Warning: Lots of hints towards fictional child abuse.

The Pastas may seem a bit OOC at the moment (if there ever was a true cannon personality to most of them), but their murderous tendencies will come out.

Just so no one freaks out, this is not in the cannon Harry Potter universe. Half of the pastas wouldn't exist (namely BEN and Smile) back in the 80s, so this is probably closer to the present, or at least 2000-2010-ish. I know a few ages are off, but the cannon 17 year old Ticci Tobi didn't seem right for most of his depictions. Same with a 13 year old Jeff the Killer. So I took some artistic liberties and adjusted their ages a bit.

I hope you enjoy

-Crow

And remember: "Creativity, not reality".

Harry followed the tall figure into the denser forest. Eventually the moonlight was blocked out by the criss-crossing branches overhead. Once they were completely in the dark, Harry felt something like a gust of cool wind, but it felt as though the world were shifting around in the darkness as well. It wasn't uncomfortable; actually, it was a bit exciting. He suspected this was what those roller coaster things were like that Dudley rode on at amusement parks.

When the feeling stopped, Harry looked around and saw that they were, again, in a forest. Though, he took a breath and noticed the air smelled different. Looking up, he saw the moon was shifted from the position they'd left.

"… um… excuse me… sir?" He asked tentatively.

The figure looked down (even though he didn't have eyes) giving the young child his attention.

"W-where are we?"

The figure nodded. Again, the voice returned. It sounded like it was coming from the tall man, but it was purely from Harry's own mind. "I am glad you sensed the change. As for the formalities, my name is the Slenderman. One word. Though you will find some of my… associates call me 'Slendy'. To answer your question, we are in the rural forest of the Northeast Coast of America.

"Oh, well, my name is Harry. Harry Potter. Two words. We're all the way in America?" Harry thought back. He remembered a history lesson about a place called America. It was supposed to be short for their real title; The United States of America. They hadn't learned much yet besides they separated from Britain a long time ago and helped out in wars.

"Yes. New York State, to be exact." Slenderman replied.

Harry remembered seeing a globe once in the classroom. "Isn't that like a million miles away?"

The Slenderman- gave an echo-y mind-chuckle. "3,300 miles to be exact."

"Wow!" The child whispered. He'd never been anywhere outside of Little Whinging. "How'd we get all the way here?"

The faceless entity gave the impression of smiling. "Just something I do."

The pair continued walking in silence through the dark forest. Harry listened as the dead branches, mulch, and gravel crunched under their feet. After some time, he looked around and saw a drawing tacked onto the tree with a figure that looked distinctly like the entity next to him.

"Mr. Slenderman, what's that?" He pointed.

"That, Harry, is the artwork of an individual who lives nearby. She draws all of us, though she has the tendency to draw me and put them up in the surrounding forest. I believe it is her idea of a game. That or she thinks I won't see it unless she puts them out in the forest." Slenderman responded. "She lives with me and many others like myself in a mansion up ahead. That is where I am taking you. I have an associate who deals with medicine. He can help you."

Harry nodded. He'd never been to the doctor before. Once, he was sent to the nurse after Dudley beat him up again (his cousin got away with it unseen, of course), but the Dursleys were livid about it when she mentioned the bruises. They immediately blamed it on his "delinquent behavior".

They continued walking for a few minutes before Harry made out a faint, yellow glow in the distance. As they approached, Harry's eyes adjusted and right in the center of the forest was a large mansion. Harry couldn't make out many details, but from the windows, it must have been at least three stories high.

He and Slenderman walked up to the front wrap-around porch and the older entity opened the slightly-taller-than-normal door and ushered him inside.

Harry looked around in awe at the foyer. He'd honestly expected something a bit more dilapidated, but everything here would probably make the Dursleys green with envy. The wallpaper was an old-fashioned blue and black floral design. The wood floors and panels were all the same dark oak. A few portraits were hung on the walls, but it wasn't too decorated aside from a mirror and end table against the wall, a chandelier, and a grandfather clock ticking away in the corner.

Slenderman led him through an archway to another room. This one had a red and maroon floral design, lots of chairs and couches, a few end tables, and a currently-vacant fireplace.

"Please wait here, Harry. I need to go find Jack, my associate, so he can give you proper medical treatment."

Harry nodded and watched as the figure walked out of the room. Harry noticed that the ceilings were slightly higher than normal as the tall entity didn't have to crouch down to get under the archway.

Being slightly less energetic than most seven year olds, Harry was content to sit on the winged armchair and look around the room he was in. More portraits were lined up against the walls. Looking closer, he saw some were fairly normal: fruit, landscapes, and a few animals. However, he caught a few glimpses of some paintings the Dursleys wouldn't let anywhere inside their house.

One depicted a man, or at least what was left of him. The skeletal remains were probably in the same regal position as the original man, but the eyes, nose, and skin was rotted away and a few straggly white hairs clung to the skull. Another had landscapes of black trees and fog. One had a crow perched on a vacant armchair eyeing the observer. Harry got the distinct impression it was smirking at some silent joke.

Harry wasn't unsettled by them. He actually thought they looked very cool. The Dursleys strove to be "normal" by their definition and, as such, their pictures were replicas of paintings of fruit, fake idealized landscapes, and, of course, picture upon picture of Dudley at various ages. It all became rather boring.

He was drawn to one portrait that he dared to leave his chair quickly to look at.

He recognized Slenderman on the right, but he saw three others with him. One was a figure that looked almost exactly like him, save for some glasses perched on a non-existent nose to correct vision for non-existent eyes and he wore a somewhat fashionable tan sweater. Another looked remarkably similar to Slenderman save for a large, toothy grin splitting his face. Harry was slightly unsettled, it seemed vaguely predatory. The grinning figure wore a grey fedora and trench coat, but a bright, red rose was in its hand, giving some color.

