Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Harry Potter or Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4/Persona 4: Golden. Those rights belong to J.K. Rowling and Atlus respectively.
This is a rewrite of my old story, "Hell Song", which will now be "Sticks and Stones". While the basic idea is the same, some story details have gone through a drastic change so I hope that those who read the original will enjoy. Sorry if you liked the original, but I couldn't find any inspiration to continue it. Plus, I hated how tacked-on Harry felt to me in the story when I re-read it in an attempt to jumpstart the creative thoughts.
With "Sticks and Stones"; I'm trying to have him included in the story more seamlessly than before.
The pairing is still the same, though there was a brief moment I contemplated changing it. A friend of mine made me reconsider this idea, so the original pairing will stay.
Warning(s): character death, extreme violence, mentions of abuse, SLASH, etc.
Sticks and Stones
Prologue: Rolling Fog
"Hey, Saki...hasn't it been kind of foggy lately?" Harry asked, dipping a fry into the ketchup/mayonnaise mix in the small plastic cup between them.
'It isn't as terrible as I thought it'd be', he thought, chewing absentmindedly on the fried treat in his mouth. The combination was better than he had expected. He will make a note to have it again sometime in the future.
It was that delicious!
Nodding, he grabbed another, just to begin chewing on it enthusiastically.
The light brown-haired girl sitting across from him nodded in agreement, taking a sip of her drink as she perused her email. The bell charm hanging from her phone jingled with every push of her thumb on the buttons.
"It is strange. Fog happens frequently here, but it's been a bit…much nowadays." Saki replied, with a frown as she looked over at him.
Her brown eyes drilled into his face, taking in the large plaster bandage on his cheek as well as the bindings peeking out from beneath his messy black fringe. They hardened further as they locked onto the bandages wrapped around his neck that (undoubtedly) stretched down to who knows how far, and that thought was what caused her to purse her lips in displeasure.
"Fog aside, is it my imagination ("I know it's not", she adds quickly, stopping whatever sass he was about to throw out there causing him to pout childishly) or did you think I wouldn't notice the extra bandages today with that turtleneck?" the guilty look she received seemed to be an answer enough for her.
She sighed, slipping her phone into the pocket of her work apron.
"Harry, I know we agreed on not talking about you know, but I'm worried…I really think that…" Harry cut her off with a chuckled as he tossed another fry in his mouth.
"Don't worry about it, Saki…you know how things are." He paused, waiting as some of their co-workers passing by in order to throw away the remnants of their lunch as they headed back inside to work.
Once the two of them were relatively alone, he turned back to her. Propping his chin on his knuckles, his lips curled into a lop-sided grin, "I'm fine, it looks worse than it is…it wasn't as bad as usual, so it's nothing I can't handle."
The smile was obviously an attempt to reassure her, but from the pleading look she gave him, it was obvious that it didn't work as well as he hoped.
He knew that he was looking a little beat up, more so than usual, but it isn't as bad as it looks.
He's had worse. Much worse.
Rubbing a hand against his chest, he tried to ignore the shiver that rolled down his spine.
"I know you feel like you can handle it –maybe you can, but…should you? If we talk to someone, then maybe someone could help, then you–"Harry sighed, raising a hand up as if to stop her in her tracks.
"Saki, I'm fine…I'm only putting up with this till the end of this year. After that, we can accomplish our goal." Stretching his arms above his head, he grimaced slightly, lowering a hand to rub the back of his neck. His lips thinned into a line, his expression dark. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, trying to calm the torrent feelings that were bubbling in his chest with a shake of his head. Peeking one eye open to see the concern on his friend's face, he sent her a comforting smile.
"When that time comes, I won't ever deal with this again…the last thing I want is anything interfering with our plan, which will happen if others get involved."
Leaning forward, he grasped her hands, tilting his head and leveling her with an imploring look. "Until then, this (he gestured to between the two of them happily) is enough."
Furrowing her brows, Saki sighed deeply as her shoulders slumped in resignation.
"Okay, I-I'll try…but Harry, if things get any worse at least promise me that you'll consider getting help."
Chuckling, Harry waved away her worries cheerily.
"Don't worry, I'm sure it doesn't come to that."
Pressing a kiss against her fingers, reminiscent of the knights detailed in his birth country's history. He snorted at the unconvinced look she threw at him before he pouted, "Fine, I promise."
Smirking at her small victory, Saki finally began to relax, the heavy topic being put off for another time. Just as she opened her mouth to switch the subject to lighter subjects, a voice broke the peace that was only beginning to form between them.
