A Promise Kept - Chapter 72 - Baby Talk

Baby Talk

“Pregnant?” Marcus whispered, his gaze flitting between Sabine and their parents. “Not the Winthrop moron.”

“As if I would let him near me,” Sabine replied with a grimace.

Marcus breathed a sigh of relief before his eyes widened.

“Harry!”

Sabine swallowed deeply as she nodded, her hand coming to rest on her stomach. There wasn’t so much of a bump, but already, it was beginning to swell.

She watched as a myriad of emotions played across her brother’s features.

“Your magic?”

“Is fine.”

“But…how?”

“I don’t know,” Sabine sighed, “but everything is fine, and the baby is healthy.”

Marcus was dumbfounded by what he’d learned, and he dragged a hand through his hair as he began pacing back and forth, trying to make sense of it all.

“Does Harry know?”

Sabine shook her head.

“No, that’s why I need you to find him. I have to tell him.”

“You do,” he agreed. “What the hell is going to happen?”

“Trouble,” their father grumbled. “There will be trouble.”

“For Winthrop if he decides to take exception to it. You’d best warn him it will not end well if he decides to threaten Harry. I will find him,” Marcus promised. “I’ll be back as soon as I do.”

Her parents had said nothing since Marcus had left.

Her mother had poured herself a glass of wine, taken a seat at the kitchen table, and all but chewed all of her fingernails off. Her father was leaning against one of the cabinets, nursing a bottle of whiskey he had yet to pour a measure from.

Both were in a state of shock, and Sabine could only imagine Harry’s reaction when he learned of their predicament.

Even so, she still held onto just a little hope that all would be well, that between them, they would find a way to make everything work, despite everything else they’d need to contend with.

She did not expect the British Lords would be so pleased that their most eligible bachelor, and match for their daughters was going to have a child with a foreigner, even if she was a member of the most prominent family in the Americas.

Not that she cared what they thought.

This wasn’t about anyone else, their opinions, or judgement.

This was about doing what was right for the baby she was carrying, and figuring out how she and Harry would co-parent, at the very least.

It was the sound of muffled voices sounding from the entrance hall of the home that pulled her form her thoughts, and Sabine’s nervousness only grew as the voices and accompanying footsteps drew nearer.

Maybe it had been a mistake to tell her parents already but given that her wedding was supposed to be taking place only a couple of days from now, she’d truly had no choice.

Despite the gravity of the situation, the moment she laid eyes on Harry everything felt just a little better, and she did not hesitate to cross the distance between them and throw herself into his arms.

He held her tightly to him, and Sabine, as she always had, felt  safer for it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

He smelled of blood, a scent that made her feel nauseous, but she did not let go of him, and she could feel him looking between her parents and Marcus.

“Sabine, it should be you to tell him,” her mother urged.

She nodded as she reluctantly pulled away, only now realising that she’d been crying.

Harry cupped her cheek and used the pad of his thumb to stem the flow of tears, just as he had during the aftermath of er stint at Malfoy Manor.

“I’m pregnant, Harry,” she choked.

At first, he said nothing, taking a moment to digest what she’d said before he settled on an expression of confusion.

“Shouldn’t the magic of the contract prevent that?”

“It’s not a contraception,” her father huffed, “but you’re not wrong. The magic should prevent Sabine carrying a baby that is conceived outside the parameters of the contract.”

“So, it must be within them.”

“I do not see how,” Marcus interjected. “The contract is very precise. Before I got married, I never impregnated anyone, but when me and my wife…”

He broke off and shook his head.

“What I mean is, the magic is very specific, Harry. Either it has somehow been broken, which is far more likely, or you are within the parameters of it.”

“For now, I do not think that matters so much,” their mother broke in. “Sabine is pregnant, as confirmed by the Healer, and the baby is healthy. I think we need to figure out what to do from here.”

“Winthrop will need to be told,” her father reiterated. “He will be problematic at best.”

“He can be as problematic as he wants, I’ll fold the bastard in two.”

Sabine smiled at how protective Harry had become, and she did not doubt he would do just that. Nonetheless, she would rather the problem was solved without the need to do so, and yet, she could smell the impending violence from a mile away.

