself of his bloodied robes and threw them into the fireplace in his bedroom. His shirt and jeans were similarly soaked with the lifeblood of his parent's betrayer. His mind stayed numb with the acts he committed that night. He rationalized the brief madness that overtook him afterward somewhere deep inside as worthy and just. To leave Wormtail's body lying lifeless at the mouth of Knockturn Alley would leave doubt about whom his attacker was.

He had to be presented to the public in such a way as to let them and Voldemort, not to mention his nefarious Death Eaters, know who, in fact, had avenged his parents death and sent a message to the Dark Lord.

Harry waved his wand and cast a Cleaning Charm on his bloodied skin, slightly wincing at the stinging it prompted. His eyes were lost in the flames, watching his clothing flame up and slowly turn to ashes. The heat in the room increased as the fire blazed and destroyed the evidence of the night's activities.

He didn't know how long he had stood there lost in the flames when he felt cool hands encircle his waist and hold him firmly in their grasp. His own hands covered hers when he felt her face and body pressed up against his own from behind.

"Thank you, Harry."

He said nothing in reply; instead he stared further into the flames.

"Don't feel bad about what we did tonight, Harry. It was something that needed to be done."

His hands tightened around her own as she felt the inner turmoil that he was experiencing. In reaction she loosened her grip around him and took hold of his hand.

"Come on," Susan said as she tugged at his hand and led him to the bathroom

The smell of scented bathwater filled the air. Susan led him to the oversized tub and stood him in front. The sound of shoes being toed off clicked in the room. The slide of jeans being divested crumpled to the floor. The shift of a tank top dropped with a muffled pad against the jeans followed. And lastly the click of a brassiere snap signaled the end of Susan baring herself.

She took his arm and stepped into the bath. "Come on. You and I need a good soak."

Harry followed her lead without question or awkward teenage ogling. Susan eased back against the tub and positioned Harry in front, his back against her breast, his body safely between her legs. She pulled his head back to her shoulder and ran her hand through his hair in a soothing motion. A moment later a peaceful tune hummed along with each brush of his hair and Harry's eyes closed. Ten or so minutes later Susan could hear Harry's breath deepen

(OoO)

"Susan …"

"Shh," she whispered.

"How long have we been in here?"

"I said shh."

"Right."

(OoO)

"Up," she lightly commanded.

Water dripped on the bathroom floor as she wrapped a fluffy towel around Harry's shoulders and then proceeded to dry herself with a certain lack of modesty. Harry's eyes followed her every move across her flat bare stomach and down each of her firm legs and painted toes. It wasn't until then that he noticed Susan was watching him watch her.

She finished up and handed him the towel. "Dry off and come to bed. I'll be waiting."

He followed her with his eyes once more as her naked lithe body exited the room and closed the door behind him. Bewildered for a moment Harry stood there holding the damp towel then did as he was told. Quickly.

Harry took a deep breath and cracked the door open, dropped the soddened trowels to the floor before mustering enough constraint to step into the bedroom and stare with wonderment at the number of candles adorning the tables shelves and nightstands flickering a warm glow around the room.

Susan lay under the covers and he could see that she was still clothed as she was in the bathroom only minutes earlier; or rather she was, decidedly, still unclothed. He slowly walked toward her and reached the side of the bed, she reached out and tugged his hand slightly drawing him toward and then down on the bed.

After removing his glasses she straddled his waist above his rapidly firming body as he relented without any argument to her guiding hands.

"I've been thinking, Harry."

He watched as she undid her braid and let her hair fall over her shoulders. Between the red lights from the candles, her blonde hair and the blurry nearsightedness Susan took on a heavenly glow about her.

"I want you to ask me again."

He followed the warm glow down her body and watched as her hand disappeared behind her and gripped a certain portion of his body that only he had ever touched. Harry's mind traveled at the sensations as he felt her rise up and then felt his member touching a portion of Susan's body he had only dreamed of.

"Ask me, Harry."

Questions rose in his mind of what she wanted all of which fell to the wayside at the only one he asked that she wouldn't answer. She slid him across her increasing wetness eliciting a soft moan from her lips.

"I'll only be with one man in my life, Harry. I want it to be with my husband. I want it to be with you."

