Hello! I see you all enjoyed yourselves? Obviously, if you are reading the third chapter. Or so I would hope... Well, I hope you enjoy yourself further!

DISCLAIMER: *cough* *cough* Take pity on a sick woman. *cough* Oh, all right. I don't own anything, I just like to play with everything.

"Man this train is loaded!" Lavi exclaimed as they searched for an empty compartment to no avail. Each one was filled to max capacity with students of different ages. The emptiest compartment they came across had only three students. Two of them had been with the family they saw before. One with messy black hair and glasses that had been broken one too many times, he didn't seem to be related to the family though. The other had the vibrant red hair like the rest of the family had had and a smattering of freckles across his face. Seated on the other side of them was a mousy girl with bushy brown hair and she was talking seriously to the other two. They all seemed to be a couple years younger than Allen.

The Exorcists advanced slowly. "Um, Hiya, everywhere else is full, so could we sit wit cha?" Allen asked in a heavily accented, but polite, tone. He didn't want to be mean and them refuse, there were no other places to resort to.

"Sure." The black haired boy replied. He seemed worn out, and his eyes suggested that he had seen far more than a boy his age should see, he also had bags under his eyes suggesting that he hadn't slept that night. The students rearranged and moved their bags to make room for the guests. They now all sat on one side while Lavi and Allen moved to the other side.

"Willy Martila, nice ta meet ya." Lavi held out his hand to the students, leaning forward with a friendly smile. "This is my friend Luck Trovatelli." Lavi jerked his other thumb towards Allen, who nodded pleasantly. One of the boys took Lavi's hand. "Harry Potter, nice to meet you." Lavi smiled and shook it. The boy let go, surprised, as if people usually reacted in a different way, he seemed to shake it off. The boy's smile deepened as he leaned back in his seat.

Lavi moved his hand towards the girl, his smile growing crooked. She took it saying, "Hermione Granger." Lavi wriggled his eyebrows suggestively as he shook her hand. The girl giggled and relinquished his hold, she was starting to blush.

The other boy instantly turned grumpy, he ignored Lavi's hand and just threw out a mumbled "Ron Weasly," as he turned to look out the window.

"Um, hey, Willy." Allen turned to Lavi after giving a few mindless platitudes. "Ya got any food on ya?"

Lavi laughed. "The boss starvin' ya?" He laughed harder when Allen nodded solemnly.

Lavi pulled out a few sandwiches, all seemed tiny in Allen's hungry eyes. Allen groaned. "Any more?" He pleaded, there could always be a slight chance that Lavi had a few more stashed somewhere.

"Naw, couldn't fit anymore." Allen groaned yet again. They didn't have any "wizard money" to buy extra food, so this was all they had. Maybe if he was careful he could make them last a while, then he might not feel so hungry. His stomach grumbled and he soon downed all the food, forgoing all plans of rationing it.

"Heya, Luck. How long doya think it'll be before we get back to the boss?" Lavi sounded contemplative as he interrupted Allen.

Allen paused, considering the students they shared the car with.

"Well, by the time we get ta the school, it'll be nightfall. Then we gotta see the headmasta and hopefully that won't take long." Allen hoped Lavi understood what he was trying to say without having to clarify, he couldn't think of another way to phrase it without making the students suspicious. Lavi nodded in understanding.

"Um, excuse me, but since you don't seem to be new students, what exactly are you doing on the train?" The girl, Hermione, asked with a hint of trepidation in her voice.

Allen and Lavi shared a look.

"Well, that all depends on ta Headmasta, he's ta one that asked us to come. We'll probably just have a little talk wit 'em afore we go." Lavi tried to make up a lie, hoping upon hope that she wouldn't ask what they do and why their headmaster would ask them to come. Hermione was still suspicious but the boys shrugged it off, as if their headmaster did this often. Lavi sighed an internal sigh of relief. He was supposed to be the master at this sort of thing, but he always had trouble with the back story.

The train ride passed peacefully, minus a few rumbles from Allen's stomach, as the students got comfortable with the strangers they were sharing their car with. Soon they got comfortable enough to talk amongst themselves, and as the conversation took a new turn, it caught the incognito Exorcists' attention.

"Mum, almost didn't let us go this year." Ron admitted, seeming to have gotten over his previous plight.

Hermione was shocked as she looked up from petting her overly-fluffy cat. "Why?"

"Well, haven't you heard?" He raised an eyebrow at her lack of knowledge. She knew everything, how could she not know this?

"Heard what?" Harry questioned his friend eager to find out what was going on this year. There seemed to be an extra amount of secrets surrounding the school this year. Something that would prevent Mrs. Weasly from letting her children go to Hogwarts? What could it be? If she had been concerned then why had she told the twins that they wouldn't want to miss it this year?

