Warning: Papa!Cross so major OOC. Plus mentions of self-harm

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Shayla POV

"Hey, Adam, where are we going?" I ask my fiancé as we walk in to the Black Ark.

"We are meeting with a powerful man to discuss a contract between our two sides," the man replied, still holding on to my hand. He puts on his outer shell, which makes him look like a fat clown. "Please shift into your Noah form, for now."

"Oh, ok. Will I be meeting the rest of the family?" I do as he asks.

"Yes, of course. You will be meeting with them first. How does that sound?"

"It sounds delightful! I can't wait to meet them!" I cry out, excitement evident in my voice. I was still a little nervous, and I think he sensed it because he gave my hand a squeeze.

We walk up to a door and he stops in front of it. His never ending smile widening even more to comfort my nervousness. I give him a warm smile back. He pushes the door open and was immediately tackled by a young girl. If memories serve me correct, that should be Road.

"Millenie~! Welcome back! I've been missing you! Lero's been missing you too, even though he won't-," Road started but suddenly stopped noting my presence. "Who's this?"

"Hi, my name's Shayla. I'm the new Wrath. It's a pleasure to meet you. Road, right?" I question, my right hand out for a proper greeting. She smiles at me and takes my hand.

"Yup! That's me. I'm the Ninth Disciple, Noah of Dreams. When did you awaken?" she interrogated me, her eyes narrowing at my uniform.

"Now, now Road. There's no need to be suspicious of Shayla. She just awoke last night. She's very special, so be nice to her," commanded Adam with a slight hint of danger in his voice.

"Does she go to the school you are teaching at, Earl?" inquired a man with long black hair with blue tints in it. He wore a monocle over his right eye. I believe his name is Sheryl. He sat at the table with three other people and a cat, whom I knew was Lulubell. Two of the three had punk-rock outfits on, with extravagant make-up adorning their faces. One had shoulder length blonde hair and his mouth stitched up, and the other had short, messy black hair. I think that's Jasdevi. The last one was a boy about my age with white, unruly hair that was being supported by a long scarf that covered his forehead. I don't know who he is.

"Yes, she does," replied Adam, taking a seat at the head of the table. "Please sit next to me, Shayla."

"Sure thing, Adam," I comply as I take a seat on his right.

"The boy with the white hair is named Wisely. He is the Fifth Disciple and the Noah of Wisdom."

"Yo," the now dubbed Wisely playfully said. I nod at him in acknowledgment

Suddenly I feel someone probing my mind. I look around the room to see if I could find the source. I heard a chuckle coming from the white haired boy. I glare at him and he just smiles at me.

"I would appreciate if you didn't look in to my mind, Wisely," I snarl at him. He just gives me a wide smile.

"It's not my fault. I subconsciously do it, plus you're new, so I am a little curious. It looks like you and the Earl had some fun last night~," he sang, a mischievous glint in his eye. I could feel my face flush with embarrassment. I glance at Adam and instead of a smile on his face he was frowning and glaring at Wisely, effectively shutting him up.

"Shayla, you got to play with Millenie? No far! What did you guys do?" questioned Road, a naïve look in her eye and a wide grin set on her face.

"We-we um," I stuttered out, sinking in my seat and trying to hide under the table to avoid everyone's gaze.

"Road, do you remember that girl I told you about a couple months ago?" quizzed the Earl. He took my arm and stopped me from sinking under the table further. He pulled me up and pats me on my head.

"Yeah I do, what about- oh. OH!" Road exclaimed, giggling loudly for all to hear. My face flushes more.

"Oh no…" I mumble, trying to burry my head in my arms.

"Please, don't leave us in the dark. What's going on, Master Earl?" asked Lulubell, changing in to her Noah form.

"I wanted to discuss this later, but I guess there's no way around it. Shayla is my fiancé," explained Adam, petting my dark hair. I heard a glass hit the ground and shatter. I take my chances and take a look at their reactions. Lulubell and Sheryl's eyes were wide with shock. The twins were quietly laughing to themselves.

"That's got to be a joke! The Earl, engaged! That's just hilarious!" Devitt bellowed out, no longer able to contain his laughter.