He was immediately drawn to the central figure of the painting. This one looked like Slenderman in that it wore a black suit, but the only difference… actually one of the many differences was that his black suit was littered with brightly colored polka dots ranging through every color of the rainbow. The figure had a top hat perched on its head, but what set it apart was the face. Unlike the other three, he was not paper white, but was more "fleshy" colored and had a smile, an honest smile, with slightly rosy cheeks, a distinct nose, and small, black eyes forming a slight upside-down U from the smile below.

Harry was still looking at the figures when he heard a voice speak up from behind him.

"Oh, that's Slendy's family."

Harry was startled and quickly turned around to see a girl about his age. She had long, brown hair and the same emerald, green eyes that had an ethereal glow behind them. She wore a pink nightgown and was completely barefoot with a brown teddy bear tucked under her arm as though she was just about to go to sleep or just woke up. Her major difference, though, was the streams of crimson blood criss-crossing on her face which Harry noticed led up to a scarlet patch of hair and lightly dented part of her skull.

"S-sorry, I- I just wanted to look around." He quickly walked back to his chair and sat down upset that he'd probably gotten into trouble for not staying put.

"Oh, that's alright. I walk around all the time and Slendy doesn't mind." She smiled. "My name's Sally and this is Sammy." She gestured to the brown teddy bear. "What's yours?"

"Harry."

She blinked and snickered. Harry was confused. "Sorry?"

"Oh, sorry, I just remember a movie Jeff talked about with someone with your name and my name meeting, but Slendy says I'm not old enough to watch it."

"Oh, how old are you?"

"Eight… sort of. How old are you?"

"Seven. W-what do you mean 'sort of'?"

Sally grinned. "I'm a ghost. I died when I was eight, but that was a while ago, so I guess I'm older."

Harry stared wide-eyed at her, uncomprehending, and before his rational brain could object, he slowly reached out his arm.

*poke*

She just snickered and returned the poke, proving her solidity. In response, Harry could only blink in confusion. "Wait, I thought ghosts were transparent and… not-solid and… well… ghostly." He finished lamely.

She nodded. "I've never actually seen any ghosts like that. I remember Halloween stories always said they were faded white and floaty, but any ghosts Slendy ever showed us were solid or colorful like me." She grinned. "It's a lot more fun this way. I can't imagine not being able to eat cake, can you?"

Harry shuffled, mumbling under his breath that he'd never had it before.

He noticed her gaze wander and lock on his make-shift splint. "You're hurt" She whispered. Her bubbly personality evaporated.

Harry shuffled his arm a behind his back, but her eyes didn't stop following it. "It's alright. It's nothing."

"Did the adults do that to you?" She asked. Harry was a startled at how serious and almost hateful she sounded. "When they played their games?"

"S-sorry?"

"They hurt me when they played their games. Then, my Uncle took me to the park for another game. That one hurt real bad." Her hand wandered up to the slight dent in her skull. "But, I had him play my game afterwards…"

"I-I'm fine! R-really! Mr. Slenderman took me here to talk to someone to help me feel better."

She broke her gaze on the pipe splint to look back. Her eyes softened again. "Slendy's really nice. He helped me when I was all alone. You'll feel better." She smiled.

Harry relaxed and looked back at the painting. "S-so, Mr. Slenderman has a family?"

She nodded. She pointed to each one as she spoke. "There's Slendy, of course. The one with the glasses is Trendy. The one with the teeth is Offendy. And the colorful one is Splendy."

"Trendy, Offendy, and Splendy. Are they short for something?"

"Trenderman, Offenderman, and Splendorman."

Harry snickered. It seemed the "-erman" was a family thing.

"I think Splendorman looks pretty fun." He said.

She smiled. "Yep! He's always really happy and has fun games to play... not like the other games..."

Harry sensed the tone from earlier and quickly redirected the conversation. "Yeah, he's always really happy. I can't imagine him mad."

Sally's grin faded a bit. "He's rarely ever mad, but he's scarier than Slendy when he is." She admitted.

Harry felt himself pale. He looked back at the bright, colorful, smiling figure in the family portrait and tried, but failed, to imagine any form of negativity.

Sally broke his thoughts. "So, did you just get to the house?" He nodded. "I can show you around if you want." She offered.

Harry frowned briefly at what the choice offered. On one hand, he told Slendy he'd stay put and he didn't want to make him angry just after he met him. On the other hand, he was really curious about the house and didn't want Sally to think he wasn't a good friend... if they could even be called friends at this point... he'd never had any before to really compare to.

"W-well, I told Slendy I-I wouldn't wander off." He said, trying to explain.

"Oh. Well, I know where he is if he's talking to Jack. We can go there, too. Plus, you're not wandering off far. If he shouts inside the mansion, everyone can hear it." She said.

"Well…" He trailed off. Again, the dichotomy tugged on his conscience. In the end, he decided to just give a quick nod and was pulled away by the excited girl.

"Okay, so I'll show you around! This is the front room, but Slendy calls it a 'foy-yay'." She said. Harry had been to the foyer, but it was still just as nice as before. She continued pulling him through halls.

"Here's the TV room." The room was surprisingly modern, with standard couches in front of a medium-sized entertainment center.

"Here's the dining room." Lots of high, stiff-backed chairs were lined around a long table, but they didn't look terribly uncomfortable, just a bit formal.

