A/N: Hi! So this is the promised Link/Allen HP AU. I hate Hogwarts AUs, by the way, so I can't believe I'm writing this. *laugh* It's also directly related to Manners of Control, which serves as a large portion of Allen's backstory. It will be explained again within this, however, so you don't have to read it to understand what's going on.

Title: Murmured Magic Words

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: Link/Allen

Genre: Friendship/Romance

Warnings: Hogwarts AU (for DGM)

Summary: In Allen's fourth year, two things happen. One, the Triwizard Tournament. And two, Link becomes Professor Snape's apprentice. Only one of these things directly affects Allen.

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man. Or Harry Potter.

One good thing about having no one to see you off, it was always easy to find a compartment.

Allen boarded the train with his trunk and found a compartment not far from the door, lifting it onto the rack before he took a seat by the window.

Kanda would be on first, he figured, and then probably Lavi, and Lenalee last of all, because it was just that hard to get Komui to stop crying long enough for her to board.

Allen smiled at the window.

Allen's house (well known thanks to the distinctness of his, ah, features) would keep most of the people away while he waited for Kanda, and then Kanda's reputation would keep out anyone else who might try, which meant Lavi and Lenalee could join them.

Allen didn't have a problem with people, of course - unlike most of his housemates, he enjoyed socializing with the other houses, mostly because he could charm them into forgetting that he was a Slytherin - but he had to admit, he always preferred to spend the ride to Hogwarts with his friends. (That first train ride had been utterly miserable until Lavi found him.)

Sure enough, Kanda stormed in a few minutes later, practically throwing his trunk onto the rack and plonking himself down opposite Allen, scowling at him in challenge. Allen raised an eyebrow back, concealing the twitch of amusement at the corner of his mouth.

"Rough time?" he asked the seventh-year Gryffindor sardonically.

"The fucking old man would not let go," Kanda growled irritably, tossing his ponytail over his shoulder. "It's fucking humiliating. I'm not a goddamn first year anymore!"

"He's going to miss you when you move out," Allen chuckled. Kanda rolled his eyes.

"He's gonna send me Howlers," Kanda complained. "Friendly Howlers. That I'll have to open if I don't want my goddamn house burned down." He considered. "I could just let the house burn down."

"Don't let the house burn down," Allen advised.

"Shut the fuck up. What do you know?" Kanda rolled his eyes and also looked out the window.

"I know that you would bitterly regret it if you let your house burn down," Allen snorted, copying both motions. There was Komui, crying all over an exasperated Lenalee. In this crowd, they didn't even draw a second glance. "It doesn't take a Ravenclaw to figure that out." He glanced briefly at Kanda, smirking. "Just a Gryffindor to forget it."

"Shut the fuck up," Kanda repeated grumpily.

"What are you two arguing about this time?" Lavi wondered, sliding the door open and closed in almost less time than it took him to get inside. He tossed his trunk up and plopped beside Kanda, raising his eyebrows, mouth stretched in an amused smirk.

"Kanda's being a reckless idiot," Allen said tartly, while Kanda snapped,

"The beansprout's trying to tell me how to live my life."

"Please be a little less stereotypical," Lavi requested, and then studied both of them, snorted, and corrected, "Then again, I'm not sure that's possible."

Allen smiled at him innocently and Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Looking forward to your seventh year?" Allen asked Lavi, who grinned and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Am I ever!" he grinned. "One more year of boring easy classes, and then I can finally get my mastery in History!"

"Mastery in History," Kanda muttered scathingly.

"Don't knock it," Lavi objected, crossing his legs with another smirk. "History is great, thanks."

Lavi was such a Ravenclaw, Allen couldn't even begin to explain.

Allen was just starting to worry that Lenalee was going to miss the train when she finally appeared, breathless and with exasperation still lingering on her features.

"Sorry I'm late, my brother-"

"We could see you from here," Allen interrupted with a small, comforting smile. Lenalee sighed, put up her trunk, and sat beside him, shaking her head despairingly.

"I'll never understand him, I really won't."

Allen laughed.

Seeing his friends again was always his favorite thing about returning to Hogwarts.

"You're in for it this year, Lenalady," Lavi grinned, lacing his fingers behind his head. "OWLs. Teachers are gonna give you hell."

"Oh, I know," Lenalee said ruefully. "Brother wouldn't stop fretting about it."