"Saki-senpai!" at the unexpected shout, the two teens jumped a bit before swinging their gaze in the direction it came from. Two pairs of eyes, both green and brown, came to rest on a younger teen with bouncing fluffy brown hair waving enthusiastically in their direction as he came closer.
The moment Harry saw who it was, he clicked his tongue in irritation. "Ugh, your prince charming is here Saki, no doubt wanting to pester you again."
Turning her head away, Saki grimaced, her thin brows furrowing slightly, "Yeah…"
Harry hummed, watching as the son of their boss came to a halt the closer he got. The dark-haired teen almost laughed at the look of apprehension the other sent his way once he came out of his bout of tunnel vision and noticed his friend wasn't actually alone.
Allowing his lips to curl into a smirk, he leaned his forehead against Saki's knuckles and watched him from the corner of his eyes.
"Hey, Hanamura-kun! To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" he asked, his eyes trailing down from the boy's head to his toes while waggling his eyebrows suggestively. The almost full-body shiver ('of disgust', he thought mockingly) that went through the boy at the weight of his gaze, only caused his smirk to deepen and his urge to laugh increase.
Yosuke Hanamura, the son of the manager of Junes, was just too easy to screw with, much to his pleasure.
Feigning confusion, Harry tilted his head to one side in a puppyish manner, "Need help with something?"
The caramel-haired boy shook his head rapidly, his face paling as he leaned away with his arms raised. As if they would protect him from whatever Harry could possibly throw at him.
"Uh, n-no…I-I just need to discuss something with S-Saki-senpai!" he managed to spit out. All the while watching Harry cautiously, as if the older teen were a wild beast ready to pounce on and devour him.
Raising a brow, Harry made eye contact with him for the briefest moment, but apparently whatever he saw satisfied him as he turned his attention back towards his friend with a smile and a roll of his eyes.
"Well, sounds like something important. I'll leave you two to it then~" Pressing another kiss against Saki's fingers (drawing an outraged sputter from the younger boy watching), Harry released her hands as he pushed himself up from his seat.
Stacking his and Saki's empty food containers, he threw them into the trash nearby before stretching. With a groan, he let his arms fall to his sides. With a hum, he looked over his shoulder at the two, who was looking at him with varying expressions (Saki with a look daring him to leave her alone and Yosuke is basically trying to shoo him away with his eyes alone).
"I'm going back to our station early, I'm sure Maki-chan would like the help in the grocery section." Sending Saki a wink (he mentally cackled) and a cheeky smirk in Yosuke's direction (earning him a flustered glare from the easily riled boy), he walked away with a jaunty wave over his shoulder.
"See you in a bit, Saki….Hanamura-kun~" he purred, leaving the unnerved boy and his bemused friend behind.
Strolling towards the store, Harry looked up at the gloomy sky with a frown. His gaze then fell back towards his friend currently suffering the attention of their boss's son. Pressing a hand against his lips, he muffled his snickering at the sight of his friend's growing misery.
Whatever the boy was yammering at her about was obviously something she didn't want to deal with. Likely another one of his attempts to "subtly" ask his friend out on a date. Something Saki would try her damnedest to wriggle out of in some way.
With the image of Saki trying to fend off the boy that pursued her with all the fervor of a starved dog after a bone, Harry pushed his and Saki's conversation to the back of his mind. Running a hand through his messy locks, he stopped just before the employee entrance back into the superstore in order to compose himself.
He had housewives to charm into buying the store's reasonably priced produce. Pumping himself up with two slaps to both of his cheeks, he forced his lips to curl into his best salesman smile as he stepped into Junes and greeted others that called out to him.
His paycheck wasn't going to earn itself, now was it?
End of Prologue
What do you guys think? *。 ﾟ* ヾ( ゝз・)ノ
As you can see…there is definitely something different going on with this in comparison to the original. Changes I hope everyone will, if not like, then tolerate. Unlike the original idea, I need some way to tie Harry to the overall plot and my original idea wasn't going to go as I wanted to…sadly. I originally started this chapter a long time ago, but only just now was able to summon enough inspiration to actually complete it. I've actually been working on a few of my fics recently, which I'm happy about.
Of course, that could be due to little to do for my job this past week or so. ಥ_ಥ
I've forgotten just how nerve-wracking writing could be. Had to sit down and force me to write, all the while trying not to second guess myself on like every sentence.
Thankfully, I was definitely able to work my way through it, but I've come to realize that I need a beta. Or, at least, someone that I could discuss the story with as well as someone, who could look through and edit my attempts at storytelling.
Either way, I appreciate all who have decided to give this a chance. Hopefully, this manages to entertain someone.
See you in the next update,
Shikigami1991