Demons had natural sensibility whenever it came to collect and hunt souls, you see. But they certainly rather find a living host for the soul they later planned to consume, it made things easier. However, they still ate souls without a body if the opportunity presented itself, beggars can't be choosers an all of that. And if one had a served meal right in front of them… who wouldn't take it?
From day one, Ciel and Sebastian could tell something was peculiar about Harry´s scar. Not just the shape. There was a soul there, a piece of one. A truly nasty piece of work if they had it right. Must be Voldemort´s soul. But… how to prove it? And most important, what to do about it? They couldn't just let it be.
The means to it presented itself in the presence of one Bellatrix Lestrange. She had the dark mark, traces of Voldemort's magic remained on it and it was bound to react in close proximity to Harry, in theory.
But Black, the child´s godfather was proving difficult and uncooperative in the testing of this idea. Both demons had little to no patience in this field. If he cared so much about his godson´s wellbeing he wouldn't have landed himself in Azkaban that carelessly, so they proceeded. Ciel was feed up and he really didn't have patience to spare in stubborn and stupid people, even worse if those qualities endorsed recklessness. And that was as accurate as a description of Sirius Black´s infamous defining character traits. Which ended up leading to this situation:
A furiously trashing Sirius Black restrained in the corner of the study beside an exasperated looking Sebastian contemplating a very intimidating Ciel that was staring Bellatrix Lestrange into obedience.
It didn't even cross the woman´s mind to try anything funny. The room was vibrating with demonic energy pulsing to be let out. Barely held back.
The message was beyond clear, mess up and you die.
The woman didn't know who the child was, she was instructed as it follows: Lie your fingertip on the child´s scar.
She tried. And chaos ensued.
She was literally thrown back against the wall, all the air leaving her lungs abruptly and she stared open mouthed at the baby. The other occupants of the room watched on, surprised at the strong reaction. Her dark mark also reacted. The snake was twisting around in her arm as if in agony. Later when Sebastian inspected her hand he found she´d suffered third degree burns. Luckily for her, the protective magic in the child didn't sense her as a threat but the message was clear. anything Voldemort related better stay away if it didn't want to face doom or obliteration.
Sir Phanthomhive was pleased. Any protection measure was welcome for his charge.
So that scar was connected to Voldemort but the child had a very aggressive protection etched on him. What to do about it? Nothing for the foreseeable future. He had to put in order his family affairs. Those dunderheaded descendants of his blood will fall into line and be respectable members of society even if it's the last thing he has to do. Family can't go after family. That was unacceptable.
Both demons also caught a glimpse of something interesting when Bellatrix was sent back flying against the wall… and promising.
…
The disgraced Dursley´s were the talk of all Privet Drive. Everyone knew about Petunia Dursley´s nervous meltdown by midday. Vernon Dursley confirmed the opinion his neighbors had of him when he received them enquires with furious outbursts.
Little Dudley was left with a hired nanny while his father tried to figure out what on earth was wrong with his mother. None of the doctors they consulted had even the slightest idea of what exactly was wrong with Petunia, they just told of how utterly terrified she was.
Some of them seemed to think he was to blame.
What the hell?! Incompetent bastards the lot of them.
Finally, he settled with committing her in an asylum. She needed rest, perhaps. Nothing professionals couldn't fix. Right?
His mind made about Petunia´s fate at least for the foreseeable future, he went about his business normally, that is, until a peculiar gentleman made his way to his office, or at least, so he claimed. You see, no one else ever laid eyes on Mr. Dursley´s mysterious visitor, nor the secretary or his underlings, the watchmen or the security cameras. None knew off what he was talking about hours later when he claimed the devil himself had stepped into his office to hand out doom.
Everyone thought he was barking mad and it cost him more than he wanted to admit to get himself of the hook. His boss and co-workers wanted to send him to an asylum just as he had done with Petunia.
This particular gentleman Vernon Dursley saw appeared out of thin air. As suddenly and silently as if he´d just grew out of the staccato floors in his office.
Elegantly dressed like any other business man or economist he'd seen on their way to work or over break. He was a good looking fellow, that is. When you passed his black nails and red eyes.
_ Good morning, sir. I came to make you an offer you´d find most attractive.
_ WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET HERE? I´M FIRING THAT EXCUSE OF A…
_ Now, there. That's not a really polite manner of addressing a guest, is it? Let´s try again. - the intruder's eyes glowed an ominous crimson and Vernon found himself silenced at mid rant. Something unheard of. No one could get away with cutting off Vernon Dursley´s infamous rants and tell the tale. No one human that is.
Apparently this stranger did. This freak, but this one terrified him. He wasn't alike any of the other freaks he had crossed paths with, this individual didn't have a shred of humanity. He was intimidating in his perfection. Darkness clung to him like a second skin, his essence and his every breath.
