"Tell me...son," the man said, still hesitant to use that word, but knowing it would be far more beneficial in the end. "Are you still hungry? Would you want something more... substantial?"

Harry nodded rapidly, he could almost feel his stomach rumble. Not a new feeling for him, but he would really love something to eat right about now.

"Come on then. Let's go into town and I will teach you how to bend these pathetic human sheep to your will."

He smiled down at Harry, making Harry feel like he was…special…someone above everyone else in this small little town of white pickled fences and gossip mongers. And if his newfound Father said so...maybe he was. His Father knew so many wonderful things after all and he claimed Harry had Powers, just like him! That he could make things happen by just focusing his Will! Harry had worked very, very hard for almost an hour and in the end, he managed to make a rock fall off the edge of the table. He had never felt prouder of himself than when his Father praised him, and told him that with practice, he could do even bigger things!

When they reached town, his father quickly located an ATM machine that had a bench nearby, and a small ally not too far away. Harry was worried that people would see him hanging around a stranger, but Asmodeus quickly reassured him that only Harry could see him. Harry unconsciously stroked the golden, circular pendant of his neckless that was encircled by a much darker, almost black, gold ring and engraved on one side with his father's Sigil...whatever that meant...and a stylized letter A on the other. Denoting to those whom knew, those of importance, whom he belonged to. No lesser demons or creatures would dare touch someone whom belonged to the great King of Demons, whom even tricked the powerful wizard Solomon back in the day. Harry hated the man from the first he heard the story. Forcing a demon to work as a slave and binding them...such an asshole!

Now, however, Asmodeus leaned over the back of the bench, and whispered into Harry's ear, teaching him how to spot a suitable victim. In this case, Harry would be looking for someone whom appeared to be wealthy, and preferably weak minded.

Rich...that one was easy.

Weak minded... Harry promised himself that he would have to work on learning how this whole 'body-language' thing worked, but for now, his father pointed out a perfect victim to him, telling him the tell-tale signs of his potential weak will. The slight shuffling of his feet's, the bent back, the tendency to apologize even when other people bumped into him... Harry smirked. He would make sure he did his father proud. Though he wished he could have practiced beforehand as he walked up to him and started asking him for directions, staring into his eyes with his own shining green eyes, pushing his will and his magic onto this man as best he could.

"Eye-contact was only necessary in the beginning," Asmodeus whispered.

Later, he could do it without. But for now, Harry struggled even with the eye-contact, and it took him almost five minutes to plant the seed of his Will inside his head. But as he sat back down on the bench, feeling just a little exhausted from the effort, he smiled to himself. The man walked over to the ATM and took out everything he was able to take out from his account and walked into the ally.

Harry quickly got up and followed him, put the substantial number of pounds, a large stack of them, into his pockets. For once Harry was grateful that his t-shirt was so large that they covered the fact that his small pockets was bulging with his new ill-gotten gains. He grinned brightly, but with Asmodeus whispering in his ear, he remembered to yet again stare into the eyes of this man, and forcefully wipe his memory of even seeing him away.

He would come to his senses in five more minutes and having no idea why he was in that ally, nor how he had lost his entire credit limit. On his father's prompting, he relieved the man of his credit-card and dropped it in a nearby trash bin. The man would likely just assume someone stole his card and get himself a new one. Nobody would even suspect Harry. The boy in question smiled brightly, and only barely restrained himself from hugging his dad in public. That would have looked suspicious and downright weird, his father had warned him about that.

Asmodeus smiled warmly at Harry and guided him to the nearest pub, where Harry was all too happy to blow some of his newly gained riches on a proper, full breakfast; Tea, black pudding, bacon, toast...the works. Harry had to work hard to not moan in happiness at the taste of so many wonderful flavours, and Asmodeus had to stop him from eating every last bit on the plate, pointing out that he hadn't eaten properly for several days now, it would be bad if he stuffed himself so full that he threw up, or worse; died. Harry looked shocked when Asmodeus told him a story about a prisoner who had starved himself to escape, and how he had subsequently stuffed himself silly on a roasted goat and promptly died. That was, apparently, a thing. A real-life story.

Harry snuck back into the house after having stayed out until it was dark, well and truly enjoying his day. His new father had insisted that he would have to go back home to his aunt but promised him that there would be quite a few changes around the house within the next few days.