"Here's the music room." A piano stood in the corner, surrounded by various string, brass, and percussion instruments. Harry thought he'd look into a few. He always wanted to learn to play.

"And here's the kitchen, the sitting room, the moon room-"

"Moon room?" It looked more like a greenhouse got fused to the room with a few chairs and plants in it. Although, it did let in a lot of the moonlight.

"Well, in most houses it's called a sun room, but a lot of guests are pretty nocturnal, so we call it the moon room." She explained.

"Here's the conservatory, the trophy room, and library. Jeff doesn't like it here because he has to study, but I like to bring my coloring books sometimes.

"And to finish off," she said in front of a small room by the kitchen with coat hooks and boots next to a back door. "The mud room! It's supposed to be for mud, but Slendy still doesn't like me dragging mud through it."

As she finished speaking, the door opened and two figures walked in. Harry stumbled backwards in fear as a large, red and black dog-thing walked in. He still had minor trauma from Marge's dog, Ripper. This thing was enough to bring it all back.

He noticed it was attached to a leash and he followed it up to the second figure who came through. He couldn't help himself but stare. The figure had on a plain, white hoodie, or at least it used to be white. It was covered in splashes of red, which Harry could tell had a distinct metallic smell. Shaking like a leaf, he looked further up. The dog's owner had scraggly, black hair and was as pale as Slenderman, but he definitely had a face… a very memorable face.

The skin around his eye was blackened and shriveled near the edges while the eyes themselves had beady, gray irises. But Harry couldn't stop looking at his smile. It was literally carved into his cheeks like he'd taken a razor right to them.

"Harry?"

The figure glared at Harry, his shriveled, practically non-existent eyelids narrowing slightly. Harry noticed the bloodshot eyes hesitated as they flickered over his makeshift splint.

"Harry!"

"W-what?" He was jolted back to Sally, nudging him. Seeing him tremble, she tried to smile comfortingly.

"This is Jeffery Woods, but we just call him Jeff." The figure gave an annoyed grunt still giving an unblinking glare. "The dog is named Smile. Smile, could you…?"

The dog… nodded? And suddenly a ripple went from its nose down its body and the red and black fur was replaced with white and black until a perfectly normal Husky dog stood there. The only difference was it was smiling at Harry with human teeth.

"Smile's a special dog." Sally explained. Harry could only nod, he was still struggling to not stare at Jeff.

"Harry, come on! I want to show you the upstairs!" She grabbed his good arm and led him back to the foyer and up the staircase.

When they were out of range, she stopped and let him gather himself. "W-what was-"

"Like I said, that was Jeff and Smile. Smile's a kind of demon-dog, but he can look like a normal Husky. I guess you don't like dogs?"

"My Aunt Marge's dog was pretty mean. What was with Jeff's… um…"

"Face? Yeah, I thought you'd want to talk about it. That's why I got us away. He's pretty sensitive about how he looks."

"But what happened?"

"He did it to himself. His eyelids are burnt, so he can't really blink. He needs special eyedrops 'cause he can't get his eyes wet anymore. He got in a bad chemical accident, so his skin got all white. As for his smile, he cut it up himself."

"How does he eat and talk?"

"Dunno. He manages somehow, though." She led him through the hallways of the mansion to a specific door with a few pictures taped on. "This is my room."

She let him in and he saw the room was very… pink. He'd never been in a girl's room, but since he'd never had any friends before he'd never been in anyone else's room. Childish drawings of various figures were taped up on the walls. There were a few dressers and a small desk by the window. In the center, was a small pink and white canopy bed. The only thing slightly off from the scene was the fact that the bed had bloodstains around the pillow and the drawings tended to depict slightly disturbing and unnerving figures.

Harry saw one that was a caricature of a person with two large circles for eyes, long black hair, and a long, red smile. He figured that was Jeff. Looking around, he saw one with a character in a long black robe with a white mask with a long beak-like nose. Another had a person whose head was just a blue circle with two black dots for eyes. Seeing the pictures, he suddenly remembered the walk here. "Hey, you're the one who drew the pictures in the woods!"

"Oh, Slendy saw? Yay!"

Harry nodded. "Why do you put them there, anyway?"

She put her finger to her lip in the universal code of secrecy. "Don't tell him. It'll spoil the game." She whispered.

Harry smiled and nodded. She led him out and down a few more doors. She glanced around and slowly peeked inside before opening it wider. "This is Jeff's room. He doesn't really like a lot of people inside."

Harry glanced around the room.

It was a mess!

The walls were covered in scary posters of various heavy metal bands. The desk in the corner looked hardly used for actual work and more as a makeshift display for a wide variety of knives, blades, drills, saws, and other weaponry. The floor was littered with clothes, though white hoodies and black shirts and jeans tended to be dominant. A small doggy-bed was next to Jeff's bed which Harry assumed was for Smile. He grimaced at a pair of red boxers lying around next to a few empty pizza boxes. Wait, how do they get pizza delivery?

His eyes fell on the one spot that didn't have a mess around it. A nightstand in the corner was completely clear of any debris save for a small picture in a frame. He couldn't focus on it clearly, but he managed to make out four figures.

He didn't voice the question, but was dragged off by Sally to the other rooms. "Okay, here's Slendy's room. Be quiet and don't go in. We're not supposed to."

Like Jeff's room, he peered in from the threshold. It was a medium sized master room with just an extra-long bed in the center, a nightstand, a dresser, and a closet full of what Harry could guess was a lot of black suits and white shirts.

Satisfied he'd seen it all, Sally led him to a room with some first-person-shooter game posters tacked up. "This is BEN's room, but we sometimes just call him Ben."