Sure, this must be it. Petunia losing it out of a sudden must be their fault.
_ Oh yes- the stranger said, smiling a creepy smile- Dear Petunia enjoyed our Phanthomhive hospitality.
How on earth…?
_ That matter aside, me and my master don't particularly enjoy being thrown in the same bag as some "freak". That we are not. So kindly refer to us as demons at lack of a better name, that's what your kind has called us for centuries. That's the name you humans came up. Now about that offer I brought, I will deliver the message after a lesson in proper manners.
The screams coming out of the office didn't help Vernon plead his case when his boss confronted him about all the ruckus he made. Apparently some of the bravest employees made it inside the office and just saw Vernon. They never laid eyes on the stranger he claimed tormented him for hours.
No one laid eyes on the stranger or on the fabled contract Vernon claimed the man made him sign. Everyone though he had lost his marbles. Or had some lose screws on his head, they secretly pitied him. His wife´s sickness must've really hit him hard. With a baby to look after and a sick wife to tend to… yes, that must be it.
That's why he was able to keep his job. But he really didn't need to know that.
…
Getting Sirius Black to do anything he wasn't willing to do was a gruesome and grueling task and Ciel Phantomhive learned that the hard way when he asked this man about his ancestral home.
When Sirius Black finally acceded to go to this place, Ciel was unimpressed.
It wasn't an "ancestral home" as it turned out, you see, Ciel didn't expect this place to be in London. Less of all on a muggle neighborhood surrounded by ordinary houses, of wealthy but powerless humans; this didn't fit with the whole attitude of the Black family as Sirius described them and Ciel didn't really get it at first. The void between houses 11 and 13 must be some kind of urban legend amongst the muggles in the area and that was against every aspect of the Statute of Secrecy. It just shows how people can sweep laws under the rug for money. Orion Black must've paid a pretty penny to get away with this.
The house was in decay and in obvious need of care. Not a place where you expected to find respectable people, it seemed an abandoned house or a display of the stereotypical haunted house in a little town fair. Details of its old glory could be seen here and there but overall it had a look only abandoned buildings have.
The house on itself wasn't something remarkable, but the wards. They really were something else, a master piece. He kind of got now why Sirius´ father had purchased this property and done this.
To make a place unplotable and untraceable you had to think of a lot of details and lands infused with any magic could be breached through by other magic users with relative ease. But that was not the case with this place.
Even if its location was somehow discovered, not anyone could gain entry.
He wouldn't move out of Phantomhive manor, ever. But this place could be a decent hiding if need be.
When they stepped on the porch however; a deranged looking creature with pointed ears came to their encounter but froze and stood back when it laid eyes on Ciel.
There was no love lost between Sirius and this… domestic elf called Kreacher as he later found out. A lot of bad blood between both of them esteemed from the creature being responsible for some of the atrocities Sirius had to endure while growing up here.
The interior of the house wasn't better than the exterior. It was too dark and dusty, the furniture, wallpaper and antiques that littered the rooms did nothing for the place, old, filthy and partially eaten or rotten. The house smelled of decay, mold and madness, with a touch of bitter sadness that drove you crazy. Maybe a hint of despair amongst the madness felt. This wasn't a place where he'd want to bring Harry even for a minute.
And when he though nothing else could disgust him more, Ciel laid eyes on the severed leg and heads that hung in the walls and stood innocently in the corner, respectively. What on earth was wrong with this people?
This certainly wasn't a place where he'd want to raise children.
Then again, he had been at the tender mercies of a satanic sect that killed his older brother and made him summon a demon. He wasn't exactly a paragon of ideal guardian for children. But seeing this place…
It was a miracle that Sirius turned out as he did, maybe because he ran away before it was too late. This if nothing else made him find some measure of respect for the other man.
The house was filled with dark artifacts and you could actually sense it. This place certainly wasn't the place where you expected someone as Sirius to have grown up in.
Leaving that aside, this place needed to be checked in order to find something useful or convenient, a home of purebloods could contain information on other purebloods or family heirlooms they could use later on. What Ciel didn't expect was to lay eyes on a family tree covering the walls of a room. And what he found there.
_ When did you plan on telling me you had a younger brother? - inquired Ciel.
Sirius tensed, just listening to the icy quality of the demons voice you could tell he was angry.
_ .You didn't ask and… our relationship wasn't exactly stellar. I abandoned him here, on this hell. Is not something I'm proud of?
_ I could see that. Call this creature we found when we arrived, I want to listen to any information he might have. According to this, your younger brother is dead. You knew of this?
He looked sad for a minute before calling the creature. And stayed uncharacteristically silent through the elf ranting about blood traitors or such nonsense, Ciel really had no patience with all of that and deranged or not he cut the creature at mid rant and went in for the kill, so to speak.
