Of Wizards, Akuma, and Exorcists
Six: Exorcism
Disclaimer: I do not own any D. Gray-Man or Harry Potter characters/settings. They rightfully belong to Mr. Hoshino (D. Gray-Man) and Ms. Rowling (Harry Potter). Also, some conversations between the Harry Potter characters are direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and that also does not belong to me!
Fiddling with the wand Komui had handed him after breakfast, Lavi watched in slight amazement as the hawk he was supposed to be turning into a statue jumped into the air and dropped down as a leather handbag (the girls beside him giggled at that.)
Kanda, who had transfigured his hawk into a magnificent marble statue, peered at him in irritation. "You suck," he muttered.
"Well, thanks Yu," Lavi grumbled. "It's hard!"
"Cheh...you and Moyashi are so-" Kanda broke off, staring at something under his desk. Lavi blinked and raised his eyebrow.
"What's wrong, Yu?" he asked.
"Don't call me that. Isn't that Moyashi's golem?"
"Huh? Oh, you mean Timcampy? I don't know..." Lavi said, following Kanda's gaze. The golden ball peered up at him from beside the Japanese warrior's shoe, a crumpled piece of parchment clamped tightly in his mouth. "Hey, it is Tim! What're you doing here?" he hissed.
"Mr. Kanda, Lavi? May I help you?" called Professor McGonagall from the front of the room.
Lavi looked up and shook his head, smiling in what he hope was a convincing one. "No, Professor. I just dropped something and it's under Yu's foot. Come on, Yu, move your foot!" He ducked under the desk, scooped Timcampy off the floor, and sat up again.
McGonagall's lips were a thin line as she squinted suspiciously at Lavi, but she turned back to the rest of the class without a word. The rest of the class, who were all turned towards Lavi and Kanda, swirved around in their chairs to return to their transfiguring.
"So? What's that parchment in his mouth?" Kanda asked quietly.
"Let's look," Lavi replied, tugging at the paper. He unfolded it and read it silently before handig it to Kanda. "Okay, so any idea how to get ouf of here without causing much trouble?"
Kanda flicked his wand and his statue turned back into a hawk. "Turn yours back into a bird," he said shortly. When Lavi didn't respond, he shot the red haired boy a look and said, "Turn it back into a bird!"
"Oh, right."
The moment both hawks were back on their pedestals waiting to be turned into what they hoped to be a statue, Kanda flicked his wand and sparks shot out of it, hitting his own bird. The hawk screeched loudly and began to peck and bite at Lavi's, which screeched back, and soon enough, both birds were in the air, attacking each other. McGonagall and the rest of the class (including a shocked Lavi and a smirking Kanda) watched as the hawks flew out of the window and onto the grounds.
The classroom went silent.
"Whose...were those birds?" McGonagall asked.
Kanda glanced at Lavi, and the two Exorcists raised their hands. "They're ours, Professor," Lavi fibbed. "They started to fight all of a sudden."
The teacher looked shocked, as if she wanted the two boys out of her classroom- out of the school- this minute. "Well, I suggest you go fetch them before we lose them, shan't you two? Go, I want them back before the day ends," she ordered.
"Yes, Professor," Lavi bowed, and followed Kanda as they rushed out of the room. "Good going," he commented the moment they started running down the hall.
"Of course," Kanda replied monotonously.
"Kanda, Lavi!" a voice called.
"Huh?" The said two skidded to a halt in front of an open window and leaned out. On the grass outside they saw a white haired, coated figure standing with two female Hogwarts stuudents, Allen.
"What the heck is Moyashi doing?" Kanda almost yelled. "He tells out there's Akuma here, and what's he doing? Flirting with two witches!"
"But hey, they're cute," Lavi laughed, and he jumped out of the window. "Come on, Yu!" he called. "Only Allen knows who they really are." He heard Kanda groan, and the samurai was beside him in no time. They landed on the ground in unison, on either side of their fellow Exorcist. "Hey Allen, who're these cute girls here?"
The two girls, apparently from Hufflepuff, judging by their uniform, giggled. "Would you like to come with us?" one of them asked, fiddling with her long golden hair. "We could show you somewhere really wonderful..."
