The Devil as a Father, Chapter 20
Lucifer invited his wife out for a private dinner at an exclusive restaurant. She was immediately suspicious. However, they didn't get enough time together, and she'd love to wear some of the new clothing she had gotten at Christmas, so she smiled and said yes.
Lucifer's eyes looked at her with a tenderness that made her insides feel gushy with pleasure.
So that night they ate in a lovely restaurant with fresh linens on the table and real china plates. Chloe enjoyed it and enjoyed the flowered corsage she'd been given by her devoted husband before they walked out the door.
She wasn't sure she had magic, but sensed Lucifer was concerned about something, but she had learned patience with her incredible celestial spouse, so she waited and enjoyed herself.
After the salad, as they sat sipping a really nice wine, he leaned forward.
"Darling, something happened to me after the fall that I decided I should discuss with you. It was wrong of me not to; I just kept putting it off because it's hard to think about."
"Yes?" she said, "You can tell me anything."
"When I fell into Hell and was burned so badly, a bunch of demons found me. They weren't nice."
"What do you mean?" she said, and he could feel a thread of steel in her voice.
"They raped me, for a few centuries, until I regained by strength and destroyed them and then took over hell. I think that's why I was so into pleasure, besides my affinity for desire. I realized when I was setting up the therapist for Harry that I hadn't told you and you should know everything. I'm so sorry. I hope you don't feel badly about marrying damaged goods."
He said this with his head down, now he looked up.
His wife's eyes were filled with tears and had nothing of scorn in them. "You destroyed them all?" she said, and he felt her anger.
"Yes, all memory of the event only resides in me. I was ashamed of the way they used me."
"Oh Damn it to Hell," she exclaimed, "That dirty bastard did nothing to protect you."
"Free will, darling, it was the consequence of my rebellion."
"I swear to, to, whatever, I am going to kick that bloody bastard in the knackers so he can't have any more babies to abuse." Chloe sounded truly frightening. Lucifer found it arousing since it wasn't centered on him, but he was still hoping for a little assurance.
She looked at him, stood up and walked around the table and threw her arms around him and gave him the most possessive fierce kiss he'd ever experienced, and he had kissed Mazikeen centuries ago, and the demon was the definition of fierce.
When she finished, the Devil was gasping. "My darling, thank you." His eyes filled with tears.
"You are such a softy," his wife whispered, "I am so lucky to have you. Thank you for sharing what was certainly the most frightening thing I've ever heard. I want to beat the tar out of them."
"I'm sure they're all glad to be dead, darling," was his response, "rather than having to face your wrath."
She rolled her eyes at him and his heart was healed of old scars he had forgotten.
Harry Potter Harry Potter Harry Potter
"Dad?" asked Harry as everyone bit into the delicious meal that night. Lucifer had cooked tonight and the food was good even to Narcissa Malfoy, who had epicurean tastes and Amenadiel, who apparently had angelic taste buds.
"Yes, Son?" said Lucifer, looking at his green eyed son with love.
"I wanted to tell you. Something new happened. I have wings."
Lucifer spat out his wine, but Amenadiel was getting used to this now and dove under the table, meaning that Dan received only part of the wine. Trixie sat up and began to bounce in place in her chair, "That is so cool," she said.
Dan wiped his face and shoulder. "What kind of wings?" he asked eyeing Lucifer who was now choking and having Chloe slap his back to help him breathe properly.
Amenadiel got out from under the table and smiled at Harry. "Are you able to unfurl them, Nephew?" he asked proudly.
Silvery wings shot out of Harry's back and glowed in the candlelight of the dining area.
"Yes, those are definitely celestial wings," said Amenadiel and looked over at Aradia, who was sitting on the floor eating the exact food they were from a large dog bowl. "Aradia, what do you think of the wings?"
The small hell-hound looked up and broadcast to the room, "I am very comfortable with my master's wings. They make me feel good."
Lucifer turned sort of red and started to cough again. Maze started to giggle. Narcissa smiled quietly and waited to see what would happen next and made a mental note to keep far away from directly across from Lord Lucifer. Draco looked smug.
Lucifer finally got himself under control and asked, "This is not anything to do with your Cousin Sirius, correct?"
