Of Wizards, Akuma, and Exorcist

Thirty-Three: Father and Son

Disclaimers: 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!

Winter holidays ended with a flow of students returning to Hogwarts on carriages drawn by the supposedly invisible thestrals. At first, Allen had barely noticed it, but after seeing the appalled look on Kanda's face, being laughed at by Lavi, and being scolded by Lenalee, Allen swore not to space out and pay more attention to what was going on. Timcampy was also aiding him by poking him hard in the eye every other ten minutes.

Yet-

"Oh, Mr. Walker!" Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (otherwise known as Sir Nicholas and Nearly Headless Nick) exclaimed as he passed by Allen. "You'd like to watch out, you would. Peeves just barely squashed you with that vase just now- and he'll start singing soon-!"

"Ho?" Allen said, not having heard the ghost. Turning, he saw the smashed vase on the floor behind him and Peeves the Poltergeist taking a deep breath. "Oh...Langlock!"

Peeves immediately started making strange noises, as his tongue had just glued itself to the roof of his mouth. The trouble-loving ghost brandished an obsene hand gesture at Allen (although the boy didn't see it) and flew away, followed by a rather amused Sir Nicholas.

"Reparo," Allen muttered to the vase and lifted it back onto the pedestal it once stood on. Then, the boy returned to his cruising of the corridors.

Why was he so woolgathering, you may ask.

He wondered the same thing occasionally, when his mind wasn't preoccupied by the thoughts, which were the reasons he was so dreamy.

Why did he let it get to him so much, he thought.

It was only an eye-

A cursed eye.

It was only a curse-

And it never failed him before.

It had been malfunctioning for a while now-

But now it wasn't working at all, which had never happened before.

He might've damaged it somewhere-

Where?

During a mission-

What mission?

Oh yes, it bothered him. It bothered him a lot. It wouldn't leave his mind. It nagged him, day and night. He thought about it all the time. He could think on it for hours at a time. It drove him mad.

He couldn't believe it.

It shouldn't be possible.

Mana's curse had met its match.

The Millennium Earl had now found a way to render him powerless.

"Dammit," Allen growled, slamming his fist into the stone wall, feeling something in his hand crunch painfully. "Dammit," he repeated.

"Ho ho, Allen," an amused voice said behind him. "I never knew you were one to use such words."

Dammit, Allen thought with an inward groan. "Hi, Ginny," he said.

Ginny Weasley walked up to him with a smirk. "If you want to whine and complain you should," she told him teasingly. "But I suggest you don't punch the walls."

"Yeah," Allen replied vaguely, rubbing his abused hand.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong? Pshaw. Everything's fine-"

"Hm?"

"Er..."

"Well?" Ginny urged.

"Fine, you've caught me," Allen sighed.

"You are pretty obvious, and nobody goes around hitting stone walls for fun- or is that a hobby?"

"Very funny, Ginny..."

"I mean it, sometimes you and Lavi and that Kanda person are really hard to understand," Ginny stated.

"Hey! Please do not put me in the same category as-!"

"So what's up?"

"Uh?"

"What's got you so upset?"

"Oh, that's..."

It was then that Allen launched into his not-so-long story about Christmas night, about the Akuma attack, about his eye ceasing to discern Akuma souls. It was too late by the time he tried to stop himself, but he had also let slip about the worst of his fears.

"It's like Mana's left me," he told Ginny, a cold feeling pouring over him. "I don't know what's happening. There was a time before that I couldn't use my left eye, but that was because the eye itself was damaged. This time, though, my eye isn't injured, but it isn't working. What if Mana left? It feels as if I'd lost that one connection to him-"

"Connection?" Ginny cut in suddenly, giving Allen a strange look.

"Yes, a connection..."

"You call this a connection?" Ginny asked, rather harshly, swiping away Allen's bangs and glaring at his left eye. Her free hand poked the pentacle on his forehead and traveled down, tracing the old scar.

Allen didn't get it. He didn't have the time to. Ginny was too close for his comfort, and he felt a tingling in his toes as heat rose to his face.

The youngest Weasley backed away, not showing a sign of being flustered or embarrassed, and Allen hoped he wasn't humiliating himself. He self consciously coughed to clear his throat.

"I know enough about your eye to have an opinion about it," Ginny said. "To me it's one thing and one thing only, a curse. The truth is that your father, for whatever reason, took the liberty to give you that nasty scar and curse you with something so horrible that Lavi lost his appetite upon experiencing it. I don't know how you've dealt with anything like that, but I know that if my dad died and I turned him into an Akuma, he would never curse me-"

"It's because you're not compatible with the Innocence-"

"You said before that you don't know the reason your dad cursed you-"

Allen just groaned.

"Look," Ginny said, lightly hitting his back, a stern look in her eyes. "I don't know what the curse is to you and your dad, but it surely can't be the only thing that reminds you of him."

She shoved him, making him back up against the wall, and poked him hard in the chest. "Right here," she said, "is where Mana Walker really is. Not your eye, not your mind. Here."

"Where?"