"He he~ hilarious!" cried Jasdero. I could feel the air around us become cold, and I glanced at Adam. He was livid to say the least.

I decided to intervene before things got out of hand. I took Adam's hand in to my right hand and I held up my left hand, showing off the ring. "It was an arranged marriage brought up by my family. We've been engaged for three months now. At first I was a little skeptical, but I've grown very fond of Adam," I expounded to the group. I kissed Adam's cheek, making him calm down a little.

We sat in silence, not one of us making a sound. A few minutes pass and we heard the door open. "It's exceptionally quiet in here. What happened?" questioned the man. He comes around and I notice that it's Tyki, along with some man I've never seen before [1]. He was bald, his skin a shockingly ice blue, no nose, and he had black robes on. He glanced at my uniform and a smirk appeared on his face.

"I didn't know you had a Hogwarts student amongst your ranks. It's glad to see a fellow Slytherin at the table. What year are you?" he hissed out his question.

My eyes narrow at this snake looking man. He could only be one man: Voldemort. I pick up my knife from the table and play with it. "I'm a fifth year. I just became apart of the Noah family last night, but I've known the Earl here for a couple months…" I trail off dangerously. I didn't like this one bit. This man has tried killing my friends one too many times.

"Please, have a seat here. Dinner will be out shortly," voiced Adam, waving to the empty seat across from me. Great. "First things first, what is your goal?"

"I want to take over the world and destroy anyone that gets in my way. I have some followers, but I wouldn't mind having you on my side. Your creatures are most interesting. They make it hard for other wizards to destroy, which would be perfect," Voldemort stated cooly.

"One problem, Voldemort. There are Exorcists at the school. Road, Jasdevi, and Tyki, you've heard of these people. It's General Cross Marian, Allen Walker, and Lavi Bookman," I commented, glancing at Road when her eyes lit up and she jumped out of her seat.

"Allen's there?! Why didn't you tell me, Millenie?" demanded Road.

"Road, please, sit back down," Adam commanded. The girl sat down with a pout. "Thank you. I feel like there is something else you aren't telling us, am I right?"

"Yes, there are a couple pests that need to be taken care of. They ruined my plans one too many times. They have their leader, Dumbledore and his little army. The one I'm most concerned is Harry Potter. He needs to di-," he started, but he was cut off when my knife just barely grazed his head. His eyes were wide, but soon narrowed at me.

"Whoops, my hand must have slipped," I said coldly. I could feel the stares on me. I growl. "I'm going to eat in the kitchen." I forcefully get out of my chair, and stomp my way to the kitchen, which I don't know where it is.

"What the hell was that about?" I heard Voldemort hiss.

"Shayla is a very close friend to Mr. Potter. She does not get along with other Slytherin's accept for one boy. She gets along great with the Gryfin-," the door I slam shut cuts off Adam's explanation from reaching my ears. I wandered around the halls for a while until I find an Akuma maid and it leads me to the kitchen. I order it to make me some pasta Alfred, and it quickly gets to it.

A doll that looked like Road waddles up to me and says, "Hey, Shayla. Millenie's worried about you. Do you want to talk about it?"

I sigh, pick her up, set her on the counter, and tell her, "Harry has been my friend since I was 12. When all the other Slytherin's rejected me, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were there for me after they saw me getting bullied by a group of my housemates who decided to gang up on me one day. They saw my head of house there and that he was doing nothing about it so they decided to intervene. I can't betray them. I can't, I really can't. They've been so nice to me over the years, and so accepting. I don't want to loose them." I could feel the tears pooling over in my eyes and dripping down my face. I felt Road's doll hand pat my arm trying to bring comfort to me. I give her a sad smile.

"Contrary to what the Order believes we don't want the destruction of the world. That was the God's wish at first, but when the Three Days of Darkness happened, He decided never to do it again. We want to take over the world and bring a new power to light. We want everyone to live comfortably. Everyone having jobs and lower crime rates. Yes, we may get a little sadistic at times, but it's just how we were made [2]," Road explained to me, making me feel a little better.