The first change seemed to be that his aunt, while more or less ignoring Harry as per usual, was extremely worried the next day, as Vernon had not come back home from the pub that he usually went to after work. She did, however, receive a text from him around noon, telling her to not worry, and that he wouldn't be home for the weekend, he had something VERY important to do... Petunia couldn't help worrying either way.

Harry was just happy that she seemed to have forgotten about his existence, and that as long as he snuck away early enough, he could spend the whole day outside and not have to worry about housework, or being beaten up by Dudley, or yelled at by the mysteriously absent Vernon. While he had hidden most of the money under a loose floorboard in the cupboard, he brought enough of it with him to comfortably buy himself lunch and dinner, and even a few sweets. Although he wasn't overly found of sweets, never having the chance to develop a taste for them before, he liked dark chocolate in moderate doses.

"Honey I'm home~" the Voice of uncle Vernon resonated through the house and had Petunia almost running down the stairs. Not only had he been missing for several days now, but he sounded so uncharacteristically...happy.

She flushed with pleasure, however, when she saw him. The very first thing she noticed was that he held out a bucket of red roses to her, first rate from the looks of it. Oh, how long had it been since he did anything so romantic? It had been years and years... She smiled, kissed him, and blushed like a schoolgirl when he promptly grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, kissing her with a passion she that reminded her of her lost youth.

"Oh, Vernon, dear! Not where the neighbours can see us!" She blushed and straightened out the skirt, but her smile showed that she was happier about his actions than she let on.

"My dearest Tuney... I have something we need to talk about. I've had...an epiphany." He smiled and lead her over to the table.

She looked at him and wondered if he had suddenly lost a few pounds…how strange...

"Oh, dear. What have happened to you? You vanished for the whole weekend! I was so worried!" Petunia fussed and blushed at how he looked at her, something about it made her feel like a teenager again. When did her husband become so...passionate?

"Oh, Tuney... I have something...horrible to confess," he said, looking sombre and clasping her hand.

Taking a deep breath as if to steady himself for a big confession. Petunia looked at him, worried about what had her usually so rational husband act so secretive.

"I-I'm an alcoholic, Tuney," he said and looked away in shame. "I didn't want to admit I had a problem but..." He sighed. "It was Harry that helped me see it. He convinced me to get help. Oh, Tuney! I was so angry at him for it! I was absolutely furious! But... I realized he was right. I couldn't stop! And this weekend...I spent this weekend getting sobered up, and I feel SO much better now! And to think I might never have known if it wasn't for that little...nephew...of yours..."

He acted as if he was conflicted about what to feel about Harry now that he had helped him. To be fair, Petunia felt a little conflicted to. That little freak had actually done something right for a change? She looked at the flowers...well…she pursed her lips. It didn't mean anything. He was still a little freak. It wouldn't do any good to show him that she felt grateful. She'd just...ignore him. Yeah, that would be reward enough. No chores for the day.

"Oh, Vernon... That's wonderful!" She said, smiling at her husband.

"Oh, and Tuney... About that little...that little..." he let the sentence hang in the air, as if he didn't know what to call him.

"Tuney, the neighbours are talking!" he said and looked at her seriously as she gasped and clutched her breast in horror.

"What about, pumpkin?" She said, horror written on her face.

"They've seen him work in the yard. They say he's skinny, that we don't feed him. That they never see him at the table. They've seen how Dudley and his friends beat him up... Well, kids will be kids, but the neighbours..." he let the sentence hang in the air like a threat.

"Oh, how horrible!" Petunia asked with a worried expression. Oh, how horrible! Her reputation...

"And then I heard someone talk about calling the child-protective services on us! To think! They might even take Dudley!" He said, outrage in his voice, and Petunias eyes widened in fear.

"Oh, dearest... What do we do?!" Petunia clasped her husband's hands in fear. "And poor Dudders! Oh, how horrible!"

"Don't worry Pet." Vernon stroked her hands comfortingly. "I know how to fix this! We'll fix this!" He smiled reassuringly to her.

"Do you really think so, Vernon?" she said, lips quivering in fear.

"Of course, Pet. Now…what we need to do is to make sure the neighbours don't have anything to complain about. Of course, it means that we have to put up with that...that boy...eating with us, and not doing gardening. Oh, Tuney! What if they see him coking? The oven is by the windows! We can't have that! And what if some guests noticed his 'room'? I think... Dear, precious Pet... I think we'll have to give him Dudders second bedroom. There's no other option. It's just collecting dust anyway. Dudley is a strong boy, he should be outside playing with his friends, not rotting away indoors like a nerd. Yes, that would be the best option," he spoke so surely and passionately.