"What's the difference?"

"The spelling. BEN is in all capitals. Ben is like the normal name."

"Oh."

Inside was a pretty cool room. It had a few consoles for various systems lying around. A desk in the corner had some piece of technology with its wires and circuits systematically removed and laid out on the bench. The walls had posters for Call of Duty, Legend of Zelda, and a few in what looked like Japanese. The room was dark save for a few black lights and a computer monitor with a figure in front tapping away at the keyboard, facing away from them.

"Hey, BEN." Sally said cheerfully.

"Go away, Sally." He droned, not taking his eyes from the screen. Harry managed to maneuver his vision around BEN's head. The computer displayed what looked like line upon line of green text. It kept scrolling around, making it hard to see any pattern to it.

"Oh, come on. Don't you want to meet Harry?" She begged.

"We'll probably discuss it at dinner. I've got someone on this website I'm gonna game over." He replied absently taking a sip from a Sonic soda cup with a straw. Seriously, how do people like this get delivery out here?!

Sally pouted, but couldn't argue anymore as BEN dove headfirst into the computer monitor like it was a liquid and crackled away along the internet connection.

Sally led a dumbstruck Harry off to the next hallway.

They came up to a particular door that was very out of place. Instead of the formal, dark oak panel doors the rest of the house had, this one had almost no straight lines and was a mix of black and white in stripes and zig zags that looked like it had been cut right out of a Tim Burton film. Harry had the opportunity to watch a few minutes of Beetlejuice before the Dursleys realized he wasn't in his cupboard. All he managed to see was two characters walking around in a hallway of optical illusion-like doors and tiles, but this one looked straight from that scene.

"This is Jack's room. Well, one of the two. This one is a clown named Laughing Jack. There's another Jack called Eyeless Jack and he's like a doctor. His room is actually in the basement where he works." She explained, opening the door.

The room itself was largely black-and-white color scheme from the bed to the wallpaper. Inside was a mess. Prank kits, whoopee cushions, balloon animals, and even a few rubber chickens were strewn about with candy wrappers and a few odd toys. A desk in the corner had a number of beakers and flasks emitting a foul-smelling green vapor from a few chemicals that Harry guessed were some form of homemade stink bombs. An accordion was set on a chair in the corner with a few bits of sheet music strewn about.

Harry also noticed a few… less childish aspects to things. Among the toys was a sprung Jack-in-the-Box with a pair of shears on the end of the spring, a bear trap with the mechanism for wind-up "chattering teeth", and some of the "balloon animals" weren't colorful latex, but rather more fleshy pink… bloody… and intestine-y. What's more, a number of knives, darts, and chopsticks were stuck in a poster of a very detailed human anatomy.

"Jack likes pranks. I recommend being far away on April 1st." Sally said, ignoring the "toys" as though they were common. Harry got the feeling that, for her, it was.

Glancing around one last time, Harry's gaze managed to pick up a single shelf with a small box with faded paint. The bright colors didn't give away much, but he managed to make out in what used to be bright yellow paint; "Laughing Jack in the Box".

He soon felt Sally leading him to another room.

"This is Toby's room." She said. Harry noticed a slight tinge of sadness in how she said it.

The room was very standard. No posters or anything on the off-white walls. A few clothes that missed the hamper were on the floor. A desk by the window had some kind of math homework on it. The bed had a gray comforter and some normal white sheets.

Harry would have guessed it would be any American teenager's room, if not for the bloody bandages strewn all over the floor. A corner of the room had an entire desk dedicated to medical equipment and the blood-soaked bandages were congregated most around that area.

The confused seven-year-old turned to the girl who answered the unasked question. "Toby's… sick… He sometimes hurts himself, so he has those bandages on his arms. He usually changes them up here on his own. Sometimes it gets really bad and we need Eyeless Jack..." She trailed off and led him away from the room.

She showed him a few more rooms that were very standard and the rest either had occupants she didn't want to bother or were locked.

At the end of the upstairs tour, she led him back downstairs and into the kitchen. She opened a small door in the back and led him down to the basement level. Harry was surprised to see it was very clean and finished. It looked more like a hospital than a basement. He shivered when he noticed how cold it was, though.

Sally saw him shudder and smiled. "Sorry, I forgot you get cold. Jack prefers to keep the place cool. He says it keeps his 'specimens' better."

She ran upstairs before Harry could say anything and returned with a gray overcoat. "This is the Rake's whenever he goes out. He's been sticking around upstairs so he won't need it soon."

Harry wrapped himself in the coat and let the end drag off of him. He was amazed at the length of it. This Rake guy must be at least 7 feet tall… though Harry still questioned the coolness of naming yourself after a garden tool.

Sally stopped in front of a few heavy-duty doors with glass windows. Grabbing a nearby stool, she peeked in one of them and offered the spot for Harry. "This is the time-out room. We don't need it often, but when we do… we do."

Harry peered inside and saw a small room with poofy white padding on the walls that was made blaringly white thanks to the fluorescent light bulb fixture in the ceiling. He noticed that there was a cool white sweater on the floor, but the arms were too long and it had some uncomfortable-looking metal clasps on it.

Sally led him away to another room. "This is the gym." She informed him. This room had lots of workout equipment along with torture devices and a few dummies with various metallic objects protruding from very painful-looking places.

"We use it to keep fit and to practice." Harry briefly wondered what kind of practice she meant, but was quickly ushered down the hall.

Harry heard voices from one of the rooms and peeked inside. He saw Mr. Slenderman talking to someone who's back was to Harry. Slenderman's head moved slightly and seemed to give an eyeless glare of disapproval.