"Well, there's been these attacks on Hogwarts, you see." The boy paused, enjoying the attention. "They have no idea what's attacking." He exclaimed, acting as if he were telling a grand story.

"How could they not know?" Hermione questioned, fearful that if the staff of Hogwarts couldn't handle something, then no one could.

"They've never seen anything like 'em Hermione. They're huge and can make a lot of damage, magic can't do anything against them either." He nodded solemnly at his friend's outraged expressions.

Allen raised an eyebrow, glancing at Lavi. Hadn't Komui said that magic had no effect on Akuma?

"What did they look like?" Lavi asked, leaning forward to hear better. He would have to forgo the mask of good-nature to get this information. And he was always hungry for more information.

Ron looked startled to have the older man's attention, but continued enthusiastically anyway.

"What I hear, is that most of 'em are round and really big, but some of 'em are smaller and more powerful." Allen nodded, they were Akuma alright. He'd bet his life that the Akuma were searching for the Innocence inside the castle. Mindless as they were, the lot of them were still hell-bent on finding and destroying Innocence.

It was Hermione's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Why do you ask? Do you know what these things are?"

Lavi clasped his hands together and replied coolly, "I don' know what ta hell they are. It just sounded interestin'." Allen nodded to his defense, also leaning forward to hear Ron better.

"Come on 'Mione, they were just interested in the story, is all." Ron tried to make her forget it, he was eager to continue the story now that he had everyone's attention.

She crossed her arms, still unable to believe them, but she let Ron continue.

The train ride went on, Ron being unable to tell them more. They soon fell into the same patterns as before. It was peaceful again, excluding a small incident when Allen's glove almost came off, nearly revealing his black hand. Thankfully, he had changed to black gloves for his disguise and the students didn't even notice the glove was partially off. It wasn't really that the groups ignored each other, it was more that they kept to themselves more often then not, Allen and Lavi being unwilling to talk more for fear of letting something slip. They started to talk themselves, easing up on their defenses.

"So, have you met the new girl yet?" Allen asked under his breath, wanting to be quiet, so the students wouldn't hear him without the accent.

"Yeah," Lavi started, "I've known her for a long time though."

Allen tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What to you mean?"

Lavi shifted in his seat a bit uncomfortably, "Well, she's kind of my sister." He started to rub the back of his neck as Allen stared at him, gobsmacked. Allen gave a gesture that told Lavi to either elaborate or Allen would continue to stare at him as such.

Lavi sighed in response and started, "I'm a Bookman, right? Well, see, the Bookman Clan is split into two branches; The Female Branch and The Male Branch. The Male Branch records history, while The Female Branch infiltrates different societies. Both the branches deal in "recordings." The Male Branch, history and war, while The Female Branch records the inner-workings of societies to gain different views of history."

Allen was contemplating this, his arms crossed and his right hand tucked underneath his chin. Lavi was antsy as he waited for Allen to reply. He didn't feel too comfortable divulging things about his family like this. They were usually very secretive about what they did, but as long as he kept to the bare essentials, Allen shouldn't question too much.

"But don't you already do that?" Allen was skeptical and he didn't really understand Lavi's explanation.

"Do what?" Allen was starting to make Lavi nervous.

"Get different views on wars." Allen faintly remembered the Panda saying something about it once.

"Uhm, yes. In a way, we do. But we join societies, for the tactical standpoint. The Female Branch has more of a flare for 'espionage' and they look at the human standpoint. Like how a war effected people, or what people thought of a King or Queen." Lavi tried for a tentative smile but was too nervous from revealing the information to manage anything further. Allen hummed for a bit before speaking.

"But that doesn't really explain how she's your sister. And how does the Branches of your Clan have anything to do with it?" Allen almost smiled as Lavi gulped a little. He knew he shouldn't be making his friend nervous but he felt he deserved being a tad bit evil, considering how hungry he was.

"Simple. I'm the successor to the Male Branch and she's the successor to the Female Branch." Lavi really didn't want to elaborate. If Allen asked any further, he was afraid he of slighting his friend. Lavi knew that he didn't have it in him to answer further questions, because he knew the answers were too deeply personal. He had told Allen almost nothing compared to the big picture, but he was still uncomfortable with it. He had betrayed his duty as heir to the Bookman clan by assuming his costume as his true identity and by getting too close to those he was only 'working' with, but he couldn't help but feel camaraderie and friendship towards the baleful exorcists. He couldn't help but want to be one of them, as he had never been part of anything so loving and so dangerous at the same time.

"But I still-" Allen's question was cut off as the train's whistle blew again, this time in signaling that it had come to a stop. Lavi secretly gave a sigh of relief as they gathered their 'luggage'. Their 'luggage' didn't even contain anything. It was just there to help blend them in. 'They could have at least put some food in them,' Allen thought derisively. But, no, they were empty. The two said a few pleasantries to the students and then waved goodbye as they moved off the train.

