Of Wizards, Akuma, and Exorcist

Thirty-Five: Valentine Red and Blues

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!

Despite the fact that many unfortunate events had plagued the community, Hogwarts School proceeded with its everyday schedule without much change. However, the Exorcists, who weren't at all affected by any of those minor changes, felt the desperation of the situation at full force.

There were ten Death Eaters on the loose, which meant that their enemies, the Millennium Earl and Lord Voldemort, were at an advantage. They knew that Kanda was often away on missions, usually coming back with a broken rib or two that healed quickly. Although, after a while, Komui muttered something about leftover lives and stopped sending Kanda out of the castle (much to the samurai's irritation). Lenalee had also informed them that Rubeus Hagrid was on probation, and there were several armloads of rumors going around that the escaped prisoners were hiding out near Hogsmeade Village, in a battered unused place called the Shrieking Shack, but upon researching, there was nothing.

If there was any desperate need to say something changed greatly at the castle, everyone would quickly glance at the toady woman who marched down the hallway with an annoying air of authority. Dolores Umbridge had, during the year, passed many decrees, and just the other day, another one of them- Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six-had been passed. After the mass breakout, it was as if the woman was more determined than ever to stretch the fingers of her control to every crevice of the school. Conversations about her and the Ministry buzzed around everywhere.

But among and apart from those dark thoughts, there was also the very-hard-to-ignore tension among the female students.

Allen let out a deep sigh and glanced at the calendar by his bed.

It was February 14.

Dear. Gods.

He could hear Lavi's voice in his head.

Come February the fourteenth and you'll wish you could hide in a broom cupboard all day.

But he wouldn't have time to hide in a broom cupboard.

He had a mission. Thinking back on the meeting with Komui, Allen let out another deep sigh.

It was five days ago, and although Allen was glad Komui trusted him a lot, he still had to say that this mission was unnecessary. The conversation taken place over a pile of papers still rang clear in his head...

"Bodyguard?"

"You'll do it, won't you?" Komui begged, clasping his hands as if in a prayer and staring at him with watery puppy eyes, which wasn't as revolting as some may imagine it to be. In Allen's case, it may just be that he was used to it, but...

"Why?" he asked. "Lenalee doesn't-"

"Because it's Valentine's Day and I'm still trapped in the castle finishing up work!" Komui snapped as if that made all the sense in the world.

"Komui, I still say Lenalee won't need any guarding..."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Because..."

"Hmmm?"

Because I think Lenalee has enough responsibility to choose who she likes or not...

"No, I'll do it..."

Komui's beaming face was so pure, Allen wondered why his happiness had to be caused by something so ridiculous.

But, alas, he had agreed to do it, and it wasn't like he minded it much. He didn't find himself bothered about going to Hogsmeade with Lenalee, not that Valentine's had much to do with it. He had lived fifteen years without knowing about it. Why change that now? No, he was just surprised and a bit proud that Komui gave him permission to be out in town with his dear beloved sister.

Alone...

Not on a mission.

Well, he was, but he was sure it wouldn't be like any of the other ones...

It was a good feeling...

Not that he had any extremely special feelings for Lenalee. He didn't, and even if he did, he doubted Komui would allow that...

But Lenalee was cute...

But...

Well...

Gods.

"The curse of Valentine's is getting to my head," Allen groaned, hitting his head multiple times on the pillar he was leaning against until a voice said,

"What are you doing, Allen?"

Opening his eyes, Allen saw Lenalee and Lavi standing before with looks of utmost confusion. Of course, why not? It surely isn't everyday one meets another banging his head on a stone pillar.

"Er...hi," he said awkwardly.

"Where are they?" Lenalee asked excitedly. Allen shrugged and looked around at the line of students near them. They were nowhere to be seen. He then glanced at Lenalee, whose hair was (surprisingly) let loose to cascade down her back. She wasn't wearing her black Exorcist jacket for once, and looked nice in the thick knitted sweater she was wearing. He also noted that she wasn't wearing that very short skirt (which he knew some of the male Hogwarts students liked), and was instead wearing a pair of pants. By the look of her outfit, she had borrowed it from someone, most likely Hermione. Not that he minded, of course, since he too was wearing one of Harry's borrowed outfits.

What confused him, although, were the pair of glasses sitting on Lenalee's nose. It was probably more for fashionable reasons, but since he didn't understand anything about apparels, he didn't ask. He didn't bother to question her reasoning when she slammed a hat over his hair and his own pair of glasses onto his nose, nearly poking him in the eye.

"Who're you looking for?" Lavi asked, tugging on the collar of Fred Weasley's sweatshirt. "And Lenalee, why are you putting a disguise on Allen? Ow- hey, what are you doing- don't mess with the hair!"

"Ooh! There they are!" Lenalee gasped, ignoring Lavi's protests and looking away from the now effectively unrecognizable boy. Allen craned his neck.

They were there.

Harry and Cho were standing off by the oak doors, smiling rather idiotically at each other. The two stood in line for a few minutes, then disappeared down the street, followed by a disguised and excited Lenalee, followed by a slightly less excited Allen and a thoroughly confused Lavi.

"What," he said, "in the bloody world are you two doing?"

"...Stalking Harry and Cho?" Allen asked hopefully.

"He really bothers me though," Lenalee sighed exasperately. "He and Ron are so-so, I don't know. Slow when it comes to things like this."

