A/N: Hey everyone, Ashton here. I would like to thank all my reviewers and answer a few of the reviews
Here:
To Ignatia Endellion Nox: The 3 minute death of Harry WILL have an effect on the prophesy. What effect though, you'll just have to wait and see! XP As to your permonition about the umbrella & demons... O_o o_O What are you on and why aren't you sharing??? Lolz! Just kidding, but seriously, that's funny. As to whether or not Harry put Magic into the picture? I never really thought of that, but it would explain why Ms. Gentry thought that the picture moved a bit. Overflow of accidental Magic... Keep reviewing, though. Love all mi reviewers!!
To njferrell: I don't know if this'll be a Harry/Constantine slash. Maybe? If so, it won't be the main pairing. I have plans for the main pairing, and I'm not telling. XP
To fred2008: Thanks! And yes, he is crazy, but then again, he WAS hit in the head with a car... XP Keep reading, plz!!
To Dreamweaver: That's what I was aiming for, ya know. A mystically genius Harry. I always thought he and Luna would be better friends then he and the Weasleys & Hermione. After all, with all the stuff that happens to him, you'd expect him to be ready to believe the impossible, right?
To My Other Reviewers: THANK YOU AND KEEP R&Ring PLZ!!! XP
Now, TO THE STORY!!
Chapter Three
~*~
Balthazar was not a happy half-demon. No, he was, in fact, a mildly terrified and utterly humiliated half-demon. How he'd gotten himslef into this mess, he didn't know. One minute he was sitting on a couch, surrounded by cats and snakes, answering a curious six-year-olds questions, when BAM! He found himself strung upside down, pink, sparkly, and at said six-year-olds mercy. He was gagged, hands tied behind his back, and watching with wide eyes as Harry thoughtfully looked over his torture devises...
Harry couldn't decide if he should use purple glitter or Hot Wheels stickers on his new 'friend'. He pursed his lips and turned to look up at the half-demon. He'd used his magic to subdue the man, and then painted him, threw on sparkles, and spiked his hair with green paint and blue glitter. He thought for a few minutes, but was interrupted when someone knocked on the door. Pouting, he removed the half-demons gag.
"Now, you hush and be good," the six-year-old chided, frowning at the demon. "And you should really think about what you've done to deserve this." he flicked the half-demon on the forehead. "After all, Phil's my best friend. You do not insult my best friend." With that, Harry turned and trotted to the door. He climbed up on a chair to peer out through the peep-hole. There was a man in a black suit, kinda, with black hair and narrow features. He was scowling and looking like he wanted to be anywhere else. Curious, Harry got down and opened the door.
"Hi?" He said curiously, peering up at the tall, thin man. He grunted and popped a piece of gum in his mouth, staring down at the boy.
"You Harry Potter?" He asked, shifting slightly on his feet and peering into the apartment past Harry's head. The six-year-old nodded, curiosity growing.
"Yup. Why?" He asked; the tall-thin man grimaced.
"A Ms. Gentry called me to check on you. Said you were hanging with the wrong sort." The man snorted slightly, before scowling. "Not like I give a damn what you do, kid. She just said she was worried about you." Harry snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Come in," he said calmly; stepping out of the way. "I hate to have to tell you this, but I'm not the average six-year-old," he said calmly, leading the man to the kitchen and making him some coffee. "What's your name?" The man grunted in thanks before taking a drink of his coffee, which he took black.
"John Constantine. And I can't believe I let that half-breed talk me into flying half-way around the world for a kid," he muttered; Harry grinned up at him.
"Well, you know how women can be, Mr. Constantine. Always talking people into doing their bidding." Constantine snorted at that, smirking.
"Ain't that the truth." He nudged a snake with his toe; it hissed at him.
"Leave the man alone, Ssar," Harry said without looking up from where he was moving a bunch of boxes around in a cabinet, finally finding the glue and scissors, therefor not seeing the slightly startled look on Constantine's face. "Yes!" He said gleefully, also finding the small box of little girls Princess hair clips and ribbons he'd found on the road one day. Smirking, he hopped down and scooped up Ssar from his place next to Constantine's foot.
"You can speak to snake," the man said bluntly; Harry shrugged.
"You can see things that aren't there to everyone else, and you're on nicotine withdrawal," he retorted. "We all have our little problems." He led the man into the living room, where Balthazar was trying, desperately, to dodge the cats who were trying to swipe at his head with their claws, playing.
"Harry!" The half-demon yelped, looking at the six-year-old pleadingly. "Call them off! Please?" He asked weakly, pulling his head away from the tallest cats claws. Harry looked thoughtful, then clucked his tongue twice. The cats went back to what they'd been doing before he'd left the room. Balthazar sighed with relief. "Thank you-" he froze and stared with wide eyes at the imposing man behind the six-year-old. "Constantine," he hissed, shocked.
"You two know each other?" Harry asked curiously, looking up at Constantine, who was snickering slightly in spite of himself.
"Balthazar," the man said, snickering some more, "is an old... Friend." the half-demon choked slightly.
"Oh yes," he said hoarsely, his voice wavering slightly. "Good friends, eh?" Harry shrugged.
