Signed in Blood
…Contracts
"So it is agreed?"
The woman pulled her hood close, she was deeply regretting her decision to come to this man. It wasn't that he was harsh or unkind, or even difficult to look at, quit the opposite in fact, there was just something about him that put her on edge, an aura of danger that made her feel like a mouse staring down a cat.
"Your request is not an unreasonable one" said the man, "but what price are you willing to pay."
"Money is no object" she stated truthfully, there was no price she was not willing to pay for this.
"Money dear lady is of no interest to me" he said, looking at her with those piercing green eyes.
She shivered under his stare, reaching down for the buttons of her blouse.
"Nor is that" he said before she could even get the first button undone.
"But I…" she started.
"Do not misunderstand, you are attractive enough but I could walk down the street and pull a dozen attractive birds into my bed any time I wish" he said without boast, "besides, I don't go playing with other men's wives."
Her cheeks turned red at his rebuff, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply"
"You are desperate, I understand" he said kindly, "I do not consider it a black mark on your character, that you desire this so much speaks well of you."
She couldn't help but smile a little. Dangerous though he seemed he was not unkind, but still, what price could he possible ask.
"Your associate who referred you to me, she explained that my means are more than what others might consider possible yes?"
She nodded, the Lady DuBois had explained to her though she had been hard pressed to believe it at the time.
"Then you will not find it odd that what I want from you is not so common a thing as you would normally pay" he said, his tone graven, serious.
"Any price" she reiterated, frightened yet resolved.
He nodded, and pulled a sheaf of parchment from the drawer of his desk. The writing on it was eloquent, like something out of a fairytale book.
"For what you ask my price is this" he said, "One year."
"One year?" she repeated, confused.
"For the cost of one year of your life, I will give you what you want" he said, leaning back in his chair, giving her the chance to mull it over.
And mull she did for what he asked was preposterous and yet, what choice did she have. She had tried everything else, sought out every avenue both legal and illegal. She was out of options except this.
"So be it" she said.
The man looked grave but nodded and she watched in horror and fascination as writing appeared on the parchment, the agreement all spelled out with two empty lines on the bottom. The man took an odd looking quill and handed it to her.
"Lady's first" he said.
Bracing herself she struck down her name, ignoring the itching feel on the back of her hand. She handed it back to him and watched as he too put down his name. She was surprised to see an odd sort of scar on the back of his writing hand. If she hadn't known better she would have sworn it look like the words 'I will not tell lies', but surely she must have imagined it.
"It is done" he said, his words spoken quietly felt as like a thunderclap.
From his desk he took a small tablet and handed it to her.
"Take that, go home, bed your husband" he instructed, "In nine months your child will be born, strong and healthy."
"Truly, you promise" could he promise, she thought when all the others who had done so had lied.
"In nine months' time your child 'will' be born" he stated, his words leaving no room for dissent.
The woman felt as though she might cry, she had given up all hope of ever having a child.
"Thank you sir, thank you so much" she said with watery eyes.
"The payment shall fit the price" he said, "when the agreement is fulfilled I shall come, and I shall collect. Until then, good luck."
The woman left, her heart soaring, her husband would never see it coming but was unlikely to complain.
The man took the contract and placed it in a folder with all his other active contracts, briefly leafing through to see if any of them needed collecting. He was interrupted by a knock at his door. Putting the file away he gave a wave from his desk and the door opened.
A man stood outlined in the door, every inch of his person screaming wealth and privilege. The man behind the desk gave a wicked smile hidden by the shadows of the room. It was going to be one of those contracts with this one, he was sure.
"Come in good sir, how may I help you?"
"A fine question" said the man, "I hear you can get me what I want is all."
"Very possibly" he agreed, "but to do that I must know what you want."
"Well what does any man really want" said the stranger, plopping down in the available chair like he owned it.
"Hearth, home, family?" offered the man behind the desk.
"Oh no, no, already got all that" he said, casually lighting his pipe, "No what I want is a bit more in the monetary sense you see, coffers aren't quite as full as they used to be and I'm afraid it's only getting worse."