"Your heart, your memories, the part of you that loves him," Ginny said impatiently. "He might not be your blood relative, but he accepted you and that hand of yours. Even I think that arm is sometimes revolting- and trust me, I have seen some very disgusting things even before coming to Hogwarts."

"But-"

"Mana won't ever leave you," Ginny said to Allen, jabbing her finger harder against his chest (painfully too.) "He's your dad, he loves you, and you know it. Loved ones never leave, understood? The only thing is that the curse isn't functioning the way it should- which would normally be a good thing, mind- and you're handicapped and panicked and you're thinking that your dad's soul hates you because you made him into an Akuma at one point. It's paranoia. I'd say you need a break."

"I don't-"

"I know, Allen. Ron and Harry and Fred and George and Lavi and Jordan Lee...how many witnesses do you think I've heard from? You haven't slept at all since you came back on Christmas day! Plus you've got so much luggage under your eyes you could run away with them and you're dazed almost all the time. I saw when Peeves almost killed you with that vase!"

"Ginny-"

"Oh no, don't tell me you have anything more to argue about-"

"No-"

"Allen-"

"Ginny, you're hurting me!" Allen said finally, grabbing her offending hand and pushing it away from him. "Please stop poking me. Alright, alright, I understand. I'm just worried about nothing, aren't I? I understand, okay...I'm fine now...fine."

Ginny would be thinking he was crazy, standing there, against the wall, gripping her wrist, head hanging, shoulders shaking. Laughing and crying at the same time. Glad? Relieved? Self-ridiculing? Appalled?

How did he feel now?

He was still uncertain, but suddenly he thought himself silly.

Of course Mana still loved him. He wouldn't leave. Mana was his father. He was Mana's son.

God.

He was so stupid.

"You can let go of my hand now, thank you," Ginny said not unkindly. "You should go talk to Lenalee and Lavi. They're worried crazy about you, I swear. They said they were almost afraid you would undersleep yourself to death, maybe walk off a cliff and not notice it because you're so tired."

"Really?" Allen asked, half laughing.

"Really," Ginny nodded. "Lenalee's brother, Komui, looked concerned too. Honestly, your curse is more trouble than its worth, I'm telling you."

"Yeah, it is," Allen said, putting a hand over his eye. "But I'm okay."

Ginny smiled at him and turned to the side, as if noticing something. Her smile just got wider as she said, "Perfect timing. They're here. Well, I'll be seeing you around, Allen." Adjusting her bag on her shoulder, she swung her bright red hair over her shoulder and walked away, replaced shortly by a worried and relived Lavi and Lenalee, who were giving Allen the weakest glares he'd ever seen.

"Hi," Allen and Lavi said, one sounding nervous while the other was questioning.

"Allen, you look horrible," Lenalee said.

Allen blanched. "Huh?"

"No, not in that way," Lenalee said quickly, shaking her head slightly.

"You look like you just came back from the dead!" Lavi teased good naturedly, poking Allen's forehead. "Pale, bags under eyes, stringy hair, wrinkled clothes, and you're skinnier than ever. I can't believe it- have you been skipping meals? The world must be coming to an-"

"Lavi," Lenalee and Allen said warningly.

"Sorry," Lavi said sheepishly. "You alright, though?" he added on a more serious note.

"Fine," Allen shrugged. "I got yelled at by Ginny just now. She's a very...sharp witted person."

"Her nails too," Lavi agreed. "I saw her poking you."

"It was more like stabbing-"

"What was troubling you?" Lenalee cut in.

"The curse, it's gone, but I'm okay now-"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"If you say so."

"When's the next D.A. meeting, by the way?" Allen asked, changing the subject as a partially satsified look fell on Lenalee's face.

"That? Harry hasn't picked one. He's supposedly got Remedial Potions-"

"He's got what?"

"Remedial-"

"It's just a cover," Lenalee interrupted Lavi. "He's taking Occlumency with Professor Snape. According to Komui, Professor Dumbledore thinks Voldemort might try to get into Harry's mind like Harry did the snake when he found Mr. Weasley. In order to prevent Legilimenscy, which is the name of the magic of getting into people's minds, he's taking Occulmency, which is the prevention of Legilimency. Although I also heard that there hasn't been much progress..."

"Well, I wouldn't expect much when it comes to Harry and Snape," Lavi commented. "That's like Allen and Yu."

"Kanda and anyone is like Harry and Snape," Allen corrected.

"Anyway, Lenalee and I were asked to gather up everyone and find Komui in Dumbledore's office," Lavi said. "Let's go now, shall we?"

Allen agreed, and he trailed after his friends as they began their way down the hall. He could feel something warm in him, past the painful bruise forming where Ginny had abused him with her sharp fingernails.

He could feel Mana.

Watching, smiling, loving.

Sorry for doubting you, Allen thought, Dad...

Hello readers,

It has been a while since I last updated, my apologies for that. (sigh) This chapter is, obviously, a filler. I thought I should add something original in between the continuous Harry Potter Book 5 storyline, so here it is. I hope you enjoyed it.