I was writing my other story and somehow ended up writing this and some others ideas that came up out of a sudden. I don't make any promises for update schedule. I'll keep writing and posting, if that happens to coincide with my sort of schedule for my other stories, great.
Secrets lurked in the darkness, that's what people think and they couldn't be farther from the truth. Secrets creep around everywhere, you just had to pay attention and you might learn more than you bargained for, you know like that old saying "curiosity killed the cat" and all of that. They let themselves be deceived by menial things such as a reputation, image, and respectability. In such a place as Privet Drive; secrets prowled in the darkness, yes. But they couldn't be buried. This is a case that could've been avoided if people just listened.
Lord Phantomhive himself appeared out of shadows and materialized in the living room of number 4. Why? A soul. A demon could sense them; this soul stirred his curiosity and he had no reason not to go and research. He had eternity to do everything he wanted after all.
When you had money, power and all the time in the world you grew bored and frustrated easily.
A desperate soul that couldn't quite reach out to him properly for whatever reason, he felt it… the slight pull was almost nonexistent and he felt it entirely by chance when Sebastian drove past this neighborhood.
The house was silent and judging by the pictures in the mantelpiece of the kitchen… well. Humans, a housewife with a giraffe neck and a walrus of a husband. And their son looked like a pink meatball. Right.
Whose misery attracted a demon? The presence was fading.
Appearing in front of this soul Ciel wanted to level everything (habitants included) to the ground and torment his residents to hell and back without pause. Eternity of doom sounded light in comparison, darkness threatened to overcome his conscious mind leaving a rabid beast of a demon behind; you see this demon gentleman was human once. A scared little child tormented by a group of misguided, deranged, self-entitled and egotistical men and women with too much money and poor baseless ambitions. To face such cruelty in such a quaint and innocuous little place, really he shouldn't be surprised, humans were monsters. They had more capacity for evil than demons themselves. This couldn't be described.
A toddler.
Abandoned and starved, the little thing was dying because of it.
The child was covered in a crust of filth. His bony cheek was pressed against an equally filthy mattress, he had a diaper on and nothing else. This toddler had summoned him?
It couldn't exactly give its consent to form contract. Right?
There was something about this toddler…
Time was of essence. The demon picked the little bundle scrunching up his nose and gingerly holding him against his chest… he didn't know if his clothes might survive the ordeal, but this tiny flame had to be saved. It shined with promise even at deaths door.
…
If a supernatural entity such as himself could ever be bored, this was definitely it.
Normally, any human being might will have its hands full with the household maintenance alone, Sebastian Michaellis, otherwise known as the perfect butler was bored out of his immortal mind. He had brightened and polished the silverware, the porcelain, changed the drapes, washed all the linen, dusted every book in the library, cleaned every inch of the manor inside and out, cleaned and rearranged the gardens… he even started dinner and kept it warm for his master.
His days were filled with menial tasks that were easier than back in the day when he first came into service. Modern appliances made work easier for humans, but for him… he missed some of the good old day's wholesome housework.
He needed more things to do. There was only so much he could do for his not so young master. He was barely needed as it was, and he only accompanied his master everywhere for the sake of appearances and nothing else. The other demon could handle himself without help and he had just vanished from the car while they were driving back home…
What he didn't expect was the full smell that assaulted his senses. And the fading aura he could barely register.
Of all things Sebastian could conjure up in his mind to kill his boredom, this wasn't a likely scenario. His master holding a dying toddler covered in filth.
A magical toddler.
_ Sebastian. We´re keeping him. - that was everything and, really, his master didn't need to be more expressive to be understood.
That meant save and care for it.
He really didn't have experience with toddlers… ah well. He was bored out of his immortal mind and now he had something to focus on at least for now.
_ Yes, my lord.
…
They decided against taking the most recent member of the household to a hospital. At least, not one in the city. So they ran at devil speed until they reached the outskirts of the city, a small hospital with serious need of more budget that might be persuaded for what they needed.
The nurses in the emergency room burst of their chairs when they laid eyes on the child that entered with a toddler in arms. They looked like they dragged themselves out of a grave. Covered in dirt from head to toe, the toddler didn't even look alive.
They rushed the children to the attention area of the ER and frantically fought against time to save the toddler. All the while the other laid motionless on the bed. The doctors attributed it to trauma and didn't ask anything else. They had their hands full with the toddler.
In the highway there was a recorded accident, a noble family had died when their car exploded. It made the newspapers. Apparently they had been murdered by a business associate that wanted complete control over the family company, Funtom Toys.
The Phanthomhives. Such a shame that a young marriage died leaving behind their children. Luckily for the little ones, their butler survived.
Nothing worthy of special attention made if to the newspapers since they were a noble family and the actual administrator of the fortune and the tutor of the children pressed to have the article printed without pictures of the kids, just of the wrecked car in the highway.
Sebastian Michaelis, that's the name of the man. And all records of the children mysteriously disappeared after that night. Everything seemed to perfect and convenient, right?
Well, if he couldn't pull this off. Them, he wouldn't be an efficient butler for his master, right?
…
Privet Drive was a thriving neighborhood; the key word being was. Nowadays it was known as the neighborhood that caused insanity. Or were those nutty Dursleys lived.
Suddenly it started to have a bad reputation, it was rumored by those who lived there from a long time ago that the residents of Number 4 had lost their minds because they associated with the wrong sort. No one was sure of when it started, but they all agreed that the first one was Petunia Dursley. She screamed as if she was being ripped apart the first time, out of a sudden. When the police arrived she was rambling about monsters and… dead babies coming for her to take revenge. She was deemed insane and ended up in a government facility, her husband divorced her immediately.