He looked into her eyes with so much affection, and oh! How she loved that strong man that took control of everything and knew just what to do. Whatever would she do without him?

"Oh, of course, dear. You're right. You're always right. But shouldn't the little freak pay his way in this world? All that extra food...and no work..." she frowned.

"Oh, don't worry about that Pet. I have a great idea! I mean... If he HAS to be a freak...we can't change that, hell knows we tried. So why not make it work for us? Haven't you always thought it was unfair that your freak sister married rich and never gave us a dime? Don't you want to be wealthy, and live in a nice mansion, and have servants? Oh, Tuney! You can even have all those clothes and beauty treatments that you keep talking about, wouldn't that be nice?!" he told her, smiling from ear to ear.

Petunia lapped up his every word, lost in her dreams and desires. Oh, how amazing wouldn't it be to be rich? And how the neighbours would envy them! They laughed now, but if they could do this...if Vernon was right...Of course he was right, he was always right! Didn't he just solve their problem with the neighbours? Petunia smiled and kissed her husband.

"Oh, of course dear! I will leave everything to you and go clean up this mess! You talk to the boy. Make him understand how important it is that he earns his keep! Oh, dearest Verny~ You always come true for this family!" Petunia said, kissing his again, before she turned away to find the cleaning products.

She was so excited! And as she ran off, she never saw the nasty, shark like smile that stretched across Vernon's face like a razor. And she was entirely too busy dreaming to notice the very subtle smell of sulphur that now seemed to follow her husband, as he stood up, and walked over to the closet that held their nephew.

"Boy, get out of there. Take your stuff with you, you're getting a new room!"

Vernon was now the perfect husband, and the perfect father. When he was not out on the lawn, playing improvised football with his son and nephew, he was sitting down with Harry and teaching him all manners of science and making sure he held the best grades in his year...not that it was hard, seeing as he had only just started school, but his new dad wanted him to be well ahead of his year. So, he sent Dudley off to the movies with money enough for snacks and anything else he wanted, which made him happy. Dudley was especially happy that his dad didn't force him to do all that boring reading and shit that he forced Harry to learn. Dudley felt like he dodged a bullet on that!

Harry could not forget the shock he had felt when his usually mean uncle came up to him and showed him his new room, acting all nice and familiar. It wasn't until they were inside, and he closed the door and explained the concept of using a human body as a 'meat suit', as a form of disguise, that Harry realized that this was not uncle Vernon at all, it was his new daddy! Harry laughed with joy and hugged the...still rather overweight man, with some discomfort. Harry disliked how he still looked like his uncle, but Asmodeus promised him that he would change that as soon as he was able to do so without raising suspicion.

His first action was to shave off that horrible moustache he had going. His next action was to colour his hair reddish-brown and grow it out just enough to change his entire hairdo. All the while, he had imposed upon the family the need to be healthy. Which, of course, lead to a complete change in their diet plan. He also made sure to hire a personal chef to cook all their meals, which revealed Harry from ever having to cook again. Something the boy loved, as he watched more and more of his time free up.

When Vernon was promoted to C.E.O. at his company, he promptly hired a maid to drop by once a week and clean. He also bought himself a whole new set of clothes, shopping at places like Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren, and occasionally, for special occasions, at Anderson & Sheppard. It didn't even take a year before the old, obese, common looking Vernon looked lean and slightly muscular, with style and taste, and a tint of red in his normally brown hair, something that Harry was especially happy with.

Of course, Petunia experience a similar change, just not quite so drastically.

"I have to dress up, now that I'm a C.E.O.," he told her, right before presenting her with a gift card at one of the more upscale stores in town. "You have to look your best, being married to such an important man," he said, and Petunia kissed him and practically ran off to get her best friend and make a day trip to the mall.

With the help and guidance of her husband, and a personal shopper he hired for her with very specific instructions, she now looked ten years younger, dressed like a preppy mother in clothes every bit as tastefulness and expensive as her husband. She even, at Vernon's comment, let her hair grown out and hired a make-up specialist to help 'pick her colours' and teach her how to look her best.