Winthrop wielded considerable power, and just as it was with her father, it had gone to his head.

He would care little save for the reputation of his family and would act as he saw fit. The problem with that was that Harry would do so too, and from what Sabine had seen for herself, it was Winthrop who should be concerned.

Not that he knew any better.

What was happening in Britain now, and during the first war was so far from the conscious of the Americans that Harry’s reputation would mean little to Winthrop until it was too late.

“Just don’t kill him, Harry,” Sabine sighed. “He’s not worth it.”

“Then he’d best not give me a reason to,” Harry grumbled. “Bloody hell, I had better tell my mother.”

“Will she take it badly?”

“Well, I don’t think she’s going to give me a pat on the back but she’ll get over it when she realises there will be another baby for her to fawn over, and Sirius will be intolerable.”

Once more, he seemed to be experiencing several emotions at once, and he took a deep breath.

“Give me twelve hours,” he sighed. “I’ll be back. There are things I need to do, and then you can send for Winthrop. We will figure it out, but if he gives me a reason to, I will tear his throat out. I’ll be back.”

He gave Sabine something of a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand before taking his leave of the home.

Already, she felt somewhat better about everything, still concerned about what would happen, but at the very last, Harry had seemingly accepted it for the unideal situation they found themselves in.

Still, he was doing what he did best; taking charge of the situation, and though she was terrified, Sabine did not doubt he would do what was best for the baby and perhaps even them.

(Break)

“Almost half,” he whispered dangerously.

Greyback was looking worse for wear from his excursion, and with the sun having only just risen, he must’ve immediately returned to the Riddle house.

His breathing was heavy, and fists balled at his sides. He reeked of scorched flesh, some of which was his own.

“So, you were careless.”

The werewolf’s nostrils flared, and his lips curled, exposing his yellow teeth.

“HALF!” he roared. “HALF OF MY PACK WAS SLAUGHTERED! WHERE WERE YOU?”

“I was tending to something of equal importance.”

The Dark Lord had taken the opportunity to scout Hogsmeade and Hogwarts from a distance, choosing his best points of attack. He’d taken Severus along, and though the man knew the castle better than most, he could not think of any way to enter the castle without being detected.

Perhaps the room on the seventh floor could be used, or maybe even the Chamber of Secrets, but from hat the Dark Lord could deduce, accessing either would not be easy.

No, unless he could get someone inside, he would need to carry out a full-frontal assault, which was the last thing he wanted.

It was something that required much more thought on his part. For now, he had a furious werewolf to handle, and Greyback was beginning to irk him.

Since arriving, the man had contributed little, and although his pack was much larger than it had been when the two had first met, they had proven to be less effective.

After all, it was now a much different enemy they were facing.

During the first conflict, the Ministry had rested on their laurels for too long, and the Dark Lord had taken full advantage of their reluctance to grant the Aurors the powers to use lethal force.

With Titus in charge, it had become the norm once more, but with Potter…

The young man was bloodthirsty and had not hesitated to give the command, likely ignorant of the potential repercussions.

“Lucius, what backlash can be expected?” he asked, ignoring Fenrir for the moment.

The blond shook his head.

“Very little, my lord. Any who speaks out against him risks bringing their character into question, opening them up to ridicule, and likely interrogation.”

The Dark Lord hummed.

“I thought as much,” he sighed.

“It is worse, my lord,” Lucius revealed as he removed a stack of parchment. “These were released by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement today.”

Lord Voldemort frowned as he accepted the parchment, which turned out to be a list of names of those wanted for questioning in regard to his activities dating back to the 1970s.

Lucius’s name was on it, as was every other prominent follower, including those he suspected had been murdered by Potter.

“Ah, even Draco made the list,” he said amusedly.

Lucius did not share the sentiment, but he knew better than to speak his thoughts on the matter.

The Dark Lord did wonder, however, what had become of Draco. He’d only laid eyes on Lucius’s heir once since the unfortunate rescue of the prisoners from Malfoy Manor.

Undoubtedly, he was hiding behind his mother’s skirt somewhere, regretting making an enemy of Harry Potter.

“What would you have me do, my lord?” Lucius asked.

“Nothing, for now, and Fenrir, you can rest assured that when the time comes to take Hogwarts, you and yours will be most satisfied with your lot.”