"Oh well," he said simply, walking over to his torture devises and setting down the hair-tie box cheerfully. Balthazar swallowed and turned pleading eyes to Constantine, fear showing plainly on his face. 'Help me', he mouthed, terrified, as Harry turned to him with some purple and yellow ribbons, glue, and scissors, grinning. The half-demon would later refuse that he'd whimpered, but at the moment, he did.
"Don't be such a baby," Harry said, snipping at the know-green hair on the mans head. Constantine took up residence against the wall, grinning as he watched. Balthazar flinched when the scissors started snipping, eyes wild. Harry cut a few more places, before starting to tie the ribbons in little bows, and gluing them in place with the super glue.
"Sadist child," Balthazar all but sobbed. He was, after all, a very vain person. Harry paused in what he was doing.
"I don't know what that means," he said honestly, thoughtful, before shrugging and retrieving the purple glitter AND the Hot Wheels stickers. "Hold still," he ordered, getting to work.
Constantine was having fun for the first time in a long time. He'd been convinced by some half-angel woman that demons were corrupting a six-year-old psychic, and he'd come all the way from America to deal with it, because it reminded him of his life a bit. A child seeing demons and monsters left and right. He couldn't have cared less if the kid was willingly hanging out with the half-breeds. Some of them were okay. It was the fact that he'd been hanging out with one of those bugs-and-bits demons that worried him.
Now, though, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to America at all. After all, here he had Balthazar, the mightier-the-thou half-demon he'd banished once before, being covered in glitter and ribbons, and at the mercy of an intelligent six-year-old. Life was good, he decided, eating yet another piece of gum. God, did he miss cigarettes... No offense, anyone listening in, he thought absently, snickering when the kid start super gluing purple glitter in the shape of hearts to the half-breeds forehead and face.
"There!" Harry exclaimed, standing back and admiring his work with a pleased nod. "Have you learned your lesson?" He demanded; Balthazar nodded furiously, scared. Harry nodded, pleased, before snapping his fingers and releasing the binds his magic had held the man by. "Good. No more insulting Phil," he warned, scowling, before brightening as Ms. Julie shuffled into the room, looking around, a small snake held in her ancient hands.
"Harry dear, one of your little friends was in the sink," she said; Harry beamed and ran over to her, hugging her around the waist after setting the snake on the floor somewhere. The old woman petted his hair with a small smile, half-blind blue eyes focusing on first Constantine, then Balthazar with an intense scrutiny that startled both men and raised the hair on the Exorcists arms and neck.
"These are my friend, Ms. Julie," Harry said happily, introducing them. Ms. Julie waved one shaky hand absently, kissing Harry softly on the head.
"Have fun, Harry dear, and do try and keep your snakes out of the appliances," she added, shuffling into the kitchen. "I'm going to make cookie," she called over her should, somehow managing to miss the many snakes and cats around her feet, never stepping on one. "And when is that Phil coming back over? I liked him. Polite young fellow, even if he was made of bugs." Harry giggled.
"I dunno, Ms. Julie," he called, before turning a beaming smile back on the two men. "Ms. Julie's a little weird," he whispered to them slyly, "but I love her anyways." With a giggle, the six-year-old put away his torture devises and got out a coloring book and some crayons, sitting at the coffee table. Balthazar and Constantine just watched him in silence for a while, their minds whirling and filling with thoughts and questions about the little boy...
All of which were put aside when Ms. Julie entered the room again, not only with mouth-watering cookies, but with coffee. Extra strong. If she wasn't so old, Constantine would have said he was in love. Oh, and if she wasn't a she, the snide voice in the back of his head added dryly as he took a sip of the orgasmic-coffee, closing his eyes in caffeine-induced bliss. When in nicotine-withdrawal, drink coffee... And banish demons. Both worked just fine for him.
Balthazar ate a cookie, watching Harry as the little boy ate his own. The child was confusing, he'd discovered. One minute he was incredibly intelligent, and the next he was just a six-year-old. He could be scary, and he could be so adorable it made him won't to either gag or cuddle him. It was... Disconcerting, he deciding, leaning over the kids shoulder to see what he'd been coloring. His eyes widened. It was a very beautiful picture, one that looked as if an adult had drawn it, not a child at all.
"That's good," the half-demon offered, holding the picture up so Constantine could see it. Harry beamed up at them as the other man nodded slightly.
"Thanks!" He chirped, munching on another cookie. There was a knock on the door and Harry was on his feet to go see who it was before the two men could even blink.
"PHIL!!" They heard the delighted yell, and shared a look in a rare show of nonviolence. Seconds later Harry returned in the arms of the bugs-and-bits demon, known as Phil. The demon paused, staring first at Constantine, then at Balthazar. He blinked again, taking in the half-demons glittering, ribboned, pink form with a slowly raising eyebrow. Harry giggled, grinning.
"He insulted you," the six-year-old declared, sending a narrowed eyed look at the half-demon. "And you're my best friend, so I took care of him!" He beamed innocently up at the demon, who set him carefully on the ground.
"I... See," was all he said, before bursting out laughing, a deep, dark, hissing sound with a clattering cricket sound mixed in. Harry giggled as well, hand wrapped firmly around the demons. He was happy, and he was content. There was nothing more he needed to be.
A/N: YAY!! ANOTHER CHAPTER!!! Also, to peppymint, you got your wish, sort of, Lolz!! XP R&R PLZ!!!!