His hand found her thighs and traveled smoothly along to her hips.

"Susan, be with me forever, then," Harry replied in a low whisper. "Be my wife. Marry me, Susan."

She fell forward and her lips found his in the beginnings of their passion then she barred down and took him inside her body. She tensed and a whimper of pain escaped her mouth entering his own.

"Yes," she whispered. "I will."

Susan gripped him and shuddered feeling the tears at her eyes escape the confines of her shut lids.

Harry's arms crushed her onto him as she worked through the inevitable pain of her first lovemaking. Her lips started working once more against his as their tongues intertwined. He felt the cool wetness of her tears drop to his cheeks and all was lost as they claimed each other at the end of a truly troubling day making it one they would remember as being their happiest as well.

(OoO)

The sounds of morning awoken Harry to a feeling he had never experienced before. Most of that certain feeling had to do with

A particular blonde-haired girl snuggled under his arm and against his chest. He felt small puffs of warm breath across his nipple signaling that she was still asleep and secure in his arms.

The smaller yet just as important part of what he was feeling was the anticipation of beginning his own family. At the thought he squeezed Susan a bit tighter and felt her warm puffs stop.

"Mmm, I was just dreaming of this," Susan murmured.

Harry smiled to himself and sighed in contentment for on of the first times in his life. "Think we could stay like this all day?"

Her hand brushed along his chest and her leg rose a bit atop his thigh. "I can think of a few other positions we could be in that could make you just as happy."

Harry smirked to himself. "Is every morning going to start off like this?"

"If I have anything to say about it," replied Susan with an amused lilt to her voice.

He hugged her to him a little tighter and sighed briefly. Odd ramblings began bouncing around in his head and he couldn't help himself. "Why did you change your mind?"

"Hmm?"

"About my proposal, I mean. One moment …"

She cut him off before he could go any further. "Harry … what we did last night …"

"You don't have to talk about it," he tried in a vain attempt to not make her relive the experience of watching him nearly decapitate someone.

Instead of following his suggestion she carried on as he never said anything at all.

"What we did last night was awful. We killed another human being."

"I killed him," Harry said defiantly.

"I was there Harry, holding him at wandpoint. I killed him just as much as you did." She paused and gathered herself before continuing. "Afterward, I got sick. It just kept replaying itself over and over in my head … the look on his face."

Harry was silent, not knowing what to say.

"Thing was, he deserved it, every excruciating moment of pain and panic that he experienced, he deserved it."

He felt her shutter along his body.

"It was then that I realized that you were a man that would protect what was yours no matter what it took. You would keep your friends safe; you would keep your family safe. You care, Harry Potter, and that is what changed my mind.

"I won't pretend that I am head over heels in love with you right now, but I've known you somewhat over the last few years and I know you are an honorable and courageous person. You have all the qualities that I admire in a man, Harry. It really isn't that big of a step otherwise."

Susan shifted and looked up to see what his eyes said to her.

"I could really see myself falling for you. Would that be enough for now?"

Harry's lips curled slightly upward, and he nodded in response.

"Good now there is something very important we have to do. We have a wizarding tradition we must follow before anymore fun today."

Thoughts of bizarre magical rituals flew through Harry's head and his body tensed slightly before Susan giggled.

"I meant engagement rings, Harry," she clarified. I want all of your fan-girls to know that you are officially off the 'most eligible wizard' list."

He smirked into her hair. "Same goes for you."

(OoO)

"Ready?" Harry asked as he laid his hand on Susan's sitting in the crook of his arm. She nodded and they pushed open the door to the Leaky Caldron. The mid-morning noise level was rather subdued when they walked inside the main room and heard the whispering of several witches and wizards that littered the various tables.

A few eyes met their own followed by similar amount of hand gestures toward the couple. Tom, the bartender, smiled his toothless smile and nodded slightly as they made their way to the back of the pub. Harry removed his wand and tapped the designated bricks and an archway appeared denoting entrance into the Alley.

The reaction from the various patrons of Diagon Alley were much the same as the pub, but Harry hadn't a clue if it was because of his usual fame as of late or in response to Susan and his midnight adventures.

Her grip tightened around his arm but did not show in her posture as her shoes clicked upon the cobblestone street toward Gringotts.