Hello! This is Miss Awkward with another story! I want to thank everyone that's decided to read Seal with a Kiss. This is the first Harry Potter story that I have posted in a long time, but I plan on finishing this one. As always, I would love it if you'd leave a review, whether you want to say something positive, point out a mistake, or even tell me you don't like it. All I ask, and want, is that Guests leave their reviews with an alias and for any review sent, that you are polite about what you're saying. No one likes glancing at their e-mails from FF to find a Flame full of unwarranted cruelty or unnecessary crudity.
Now, as I said in my AN for You are my Sunshine, I'll PM you in response to your review if you have an account. Guests, on the other hand, I'll answer here in the order I received them. I will also answer reviews that seem to have a common theme in an AN, but only if more than one person seems to ask the same thing. I love hearing from you guys, and I am looking forward to hearing what you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the time I put into writing this story. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, the prompt that inspired this belongs to phantomrose96 on tumblr, and none of this is based on a real person. If there is any coincidental names, looks, and other details, please understand it was unintentional and otherwise accidental.
Warnings: Violence, Coarse Language, Severe Bullying, Mentions of Child Abuse, possible Male on Male Relationships, References to Religious themes, and Mild suggestive themes
Bashing Warnings: Ron, Hermione, majority of Gryffindor House, Hufflepuff House, Ravenclaw House, Wizarding World, Dumbledore, and Dursley Family
Pairings: To Be Determined (read as: Surprise)
Beta Reader: HanakoAnimeaddict (Thanks to Abyss, this will find a home outside of my tablet and OneDrive.)
Chapter One: Horrible Kids
I.
Second year was by far the worst Harry had so far at Hogwarts. His few friends had all but abandoned him after the whole school discovered he was a Parselmouth. The place he thought of as home, as safe, was as bad as the Dursley household.
The entire week following the Dueling Club left Harry paranoid. Hexes, jinxes, and vicious pranks were aimed at him in the halls between classes, in class, and even the Tower. The only times he seemed to be left alone were at meals or when he hid in the library.
As much as he hated to admit it, Harry was terrified.
Sleep came in short bursts, maybe three or four hours at a time and even then they were restless hours. He had to be prepared for anything, especially in his dorm. A shudder ran up Harry's back as he thought of the most recent 'wake-up' he had received; the feeling left by hundreds of maggots crawling on your flesh was certainly not something someone would like to wake up to, certainly not Harry.
"Oi, Potter!" He flinched at the sound of his name. "Look at me, you murderer!"
Harry turned around, his shoulders turned inwards and his spine curling in on itself. He looked at Ron, his friend, nervously.
"Wh-what c-can I-I d-do f-for yuh-yuh-you?" Internally, he cursed at his shuddering stutters.
"You can stop sending out your monster to try and kill students," spat the redhead, jeers and hoots coming from behind him. Harry took an unconscious step back; he hadn't noticed the Gryffindor second year boys were behind Ron.
"But I-I'm-!" Harry's protests were cut off by cruel words.
"Shut up! We know you're behind it!" Dean shouted this time, "You're always causing trouble, always getting attention. It's obvious it's you!"
"Yeah! Besides, You-Know-Who went after you as a baby," Seamus said as he sneered, "Probably to get rid of the competition. You're probably looking up Dark spells to use on the Muggle-borns and anyone else that you don't like it!"
"You're wrong!" cried Harry, his green eyes welling up with tears. "I'm not Dark; I don't want to hurt anyone! Please believe me, I'm not doing this! Please...!"
His pleas were cut off by a fist slamming into his stomach. He stared up at Ron in shock before being punched again. Harry slammed to the ground from the force with a cry of pain; his glasses fell off and slid a good distance away from the fallen boy. His cry of pain acted as some silent signal that set the other two boys off and suddenly all he felt were vicious punches and kicks.
Harry tried to curl into himself, using his limbs to shield his softer areas from harm. He instinctively submitted to the beating forced upon him. Dudley had taught him a good deal when it came to getting beaten up; the smaller a target he made himself, the sooner his attackers would leave him be.
II.
The confrontation, if one could call it that, didn't last very long. Once they realized Harry wasn't going to give them anymore of a reaction than they had garnered, Ron, Seamus, and Dean left. Harry took much longer to leave the corridor. Though not serious, the injuries left by the boys were terribly painful and left Harry to limp his way back to the Tower.
He made it half way to the Tower before sequestering himself in an unused classroom. Harry may have been used to pain- the Dursleys certainly were fond of using it as reinforcement- but he was just too tired.
Tired of being teased, being hurt, and, most of all, being alone.
Harry had honestly thought he had finally made friends for himself. After all, they didn't hurt him like Dudley nor was Dudley even there to chase them away. They were like him, magical in every sense of the word, so it was obvious that they'd want to be his friend.