There was a number of beauty treatments and experimental drugs involved as well, ensuring that she was very soon looking prettier than she had ever done in her life. Of course, the fact that she was no longer a miserable, stuck-up bitch certainly also helped. Her hair was still a very dark brown though, but Vernon had convinced her that curls was so very 80's. She had gotten it permanently straightened, which improved her looks a lot, as well as made her look a lot younger.

Vernon...or rather Asmodeus...was secretly extremely relieved at this, considering that he had to be intimate with her. Especially because he used his rather impressive skills as the Lord of Lust to sate her desires so much that she became addicted to and dependent upon the sweet, slick, heights of pleasure and passion that he provided to her in the devilishly intimate nightly deep pleasures. So much, that if she mistreated Harry in any way, he only had to withhold his talents, and she would correct her behaviour immediately, doing anything in her power to please her husband.

It certainly did help her training that he also rewarded her in many romantic, and often expensive ways, whenever she treated Harry with kindness and care. Between the subtle manipulation of Asmodeus, and the childish charm and opulent gifts of her nephew, she grew to love Harry as if he was her own. Nothing could make her love anyone more than Dudley though, but Harry was a very close second.

It had been an uphill fight to get Dudley to accept their new diet-plan... he just plain hated healthy food... but it was slowly getting better.

Besides oh, how wonderfully envious the neighbours were! Petunia had never been happier in her life! Then if her husband acted a bit strange and out of character...well... she chalked it up to his alcoholism and refused to listen. Her life had never been better.

Harry was happy.

For the first time in his young life he felt the happiness that came from having something he could call a family, someone who cared about him. That part of him that was born from desperation and misery that made him long for his real parents, or even the slightest hint of friendliness slowly evaporated and disappeared. Replaced by his new father, and by a family that very slowly begun to include him inn it.

Dudley was torn between anger at being pushed aside by his dad, and joy over the fact that he now had all the toys and money he wanted and could buy whatever he wanted, much to the envy of his friends. But the more money he spent on his friends, the more friends he seemed to have, as Dudley had not yet experienced just how shallow friendships built on bribes are, and was consequentially very happy about this.

"Harry, can you tell me what the 7 perfect sins are?" Asmodeus had been working hard on teaching Harry all the principles of being a servant of Hell. He would not have an Agent that did not fully understand and live by the same Values and Aesthetics as he did himself.

"Of course! It is Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Pride, Sloth, Wrath aaand...um...Envy!" Harry replied, looking proudly up at his dad.

"Good boy!" Asmodeus said and ruffled his hair, much to Harry's pleasure. "Now... Tell me 3 ways you can use each of them to tempt a human to do your bidding."

Asmodeus continued to lecture and test his young student, surprised at himself over enjoying this as much as he did. But then, he HAD been rather bored. Hell was a barren wasteland, and no matter how interesting, not to mention dangerous, the intrigues at the Court there were, ruling over several miles of volcanic soil, a few lakes of fire and the incessant wailing of tormented souls got extremely tedious in the long run.

Asmodeus also made sure to teach Harry about just how unimportant blood and genes was, using how his aunt and uncle had treated him as examples of just how little such mortal nonsense meant. Harry nodded, and, after some thought, questions and explanations, he found himself agreeing with his new father. Why should he care about people he had never met? Or those who had been cruel to him? They might share DNA, but preciously little else. Asmodeus smirked smugly while Harry's back was turned. The boy was incredibly easy to mould into the perfect servant, attached and devoted to only him.

Time passed as they all settled into this new lifestyle and Harry's knowledge grew. With it came an understanding that everyone, even his father, had underlying motives behind everything they did. Of course, by that time, Harry was already incredibly devoted to his father and to his father's Work, but he no longer trusted him blindly. He DID, however, obey him, if he ever told Harry to do something. But he also understood that his daddy did, in fact, love him. Contrary to popular belief, demons are quite capable of love. They just don't prioritize it. Certainly not by putting anyone else's needs above their own. But it still made Harry even more devoted to his original promise of never ever letting his father down. For all he agreed with his father's views and values, he was still a human child.

And then came the day when Vernon told her about their – read: his – plans to move them into a better home.

"Oh, but dear…we've lived here our entire life. Do we have the money for this?" Petunia looked at her husband with a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, Pet. We have more than enough money. I own Grunnings now, remember? And the business is getting better and better, all thanks to our little Harry here!" He smiled down at his nephew...or son. Petunia couldn't help but smile either.