The werewolf was still displeased by his own losses, but he could never refuse the prospect of such a feast.

That alone would keep him loyal, for the time being, which was all the Dark Lord would need.

If he took Hogwarts, at the very worst, he would be in a position to put considerable pressure on the Ministry to remove Potter from the Minister’s position.

With such a threat hanging over their children, they would have no choice but to comply with his wishes.

(Break)

For the first time since the war with Voldemort had resumed, the members of the Order had arrived where they’d been needed after the Aurors, who had wasted no time in following Harry’s command to kill the werewolves.

Of course, there would likely be some backlash for her son, but as ever, Lily suspected he would find a way to navigate it.

As things were, there was no one in Britain more popular than Harry, and there would undoubtedly be those grateful for his decisiveness when faced with such a threat.

Nonetheless, Lily would not forget the sight of the dozens upon dozens of dead werewolves strewn about the streets of Aldershot, and the task of the Ministry had only truly begun when the violence had ceased.

She had seen the team from the Magical Catastrophes arriving along with a slew of Obliviators, who would be very busy modifying the memories of the muggles who’d witnessed the attack.

It was not an enviable job at the best of times, but during war, they earned every galleon of their salaries.

“What happened to Harry?” she asked as Sirius entered the kitchen.

“Marcus turned up in Aldershot. He said there was something urgent he needed Harry for, and of course, he went running off like a lost puppy.”

“Sabine,” Lily sighed.

She had come to like the girl having gotten to know her, and did not miss how much Harry had doted on her, nor how he looked at her.

In all things that mattered, life had been quite unfair to her son, his love life included.

She shook her head, yawning as she realised the sun was beginning to rise.

It had been a long night and would inevitably be a long day.

Lily smiled as Emmeline entered the kitchen, her pregnancy in full swing. It suited her, and she could not help but wonder if she and James would have had any more children had things been different.

She liked to think so.

For just a moment, she allowed herself to ponder a different life, one that was taken from her. Maybe they would’ve left Godric’s Hollow, and the memories of being prisoners in their own home behind them.

There may have been another son or two, a daughter, or maybe several others.

James had often spoke about wanting a large family, to break the curse that had plagued the Potters for several generations, leaving them with only one child.

Lily would’ve loved to have been a part of that.

“Ah, the Minister returns,” Sirius declared as a pale, tired Harry entered the kitchen.

So lost in her thoughts, Lily had not heard him, and immediately, she stood.

“What’s happened?” she asked.

He shook his head and released a deep breath.

“Sabine is pregnant.”

“Ah,” Sirius replied dumbly, looking towards Lily to judge her reaction.

For a moment, she wasn’t certain if she’d heard correctly, and she was well aware of Harry, Sirius and Emmeline watching her closely.

She didn’t even want to think what had led to the young woman becoming pregnant. To her, Harry was an innocent, young man who would never…

She pushed those thoughts out of her mind, not wanting to dwell on them.

“Well, you’re a man now, Harry,” she pointed out. “I don’t know what any of this means when it comes to the family side of things…”

“It’s a big deal,” Sirius broke in. “If he doesn’t marry her, it will become known that he has a bastard child, which most would frown upon and see as a threat to a legitimate heir, especially if it is a boy.”

“You’re one to bloody talk,” Harry snorted.

Sirius shot him a glare.

“And if they do marry?”

Sirius shook his head.

“Well, she’s not one of us, so, there will be those who are not happy about that. The pureblood families tend to marry their children off to each other. That’s why just about all of us are related in some way. Even me and Harry are cousins of sorts. You just need to look at the family tree in the other room to see how all the dots connect.”

“Even if she comes from an influential family?”

“It will help, but she’s still an outsider, and there will be those hoping Harry would consider marrying one of their daughters, or even a niece because of who he is. I’m surprised you haven’t already received offers…you have!”

Harry shook his head.

“From Abbott, Jones, and bloody Parkinson,” he muttered. “I was polite enough to decline them, but said I would consider their offers in the future.”