"Oh no. He doesn't know about it, Dad." Sirius and Mooney ate in their apartment after Sirius had turned Trixie into a small dragon and Goldie had burned all his hair off. You just couldn't take that man anywhere.
Lucifer looked over at Amenadiel. "Brother, has this happened before to your knowledge?"
"Not ever," said Amenadiel blandly, "But they appear authentic and I bet Harry can even use them for flight. I think it has to do with your bond with your son and the strong love you share."
Lucifer got up from the table and walked to his son and examined him very carefully. He appeared very healthy, happy and had lovely angel wings that looked strong. Magic detected nothing bad. Lucifer carefully examined the wings which had quite developed muscles supporting them.
His eyes narrowed, "You've been flying, haven't you?" he said.
"Um, not off the roof, just enough to see if they would work in an emergency."
"Yeah, right," spluttered Maze, who snickered.
Lucifer gave her a jaundiced look and returned to his place and started eating again.
"Well, Son, they look absolutely lovely. Your eyes are still green all the time?" he said as though it didn't mean anything."
"I don't know," said Harry thoughtfully, "I've never noticed them changing color."
Trixie laughed, "I'll tell you if I notice, so will Maze. Won't you Maze?"
"Sure," said the demon.
"Tomorrow night," said Lucifer, and then took a bite of food.
"What tomorrow night?" asked Chloe.
"I start flying lessons with Harry. Amenadiel can come along if he so desires."
"Yipee!" yelled Harry, then he fell silent. Mom didn't like yells at the dinner table. "Sorry Mum," he said quietly.
"It's OK this time, Harry," said Chloe quietly. "I expect safety precautions, everything you can think of," she said quietly, but everyone went still.
"Yes, of course, Darling," said Lucifer, paying attention to his meal carefully, "I would never let my son be endangered. There is the large pool room with the tall ceiling that we can use inside to see how he does. I'll put spells in the water and the floors to keep him from being hurt."
"I'd love to come," said Amenadiel. "I'll protect Harry too."
Chloe nodded, and everyone relaxed.
Lucifer Lucifer Lucifer
Lucifer got a message from Filius Flitwick, the newly assigned headmaster at Hogwarts. He received the letter from a magnificent owl that waited for him on the balcony.
Dear Lord Lucifer.
I wanted to report on my progress. The Wizarding world here in Britain is much upset and afraid of you and because the Pureblood faction seems to suffer from an inexhaustible source of stupidity and cruelty, they are blaming those who come to us from the muggle or no-mag world.
I have set rules in place against bullying, so no actual violence takes place, but much emotional cruelty is occurring. For instance, I have an absolutely brilliant student who is from the no-mag world and she has no friends. The bullying stopped, but she lives literally alone in our school, studying alone, eating alone. It breaks my heart. Because she was bullied before in the non-magical world, she doesn't know how to make friends and lives in her books.
I have started classes on Pureblood customs to help the muggle children (I hate that word) and have started theory of magic classes that deal with the issue of dark versus light magic. I nearly went to prison over it until I explained it was your wish.
Our ruling body now has a new leader, an older woman of good family named Augusta Longbottom. She wants to discuss this issue with you and asked me to contact you.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you. We found out that Dumbledore was stealing funds from the school and students. The money has been returned and we have new school supplies and new teachers and I was able to give our teachers much deserved raises. We even got rid of the ghost who teaches history and have a real teacher. It is only a beginning though. We have improved the curriculum and upped our standards, but would like to ask for your guidance to make sure we are doing it in accordance with what magic is supposed to be.
Your servant
Filius Flitwick
Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Magic
It sounded like the new headmaster was hard at work. Lucifer paused and considered whether it would be a good idea to visit or not. The last visit had been rather hard on the magic of several people. He smirked as he remembered the incredibly pompous toad of a pink woman shrieking when he took her magic away. And the older man with the horrible dress sense, who was the head wizard, had howled like a baby over his new status as a non-magical person. It was a very corrupt society and the people suffered from the sin of pride, but had very little to be proud about. Lucifer had been disappointed with them and nearly took all the magic in Britain away until he realized there were good magicals running about.
He went to the love of his life, his wonderful wife and showed her the letter. "I'm going with you," Chloe said. "I want you to take security measures this time with lots of magic, and we can bring Maze. I want Aradia and Goldie to come too."