"Harry?" Harry shrunk in on himself in shame.

"Hey whatcha waiting for- oh." Sally said. "H-hello Slendy."

Slenderman's head moved and focused on her. "I should've known. So, I see you've met our guest, Sally."

"Mm-hmmm. I've been showing him around." She replied quietly, not making "eye contact" with the faceless guardian.

Slenderman's shoulders raised and lowered in what Harry thought was a breathless sigh. "Please don't go showing around random strangers, Sally. What have I taught you?"

"Be careful around strangers and don't talk to them. But Harry told me his name, so that means he's not a stranger." She reasoned.

The faceless entity gave another soundless sigh in exasperation. "We will discuss that rationale later, Sally. In any case, your timing is impeccable. I was just about to fetch you. Harry, this is Jack, Eyeless Jack."

The figure Slenderman was talking to earlier turned around. He wore a knee-length white lab coat with a clipboard tucked under his arm and a stethoscope poking out of his pocket. Though, the similarities to any doctor stopped there. Jack had blue-ish-black skin and short, brown hair. But his distinguishing feature was what he was named for. His eyes were just black sockets that were oozing some sort of black, fluid tar-like substance. Despite not having proper eyes, Harry could tell that the sockets were focusing in on him, much like Slenderman.

"Ah, so you're Harry?" The voice sounded a lot like your average 19-year-old, but with an almost professional air to it. Harry nodded and the figure smiled. "Please hop on the table, I'll be with you in a minute. Sally, could you go play in your room, please? I think Harry would like some privacy." Sally nodded and ran back upstairs after giving a comforting smile to Harry.

He grabbed a few medical devices and a mask which he promptly put over his face. Harry saw it was very plain wave for two black holes in it that mimicked his eye sockets and were also, soon after being put on, dripping with the black substance.

"Sorry, but a lot of people I treat here tend to prefer it when I cover my face. It makes them more comfortable." He explained.

"O-oh, I don't mind." Harry said. Jack smiled underneath the mask. He took the Rake's overcoat and put it on a chair nearby before he put a Velcro strap around Harry's arm with his stethoscope on the underside of his elbow. He started pumping a small hand pump and read the guage for Harry's blood pressure.

"H-how can you read that without eyes?" Harry inquired. Jack looked up from writing on the clip board.

"Oh, well, the same way a nine foot tall entity can travel miles in a second, or a kid with his cheeks cut out can still chew his food normally, or a computer virus sits around all day eating junk food in his room. We don't really know, we just chalk it up to some kind of magic." He explained.

Harry visibly flinched at the end of his sentence. Jack noticed it. "Harry, is something wrong?"

"… magic's a bad word…" He whispered half-heartedly.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon hurt me when I said it once. They kept telling me magic wasn't real and kept beating me until I said it too."

Jack frowned behind the mask. He turned to Slenderman. "We may want to have someone look at him psychologically, too. No telling what those… monsters did to him."

Jack had heard what Slenderman had said. From what he could see, nothing was an exaggeration. The boy was clearly malnourished, abused, and traumatized. Add on that he spent his life locked away in a cupboard. Jack thought it was ironic that people would call him the monster… even if he did enjoy the occasional pancreas or liver.

"I will see if anyone can. If not, I will arrange for a specialist in the city."

Jack continued his examination and took a quick sample of Harry's blood. He noted that the child didn't harbor the typical fear of needles, pain, or blood. Something else to add to his notes.

With Harry's permission, he took several photos of the various scars on his back, arms, and hands. After, Jack put some cream and band-aids on Harry's cuts and bruises. He removed the make-shift splint carefully and looked the arm over and ran a few X-Ray scans of his arm as well as several other bones. He jotted down some more notes before putting a much more comfortable plastic splint in place of the heavy lead pipe and a few mild pain-killers.

At the end, Jack turned to Slenderman. "Well, he's malnourished, that's for sure. I'd recommend some lighter meals to start off with. Lots of light proteins, vitamins, and carbs, though. Maybe some thin soups and light breads. Nothing heavy, oily, or excessively sweet.

"The cuts will heal in time, though some of those bruises look pretty nasty. They'll clear up. Just tell the others, Jeff especially, that they can't rough house with him. Well, it's not like they would with the arm.

"As for the arm, itself, it's a transverse fracture. I'm better with organs, tissue, surgeries, and general medical treatment. Bones are a bit out of my area of expertise besides splint them up and let them heal. Maybe ask BEN to contact Funnymouth online. He's better with bones."

"I'll see. Funnymouth does have a tendency to be a bit slow, though."

"Nah, just tell BEN it's urgent. He knows how to get him here in a jiffy."

He turned back to Harry. "Well, that's it, kid. Oh, I almost forgot."

He went over to a cabinet and pulled down a few jars of squishy, floating… things before taking down a small, gray urn. He opened the top and offered it to Harry. "Here's a lollipop for being a good sport."

Looking in, Harry's eyes widened at the sight of dried up human fingers with some kind of light glaze on them. Seeing his hesitation, Jack peeked in. "Oops. Sorry, no those aren't the suckers. Those are… well… my personal… snack, so..."

The eyeless doctor cleared his throat, quickly put the top back on the urn, and placed it back on the shelf before picking up another one. As a precaution, he looked inside. "Yep, here's the suckers."

He held out the urn with colorful lollipops in it. Harry, a bit uncoordinated from the many events this past hour or so combined with the painkillers beginning to take effect, decided to "roll with it" as he'd heard someone say once. He picked out a red, cherry one and pocketed it, not wanting to waste his first real sweet just then.

His stomach gave a loud gurgle and he looked sheepish.