“Then you handled it as well as you could,” Sirius praised. “Marriage is something taken very seriously by the other purebloods. It wasn’t something you would’ve seen much of given the circumstances when you married James, but I know that more than few were not so pleased. Him being the last Potter was a big deal among the purebloods. I think even Cygnus considered offering Andromeda to Charlus at one point.”

Truthfully, Lily wasn’t surprised.

She would never pretend to be an expert in pureblood politics. With James not attending the Wizengamot sessions, it wasn’t something they discussed in any detail, except when he mentioned finding Harry a match, potentially with Lord Greengrass’s daughter, who was only a few months older.

“I think what we need to focus on is the baby,” she sighed. “What is going to happen, Harry?”

Her son shook his head.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he murmured. “She’s contracted to marry someone else, and she shouldn’t even be able to have my child because of that. I need to figure out what has happened, and what to do. I won’t know until I can make sense of it all.”

“But you love her,” Emmeline blurted.

Harry did not deny it, and he dragged a hand through his hair.

“You’d think that would make it easier,” he said with a shrug, “but it is much more complicated than that.”

“And if it isn’t?” Sirius asked.

Harry shook his head once more.

“I’m not going to get my hopes up,” he said sadly. “Whenever I do that, things seem to go wrong. I have to go, There’s something else I need to do before I even think about what comes next.”

He left, and Lily looked towards Sirius, who offered her a sad smile.

“He’s a little more like James than you thought.”

Lily quirked an eyebrow at him.

“I saw the two of them together years ago now at Ilvermorny,” he reminded her. “He adored her then, and that hasn’t changed. Harry didn’t have the luxury of waiting for her, not knowing she was to be married to someone else.”

Lily nodded.

“Surely she won’t still be getting married.”

“I doubt it,” Sirius snorted. “Not when she’s carrying another man’s baby. It’s going to get ugly.”

“And Harry will probably get himself into trouble.”

Sirius nodded, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“But it will be worth it if he can have the happiness he never thought he would.”

Lily nodded once more.

“I suppose getting into trouble is nothing new for him, is it?”

(Break)

The Daily Prophet had arrived later than usual, and when she read the article plastered across the front page, she understood why. Having not been in the office for several weeks now, and in her own routine, Nymphadora was somewhat out of the loop of what was happening within the Ministry, but the war had evidently not ceased.

“Werewolves,” she murmured, pausing as she took in the image of the bloodied Harry speaking with the journalists.

Of course, he had been there.

Strictly speaking, as the Minister of Magic, he should not be putting himself in such situations, but he had always been as good as his word. He’d promised to deliver a victory against Voldemort, and after last night, any who doubted him would not be doing so now.

Still, he would likely face questions for his decision to use lethal force against Greyback’s pack, but as ever, he would be steadfast and unapologetic in his response.

“Bloody hell,” she cursed as an ethereal falcon arrived.

“Come to the flat when you can. We need to talk about something.”

Nymphadora frowned.

Harry never sent for her, and it wasn’t to speak of something work-related. No, this was of a personal nature, and though she didn’t know what he wished to say, she suspected the nature of the conversation.

It had been some weeks now since the two of them had spent those two nights together, and neither had broached the subject since, nor sought each other out to do so.

Nymphadora wasn’t certain what needed to be said about it, but evidently, Harry felt the need to address it.

Taking a few moments to ready herself, she saw no reason to delay the impending conversation, and decided to pay him a visit before both of them would likely be busy for much of the day.

When she came upon him, Harry was seated on his sofa with his head in his hands, his hair somehow messier than usual, and the bags under his eyes were prominent.

“Long night?” she asked.

He jumped as she spoke before nodding.

“You could say that.”

He said nothing else, and Nymphadora watched him for a moment. He appeared to be in shock, deeply troubled by something, and as she took a seat next to him, he seemed to be uncomfortable.

“What happened?”

Harry released a deep breath.

“Sabine is pregnant. I wanted to tell you before, well, I thought you should know.”

He seemed to be feeling guilty, and Nymphadora placed a hand on his knee.

“It’s not as though we were in a relationship and you went and got her pregnant, is it?”

“No, nothing like that…”

“So, you have nothing to feel guilty about, Harry. Besides, it’s not as though either of us have pushed one another for there to be more between us than there has been.”

“We’ve been busy…”

“Not that busy that we couldn’t have made time.”