_ .You will tell me everything you know about Regulus Black. - The elf looked terrified, defiant and angry. But also… frustrated? Now that was interesting. There was definitely something worth getting here.
Sirius looked at the interaction and didn't interfere; the creature looked at him as if he could miraculously intercede between him and this demon.
Yes, elves knew about demons. They feared them.
_ I´m not selling master´s secret! - The creature screamed at last- Do whatever you want!
_ Regulus died, I´m your master now, you'll share what you know with this man or so help me I'm freeing you- intervened Sirius, feed up with this situation and wanting to leave the house as soon as possible. Yesterday sounded lovely.
_ Very well- Ciel cut in- I can still get what I want without your permission. I just wanted to honor your loyalty, that's a priceless quality it's pretty difficult to find in other people. I'll try to make this painlessly.
Both of the demons eyes were focused on the elf. The Faustian contract glowed ominously in the ruby red pools…
…
Sirius was glad he wasn't in the blacklist of one Sir Ciel Phanthomhive after being a witness to this. He was intimidating not because he could do harm, on the contrary. Ciel manipulated Kreacher´s mind so the elf thought he was sharing this out of his own volition.
Suffice to say, the demon had all the information he needed about one Regulus Arcturus Black and his latest moments on this earth. And the so called secret Kreacher kept turned out to be a locket the elf guarded like a hawk.
And that´s how a visit to Black Manor turned out to be the start for another expedition, a mission of recognition to a place that could be of significance to get to know one of their stronger enemies. Sirius was still reeling about the fact that his younger brother died a hero´s death and no one ever knew about it. He didn't know what to name the feeling that was consuming him and making him feel hollow, numb and so unworthy. Why Voldemort decided to use such a place?
Sirius didn't have a wand and was fidgety, Ciel didn't want him with a wand just yet and the wizard took it better than expected, even so, the demon didn't want to push his luck. Sirius stayed close and alert, his training in the auror program kicking in he felt the lack of a wand even more on these circumstances.
Flying without a broom and breathing while underwater were things Sirius hadn't pictured himself doing, less of all without a wand. Tagging along with Ciel he could take in his surroundings without worrying about maintaining a spell or transformation.
The cave had a creepy feeling to it that had nothing to do with the rocks or the beach; it was drenched in malignant magic. This was the feeling he got whenever he happened to be in a crime scene where Voldemort himself had killed someone. This was his magical signature, bloodthirsty and raging mad.
One thing was certain; they won't be leaving this cave soon.
Sebastian was assigned to go and visit one Severus Snape, that is, whenever his master returned from his own mission; he really didn't want to take Harry along, they didn't know this Severus Snape very well. Sebastian was more than able to defend Harry if he needed to, but taking the baby along for their missions wasn't ideal and hiring just any nanny wouldn't do either. They didn't trust anyone else with baby Harry. He exhibited pretty powerful accidental magic and Bellatrix wasn't someone they wanted near any child without supervision.
Less of all Harry who was responsible for defeating her beloved Dark Lord and was indirectly responsible for landing her in Azkaban with her husband and brother-in-law, she might kill him or harm him if she got the chance.
Harry was fuzzy lately and not even Black could give them any insight to what might be wrong with him.
They had taken him to the hospital and he was getting better, no longer undernourished as he had been when they found him. So that wasn't it, Harry was a healthy baby, as healthy as he can be.
Whatever happened with him wasn't something related to physical health. There must be something else. But they couldn't find it and it was really frustrating.
As if on cue, Harry whimpered and then started to cry. Extending his chubby arms to the wall as if reaching out for something that Sebastian couldn't see and that was getting old and vexing.
Whatever it was that Harry could see and they couldn't was harmless. But in the Phantomhive household they weren't known for liking surprises of any kind.
He was reading the file he put together on this Snape fellow making time and trying to take a decision.
He was practically a ghost, known for his brewing skills he was a renowned Potions Master, he had been mentioned in magazines and articles in Potions guilds. His personal life after leaving Hogwarts was a mystery and his life in school wasn't any different; his only known friend through Hogwarts had been Harry´s mother, Lily Evans. And they had a falling out in fifth year after the O.W.L.S
He had to go through almost all of his resources to find that bit of information and that told him just one of two things: Either Severus Snape was really some kind of extreme asocial or he covered his tracks too well.
At the end of the day, Harry made the decision for him. The baby stopped crying and looked at Snape picture, tapping his little hand on top of the face of the moving picture, much to the indignation of its occupant.
The baby was giggling.
Maybe leaving his decision to a toddler wasn't the wisest move Sebastian had made, but he couldn't wait for Ciel to appear and take the decision of his hands or babysit Harry. So, he had to step in as one hell of a butler and one hell of a babysitter.
There was nothing else to do.