"Ah, I forgot. Those relatives of yours must not have fed you, did they?" Slenderman asked.

Harry shook his head, clenching his gut to keep his stomach from making more noise.

Jack gave an inhuman growl which Harry was nervous was directed at him for some reason. "Those basta- sorry- beasts! What do they get out of starving a seven year old? Is it just for some kind of sick pleasure?"

Slenderman sighed. "I'm afraid that may be the case. I think we have some condensed soup in the pantry. I'll ask Timothy to make some diluted for Harry for dinner tonight."

"Dinner?" Harry asked, confused.

"Ah, I apologize. It was 2 AM back in Surrey, but don't forget we're in New York now. It's actually close to 9 PM. We eat dinners rather late, but otherwise we have breakfasts, lunches, and snacks like most. We also have some... unusual, nocturnal guests and tenants who eat lunches and dinners in the middle of the night and early morning hours."

Harry nodded, somewhat understanding the time zones from a quick lesson in class. He followed Slenderman back up the stairs. He led Harry to the dining room and had him sit in a chair close to the head chair.

The tall, faceless entity went into the kitchen and talked with someone, probably about the soup he promised, and returned to sit down in the head chair next to Harry's.

"Now, Harry, dinner is about to start. We have a lot of… unusual guests. They may seem scary, and believe me there's a reason for that, but just know that since I am here, you will not be in danger."

Harry nodded and waited apprehensively for the guests to start filing in. The clock in the foyer chimed nine thirty and people slowly made their way in.

Harry saw E.J. without his mask walk in first and gave a quick wave which the medic returned. Jeff came in next and eyed him unblinkingly before settling in a chair on the other side of the table. Sally came in eagerly sitting next to him. He was grateful she came before as she was helpful in naming people who came in.

A black and white clown with a vicioius grin was apparently the other Jack, "Laughing Jack", who had the weird door. His entire being looked like something where the colors were bleached out. He wore black suspenders and a tiny black-and-white shirt with some odd black tufts of feathers sticking out of his shoulders. Harry noticed he had an odd conical nose that didn't seem to be a prosthetic and roll upon roll of bandaging tape around his arms and torso.

BEN turned out to look like a kid not much older than Sally with long, pointy ears like an elf and he wore a green tunic. Harry barely recognized him as the main hero from the Legend of Zelda series. His cousin played a few of the games before the puzzles and challenges got too difficult for him to solve, at which point he would promptly toss the game and get another. The main difference between the two was that BEN's eyes had red irises and black scleras dripping with blood. He vaguely wondered how Eyeless Jack and BEN managed to go around without dripping all over the place. He agreed with Jack and chalked it up to... magic.

Two normal-looking guys came in and sat on the other side of Slenderman. Sally explained they were Tim and Brian, or were usually called Masky and Hoodie, respectively. She explained that they usually wore their masks around the house, but not at meals.

Smile trotted in and lay down under Jeff's chair where the scarred teenager scratched behind his ear.

The Rake turned out to be not at all human. He looked a lot more like an emaciated dog-human hybrid with some really long, sharp talons. Harry's first instincts told him to run, but Slenderman's presence helped keep him in his seat. Harry made a note to get Sally to put the trench coat back where it was as soon as possible. He didn't want to explain it to that thing.

The last one in was another teenager around 15 or so that had on a mouth guard and some bandages wound along his forearms with a faint tinge of red seeping through. Harry noted that as he sat down, he twitched erratically and his fingers fiddled with his fork or whatever was nearby. Sally explained that he was Toby.

They all looked at him (the Rake somewhat hungrily), but otherwise just waited around the table. Slenderman stood up and they focused on him. "Attention, everyone. I want to introduce Harry Potter." His long arm gestured towards the child next to him. "I've relocated him from a… household in the United Kingdom. As you can see, he's injured and will be staying with us for some time, possibly becoming a resident if he so chooses."

Harry looked up at that. He'd never had a choice before.

"However, I expect you to be nice to him and no roughhousing." He sent a pointed glare at Jeff.

The teenager spoke. "I don't see why he's here, Slendy. What makes him different from everyone else you relocate?"

"For one, he's badly injured. For another, he was severely abused and may need some extended treatment. Also… I think he may fit in, if he so chooses to stay."

Several members around the table glanced curiously at Harry. The 7 year old shrank under the scrutiny, but it seemed as though they were either judging him or doubting what Slenderman said.

"Now, I know not everyone is present, but I think it may help if we allow introductions. How about name, age… and something we enjoy." Slenderman remembered this game from when he used to stalk elementary school classrooms for abused and troubled children. He thought it might help in this situation.

He gestured to each of them to begin.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter. I'm 7 and I… haven't had much time to find things I like."

A few heads tilted slightly in confusion and curiosity.

"I'm Sally Williams. I'm 8 and I like drawing."

"I'm BEN, but you can call me Ben. I'm around 10, I think, and I like games, computers, and trolling forums."

The teen in the facemask excitedly introduced himself to the new face. "Hi! I'm Toby Rogers. I'm 15 and I like setting things on fire and movies and video games and pie and waffles and-!"

"Thank you Tobias. That will do."

"I'm Brian Thomas. I'm 21 and I like recording films." He introduced himself very quietly.

"I'm Tim Sutton. I'm 20 and I like drug and medical chemistry… and smoking." Harry could tell. The man had the distinct smell of tobacco around him, but his eyes had dark shadows under them and he seemed slightly restless.

"I'm Laughing Jack. I'm ageless, but sort-of started to exist officially in the early 1900's and I looooveee pranks! Heheheheheee."

