A/N: Another chapter! I think this is the last completely pre-written one... Ah, well. I can manage just as well writing as I go. That's what I normally do anyway. *shrug*

Title: A History of Innocence

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None at present

Genre: Drama/Mystery

Warnings: Modern AU for D. Gray-man

Summary: In the Wizarding World, Innocence isn't as obvious, nor as earth-shaking as it is in the Muggle World. Still, when it does appear, it has a strong, long-lasting influence, something Allen discovers when he goes there to ward off akuma and search for Innocence.

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man

"Ah, would this be the young Mr. Walker?"

Allen let the door swing shut behind him as his eyes took in the other occupants of the room.

Komui stood beside a tall old man, straight and proud and as if it was taking every bit of his self-control. The old man – Dumbledore, Allen recalled – was the one who had spoken, looking at him with benevolent interest.

The third occupant, though, surprised him.

"Yep, that's the beansprout," Lavi confirmed happily. "Hey, Allen!"

Allen tilted his head slightly, confusion reflected in his eyes. "Lavi? What are you doing here?"

"Turns out I'm going with you," Lavi explained, casually nodding at his suitcase, which sat at the foot of Komui's desk. "'Cause Link can't, you know, and Central still doesn't trust you. And Bookman wants me to watch some kid called Harry Potter while I'm there. He's in the year above you, actually."

"Mister Lavi will teach a remedial History of Magic course," Dumbledore elaborated, a merry twinkle in his blue eyes. "As our own professor has found themselves to be, ah, unable to pass a sufficient portion of the student populace."

"More like a second class, really," Lavi put in with a grin.

Dumbledore conceded the point with a smile.

"Well!" Komui clapped his hands together, ruining the dignified air he'd had. "I think that's enough stalling for today, yes?"

"Yes, I believe so," Dumbledore agreed easily, smiling at Komui. "Very well. Mr. Lavi, Mr. Walker, if you would…" He held out a hand expectantly.

Lavi bent to pick up his suitcase and put his hand inside Dumbledore's without hesitation, and Allen, suitcase held in his gloved right hand, followed seconds later with his left. Dumbledore looked down at it with a hint of surprise.

"Ah! Gloves!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "Why, I should have thought of that!"

For a moment, confusion flashed across Allen's eyes, but realization quickly followed and he looked down.

Dumbledore's other hand laid idly at his side, shriveled and black. Allen blinked and looked up at him inquisitively.

"Just an old man's foolish mistake, my dear boy," Dumbledore said apologetically, smiling sadly. "Nothing at all like your own marvelous appendage, I'm afraid. Now, then… Brace yourself."

With just that warning, Dumbledore twisted in place, and in the next moment, Allen felt like he was being squeezed through an unbearably tight tube, he couldn't see, his hearing was stifled by the rush of wind in his ears, and he tried to move but couldn't. His eyes opened wide and his mouth gaped open to gasp for air, he couldn't see, but Lavi wouldn't be able to tell, what if, what if-

The pressure released abruptly, and Allen swayed in place, air rushing into his lungs as he gasped it in, hand releasing Dumbledore's and suitcase falling to the ground. His gaze, frantic with an abrupt, irrational fear, skittered across their surroundings. After a moment, the breath escaped his lungs again, and he let his gaze drift back to Lavi and Dumbledore.

Lavi, too, had let go of Dumbledore's hand, and was currently taking deep breaths, looking like he was trying not to throw up. His hands were thrown out as if to keep his balance, suitcase lying at his feet, and his gaze, like Allen's just moments before, was warily scanning the empty street.

One green eye met Allen's silver pair with a silent question, and Allen replied with a small smile and a nod. Lavi relaxed, almost imperceptibly, and regained his balance, bending to reclaim his suitcase a moment later.

"If you two are quite satisfied with the safety of Hogsmeade," Dumbledore began, sounding, not mocking, as other may have, but honest, "we can now proceed to Hogwarts. Unless I'm much mistaken, breakfast will be beginning soon, and that will be the ideal opportunity to introduce you."

"Right," Allen agreed, uneasy.

"We'll take a little detour to my office to Sort you," he continued, smiling at the two of them as they started walking. "It's merely a formality for Mr. Lavi, of course, as he will have his own quarters."

"So who knows about us, anyway?" Lavi inserted, gesturing to himself and Allen, both clad in robes, but with the Rose Cross emblem pinned to the chest.

"The professors are aware of your true purpose here," Dumbledore answered, "as is the Order of the Phoenix, an organization I founded to combat Voldemort. However, to everyone else, you are simply transfers from an unorthodox school known as the Rose Cross Academy." He nodded to the emblems on their robes.

Allen nodded in acknowledgement, looking ahead of them thoughtfully. Right. The Rose Cross Academy was one of the Black Order's many cover stories for exorcists who needed to get into places without being suspicious. Generally, it was a cover for exorcists 'doing research for a project', but the cover story of a school for unusual forms of magic would work just as well here. It even helped explain his lack of knowledge, if his specialty laid in other areas.

Lavi dipped his head as well and flashed Dumbledore a grin. "Got it."

"Here we are," Dumbledore said suddenly, coming to a halt in front of a tall gate. "Open!"

His command rang through the early morning air, and, slowly, the huge iron gates before them creaked open, granting the trio admission into Hogwarts.

"My office," Dumbledore explained twenty minutes later, rather unnecessarily, Allen thought, gesturing to the room in which they now stood.

It was among the strangest places Allen had ever been in, and that was a list that included Road's dream world. Sleeping portraits lined the walls, and trinkets the bookshelves – some whirring, others spinning, and a few spitting out puffs of colored smoke. A bird, magnificent and regal, perched off to one side, looking at them with curious, beady black eyes. Allen looked back, just as curiously, and neither broke their stare until Dumbledore spoke again, making Allen look over to him.