Harry nodded.

“I suppose that’s true. I’ve not really given it much thought.”

“There’s not anything to think about. If we thought it was going to go somewhere, we would’ve made it happen. Maybe we just needed to get whatever it was we felt for each other out of our system. No one is getting hurt from this, and nothing will change between us. We spent a couple of nights together, Harry. It’s not as though it was anything more than us enjoying each other. Besides, I wouldn’t marry you anyway,” she added with a grin.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“You fidget when you sleep.”

“You steal the duvet! I had to fight you for it.”

Nymphadora laughed but was pleased to see him smiling.

“See, we would be a terrible couple, but you and Sabine, I saw the way the two of you looked at each other. She is crazy about you.”

“Maybe, but having a baby doesn’t fix everything,” Harry sighed.

“No, but if all of the other things can be fixed, what is it you want? Only you can answer that, Harry. I think you already know, you’re just maybe a little afraid to believe you can have it.”

He offered her an appreciative smile as she stood, and Nymphadora leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek.

“You deserve to be happy too. The war won’t last forever, and you have to think about what comes after.”

“What if I die?”

Nymphadora shook her head.

“I don’t believe that will happen for one second, and even if it does, you get to die with a dream. You just need to figure out what that is, but before you do anything, you should shower. You stink.”

“Thanks, Nymphadora,” Harry snorted. “Have fun watching the Prime Minister.”

“You’ll get no complaints from me. He’s a boring sod. It’s Dawlish I feel sorry for.”

“Why?”

“From what I’ve heard, the Prime Minister likes to keep busy during the night, if you know what I mean.”

Harry grimaced as she laughed.

“I could’ve done without thinking about the jug-eared git on the job. Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome. See ya, Harry.”

She took her leave of the flat to begin her shift, hoping that Harry would heed her advice. Already, he had given and lost so much to the war, and when all was said and done, he should have something to look forward to, something that would go some way into making the sacrifices worth it.

(Break)

“We need to prepare. There are so many things you will need for a baby, and we donated everything we had years ago.”

“Mom, I’m not thinking about any of that stuff yet.”

“You should, because that baby will be here before you know it.”

“I know,” Sabine sighed. “I’m still just getting used to all of this. It’s not how I expected my life to turn out.”

His nostrils flared as he stepped away from the door.

The house had been unusually quiet for several hours now, and instead of going to sleep, he’d ventured downstairs to see if he’d been left alone. He hadn’t and had discovered quite the secret.

His wife-to-be was already pregnant, and he certainly wasn’t the father.

His jaw tightened at the thought of another putting his hands on her.

She was to be his wife, his to touch, and no one else!

Oh, Sabine might be resistant to him now, but she’d eventually give in to him. One way or another, he would see it happen, but now, he wasn’t so sure.

What he needed to do was inform his father of what he’d learned, ell him of the deception the family had fallen victim to, and that somehow, the Van Droombeeld girl had managed to get pregnant without breaking the contract between them.

(Break)

He had not managed to get much sleep.

Although the conversation with Tonks had gone as well as he could’ve hoped, he could not help but reflect on the fact that in only a matter of days, two separate women had said that they saw no future with him.

It was quite the knock on his confidence, but he was not so focused on such things.

He was going to be a father, a thought that terrified him.

Harry did want to have children, wanted to do what his father had stolen from him, though he’d not envisioned it coming in such a way, not in the middle of a war, and certainly not out of wedlock.

Still, it had always been a distinct possibility.

Potions and Charms weren’t exactly foolproof, after all.

Nonetheless, he had not seen fatherhood as it was approaching him.

Harry wanted a family of his own, a real family that he’d been mostly deprived of. Of course, his mother and Sirius had done an incredible job raising him, but it wasn’t the same.

He felt guilty for feeling such a way, and yet, it was something he couldn’t help.

Finishing washing himself, he took exited the shower, used his wand to remove the water from his hair and body, and got dressed, feeling clean, but no less burdened.

“A baby,” he murmured.

He’d expected to do more than his share with Sirius’s son or daughter when they came along, and now, he would need to prepare for his own.

He could only shake his head of the thought and do his utmost to ignore the fear that gripped him.

Riddle.