"Harry might want to come with us."
Chloe opened her mouth to say no, but stopped, "You're right. He'll worry about that little girl having no friends. We have to bring him too. Do you think Amenadiel could come or KynKyn?"
Lucifer was always amazed at the way his wife logically prepared for war. "Those are wonderful ideas."
They sat down and made a list of things that could happen on both the magic side, and the non-magical side. Then they made a list of spells. "Perhaps we can invite Cletus to look over this with us. He has been very helpful with Draco's education."
So they prepared, something the Devil didn't use to do often in his younger days although he had learned and could now play the game of politics, but Chloe was one organized warrior. Even Maze was impressed. Cletus only had a few suggestions, but wanted to know more about the protection rings that they were all wearing.
He chided Chloe for not using all its abilities and instead of being offended she listened carefully. "You can teleport with this; you are protected from attacks and you can call your family and check on them. This is a wonderful coordination and protection device and you must learn to use all its aspects."
So they arranged to have a training day.
Lucifer Lucifer Lucifer
Meanwhile, Harry's new restaurant had started up and everyone thought Harry was helping his Dad as a cute young waiter instead of running the kitchen. Draco enjoyed sitting and watching and asked permission to wait tables as well.
They had Dad there and that drew in some people, but the food was spectacular and that made their little venue into a success. It was set up so no one saw the kitchen staff. Harry learned a lot about wasting food, about keeping food fresh and other things. The breakfast dishes were all the same, but lunch always had a special menu, and Harry enjoyed that and making recipes for large groups. When everything was done, he used magic to clean and put leftovers in stasis at the peak of freshness. He set up the bread and refrigerator rolls for the Sunday menu and locked up. He had already learned how much money he had made because Draco helped him with the receipts. They were both learning a lot about business.
Then he went with Dad to the pool area to show him what he could do with his flying, but waited until Dad had put spells all over the place to protect him from injury. Uncle Amenadiel was there too and both celestials were excited that Harry could fly, although Lucifer appeared a little worried that he had done something bad to his Harry.
When his Dad gave him the signal, he unfurled his wings and flew up and stayed stationery in the air. Then he flew all over the large room, never hitting anything, and being careful. Finally he landed and his Dad looked proud of him.
"I don't think Harry actually needs much in the way of lessons," said Amenadiel, "As long as he is careful not to fly too high and get tired. We'll have to teach him to soar when that happens so he can land safely."
"Do you think he can transport himself from realm to realm?" asked Lucifer, in a concerned voice.
"He is not a full celestial, at least not yet." Said Amenadiel thoughtfully, "I wonder if his feathers have powers?"
Harry got excited. "Do you think I can heal people of insanity or addiction?"
Amenadiel looked at him. "If one of your feathers falls out, you can try to test it on someone addicted or insane or maybe your father and I can do it, so you'll be safer."
Harry handed him a feather. "It fell out this morning when I was practicing furling and unfurling."
Lucifer looked at him hopefully and Amenadiel gave the feather to him. Lucifer touched it. It glowed beautifully.
"Tomorrow after you finish at your restaurant, we can do practice for our visit to the British Wizarding World."
Lucifer Harry Lucifer Harry Lucifer Harry
Sunday's luncheon at the Magic Meal was over and Harry was very pleased with all the help he got. He hired one of the waitresses from Lux who needed to swap around her schedule to help him and she did very well, though Harry was pleased to wait tables with Draco.
Then some snotty looking person mentioned that she was going to report that Harry was being forced to work. Harry closed her eyes and contemplated turning her into a cockroach, but cooled off. "Madam, while I appreciate your concern, I am the owner of this establishment and the son of the building owner. This is a special school project that I am much enjoying. The kitchen meets code, and I only do this on weekends so as to not interrupt my homework.
"Surely you don't claim to be able to cook this fantastic meal."
"Yes, I do," said Harry. Draco came over and he nodded to him. Soon Lucifer appeared.
"What seems to be the problem?" he asked, rather missed. He had been kissing his lovely wife when Draco tapped on the door.
"This child claims he cooked this food. He's working at much too young an age."