"I'm Jeff. Jeff Woods. I'm 15 and I like sleeping, watching TV,… and crashing slumber parties." He added, his carved grin widening.

"I'm Eyeless Jack. I'm around 18 to 19 and I enjoy medical research, dissections, and cooking."

"I'm The Rake. I'm around 726 and I particularly enjoy the squelching sound when my talons-" He was cut off by a glare from Slenderman. "Er, I mean, I enjoy… music. Yeah, music to my ears." He grinned slyly. Slenderman rolled nonexistent eyes, but let it slide.

"I suppose that leaves me. I am Slenderman. I am also ageless and I particularly enjoy taking hikes around the forest."

"Now that introductions are out of the way, how about we enjoy dinner?" Harry almost blinked and missed the food suddenly appearing on the table with a 'swoosh' like when he was travelling with Slenderman. The food that night was largely stew, bread, mashed potatoes, and a few vegetables. Harry looked in front of him and found a medium sized soup bowl of soup broth.

Eyeless Jack grabbed his attention. "Harry, you can try some of the things on the table, just don't go overboard, okay?"

Harry nodded, wide-eyed at everything. He hesitantly picked up the tongs, expecting to be told off or told 'no' at any minute. He quickly picked up three green beans, a teaspoon-full of mashed potatoes, and the smallest roll of bread he could find.

Laughing Jack raised an eyebrow. "Hey, kid, when he said don't go overboard, he didn't mean starve yourself."

Harry's eyes widened even further. "You mean, I can have more?"

Laughing Jack, true to his name, laughed before replying. "What is it with you British kids and food? You and Oliver Twist seem to ask the same questions about "havin' some more, please". Hehehehe." Harry blinked and the clown was suddenly wearing a soot-covered flat cap and suspenders and adopted a high-pitched voice with a cockney accent with the quote.

When he blinked again, the cap and outfit was gone. Harry shook off the confusion and picked up a slightly larger portion of mashed potatoes and a few more beans. He was savoring each bite of the meal and the bowl of soup. This didn't go unnoticed by the others at the table.

Throughout the meal, Harry watched everyone else. While Tim, Brian, and Sally ate normally, the others were different. Laughing Jack would have eaten normally if it weren't for the fact that he was eating something very, very red with some candies and candy floss on the side.

Toby took down his mouth guard and Harry stared at the large gash in his cheek exposing his teeth before he realized it was impolite. He snatched a few other glances and saw he'd tend to hang his head to one side (the side with the cheek still intact) to chew and drink.

Jeff ate like a normal person. Despite appearances, he somehow managed to eat and drink without it dribbling out the carved smile. Though, Harry noticed when he opened his jaw to take a bite, the rest of his carving opened up as well so it actually went all the way through. He guessed that Jeff had enough cheek to hold food whereas Toby didn't.

Eyeless Jack was fairly normal, he even smiled when he saw Harry looking around. Though Harry was slightly green at the sight of various squishy, red organs on his plate. He watched with fascinated horror as Jack bit through a kidney like it was a piece of bread. Thinking back, he wondered if the "dissections" hobby he mentioned lead to ingredients for his "cooking" hobby.

Slenderman was harder. He was right next to the entity, but he kept trying to sneak glances whenever the faceless entity brought a forkful of food to his mouth. Harry managed to glimpse the fork with some potatoes on it going towards the face which promptly disappeared when it got close to where the mouth would have been on a normal human before Slenderman's jaw moved up and down without the sounds of chewing.

Harry promised himself he'd figure out how the entity did that.

When they finished. Slenderman raised his hand to call for silence. "Now, I want to raise the matter of letting young Harry stay with us-"

Harry's brain went into paranoid overdrive. "Please, sir! I won't be a bother! I-I can cook and clean and garden and do a few minor repairs around the mansion! You won't need to give me a full room, sir! I can do almost any chore! I-I can-!"

"Harry, Harry, calm down. No one's asking you to take up those responsibilities."

Jeff grinned. "Well, if he's offering, then I think I can take one for the team and give him my chores list for the week."

Ben snickered. "Mine too."

Their smiles faltered when they saw Harry frantically nodding. "Done!"

"Child, no one will make you do them." He sent an eyeless "look" to the pale teenager and the computer virus. "No one."

He returned his attention to the fearful seven year old. "Why do you feel you need to do such things, Harry?"

"So I can earn my keep, sir."

"You don't need these "sir" formalities, child. But what do you mean, 'earn your keep'?"

"So I won't be a burden." Harry replied meekly.

"Harry, you are not a burden. Who tells you that?" Slenderman immediately regretted the question as he answered it himself long before the child did.

"My Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon did. They said they shouldn't have to waste money on me. They said I was a worthless freak and that I had to earn my keep to stay."

Harry was suddenly aware of the absolute silence around the table. Looking about, a few had their forks halfway to their mouths, the rest he could see questions buzzing in their heads. No one around the table was smiling (save for Jeff, but for what it's worth, his permanent smile was slightly downturned). Everyone was processing what he just said..

Sally was the first to snap out of it and smiled at Harry and reached for his hand. He had to resist the instinct to flinch away. "No one thinks you're a freak, Harry. You can stay all you like."

Laughing Jack's smile also returned in full force. "Yeah, maybe you can help me set up some pranks on Jeff, here."

"Hey!"

The Rake grinned. "And if Slendy thinks you've got potential, we'll even let you go on a few… excursions with us. Hehehehe" Harry's arm erupted in goosebumps at the low chuckle. He decided to watch himself around The Rake.

"Well, be that as it may, I think it is time for everyone to go to bed. It's late and young Harry is still on European time."