"Oh yes," said the other, smiling at Allen, "come with us, boys." She walked up to the boy and leaned her head on his shoulder as if nuzzling his neck (Lavi's mouth fell open, and he muttered something about Allen being popular, and Kanda's grip tightened around his treasured sword, Mugen). "We'll take you to a most wonderful place," the girl whispered.
Lavi saw Allen close his eyes and open them once more. Allen's left eye was activated, staring fixedly into empty space. "I'm sorry, ladies," the boy said calmly, showing no sign of teasing or playing, only seriousness and pity, "but I do not think that is possible. I'd rather have you go to heaven, please, and find peace instead of use your beauty to lure men to their death."
The girl flinched back from Allen, a disgusted look on her face. "How could you tell?" she seethed, her voice an ugly growl compared to her pretty face. A dark star appeared on her forehead as her arm started to morph in to a strange object. Her friend, too, was transforming into a monster as well.
"Level Twos, I see," Allen said. "Sorry to disappoint you, but Akumas cannot hide from me. This curse placed on me by my father allows me to see the souls of an Akuma."
"So you're that Walker boy the Lord Earl was speaking of," said the Akuma as both of them completely transformed into two ugly monsters. "Well, all the better. If we kill you, Lord Earl will give us a great reward!"
"Duck!" Lavi yelled as the Akuma aimed and fired bullets at them through the giant guns built into their bodies. The bullets hit the ground and pentacles- black stars that appeared wherever the virus from an Akuma's body attacked- soon covered the grass.
Allen jumped out of the way of another attack and hid himself in a tree. "We can't let the Akuma destroy the school or damage if too much!" he yelled at Kanda and Lavi. "We have to finish them off really fast, before anyone notices!"
"Roger," Lavi replied, grabbing the hammer strapped to his side, his anti-Akuma weapon, which is powered by an ancient substance called Innocence. "Big Hammer, Little Hammer...Grow, grow, grow!" The hammer grew to an imporssible size, and, that in hand, Lavi jumped high into the air and dived down towards the Akuma Kanda was fighting. "Heads up, Yu! Junior coming through with big-ass hammer!"
"Cheh," the samurai tsked and backed away in a leap as the future-bookman slammed down on the monster with his oversized hammer, destroying it. Kanda boredly looked over at the other Akuma, which was looking for Allen. As for the latter, Kanda had no interest in where he was. He was annoyed, although. "He tells us to hurry and he takes the longest to destroy the Akuma."
"Well, he's done now," Lavi said, pointing at the now screaming Akuma and Allen, who'd stabbed it with his left arm. There was a refreshed, satisfied look on the boy's face, although Kanda saw a shadow of self-doubt and sadness as well as pity in his gray eyes.
Allen yanked his anti-Akuma weapon out of the monster just as it crumbled to dust. He walked up to his fellow Exorcists and dusted off his coat, smiling. "They're gone," he said.
"Hmph," Kanda said. He turned on his heels and looked around; he whistled loudly, and the two hawks from Transfiguring class soared through the air towards him, perching on his arm swiftly. "Come on, Lavi. Get back to class. That McGonagall doesn't like us Exorcists roaming her school, apparently. Better if we hurry back."
"Hey, wait up!" Lavi called, running after Kanda as he walked off towards the castle. "Yu!"
"Don't call me Yu!"
Allen watched as his friend and 'enemy' disappeared through the front doors and, reminding himself that he wasn't required to return to Umbridge's at the moment due to his stomachache excuse, spun around in a circle and plopped down on the ground. He breathed in deep, let it all go, and stared up at the gray sky above.
"Oh yeah," he said to the clouds. "It was like this, wasn't it? The day Mana died...so cloudy, cold, and bitter."
His vision blurred. After all these years without his adoptive father, Mana, the man's death still affected him badly. In this foreign, lonely world, it was especially hard on Allen. The boy rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes, submitting to the sudden fatigue and sleepiness that flowed over his body and soul like a warm blanket.
By the time Allen woke up and scurried into the castle, it was dinner. The Great Hall was filled with dining students, and Allen hurried towards an empty space at the Gryffindor table. He reached for the nearest plate of salad, and at the same time, so did a little girl.
"Oh," they both said, "sorry, here, go ahead. You take it."