"He legally owns this business," said Lucifer, |and is running it as a non-profit. The profits that do not go into the business are being used to feed the homeless, which was Harry's original idea."
"What a wonderful child," said a Lady at another table. "He is doing this to raise food to help the homeless."
"Yes, on Saturday afternoons we take food to some of the homeless encampments. Harry was homeless before we met and I had the great joy of asking him to be my son."
"Oh my God," said another customer, "This is great. The food is fantastic, but the story warms my heart. May we make an additional donation for your work?"
Harry's eyes filled with tears. "All our tips except for Angie, our waitress, who works for us, goes to the charity. Yesterday we fed twenty people and gave them sandwiches for later. Today, we think we'll have enough to feed forty people."
"Who is we?" asked a man, "Me and Draco," said Harry rather proudly. "Draco and I are going to be businessmen when we grow up but we want to have ethics based businesses that give back to the community. And homelessness is a huge problem in the city."
"It certainly is," said the man. "The food was wonderful, but I'm coming back to support you, young man. You are doing a wonderful thing."
The snotty woman who had been so mean seemed very embarrassed and gave them a big tip.
Later, an article would appear in the newspaper about what Harry was doing, along with a lovely review of the food in the restaurant.
Draco and Harry were really happy with both the success so far and the profit. They were able to make a bunch of great soup, that Harry bespelled to stay hot until the container was opened, so the people would have a hot meal. Dad had purchased a van for the express purpose of transporting food and other sundries to those in need. This time They had set up a table at a corner were ready to start servicing immediately. They fed a crowd and only a few came up after they gave away everything. Lucifer had purchased gift cards for restaurants in the area (after speaking to the managers), and gave them to those people who came too late. Harry was proud to have fed so many people, and Lucifer was proud of his son.
Then they went home to Lux where they all met with the whole family to discuss how to deal with the magicals. Cletus Stormwhistle helped a great deal, and Mooney and Padfoot gave much background information that horrified Harry.
"So I was their hero, but they hated me because my Mum wasn't a pureblood."
"Yes, I sorry Harry. Some of them are that stupid," said Sirius.
They discussed traveling wards, which were a source of great interest to Cletus, KynKyn's powers were over sound and they discovered she could punish people with noises that made people pass out. Trixie wanted to come and was told no for the first visit. She almost pouted but then realized they really might in danger like they were at Disneyland and now loudly asked why they were even going. Lucifer let her read the letter.
Everyone agreed they had a chance to help the magical people of Britain to use magic the way it was meant to be used. They also agreed helping the school was of paramount importance, and Harry got everyone's attention. "I want to make friends with that girl they are being cruel to. I want to help her make new friends."
Draco and Narcissa talked too. "Some of us also felt they were changing our way of life and didn't respect the old ways. Of course, we might be wrong about what the old ways were, but they didn't understand our customs and were often rude and overbearing."
"So the idea of teaching them our customs was a good one," said Draco.
"I think both sides may have things to learn. We know so little about your world. I thought it was barbaric and it turns out to have lovely people in it," said Narcissa thoughtfully.
Then Lucifer gave both Narcissa and Draco what he called family rings. "These rings are house rings and have magics in them. They protect you from magical and human attack."
"Why didn't they protect you?" asked Chloe.
"Because I foolishly didn't wear my ring, because I am immortal and didn't think I needed it." Said Lucifer.
Harry covered his eyes with his hands, as Mom's eye's opened up in sheer rage.
"What?" she asked. Harry could feel the ice in her voice.
"I will never take off the ring again, my love," Lucifer said.
Chloe nodded. "You realize, of course, you are in trouble."
"Oh yeah," said Maze. "Oh boy," said Amenadiel.
Harry wanted to hide. Mom's anger was scary.
He ran to his Mother, "Mom, Dad suffered a lot dying and going to hell and thinking we might be dead. Don't you think that's enough punishment?"
Chloe looked at him for a moment and then smiled, "That's true. He was pretty upset and hurt over the whole thing." She looked at her husband, the Lord of Hell, who was looking pretty worried actually, "You are forgiven beloved. I expect you to take better care of yourself from now on."
"Yes, my darling," said Lucifer rather gratefully.
So they went on to plan and practice using the various abilities that the rings and other magical things that would help.