If the Dark lord was to discover it, the man would do all he could to kill Harry’s son or daughter.

That alone filled him with a biblical rage, a fury so intense that the mirror on the wall shattered from the surge of magic that escaped him. With a wave of his wand, he repaired the damage and left the bathroom before anything else broke.

He needed to keep a better handle on his temper.

Already, he did not hold Sabine’s parents in the highest of esteem, and him returning to their home in a fit of rage would serve no purpose. No, he needed to allow a cooler head to prevail, even if his emotions were all over the place.

At the very least, his mother had not been angry with him, perhaps a little disappointed, but she hadn’t shown it.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered, cursing his life once more.

Why could nothing ever be easy?

Even so, he would not shirk his responsibilities. He would do all he could for the baby, and for Sabine.

He swallowed deeply as that familiar, dull ache reared its head once more.

He didn’t know what would happen, or what could, and Harry had learned not to get his hopes up when it came to matters of the heart. Thus far, they had led to nothing.

Sabine, Olivia, Gabrielle, Tonks, and now, Sabine once again.

It had been bad enough trying to find something of a balance when it came to his thoughts of her, and he’d only managed to do so when they’d been apart.

Now, they would seemingly be spending more time together, perhaps with her being married to another man.

Harry shook his head once more as his gaze drifted towards the clock, and he knew he could no longer delay venturing back to the Van Droombeeld home.

Mulling things over here would not solve anything, and with everything else, he knew it was better to know where it was he stood in all of this. With that in mind, he activated the portkey he’d created the previous evening to figure out exactly what would happen now, and in the months and years to come.

(Break)

Sleep had been elusive, and any it seemed that the growing babe inside her had decided that her bladder would become its pillow already. Sabine didn’t mind, however. It reminded her that there was indeed a baby there, and that things might just be okay.

She wasn’t entirely convinced that her parents believed that her pregnancy wasn’t intentional. Not that it mattered to her.

Her relationship with each had been strained at best these past months, and Sabine did not expect this sudden change of circumstances would remedy that. If anything, she could see the irritability of her father, and even disappointment of her mother, or was it that the woman was perhaps a little jealous that it was unlikely Sabine would find herself trapped in a loveless marriage?

Winthrop truly would not take the news well, and he would not subject his family to such ridicule from others. His only option was to terminate the contract.

Well, the only option that would save face, at least.

Maybe he would prove to be stubborn, decide that his moronic son would indeed marry Sabine, and take the baby on as his own; something she could not see Harry allowing.

His own reaction, initially, had been one of shock, and it seemed he’d been experiencing a myriad of emotions.

A part of her thought that this was little more than an inconvenience to him, that this was the last thing he ever wanted, but she knew Harry, knew that wasn’t so.

Sabine could see that he was torn, not because he was angry, but because he was hurt.

Their final parting had taken its toll on them both, and Harry had walked away months prior, never expecting to see her again, and all of this had dragged that pain back with it.

It was the one thing she was sorry for.

Harry had never been so good at hiding how he felt from her. Even when others couldn’t quite understand him, or see how he felt about something, she always had.

Sabine didn’t care what her parents felt about the situation, and certainly not how it would matter to the Winthrops, but the last thing she wanted, now or ever, was for anything she’d done to hurt Harry.

It was a knock on the door that pulled her from her thoughts, and she offered her older brother as much of a smile she could muster.

“He’s back,” Marcus declared.

Sabine nodded as she got out of bed, sliding her feet into a pair of slippers, as Marcus offered her his arm.

“No matter what happens, you will have me,” he promised.

“Did Harry say something already?” she asked worriedly.

Marcus shook his head as he eyed her for a moment.

“You love him, don’t you?”

“More than I could put into words,” she answered sadly, allowing him to escort her towards the kitchen.

Harry was indeed there, and she did not miss the slightest widening of his eyes as she entered, nor the longing in them.

Truthfully, she had done her utmost not to think of how all of this was affecting him, of how he’d always been on the outside of it all, and now, he would find himself at the very centre of the mess that was her life.

“I still have found nothing in the contract that suggests why it has not been broken,” her father spoke up.

He was worried, concerned, and even a little fearful, and that only became more prominent as the floo chimed in the adjoining room.