"I know. I can feel the Will of Noah wanting to help the humans. I want to help my friends. They're really nice people, Road. You should meet them sometime." I turn toward her doll form, and she "boops" my nose. I frown and wiggle my nose, making her giggle.

"Don't worry, Shayla. We will help the humans. The Snake-man is gone, and we aren't going to form an alliance with him. Millenie was really mad after he left because that guy upset you so much. He started blowing up some buildings in the Ark even!" The doll giggled at my frightened expression. "But don't worry, he'll build them back up. He says you can stay in the Ark tonight, and that he's going to try and work. I'll show you to your room."

The doll hopped off the counter and started to the door. "But what about my dinner?" I asked, watching the Akuma maid with a little sadness in my voice.

"We'll have it bring your food to your room. There's a table you can eat at. I'll stay with you to keep you company, if you'd like," Road suggested, glancing back from the doorway.

"That would be wonderful," I beamed at her.

-/-/-/-/Time Skip To the Next Morning -/-/-/-/

As I walked down the corridor, I made sure my uniform wasn't wrinkled and was proper for once. With a yawn I walked in to the Great Hall. I see Hermione, Ron, and Harry sitting at the Gryfindor table already so I quickly walk over and sit with them. "Hey guys," I greeted them with a smile on my face.

"You feeling better today, Shayla?" questioned Hermione, hope in her eyes.
"Much, thank you, Hermione!"

"Good to hear mate. We thought you were going to turn in to a Zombie after yesterday!" exclaimed Ron, earning a laugh from Harry and myself.

"Ronald!" cried Hermione, hitting the younger boy.

"What was that for? I was only telling the truth!"

"It's fine Hermione. I'm sorry for scaring you guys. I just wasn't having a good day yesterday," I stated. When I saw Hermione start to open her mouth, I continued, "And no, I'm not ready to talk about it yet. I will soon though, don't worry."

All of a sudden we heard a muffled yell came from outside the Great Hall. We looked at each other, and we got up to go to the door. We reach the corridor, but we didn't see anyone. We heard it again and decided to follow it. We made it to where the noises were coming from and heard a voice yell, "You take back what you said yesterday!"

"Is that Lavi?" Harry whispered to us. We nodded our heads to concur the belief.

"Why should I? She's a blood traitor and a whore. She says she's engaged to that barmy Divinations Professor, but I am pretty sure she whores herself out to the other male professors to get her grades," hisses another voice. I recognize it as the sixth year from yesterday. I clench my fists that were in my pockets and grit my teeth. My friends's eyes widen with shock. Now they understood what happened yesterday.

"Why else would she dress like that if she didn't want to get attention from us men?" questioned another voice. Was that Theodore Nott? "You should understand our feelings, right? Tell me you've never imagined having her under you with her moa-." A slap cut off what he was going to say.

"No. I haven't. I have more respect for women than you do, apparently. She dresses that way because it's what she feels confident with! She loves fashion. She wanted to be a fashion designer when she got older, but you idiots brought her self-esteem down so much that she believes that she's worthless! She's afraid to tell her friends because she doesn't want to worry them." I felt the tears drip down my face. I feel their eyes burning in to me. I couldn't move. I felt something move in my pockets and grip my hand, stroking it. I guess Road snuck in with me to see the school. "You have no respect for others. How do you even call yourselves human? Now leave. I don't want you to talk badly about Shayla ever again. Do you understand?" There was a silent response. "Good."

The door opened and two Slytherin teens rush out, they halt once they see us. Anger seethed from them, and they pushed passed us roughly. I still couldn't move. I felt my friends hesitate, but soon come over to me. Hermione hugs me, and Harry and Ron pat my back.

"Shit," uttered Lavi who was coming out of the now unoccupied room. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Everything after, "Take back what you said yesterday", Lavi," replied Harry, anger in his voice. "I knew the Slytherins were low, but this… This has gone too far."

"Shayla, are you going to be alright?" questioned Hermione, trying to read my face.

"I'll be fine," I whispered. That seemed to break me out of my immobility, and I shrugged out of Hermione's hug and walked away swiftly. I heard them yell my name, but Lavi held them back, saying that I needed time to cool off.