He married again and kept their child, Dudley. The newest Mrs. Dursley was markedly younger than her husband and was interested in spending money and not so much on the household or her neighbors lives. Beverly Dursley was the only one unaffected by whatever happened at the house.
Vernon Dursley started to lose weight and had bags under his eye, he was no longer that large arrogant man, no. he seemed scared of his own shadow and his wife, Beverly, often said that her husband was somehow paranoid. As if someone or something followed him.
Poor Verny as she referred to him, ended up rambling nonsense and declared insane as well. His wife was left a pretty penny and… she let him in an asylum, divorced him and set a trust for Dudley´s care, shipping him off to Vernon´s sister, Marge. Everyone agreed that the poor lad could've ended up worse, at least his stepmother didn't leave him broke.
And that was the end of the Dursley household.
…
Far from bored, Sebastian had his hands full from the very first day and he wouldn't have it any other way. You see. He had researched about their newest addition to the household. They knew his real name and everything there was to be known about him. No wonder he was so special, he was known all throughout magical Britain as the savior, The Chosen One. This was no ordinary toddler, although it was difficult to think he was special when all he did was droll over the place.
Ciel had his desk full of newspapers, past editions of the Daily Prophet. He was reading everything about The Potters. This had the potential of making it into a big mess if Ciel walked in the middle of this cluster fuck unaware. He was the Queen´s Watchdog.
Besides the newspapers he had a notepad. Some names were written on it. He wasn't surprised that somehow the last name Potter turned out to be influential and well respected even if they weren't nearly as rich as the other pureblooded families. The name "Sirius Black" was in the middle of one page and Ciel was interested on it. You see. It resonated with him. It was a secret only known to him and his butler, but he really felt the connection and something about this whole business didn't sit well with him.
Sirius the dog star. Harry Potter had a godfather named Sirius Black and he was imprisoned. Sirius Black was the only suitable tutor for an orphaned baby Harry. And if newspapers were to be believed, after Sirius imprisonment, Albus Dumbledore took it upon himself to place Harry with his muggle family and subject him to their mercy. If those disgusting people ever knew mercy.
They weren't even fit to have their souls devoured. And they got away lightly for what they truly deserved. Ciel wanted something fitting, but he really didn't want to draw the attention of someone who could be troublesome, not before having his cards ready.
A happy squeal distracted the lord of the manor of his musings. Innocent green eyes were fixed on him. Such expressive eyes.
With a sight, Ciel rose up from his chair and picked the toddler, minding his strength. Harry made himself comfortable in the arms of his "big" brother and slowly drifted off to sleep. The baby only drifted off when he was being held close to someone, even demons with their slightly colder temperature will suffice.
Harry was such a gentle baby, he hardly ever cried. Ever curious and testing his surroundings, he could play for hours with anything he got in his grabby hands, it was painful to imagine what he went through, he was used to be left alone for long periods of time even when he had a dirty diaper it was the demons nose and nothing else what let them know he needed a change. He was still recovering from months of neglect. Being abandoned in that cupboard, Harry feared been left alone for long periods of time and even if he feared it and loathed it he never cried. and he loved being held in someone´s arms.
In records, he was Cyril Phanthomhive.
And Ciel intended to keep it that way. He really didn't get anything for helping this child. But he couldn't just leave him there. And, who knows? Maybe when he grew up, he might turn out to be a hell of an ally. For now, he had to be protected. He already knew the names of the other players in the board.
The key names were Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore and… Voldemort, the followers of this Voldemort were something to watch out for. All of them had money and connections, the ones that escaped jail might definitely pose a threat to Harry.
He didn't do things halfway; he took responsibility the moment he decided to pick up the dying toddler. But if asked, he really didn't envision himself being a father, being turned into an immortal being… he really couldn't age and look his years. He was forever frozen in his 12 years old self. Maintaining another form taxed him dearly and he really didn't want to consume souls if he could help it. The hassle of getting rid of the corpse and covering his tracks…
As time progressed supernatural beings had it difficult to hide.
Harry Potter sat on a playpen at the corner of the office, surrounded by Funtom toys. Strangely enough, the little tyke had taken a fancy to his bitter rabbit. He chewed and drooled all over the poor plushy and his demonic caretakers went to painful stretches to always kept it clean. He never lacked anything, he didn't even need to cry. He just had to look at either of the demons and he immediately got what he wanted! Being picked up, cuddled, feed, cleaned, or just getting a playmate for a short while. Even so, Harry missed his mommy and everyone else.
And he really didn't like those sad lights that lurked in the mansion.
They followed the blue boy everywhere. Six little lights that played with him and were nice. But they were sad! The blue boy couldn't see them and Harry could. They were his friends and they helped him when the bad man came back. The bad man that made mommy go bye-bye.
…
Something about Harry´s scar rubbed Ciel the wrong way. Sebastian just found out about the Potters and the whole war between the Order of the Fenix and Voldemort´s group. This whole business about a magic community living and hiding amongst normal people still blew his mind. He was the nobleman designated by the Queen to deal with the supernatural and he was pissed that they had managed to conceal themselves from him. He didn't take well to this kind of scenario. First he needed to secure his cards to protect Harry from anyone that might want to get their hands on him. And he also needed information about his possible allies, friends and foes in this whole affair.
But that darned scar was the first order of business.