That seemed highly unlikely given the man's attire, did he really think he was fooling anyone going around like that. It was then and there he determined the price for his services to this man, regardless of what he asked for the man was a liar and he was going to rake him cross the coals as hard as he could.
"So tell me then, what is it you want, and what are you willing to pay?"
…Collecting
The place was the very definition of decadence. The floor was rich shag carpet covered in large plush pillows. The walls were plastered with expensive modern art, mostly copies but they looked expensive and that was all that mattered. The couch was red leather and that was where he sat, a voluptuous girl on either arm, one feeding him grapes from a bowl the other nibbling on his neck and whispering sweet nothings in his ear while all around a half dozen others lounged about serving no greater purpose than to improve the scenery.
It was in the midst of this scene that he appeared without warning, His long black coat and wide brimmed hat a stark contrast to the vibrant colors surrounding him. Thus it was no surprise that his sudden appearance caused quite a stir.
"Great buggering hell" the rich man shouted while the women only screamed in fright.
"Well put" said the man in black.
"Who the hell are you? How the hell did you get in here?" she rich man demanded while trying to catch his breath.
The man in black said nothing but pulled a rolled up piece of parchment from his coat. The parchment unrolled itself and floated lazily before the rich man.
"A deal is a deal, I have come to collect" he said, "Thank you for your time ladies, you can go."
The assembled women needed no further incentive and were gone as fast as their bare feet could carry them.
The rich man looked miffed though his fear had waned.
"I remember you now" he said, "wha do you want?"
"Weren't you listening, I've come to collect" he repeated.
"No, no, I remember what we agreed on and you said and I quote 'satisfaction guaranteed'" said the rich man gesturing harshly.
"I did indeed say that" agreed the man in black, his hands calmly brushing the orb at the end of the cane he held in his hand.
"Well ya know what, I'm not satisfied yet, in fact I don't think I'll ever be satisfied" declared the rich man pompously.
"Of that I have little doubt" said the man in black, "but that is of no consequence. If you recall, I never said whose satisfaction was guaranteed, now did I?"
The rich man look confounded, as though he'd just been told a joke and missed the punch line.
"You silly simple little man" he said shaking his head, "it was never about your satisfaction" he clarified.
"What the hell are you talking about, of course it was" demanded the rich man.
"No, it was about mine" said the man in black, "And I assure you I am quite satisfied. Satisfied you are a loathsome pathetic blight upon humanity. Satisfied you are a liar, a cheat, and completely deserving of the fate you have brought upon yourself."
The room seemed to lose its color the longer the man in black spoke, the darkness surrounding the rich man, trapping him as his mistake became clear.
"No, it's not true, I don't care what you say, you can't" he shouted in fear.
"And now, with the contract completed, I've come to collect."
"No, noooooo" he squealed.
"YOUR SOUL IS MINE."
The cane lashed out and invisible force taking hold of something deep within the rich man and with a good yank, it was pulled free, a withered ghostly version of himself, his soul no longer his own was wrenched from his body. The disembodied spirit had only a moment to stare at his corporeal form before it was pulled into the orb which glowed momentarily before going still once again.
The rich man who had been pulled to his feet fell back on the couch, limp, flaccid. The body continued to function, the lungs to breathe and the heart to beat but it would not last. Without a soul a body could not continue for long.
With a satisfied nod the man in black took the contract, rolled it back up and returned it to his coat. That was one down but he still had one more to collect on before he could call it a night.
…
The woman looked down at her son, asleep in his crib with a smile. She could not have been more happy. For so long she had feared the day would never come, that she would never know the joys of motherhood. But it had, her great triumph had arrived strong and healthy and bawling his lungs out. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard, her husband agreed.
"A fine looking child."
She was startled but the voice and leapt back on instinct, knocking over a table in the process. She was shocked when the table and the bottle upon it stopped mere inches from the ground.