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I found an abandoned hallway, collapsed on to a bench and bawled my eyes out. Road came out after checking to see if the coast was clear, and tried giving me a hug. I pulled her close to me, trying to nuzzle in to her.

"Shayla, are you really going to be ok?" she questioned hesitantly.

"I'll be fine after a while…" I trail off.

We sat in silence for a while before I started singing:

I tried to kill the pain,

But only brought more.

(So much more)

I may die,

And pouring:

Crimson regret and betrayl

I'm dying!

Praying!

Bleeding!

And Screaming.

Am I too lost to be saved?

Am I too lost?

My God, my tourniquet,

Return to me salvation.

My God, my tourniquet,

Return to me salvation…

My wounds cry for the grave.

My soul cries for deliverance.

Will I be denied?

Christ!

Tourniquet

My suicide…

"That was beautiful, Shayla… Did that help release the pain?" asked a worried Road.

"Yeah, just a little. Thanks for letting me cuddle with you, Road," I reply, giving her a small smile.

"Anytime! I think an Exorcist is coming. I'll make sure those two Slytherin idiots will pay for what they did, don't worry, Shayla," she whispered, so that no one except me would hear.

I chuckled softly, my tears still falling. She falls limp in my hands, meaning she was no longer in control of the doll.

I heard the almost inaudible tapping of shoes as they walked down the hallway. I try and stop my tears from flowing. I scrub at my face with my sleeve to get the evidence off my face. I look up as the feet stop in front of me. It was Professor Cross.

"What's the problem, girl? A pretty thing like you shouldn't be crying. You want to tell me what's wrong?" inquired the red haired man. He sits done next to me on the bench, not too close to touch [3], but not too far away that I couldn't feel his body heat. I shake my head, not trusting my voice. "Are you sure? I've been told I can be a great listener." He leans back on the bench. He pulls out a cigarette from his pocket and lights it.

"Can I- can I have one?" I asked softly, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye.

"You sure [4]?" He looked at me with curiosity glinting in his visible eye.

"Yeah, I've been smoking since I was 13. It calms me down…" I turn to look the other way so he wouldn't see my blush that is betraying me. I heard him rustling around for a second then I see an unlit cigarette in his hand. I take the stick and he hands me his matchbook. "Thank you sir."

I light it up and he chuckles at me. "Don't call me sir, makes me feel old." I nodded. We sit in a comfortable silence, not one of us bothering to speak. We finish our smokes and he waves his wand to get rid of the butts. "Now that you've calmed down a little, why don't we start talking?"

I nervously glance down at the doll that I hold in my hands then back at the professor, unsure of how to start. "Hav-have you heard any rumors about me in the last couple of days?"

"I heard the one about you and my Idiot Apprentice. Is that what you're upset about?" he pushes for an answer. I nodded my head, not looking at him in the eye. "There's no need to worry about that. The kid will have it resolved in no time. Lavi told me about what happened yesterday. And I mean all of it." I shrink away from his gaze, knowing exactly what he was hinting at.

"Well, this morning, Lavi dragged two of the Slytherin students in to an empty class room and he was trying to stick up for me. The Slytherins said I was a blood traitor and a whore. They dared to mock my relationship with Adam!" I rage, feeling anger bubble in me, but I pull myself back. "I may have only known the man for only three months, but it feels like I've known him for years…" I play with the dolls hair, distracting myself from the tears that threaten me once more.

"People don't understand true love if they have never experienced it before," explained Cross. "Now, why would they call you a blood traitor?"

"It's because I am nice to everyone regardless of status and hang out with Gryfindors, mostly Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Hermione was born in a muggle household with no affiliation to the Wizarding world other than herself. Harry because he doesn't get along with the Slytherins. Ron can be an arse sometimes, and he hates all other Slytherins besides Allen and myself."

"I see. I'm going to take you to my office real quick. It's just around the corner. You can trust me, I'm not going to hurt you," he told me as he stood up. He held his hand out to me to help me up from my spot. I grabbed it and we walked, like a father and daughter. My dad had never walked with me like this before. He says that showing public affection is not right. This felt… nice.