"And don't you think we should move away from this place? It holds so many horrible memories. Why, every time I walk into that sitting-room I see the...the..." His voice faded out in pain.

Petunias lip quivered, and tears welled up in her eyes. Oh, her precious Dudders! She could still hear him screaming, see how that...HORRIBLE creature ripped, and bit and tore... She shook her head and forced herself to focus on Harry. He might not be Dudley, but he was all they had now. Focus on that. Don't think about the past. The past was too painful.

"You're right honey. We HAVE to move! Oh, I wish they would have shot that horrid woman along with her dog!" Petunia raged against Marge. "I know she's your sister, but if it wasn't for her..." Petunia sobbed and Vernon walked over to hug her.

The trauma of losing her only son had taken its toll on her. The wound was still fresh.

It had happened barely a year after Vernon overcame his alcoholism. Everything was going so wonderfully in her life, and then that fateful night when Vernon's sister Margaret visited them...

Oh, how she wished she had never let that woman set a foot in her house! How she wished she had certainly not let her bring her dog! Oh, that horrible mutt!

She remembered how they had allowed her to set it on Harry, and she wondered if that had made it get a taste for human flesh. Petunia still had nightmares about it. But in her dreams, it was some kind of mutant freak dog, and Marge just laughed and laughed as it tore through her precious, dearly loved son. She forced her mind away from it. The doctor and psychiatrists all said that it was important to move on with her life. They kept telling her to stop clinging to the mementos of her son and let him go. He was dead, she had to let go and focus on the things she still had.

"You're right of course dear. It's just so hard..." She sobbed and felt grateful for her nephew hugging her and trying to comfort her.

Petunia didn't know what she would do without him. He wasn't her precious Dudders, but...if she closed her eyes...she could pretend. It was a child, she could pretend it was her son. That her son was still alive, somehow, in Harry. She'd even caught herself in calling him 'Dudders' now and then. Harry didn't seem to mind, he seemed to understand what she needed, and she was grateful for that. She never saw the devious smirk they both shared behind her back.

"I have something to take our mind of things. You know how the doctor told you to take some time off. Naturally, we won't be going to that horrid clinic of hers, but I figured we could celebrate our move with a Cruise. Just think about it Pet! You can be pampered and spoiled for a whole week, while we tour Europe!" he smiled and hugged her. "Rome! Barcelona! Venice! I booked us first class, all expenses covered!" He held the tickets out and Petunia grabbed them and gasped in pleasure.

"Oh, honey, that's amazing!"

The sadness had vanished in the face of such pleasures, and she was already planning what clothes to buy, and OH how jealous the neighbors would be! She kissed her husband and ran off to call them up and invite them for tea, so she could tell the good news! Oh, how wonderful her life had become after they turned that freak nephew into a veritable gold mine!

Through it all, Harry simply smiled in the background, feeling pleased with himself.

You see...over the years, young Harry had gotten VERY good with his mind control spells and it is a simple fact of life that the human mind is far more complex and harder to control than that of a canine. Harry smiled fondly at the memory. Oh, how he loathed his cousin! His aunt and uncle might have forced him to cut down on the bullying, but Harry did not forget, and he most certainly did not forgive. His father had taught him that. And with his father's word whispering in the back of his mind, making that vile dog attack his cousin and maul him to death taught him just how wonderful revenge could be.

He could still hear the sobs of aunt Marge as the Police barged in the door and shot the dog, and the wailing of his aunt as she followed him into the ambulance. She was entirely too upset and worried about her son to even notice the proud smile her husband...or rather, the meat suit that used to be her husband, but that was now worn by something quite far from being human, smiled proudly down at Harry.

'Always seek revenge. Never let any slight go unpunished.' Such was the first lesson his father had taught him, and Harry remembered it well.

Oh, the rest of them would pay as well!

To be fair, Vernon had already been paying for it – forced to watch someone else sleep with his wife, play with his son, destroying everything he had worked so hard to obtain and changing his family into something he hardly even recognized – all the while frozen inside a body that was no longer under his control. All he could do was to watch, and scream. Deep, deep in his own mind Vernon was screaming. First in rage. Then in fear. Then in bitter regret and agony as he watched his whole life being taken away and replaced with filth and abomination.

As for his aunt...well... Revenge is a dish best served cold.