"Shhh, we don't want to wake the baby" said the man in black, giving a flick of his wrist and setting the table and bottle back where they had been.
"You… who are you?" she asked fearfully, edging closer to her son should the need arise to protect him.
"Have you forgotten me already mum" he said with a chuckle, "twas barely more than nine months since you last saw me" he said removing his hat to reveal a mess of black hair and his piercing green eyes.
Her own eyes went wide at the sight, "You" she said knowingly, "I… I had thought."
"That I was a dream" he said, "a delusion brought on by desperation and despair" he chuckled at this, "don't worry, happens more often than you'd think."
"So, it was real? Then, you're here"
"I am here, because the terms of the contract have been fulfilled" he said, casually approaching the crib.
Casual or no she stepped between them, fear coursing through her but not enough for her to abandon her child.
"Peace mum" he said putting a hand on her shoulder, "No harm shall come to your child by 'my' hand" he assured her.
There was a sincerity in his tone that quelled her fears though she remained at his side as he peered down at her child.
"He is strong, and healthy?" the man asked, brushing an errant strand of hair from the boy's face.
"Yes" she said, "Just as you promised. But, how?"
"Did I accomplish it" he finished for her, "trust me, it's better you not know too much" he assured her.
"I see" she said, "then you've come to collect what we agreed?"
"Yes" he said simply, offering her his hand.
Timidly she took it, the pain that seized her greater than the entire childbirth. It was over in seconds but seemed to have gone on so very much longer. Her strength sapped she tottered and would have fallen but the man was there, lifting her up and depositing her limp form in the rocking chair.
"That will do mum, that will do" he said.
"So, we are" she said weakly.
"We are square" he said, collecting his hat and turning to her, "and, spirits willing, you will never see me again."
And with that the man in black faded from sight and from memory as her fatigue took hold and she fell into a deep sleep. She would awaken the next morning with and give not a thought of the man who had fulfilled her wish, nor of the price she had paid.
… Recollections
Harry Potter sat in his office combing through his most recent contract collections. He smiled when he came to the good women whose only desire was to have a child. It was these rare contracts that kept him from losing all hope in humanity. It was contracts like the rich man that were by far the more common however, though he took some satisfaction in destroying such people, it was no less than they deserved.
The lady DuBois whom had referred the good woman to him had been such a case. She had possessed wealth beyond what most ever dreamed of but was unsatisfied because her husband did not let her have whatever she desired. Her wish was his death that she might take control of the family funds. She too had tried to pay with her body and had been most put out when he refused. Likely it was this that had clouded her judgment into agreeing to his price. For the life of her husband she would owe three other lives under her purview.
The family was wealthy and had many servants which she assumed would be sufficient. She had been further lulled into complacence when he had agreed to determine the lives to be paid at the time of collection. He could practically see the cogs turning in her head as she plotted how best to use her time and when he had come to collect she offered him three homeless street urchins she had taken into her house and were thus technically under her purview.
She had been shocked when he had refused, pointing out that the contract did not state she would be the one to choose. He had punished the cold hearted woman by taking her three sons as payment. When she had railed against him he had cursed her barren so that she might never again know the warmth of family.
He had little doubt her intentions were less than benign when she had referred the good mother to him but it had worked out in the end.
Too bad old tom had never been so clever, and a pity he hadn't known then what he knew now. It had never been the horcrux that had kept him alive all that time they merely kept the wraith that had been Tom Marvolo Riddle from passing on. Without his connection to his minions his spirit would have simply faded away, problem solved. Even with his new ritual created body it was his subordinates that kept him alive.
If Harry had known that he would have gone on a massacre so bloody as to be told for centuries to come. Not a single marked follower would have remained and the dark lord would have been helpless before him. Ah well, hindsight was twenty twenty, he mused, even when you wore glasses.
But he had learned from his enemy, and there was no shortage of people willing to sell their souls to fulfill their desires. Sure he could just as easily take them by force but the contract made it so much easier, neater. And besides, why take what people were so willing to give.
Greedy ignorant fools.