He opens his classroom door and leads me to the back where his office was. He closed the door behind us. He lent against the front of his desk and looked at me as if he were waiting for me to do something. "Well, there's no reason for you to stand there. Have a seat," he commands me. I quickly take a seat in front of the tall man. "Show me where you did it."

I feel panic filling me, my eyes widening. I never like talking about it. I could talk about anything but that. "Shayla, calm down. I only want to see how bad you did it. I'm not going to tell anyone. I should, though. But, I don't want to loose your trust."

I place the doll on the seat next to me, shakily take off my robe, and roll up my sleeves and hike up my skirt. I see him looking at me with concern. I unravel the bandages and place them next to the doll. He gets up and takes my arm to inspect it. He fingers graze over it to feel the severity, noticing the ones on my left arm are the worst.

"You're lucky you didn't cut anything important," he commented. "But, I do want you to answer one thing."

"What is it?" I whisper, worry swirling around in my stomach.

"Why didn't you use the Noah's regenerative ability to heal your wounds?" he demands, his eyes still soft.

"What are you talking about?" I inquire shakily, my voice breaking at the question.

"Did you really think I wouldn't be able to feel your awakening? Noah release a powerful presence when first awoken. You're not very good at concealing the Noah's presence either. Plus, the Road doll was a huge give away," he deadpanned.

"Are you- are you going to kill me?" I nervously ask. I could see myself visibly shake, new tears streaming down my face.

"Nonsense. I know what the Order feeds us Exorcists is a bunch of bullshit served on a silver platter. Neah and Mana used to be very good friends of mine, and they would never lie to me. I've met the other Noah before, and if it weren't for this stupid war, I would have been friends with them. Especially that Tyki fellow. Great guy, knows how to have fun. Neah betrayed you all because he was being controlled by an independent Innocence named Apocryphos. I'm honestly worried the same thing will happen to my Idiot Apprentice." I gaze at him with appreciation and relief. "Oh, don't give me that look. I won't tell the boys your secret. Don't worry about Adam either, I'll keep his little secret safe as well."

"Thank you so much, Professor! I don't know how I could ever repay you!" I cried hugging him tight. He releases a chuckle at my childish antics.

"Don't worry, I'll collect payment. Plus, you still haven't answered my question," he slyly states, making my freeze.

"Oh, uh, yeah. That. Well… I honestly love the feeling of a sharp object pulling across my skin. I love the pain. It just feels so good… I knew if I let the Noah heal me, I wouldn't be able to feel that sweet bliss of pain and nothingness. And I honestly love to look upon the scars…" I trail off, a giddy feeling rising inside of me.

"Whoa there, no need to get all excited. It was just a simple question."
"Right, sorry." I rub the back of my head sheepishly.

"Now, off to class with you. I don't want to talk to any of the staff today, telling me I took one of their prized students or something like that." I put my uniform back together properly and am about to leave when he puts a hand on my shoulder. "At least take Road with you. I don't want her causing a ruckus in my office. I get that enough from two idiots."

"I'm so sorry! Do you want me to take the bandages as well? I don't think I need them anymore," I declared, grabbing Road from the chair. He just simply waves his wand and the bandages disappear.

"Problem solved. And if you ever need anything, you have the idiot duo, your friends, Adam, and me to turn to. Just remember that, ok?" I give him a wide smile and rush out of the office to my first class of the day. Hopefully I'm not too late for Transfiguration…

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A/N: That was a long, long chapter. I am glad to have written this. Major OOC if you haven't noticed. The song is "Tourniquet" by Evanesce. I promise I'll get working on the next chapter for "Noah of All" I just had this one started already. I was excited.

[1] Harry, in this story, has never told his friends what Voldemort looks like.

[2] In this story I made it so where the Earl and his family weren't the bad guys, because I love them haha. They're so quirky.

[3] Too Close to Touch is a band and they are freaking awesome, 10/10 would recommend

[4] In 1996 the legal smoking age is 16, so Cross isn't too concerned about it.