Summary: Realizing he's losing the war, Harry summons a demon to make a deal with for help and ends up with Freddy Krueger.

Opening

He appeared in the middle of the circle on his knees, leaning forward, bound by pure magic around the arms, and at first Harry wondered if the spell had screwed up. The form was human, clothed in a crimson-red/blackish-green striped turtleneck and black slacks, scuffed brown work boots, and a tattered brown fedora, the brim of which hid his face. There was a strange four-bladed glove on one hand, true, but other than that, it looked like a normal man kneeling before him…

Until the man raised his head with a snarl on his face befitting a rabid canine.

His features were narrow and human for the most part, most prominently featuring icy blue eyes and a slightly hooked nose, but his skin was burned—terribly, horribly burned. It was molted and twisted and charred, entirely missing in places to show the muscles and along his cheeks even the bones underneath, and his ears were almost completely missing; there was a lack of any hair—even his eyelashes were absent; his teeth were yellowed, pointed, rotting in places; and it all came together in a picture that served to remind Harry that, yes, he had just summoned a demon, and that was exactly what he got.

Unsure how to greet the demon, Harry remained silent and still, watching his captive's eyes dart around to take in the appearance of the Chamber of Secrets. His gaze lingered longest on the face in the wall and the Basalisk corpse not too far away, magic preventing it from decaying despite the four years that had passed, before landing on Harry's face, narrowed dangerously.

"Why have you summoned me?" the demon asked in a deep, scratching, grating voice. Harry had to gather almost all of his willpower not to wince at the sound…it sure fit a demon, reminding him of the screech of metal-on-rusted-metal in a large and empty room. When he didn't answer right away, the demon made a hissing noise at the young wizard. "Well, fucker? I'm waiting! Tell me what the fuck you need so I can leave this shithole!"

Here was Harry's chance to say something cool, something witty, something that would win over the alliance of this demon in the years to come. But all that came out of his mouth was a hoarse announcement of, "You swear a lot."

The look on the demon's face clearly stated something similar to, "Who the hell is this idiot?" Aloud, the demon said, "No shit, kid. You try spendin' decades in Hell and see what happens to your no-doubt-spotless vocabulary."

The sarcasm dripping from the words almost hurt. Almost. As it was, Harry merely frowned, self-conscious, before moving on to the point of the whole chancy summoning. "I want to make a deal."

"A deal?" The demon stared at Harry with suddenly calculating eyes. They were surprisingly expressive for a demon, which supposedly had no emotions. "You want to make a deal with me, the Demon of Nightmares, the Bastard Son of a Hundred Maniacs, the embodiment of Fear itself?" When Harry didn't back down, the demon smirked sinisterly. "Alright, piglet, let's hear it. What sort of 'deal' has your little shitty mind come up with?"

This was the moment that had Harry taking a deep breath and steeling himself. "I would like to use your services," he said, proud that it was only slightly rushed and there was no quaver at all.

The demon stared. "My…services," he deadpanned impressively, the scratchiness in his voice dying the more he spoke. It sounded disturbingly human, now. "What, you want me to get in the dream of some bitch you wanna bone or something?"

"No!" Harry was bright red at the very suggestion, making the demon snicker darkly at his embarrassment. It took a little while for him to recover his bearings. "Erm, no. I was talking about your…killing…people."

The demon straightened slightly, flexing against his bonds, and seemed interested by the offer. Harry soon and slowly went on...

-END-

MKL's Post-Production Notes (8-18-13): Haha, Freddy's mouth always amuses me. I don't know why, considering how much I hate to swear IRL, but...yeah. Also, some of you may notice this was part of the poll on my profile; it's still an option but doubtful especially considering the lack of interest from my readers/voters.

SPOILERS: Freddy would help with the War? Eventually Katherine and Jason would be involved, but I'm not quite sure how. There was literally nothing else planned.