"So you're stalking him," Lavi stated more than asked.

"I'm just keeping an eye on things."

"And what are you doing, Allen?"

"Uh..-"

Surely he couldn't tell anyone about his mission.

"Things," Allen said.

"Things."

"Yes, things."

They followed Harry and Cho in silence for a while, staying back enough to make it seem as if they weren't following them, just going down the same path. After a while, however, it began to rain.

"Aw, crud," Lavi groaned.

"Look, they're going in to that store," Lenalee pointed out.

"Oh, I know that store," Allen muttered, rolling his eyes. "Madam Puddifoot's. Ginny once told me about it."

"From the looks of its laciness, I'd bet it's decorated for Valentine's Day," Lavi said. "Let's just go in."

"But won't it look strange if there's a threesome in a store like that?" Lenalee asked.

"Nah, it could be a couple and a guy waiting for his date-" Lavi suggested.

"Why are you suddenly so serious about this thing?" Allen cut in.

"It's interesting and fun!"

"...Let's just go in. Come on, Allen, Lavi-"

And thus they almost stumbled into the cozy coffee shop, and because Allen was the one she was dragging along, Lenalee forced him into a seat and sat down across from him, Lavi sitting down at the table next to them. Harry and Cho were sitting a few feet away, awkwardly, of course, especially compared to that Ravenclaw Quidditch player and his girlfriend.

"What can I get you, m'dears?" asked a stout, black haired woman, squeezing between tables to get to Allen and Lenalee.

"Er..." Allen said. "Two coffees, please. You're alright with coffee, Lenalee?"

"Sure," Lenalee said, but it seemed that she was still distracted. Catching each other's eye, both Lavi and Allen suppressed a sigh.

The woman, Madam Puddifoot, glanced at Lavi. "What about you, dear? Where is your sweetie?"

Looking very taken aback, Lavi blinked up at her. "Oh," he said after a moment. "Oh, um, we're meeting up here. I think she's a bit late, she said something about finishing up homework before coming up. She's, uh, er, really serious about studying..."

"Very nice," Allen whispered to him as Madam Puddifoot left for Harry and Cho's table. "That was very smooth, Lavi."

"Hey, I may be pretty popular but I've never had a lover thanks to Panda face," Lavi shrugged. "I couldn't really think of anything..."

Allen laughed a bit and watched Harry and Cho. Beside the two, the Ravenclaw Quidditch player Roger Davies and his girlfriend had begun kissing each other, and he also noticed that Harry looked nervous. Very nervous.

"This is very boring," Lavi complained after a few minutes, but Lenalee shushed them. "What are they talking about?"

"I don't know-"

"Most likely Umbridge," Allen said with a roll of his eyes. "What else would get those two- get anyone- to look so gleeful?"

"When a date goes really well?" Lavi suggested.

"Still-"

"Shh!"

Harry was speaking on another subject.

"Er...listen," he said to Cho, "d'you want to come with me to the Three Broomsticks at lunchtime? I'm meeting Hermione Granger there."

"Huh?" Lavi squeaked.

"You're meeting Hermione Granger? Today?" Cho asked Harry.

"Yeah. Well, she asked me to, so I thought I would. D'you want to come with me?" Harry replied. "She said it wouldn't matter if you did."

"Oh...well...that was nice of her," Cho said coolly.

Silence fell between the them, and Lenalee was looking vivid.

"How could he just do that to her?" she whispered angrily.

"He's going out with Cho and Hermione?" Lavi gasped.

Allen suppressed another roll of his eyes. "It's not a date," he told them both as he sipped his coffee. "She'd just had to talk to him about things. Things like the Ministry and"- he lowered his voice- "things about the Order and the truth of things. Like when Voldemort came back, for one. She told me about it the other day-"

"I thought, I thought you'd u-u-understand!" Cho's voice suddenly cried, and the three Exorcists snapped their heads up to see Cho sobbing at the table. Apparently, Harry and she had resumed their conversation again- and things weren't going well at all.

"I need to talk about it!" Cho continued through tears. "Surely you n-need to talk about it t-too! I mean, you saw it happen, d-didn't you?"

"Well-I have talked about it," Harry said quietly to her, "to Ron and Hermione, but-"

"Oh, you'll talk to Hermione Granger! But you won't talk to me! P-perhaps it would be best if we just...just p-paid and you went and met up with Hermione G-Granger, like you obviously want to!"

"Cho?"

"Go on, leave! I don't know why you asked me out in the first place if you're going to make arrangements to meet other girls right after me...How many are you meeting after Hermione?"

"Oh," Lavi and Allen said in unison.

"Jealousy?" Lenalee said with a sigh. "Gods..."

"It's not like that!" Harry said, and he chuckled.

Cho glared at him fiercely. "I'll see you around, Harry," she said and dashed out of the shop, sobbing, into the waterfall of a rainstorm.

"Cho!" Harry called, but she was already gone. Silence fell in the shop, and Harry slammed a Galleon down on the table before he followed her out the door.

Lavi gave a low whistle. Lenalee, said, with a dark look, "Let's go." After Lavi tossed a couple coins onto the confetti covered table, the three of them left, just to be drenched by the downpour.

Hello Readers,

First off, before I hope you all enjoyed the story (although I just already did), I am really sorry for taking- what?- 10 days or so to update. I just finished a book report and I have to admit, this is a pretty boring and short chapter, but I still hope you enjoyed it.