"Your brother doesn't stop fretting about anything," Kanda muttered.

The train started to move then, and Allen smiled again, briefly, glancing out the window to the first-year parents waving tearfully at the train.

"By the way, Gramps told me that something real interesting was gonna happen this year." Lavi's smile had faded only slightly, but the serious look in his eyes was unmistakeable, even with the glimmer of excitement that accompanied it.

Lenalee frowned. "Did he say what?"

Lavi shrugged. "Not really; said he didn't want to corrupt the record, or whatever."

"Bookman stuff, then," Allen concluded, smile gone.

"Yeah," Lavi agreed, and then his smile, too, faded, as he glanced at Allen. "And, Allen - you heard about what happened at the World Cup, right?"

Allen's gaze flicked to the ground. "...Yeah."

Lenalee's smile faded, too, and Kanda's gaze turned stormy.

"I was really worried when I heard about that," Lenalee admitted, concerned eyes on him. "Are you-"

"I'm fine," Allen interrupted, lifting his gaze to smile at her. "Most of the Death Eaters are still in Azkaban, so it's fine." His smile faded. "You're the one who should be worried. You're a Muggleborn." Loyalty to Voldemort wasn't necessary for a threat to her, just the sentiment; two years ago had been bad enough.

Lenalee grimaced. "I think Brother is doing enough worrying for both of us," she replied, but it wasn't convincing. Kanda growled softly, but it was Lavi who deliberately derailed the conversation, voice cheerful.

"So! What crazy shit do you think Harry Potter'll get up to this year?"

Kanda rolled his eyes, and Lenalee laughed.

"It's not his fault," Allen protested, but there was laughter in his voice, too, and that was enough to launch the conversation into speculation on anything and everything that could possibly befall their friendly neighborhood bad luck charm.

Even in the rush to escape the rain, Allen paused by the carriages to pat the thestral reassuringly.

"You'll be able to get to the forest soon," he told the beast. "At least you don't have fur or feathers, you can't get that wet." He shook his head roughly, and his sodden hair moved hardly at all. The thestral nudged its head into his hand mournfully.

"Get your ass in here, beansprout!" Kanda snapped from inside the carriage. "God, you always do this."

Allen scowled and straightened up, glowering at Kanda even as he climbed in. "Just because you like to ignore the thestrals doesn't mean I have to be an uncivilized arse," he muttered scathingly.

"Hey, hey," Lavi protested, waving his hands. "Save it for the hallways, won't you?"

"It's useless, they can't hold it in or they'll explode," Lenalee said with a small, rueful smile.

"Hey!" Allen protested.

The four of them went quiet as the castle approached, and Allen smiled warmly. (Hogwarts was his home in a way that no one place had ever been before.)

Lenalee leaned forward slightly, eying the large doors thoughtfully.

"We'll be soaked all over again by the time we get in there," she sighed.

"I know a drying charm," Lavi offered instantly. "It'd suck to have to sit through the feast soaking wet."

Kanda grunted. "Well, wait 'til we're inside. And don't use it on me, I can dry my own damn self and I don't trust you."

Lavi grinned. "Why, Yuu, I'm hurt!"

"Don't call me that!"

Lenalee blocked Kanda from being able to reach Lavi to strangle him and smiled. "That would be wonderful, Lavi, thank you."

"Anything for a pretty lady, Lena!" Lavi said cheerfully, and then, to Allen, "You're on your own, sorry, buddy. I don't swing that way."

Allen tilted his head and smiled, and Lavi felt chills run down his back.

"You wouldn't deny a good friend a simple charm, would you, Lavi?" Allen asked sweetly, with wide, innocent eyes and a sugary smile.

"No!" Lavi said hastily, waving his hands again frantically. "No, not at all, don't be silly! We're friends, right? Right?"

"Of course," Allen agreed easily, and Lavi let out a sigh of relief.

"You're scary," he muttered crankily. Lenalee laughed at him. Lavi felt that she did not properly appreciate the hazards of Black Allen.

Kanda did, though, because despite how much shit he talked about Allen, he spent more time fighting him than anyone else, and he knew better than anyone what kind of person he was; he was eying Allen suspiciously and surreptitiously scooting away.

The carriage finally rumbled to a halt, and Allen glanced at Kanda, who looked at Lavi, who nudged Lenalee.