They soon came to an impasse, by the flickering lights of the torches they could see the lake separating themselves from the great castle. There were only two ways of transportation they could see, boats in which the smaller children were being herded into, and carriages that were floating above the water and being pulled by thin air. What were they to do? The boats seemed to be the safest, but they would easily be spotted among the small children and that would cause attention. Would that mean they would have to take the ominous carriages? Allen sighed dejectedly as he steered Lavi toward one of the unoccupied buggies.

As they clambered in, they were joined by three students the same age as the ones they had just left behind. They were wearing the black robes that seemed to be the standard uniform for the students, only theirs were accented with an emerald green and sleek silver. The smallest one had platinum blonde hair and a haughty sneer perched on his lips. The other two were hulking masses with blank expressions and they looked to be the smaller boy's lackeys. The first sentence out of his mouth was,

"And who might you be?" He spoke with a tone that implied he didn't care who they were and it didn't matter, as he was more important anyway. Allen gave Lavi a look that spoke volumes, the ride to the castle was going to be long. Even if it really only took a couple minutes. Neither of them answered the boy and preferred a dull, uninterested silence. Allen kept a poker face with a polite smile, as Lavi simply looked bored as he watched the castle come closer in the distance.

The boy's sneer deepened into that of hatred. "Goyle! Why don't you ask this time?"

One of the other boys cracked his knuckles and gave a threatening grimace. The blonde boy's sneer turned into a triumphant smile.

Allen merely widened his smile. He could tell they thought him insolent to ignore the threat, and he was infuriating them by every second. But who could resist pissing off someone like the boy in front of him? Lavi kept his gaze locked on the castle, but his mouth slowly moved into a grin. The blonde, ferret-like boy curled his fists and was about to say something insulting, when the carriage came into contact with the ground. Allen and Lavi snatched up their empty bags and hoped out of the buggy before anything else could happen. They grinned at each other like fools. They had won against the ferret boy. And for some reason, that made them proud.

It didn't take long to find the castle and move their way towards it as for the giant flood of students.. First they were amazed by it's sheer size, it looked even larger and intimidating up close. They were then stunned by it's ancient prowess, and yet it held some sort of faint familiarity... They were shaken back to reality, hiding themselves among the flood of students around them. They passed through the doors of the great castle and broke off from the crowd to roam around the halls.

After a few minutes of mindless wandering, the reached an area that was open to the sky and was large enough to fit a passage for the ark. He could also tell that it was a frequent gathering spot, and hopefully he wasn't wrong. The details had said to find the main courtyard in the castle, but there was no telling if there were more than one hidden on the grounds. This would just have to do, and hopefully they would arrive among the students and not to an empty audience.

"Looks like the right spot." Allen told Lavi, turning back to where his friend was waiting in the shadows. Lavi nodded and they walked in silence as they searched for a spot to call the Ark. Allen wanted to wait until they were off the school grounds before they left.

Lavi was gobsmacked into silence, he was still distracted by the giant castle. 'So many untold stories. So much hidden history.' It almost pained him that he couldn't search the castle for it's secrets. He imagined that he could look for the rest of his life and never discover everything in the ancient walls. It was a place he knew Ahna would like. Lavi winced as the name crossed his mind. He hadn't talked to her in so many years, he knew his 'sister' would be angry. She was so spirited sometimes! Once she had an idea in her head, she would never let it go. She wasn't exactly a bowl full of giggles either. Then there was Jiji and Obaasan. He groaned internally. They were crazy if they thought their plans would work. Well, the panda was getting old...

Allen quirked his eyebrows at his friend's unusual silence, but he let it slide. He smiled to himself, thinking about how his job was easy now. All that was left to do was walk forward, just as Mana had told him to. The Earl was gone, and the Akuma were being picked off one by one. With the amount of Innocence they were finding the amount of new Accommodaters was also going up, making it even that much easier to eliminate the Akuma. There was nothing left to do but help those that he could find, and for the first time after Mana died, Allen's smile was genuine and free of worries. Allen would take whatever crazy mission Komui threw his way, as long as life would continue as it were.

They reached the end of the grounds and walked a great bit until they could no longer see the castle. Allen opened up a door with the Ark and led Lavi through the gloriously white city until they reached the door to the Order. They were greeted by a cacophony of cheers and were herded down to the Kitchens. Allen's tummy cheered as well when he saw the food, and instantly dug in.

They were all happy at the Order, and they would be happy there until the end of October...

Okay! Yay! I'm glad I was able to post this earlier than I planned! I few side notes.

I really hope that my revisions answered a few questions and made my story that much more interesting. Tell me about what you think! Was it better than the first time, was it worse? TELL ME! I'm dieing to know!

Please Review! The advice was also really helpful from those who gave it! Thank you for reading.

~Abiki