"If one of you will sit on that stool there," he indicated a short, lonely-looking stool off to one side, "we may begin."

Lavi and Allen exchanged a brief glance before Allen approached the stool and sat down hesitantly.

Moments later, Dumbledore set a tattered hat on his head. For a moment, Allen waited. He didn't have to wait long, though; within moments, a voice in his head made him start violently.

Well, you're just a special case all around, aren't you?

I guess, Allen replied hesitantly. This poking around in his head made him uncomfortable. He had too many things hidden in there that were better left tucked away.

Now, let's see… Loyalty is among your most dominant traits, and your work ethic would do you well in Hufflepuff. However, your occasional, ah, darker moments might frighten them.

Let's not do that, Allen thought hastily.

Quite right. Those darker tendencies, though… You have quite a few of them, do you not? You can be quite the troublemaker when you choose, and you have a façade that you wear almost as a routine. You lie quite well and manipulate even better. And what's this?

The next moment, something quite strange happened. The Sorting Hat's voice seemed to fade away, growing distant, and another voice joined it.

Now, who are you? the Hat asked.

Someone best left alone, Hat. The voice was familiar, in a way, and an image flashed through his mind, of a face much like his, but older, with blue-black hair instead of white and gray skin instead of pale.

Allen felt a chill run down his spine, and he knew, with a strange sort of instinct he didn't know he had, that this was him. This was Neah Walker, the 14th.

Neah Walker was inside his mind.

He didn't let the revelation show on his face, though he knew the shock would shine in his eyes, and he dropped his head slightly, looking down.

The Sorting Hat confirmed his suspicions. Ah… Neah Walker, is it? Now that's not a mind I see every day. A Noah. Its voice trailed off into a thoughtful hum. A shudder ripped through Allen and his fingers clenched around the sides of the stool.

"Allen?" Lavi asked slowly, a little worried. Allen glanced up at him and shook his head quickly, eyes a little wider than he'd like.

If you're quite done waking me, Hat, I suggest you leave. Neah sounded irritated, almost sleepy, like someone woken up too early.

Very well, the Hat conceded. I'm not here to Sort you, anyway. I'm here to Sort Mr. Allen Walker. Its voice grew stronger again as it emerged, leaving Allen more disturbed than before. Even so, Slytherin may well be a good fit for you, Mr. Walker.

If you think so, Allen muttered numbly.

Ah, yes, you were unaware of him, weren't you? The Hat sounded slightly regretful here. I suppose I must apologize for that. Slytherin may not be the best, anyway, because rising above all of that are other traits, traits that define the life you chose for yourself, rather than the hand you were dealt. So to speak, of course. Your personal ethical code, your courage, and your stubborn determination to save whoever you can will serve you best in…

"Gryffindor!"

Lavi clapped as Allen smiled, relaxing slightly, as natural as if it were real. Dumbledore picked up the hat with a smile of his own.

"Now for you, my boy," Dumbledore said to Lavi, who nodded and took Allen's place on the stool, leaning back casually as the hat was placed on his head.

Allen leaned against one of the steadier bookshelves, looking up at the ceiling. With the attention off him, he let his expression fall into a pensive look, worry filling his silver-gray eyes, touched with fear, more than he'd like to admit.

Now that his attention had been drawn to it, he could feel the Noah's presence, dark and heavy in the back of his mind, watching, listening. How long had it been there? How long had Neah Walker been a part of his mind?

I'm not a part of your mind, Neah informed him, making Allen's eyes widen and his hand jerk slightly. I'm just. You know. In it.

That's just as bad, Allen thought crossly, paling slightly.

Look… Neah gave the impression of an exasperated sigh. Now really isn't the time for this. We can talk later, when this chaos you insist on inflicting upon yourself is over for the day.

I'll hold you to that, Allen thought, one fist clenching in unconscious fear. He did not want a Noah in his mind. He didn't even really want to talk about it, but… they would have to. For him to know.

If the Sorting Hat had not found Neah, how long would it have taken him to find out?

"Ravenclaw!"

The call made him jump, but it also forced him to return to Earth, eyes landing on a grinning Lavi, who stood and swept off the hat. As he returned it to its place on the shelf, Dumbledore clapped heartily.

"Wonderful!" the man exclaimed, beaming. "Truly wonderful!"

Allen smiled shakily, eyes flickering between two broad grins. Of course, he was the only one privy to the cataclysm that had racked his mind.

Stop being dramatic, Neah complained.

I'm trying to keep it to myself, Neah, stop making it hard! Allen snapped, with a little more force than intended. Neah fell silent. Allen brooded on the ease with which he'd accepted Neah's voice in his mind for as long as he felt himself able, which was a few seconds, and then took a deep breath and wrapped his smile around him like a veil, relaxing into a deceptively casual stance.

"What now?" he asked the headmaster.

"Now, we introduce you to the school," Dumbledore answered, eyes twinkling. As if nothing had happened. Allen felt shaken. He smiled. Nervously. That, he figured, could be excused at this point. Panic could not. He hoped Lavi didn't notice. "Then I will find myself a pair of those most excellent gloves. They really would be quite nice."

Yeah, okay, want to know something interesting? That... that Neah thing, wasn't supposed to happen. No, really. Neah had no place in my original plot. So I'll have to juggle that around some to make it work, but it'll be alright, I think a few things work a bit better. *shrug* Allen has a lot of acting to do until he can be alone. *chuckle* So he's finally at Hogwarts and I hope you liked this chapter. Please review!