Harry almost forgot all about his fatigue in the excitement of that night, but it came back full force when Slenderman mentioned sleep and he yawned despite his efforts against it.

Brian offered to take the plates to the kitchen and wash up, so the others made their way to the foyer. They were just about to ascend the stairs when Sally noticed Harry wasn't with them. She heard a slight scuffle from the staircase and leaned over to see the door click closed.

"Harry?" Everyone stopped, suddenly aware that their newest guest wasn't with them.

Sally made her way to the door and opened it. She was confused when she didn't see him until she looked down. He was lying on the cold cement floor using a mop head for a pillow and a few threadbare blankets they tossed in there for storage. She shuddered as a large spider crawled quickly over the fabric draped over him.

The others edged around and looked confusedly at what they were seeing. Jeff spoke first. "Uh… what are you doing?"

Harry looked back at them. "I'm going to bed. This is where I slept at the Dursleys. Though this one is much warmer." He smiled genuinely before settling back and nonchalantly blowing a black widow spider away that crawled a bit too close to his head.

He failed to notice everyone was completely stunned at this and remained fixed where they were until Slenderman, who assessed the situation, maneuvered towards the cupboard.

"Harry. You won't have to sleep in the cupboard anymore. Come, we already have a guest room prepared for you."

Harry, stood up from his makeshift bed and followed Slenderman up the stairs, leaving the rest still standing in stunned silence. The faceless man led him to a room in one of the hallways. He let Harry look in.

By most of society's standards, it wasn't much. It had a simple, wooden bed with a standard box spring mattress and a stormy-blue comforter. A desk was up against the window. A single light fixture provided an overhead light. A dresser was pushed against the wall and a mirror hung next to it on the simple gray-white walls. Other than that, there was no decoration, no color, nor anything really terribly interesting for the average seven year old.

Harry was awestruck. "T-this is all for me?" he whispered.

Slenderman nodded and watched as Harry reverently walked into the room, drinking in the space and sights. He laid his upper torso on the bed and ran his hands across the comforter, feeling the softness.

He looked back at Slenderman and, to the surprise of the entity, ran straight to him and hugged him around the area of his legs that he could reach. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Slenderman regained himself and adjusted so he could give a slightly awkward hug in return. "You're welcome, child. I'm afraid we don't have any pajamas for you at the moment, but we can find some shorts and an old T-shirt from BEN, perhaps. He's the smallest male in the manor and I doubt you'd want one of Sally's dresses."

Harry giggled and nodded. Slenderman left and soon returned with some black sports shorts with an elastic pull-string and a green shirt with a golden Triforce on it.

Slenderman left Harry to change and get ready for bed. He closed the door and turned down the hallway. He was stopped by a group of angry, worried, and confused housemates. Jeff, per usual, was the first to speak. "Slendy, what's the whole truth about him?"

Slenderman sighed. Knowing this group, he'd probably need the straightjackets to ensure they did not swim to Surrey themselves to throttle the family in their sleep.

Harry jumped into the bed and put the warm comforter over him. He was amazed at how soft and comfortable it was. He could feel the adrenaline and excitement ebbing away to fatigue. He thought back to all of the firsts of today.

First time out of his cupboard at night.

First travel to another country.

First friend.

First time in another person's room.

First medical treatment.

First sweet given, even though he still had it in his other pants' pocket.

First dinner with lots of food that he could eat as well.

First joke he laughed with.

First time someone waved back.

First time in a bed.

First time being hugged.

First time someone cared.

He wiggled himself further into the sheets and blanket and smiled as he was sedated to the silence and paralysis of the nocturnal haven.

AN: Yes, that was a reference to the Russian Sleep Experiment at the end there.

I own none of the pastas and, of course, Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling.

One of the portraits in the family room is actually inspired by Disney's Haunted Mansion, specifically the Portrait of Dorian Gray in the foyer to the hanging-man elevator.

If my UK grade-schooler knowledge of the USA is incorrect, British viewers, I'm sorry. I was raised in American elementary school so I don't really know what a primary school's history lesson encompasses about America besides probably the basics. (And sorry, no, I'm not in New York the state. It was just a good place with lots of creepy forested area in the rural areas out west).

I understand most of the pastas don't seem terribly murderous, but we'll add that in soon. I just wanted basic introductions out of the way. Plus, I had fun writing this chapter.

I hope you enjoyed

Sincerely,

-Crow

P.S. Slendy mentioned how not all of the Pastas made it downstairs, meaning there are more that are either out on business or more that are just hanging around. Hint hint: I'm only one CreepyPasta fan, I don't know them all. Any suggestions on characters is always welcome (also, send in their pasta title if you can. It helps me understand them better).

P.P.S. No ships at the moment. Sorry, but Sally doesn't "age", so it won't be Harry x Sally. She's just a friend.

-Russian Sleep Experiment: "The Russian Sleep Experiment" by unknown

-BEN: "BEN DROWNED" by Jadusable

-Sally: "Play with Me" by Kiki-Hyuuga (deviantart-based)

-Jeff: "Jeff the Killer" by Snuffbomb

-E.J.: "Eyeless Jack" by Snuffbomb

-L.J.: "Laughing Jack" by Snuffbomb

-The Rake: "The Rake" by unknown

-Ticci Toby: "Ticci Toby" by Kastoway (deviantart-based)

-Masky and Hoodie: MarbleHornet videos: by Marblehornets (youtube-based)

-Smile .jpg: no official pasta: by unknown (email chain mail)

-Trenderman, Offenderman, Splendorman: The result of fans making up popular parodies of Slenderman on Deviantart and Tumblr