He was wrong, so wrong.
"Mister Potter, what are you doing in here?" Harry heard from the doorway. He wanted to look up, but he just couldn't bring himself to bother.
"S-sorry, s-sir," came Harry's stuttered answer, the words almost physically dripping with exhaustion. "I-I was h-hiding, a-and pre-pretending I-I didn't exist."
There was no reply, and Harry almost assumed Lockhart was gone. The clomping of shoes hitting stone proved him otherwise.
The defence professor lifted his chin, forcing weary green to gaze into darkening blue.
"Now why on Earth would a little boy like you say that? You're famous, adorable as some witches say, and very wealthy. You could have anything you want."
"...I just want my parents back," Harry whispered. "I want a friend that won't leave me because I'm a freak. I don't want fame for something I didn't do, money that can't buy me my happiness, or even the ideals the Wizarding World has for me."
There was a pause as the honest statement filled the room.
"What would you give for either of those?" Lockhart's tone sent chills up Harry's spine in warning.
"My magic if it could get my parents back," he replied after some thought. "But the dead can't be brought back, per a lot of the Library's books. I'd give my everything, I guess then, for a friend."
"Even your soul?"
"I guess."
"Well, Mister Potter." A smirk slowly spread across the teacher's face. "Tell what you know about Christianity."
"Er, Uncle Vernon liked to quote, 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,' or something. Aunt Petunia told me that there's a demon called Satan that likes to corrupting, 'Good, hardworking normal folk,' like the Dursleys, and that I'll go to Hell because that's where all the freaks go; God doesn't like freaks like me, or that's what Aunt Petunia was saying." Harry frowned slightly as he shifted, barely managing to hide a wince, and continued speaking, "Why do you ask, Professor Lockhart?"
"Lovely family you have there," the normally flamboyant man stated dryly. "For the most part, they got a little bit right. I do like corrupting people; after all, humans are so easy to tempt."
"What?" Harry was confused.
"I'm the one they call Satan, Mister Potter." Blue eyes flashed liquid gold, "And I'd like to make a deal with you."
III.
Lockhart raised an eyebrow at Harry's stunning fish impression. Honestly, humans overreacted to far too much nowadays.
"Well, Mister Potter, as amazing an impression you are performing, I would like a verbal response." He watched the gaping mouth slam shut and rolled his eyes.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Lockhart drawled, "Expand, please, Mister Potter."
"Er, why… why me?" Harry started before hurrying along, "Why make a deal with me? I've nothing really to trade to you."
"Entertainment," he declared with a slight smirk. "I get bored very easily. You have the possibility of becoming a very entertaining human; I want to be around you just to watch the show unfold."
"Oh."
"So, do you want to make a deal or not?"
"I-I want you to prove you're Satan before I say anything." Lockhart felt pleased at the suspicion Harry showed him. Oh, he was correct that this boy would be so amusing to watch.
"Oh joy, a wizard with a brain. About time someone uses a bit of caution, unlike the past few witches and wizards I've dealt with." As he teased Harry, his smirk shifted into a shark-like grin as he leaned closer to the preteen. "Now, watch, Mister Potter, I'm going to blow your mind. Figuratively, after all I don't want to lose my entertainment before I can even enjoy it."
He watched Harry blush faintly as he leaned away, eyes narrowing. Lockhart raised a hand before the child and twitched his wrist. A ruby red apple rested in his hand, tempting to eyes.
"You summoned an apple? That doesn't seem mind blowing…" Harry flinched back, wary of any reaction his words caused.
"I didn't summon it." Lockhart only looked amused as he continued, "But I did create it. Now keep watching."
A monstrous maw filled to the brim with needle like teeth burst from its stem, and the ruby apple sitting in his hand then began to devour itself.
"Was that proof enough, Mister Potter?" questioned the demonic professor lightly, chuckling inwardly at the look of horrified fascination Harry was showing him.
The child nodded hesitantly. His show was rather simple and dull, but the reactions he garnered from his watcher! Those were deliciously amusing.
"I-I, um. I'm sorry for doubting you…?" stuttered Harry as he looked away from Lockhart, his breaths unsteady from surprise.
"Apology accepted; now, do you want to make a deal?"
"Erm, I do."
Delightful, thought the Devil.
"Now, I can give you anything you want, but even I can't return the dead to life," he stated for Harry's sake. "So, what do you want?"
"I want you to be my friend for however long the deal lasts."
Lockhart blinked then let out a round of raucous laughter. He should have really expected that; Harry did say he wanted a friend, but he thought he'd want a human friend.
"Deal," the Devil said before laying a kiss on the preteen's lips.