“Winthrop,” he whispered. “I did not send for him.”

“Maybe he’s just checking in with the plans for the wedding,” her mother replied.

“He isn’t,” a voice sounded from the door. “I heard your conversation last night, and I sent for my father,” her intended announced, a malicious grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Idiot,” Sabine sighed as the approaching footsteps of the Winthrop patriarch echoed off the walls.

Throughout all of the arrangements over the years, and even since her fiancé had been living with them, Sabine had scarcely laid eyes on Donald Winthrop, let alone spoken to him.

To most, he would be quite the imposing man, and yet, he had stalked into a room with one who was so much more than he could ever hope to be.

“My son has revealed some most troubling news,” he said gravely, his gaze flitting towards Harry.

His eyes narrowed, but Harry did not balk or even appear to be intimidated.

“You are pregnant?” he demanded to know, his eyes shifting towards Sabine, and her stomach.

“I am.”

Donald Winthrop’s nostrils flared as he turned his attention towards her father.

“So, Van Droombeeld, how are we going to rectify this?”

Her father did not seem certain, and it wasn’t him who answered.

“You are going to agree to terminate the contract,” Harry spoke.

Winthrop chuckled humourlessly.

“You have no idea the trouble you are in, boy,” he warned.

Harry merely grinned predatorily in response.

“I think you’ll find you do not understand the trouble you will find yourself in if you do not,” he returned. “Sabine is pregnant with my child, and as of this moment, she will not be leaving my side until it is born, and even then, I think I will be sticking around. There will be no place for you son in that situation.”

Winthrop couldn’t quite believe that he was being spoken to in such a way. Usually, those who found themselves having provoked his ire would likely be grovelling for forgiveness, but Harry was not like them.

He chuckled once more.

“You speak as though you have a say in the matter. Do not push your luck boy,” he warned. “No, the baby must be gotten rid of. It is the only way I will be satis…”

His words died in his throat.

How Harry had moved so quickly, Sabine didn’t know, but it seemed as though before she could even blink, he’d seized Donald by the throat, slammed him against the wall, whilst conjuring a rope around his son’s neck.

The younger Winthrop was dangling a few feet in the air, doing his utmost to free himself from the strangulation.

Sabine shuddered as the temperature within the room dropped significantly and Donald Winthrop finally realised what it was he as facing.

“You first mistake was threatening the life of my child,” Harry whispered.

His voice was calm, which only made him appear even more dangerous.

“That was stupid, but for the sake of not having to kill you, your son, and anyone else I deem necessary, how about we start over and you will conduct yourself correctly. What do you say?”

Donald was beginning to turn purple from the vice-like grip he has being held in, but he nodded, and Harry released him.

The man’s son thudded to the ground, gasping for air, and he glowered at Harry, who pointedly ignored him.

Sabine’s parents said nothing, but both were rather pale from the display.

“Now, shall we try that again, Mr Winthrop?” Harry asked.

It was odd to see how quickly someone could be cowed, and just how much Harry had grown up since the two of them would sneak around Ilvermorny to spend time with one another.

He was no longer a boy by any stretch of the imagination, and though he was only seventeen years old, there was an undeniable presence about him, one that exuded power, and Donald Winthrop had discovered it, to his detriment.

He’d likely never been treated in such a way, nor faced anyway like Harry, who would not be intimidated by his threats.

“So, Mr Winthrop, what do you propose we do to remedy the situation?” Harry asked.

Donald looked towards his son, towards Sabine’s father, and then back to Harry, who was waiting for a response.

“I am open to suggestions,” he replied. “Maybe there is some common ground we can find, or perhaps a negotiation. I’m sure there is an arrangement we can come to.”

Harry nodded approvingly.

“Then take a seat, Mr Winthrop, and let us hope this isn’t going to take up too much of our time.”

The message to the man was clear.

Harry had evidently already decided upon the terms he would agree to, and there would be little room to no room for comprising with him. What those terms were, remained to be seen, and Sabine couldn’t deny she was nervous.

However, when she took a seat next to him she felt his hand close over hers, and though he did not look at her, she immediately felt better for it, that this wasn’t just about the baby she carried, but maybe, so much more.