At the same time, all of them hopped out of the carriage and ran up the steps and through the doors. Lavi may or may not have tried to trip Kanda, and Kanda may or may not have tried to punch him for it.

They were greeted with, "PEEVES! Peeves, come down here at ONCE!"

Lavi cackled and pointed at McGonagall, who was running full-tilt out of the Great Hall, only to slip on the wet floor and catch herself around Hermione Granger's neck.

"Oh dear," Lenalee murmured, hiding a smile. "That looks like it hurt." Hermione was rubbing her throat gingerly, eyes still carefully on Peeves.

A water balloon sailed toward them, and Kanda's wand was out in an instant. The balloon burst under his Diffindo (Allen swore up and down Kanda was going to kill someone with that thing one day) and water sprayed everywhere, making the balloon somewhat redundant. Kanda bit out an annoyed curse.

"Peeves, get down here NOW!" snapped McGonagall, ignoring the byplay admirably despite having been caught in the spray of water.

"Not doing nothing!" Peeves cackled, throwing another water bomb. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!"

"I'll kill him," Kanda snarled. "I swear I'll kill him."

"Hey, cool it, Yuu," Lavi protested, holding his hands up. "It's just some harmless fun! Drying charms? Remember?"

Kanda scowled at him.

"I shall call the headmaster!" threatened McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves-"

Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the remaining water bombs, and fled while everyone scattered away from them.

"Well, move along, then!" McGonagall told the lingering students sharply. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"

"You'd think she'd be more used to dealing with pranksters," Allen commented, chuckling quietly. Lenalee smiled ruefully.

"Mostly she's just fed up with them," she admitted. "It doesn't help that she secretly likes them, when they're not too disruptive."

The boys stared at her.

"What," Kanda said flatly.

"Come on!" Lenalee said to Lavi instead of bothering with a reply. She shook her wet robes pointedly. "You promised me dry clothes."

"So I did," Lavi agreed cheerfully. He took his wand out with a flourish and flicked it at Lenalee, who almost instantly sighed in relief. When Allen cleared his throat pointedly, he hastily did the same for him, and then himself.

"Show-off," Kanda muttered, drying himself off with a slower version of the charm.

"Hey, I offered," Lavi protested, smirking nonetheless.

In the Great Hall, they split up to their different House tables - Kanda and Lenalee to Gryffindor, Lavi to Ravenclaw, and Allen to Slytherin, where he sat by Theodore Nott, who, while not particularly friendly, was at least not antagonistic. (Being of unknown blood status may put you above the average Muggleborn in the eyes of blood purists, but it certainly didn't endear you to them.)

The Sorting began, and Allen obediently clapped for each new student, smiling slightly. Still, it had been a long train ride, and he was hungry, so when Dumbledore finally said the words "Tuck in!" he was nothing less than relieved.

"Slob," Nott muttered, the first word he'd said since Allen had sat down.

"Hello to you too," Allen told him cheerfully, and continued to dig in; he'd missed the feast the previous year, and been very sad to have missed it. Nott rolled his eyes, but he didn't seem too bothered, either.

"So!" said Dumbledore, when at last the feast was over and even Allen was full. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include…"

Allen let his gaze wander as Dumbledore spoke, though he kept one ear on the proceedings.

The Defense teacher didn't seem to have arrived yet, he noted, but there was a new face at the staff table nonetheless - a blond boy who easily could've passed for a seventh year, sitting at one end of the table, keeping to himself. Something about him niggled at Allen familiarly, but he couldn't quite place him.

Allen's attention was drawn back to Dumbledore as he continued, "Some of you may have noticed an unusually young gentleman at the staff table. Howard Link, please stand, if you will."

The blond boy looked mortified, but he stood up nonetheless, fixing his gaze resolutely on the students before him. Dumbledore smiled.

"He is Professor Snape's apprentice this year, and will be acting as a teacher's assistant of sorts. He has the same authority as a Head Boy, so please be respectful and welcoming." He chuckled. "I know it must be hard to return for an eighth year here." He nodded at Howard, who sat down and then promptly pretended not to exist. Allen chuckled quietly; now he recognized the boy. He'd seen him around before.

Dumbledore continued. "It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year…"

And that's the first chapter! *smile* I hope it meets your approval - the first draft was a little rough, but this one's better. (Because now I know what the hell I'm talking about.) Thanks for reading, and please review!