Allen and the girl stared at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing. The latter, a petite, red haired (Another one? Allen wondered) lass with freckles across her nose and lively, cheerful eyes. She wiped tears out of them and smiled warmly. "I'm Ginny Weasley. You're Allen Walker, right?" she asked.
Allen nodded. "I guess a lot of people at thie school know my name...expect Professor Umbridge," he said.
Ginny grimaced, sticking out her tongue in disgust. "I don't like her much. She's, well, I don't know how to put it..."
"Annoying?" Allen suggested. "I have a ton to say about her: obnoxious, irritating, unloveable, froggy, toady-wait that meant the same thing-and annoying," he listed.
"Wow, you must not like her at all," Ginny said, handing Allen the plate of salad. "You're in fifth year, aren't you?"
"Yes- why?"
"I'm just wondering. You're in the same house as I am, and you're in the same year as my brother. You know Ron, don't you? He's my brother."
Allen raised an eyebrow, his fork and several pieces of lettuce sticking out of his mouth. "Willy?"
"Pardon?"
Allen gulped. "Really? Well, I guess he never told me his last name."
Ginny smiled again. "I have three brothers here: Ron, Fred, and George. Fred and George've been hanging out with that Lavi boy a lot lately. I also noticed that Lee Jordan (that's Fred and George's other good friend) has taken a liking in Lavi too. I'm afraid of what would happen to this school, although I'm sure Hermione will keep those four from going over the line," she said, then paused. She flushed suddenly and covered her mouth in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I was rambling, wasn't I?"
"No, it's alright. I like hearing you talk," Allen assured, and the girls across the table from him squealed. "What? Huh..." the boy wondered.
The Weasley girl's face became a deeper shade of red, more than ever. "Um, thank you," she muttered. "Oh! What's that?"
The Exorcist boy turned his confused gaze form the still squealing girls to Ginny, who was staring in the general direction over the top of Severus Snape's head, where something shimering and glittering was buzzing around. Allen squinted to see it more clearly, and when he did, he gasped, "Timcampy," and jumped to his feet. The tiny golem, spotting his master, immediately shot towards him. "Oh shoot, people'll stare," Allen muttered, and said to a random brunnette, "Hey, could you pass that plate, please? Yes, that one. Thank you." Timcampy safely flew into his hood just as the boy sat down with a plate of fresh fruits.
"When we're done eating, would you like to help me find my way back to the Gryffindor Tower?" Allen asked Ginny. "I still learning my way around because all I've been doing was following Harry and the others around."
"Oh, sure," Ginny answered, smiling widely. "Not to worry, Allen!"
It didn't take a while before Allen to finish eating, surprisingly, for he did feel bad to keep the young girl waiting. Despite the slight growling of his stomach, the Exorcist and the witch walked back to their common room together. Unfortunately enough, they had to meet up with Draco Malfoy in the corridors.
"Ha! Weasley's sister's taken a liking in the new creep, I see," the Slytherin taunted. "Why don't you go find yourself a closet, hmm?"
"Shut it, Malfoy!" spat Ginny angrily. "Go away!"
" 'Go away!' " Malfoy imitated. "You should find other ways if you want me to go away, you blood traitor. Is your brother Weasle still hanging with that mudblood? They do make a wonderful, lovely couple, don't they?"
"Why, you," Ginny said in a low voice through gritted teeth. "You'll be regretting those-"
"Don't Ginny," Allen said, stopping the girl with his arm. "I'll do it. I don't want girls being so violent, especially since I know Lenalee," he smiled. Turning to the boy named Malfoy, his soft expression turned into one of cold indifference. "I do not enjoy hearing people say bad things about the people I know. I won't hit you, but how's this? I'll challenge you to a game of poker." Allen took out a deck of cards from his pocket. "If I win, you owe Ginny an apology as well as permission for me to swat you away like a fly."
"If you lose?"
"If I lose, you couls taunt Ginny all you want and I wouldn't do a thing about it."
The red haired girl looked shocked. "What? Allen, how could you-?"
"Don't worry, Ginny. Three years of gambling and I haven't lost once these couple of years. And besides, I just can't lose because my life depends on it, mostly," Allen said.
Author's note:
Now, Allen can't be good all the time, could he? And I never like Malfoy, so it's about time he pays back for all the times he's gotten on Harry, Ron, and Hermione's nerves!