Albus Dumbledore hummed to himself as he looked over the paper work that was scattered across his desk. They were mostly divided with Ministry documents on one side and anything concerning Hogwarts on the other. It was only the first night and Albus was already writing letters to over concerned parents. Truly there hadn't been as many owls as expected but he knew more would come within the week after the children began writing home. Blue eyes looked up when he heard a familiar chirp.
"Ah, Fawkes. It will be an interesting year, won't it?" He questioned the beautiful bird that was preening its feathers. It chirped once more at him before turning its attention to the door. Feeling one of his wards alerting him that someone was coming up the stairs, Albus also looked expectantly at his door and smiled as the dark figured moved in without a sound.
"Good evening Severus." He greeted as he looked his spy up and down for any injuries. He looked intact, but Albus was aware at just how good his spy was when it came to hiding wounds.
"Headmaster." Snape acknowledged with a tilt of his head as he sat down on the sofa facing the desk. As the spy settled himself, Albus waited patiently for him to speak.
"Well," Snape started out with a haggard sigh, "I dislike saying this, but Albus, we have a problem."
"So what'd he make you do? Cut up carcasses? He made us do that once. Smelled awful I tell you!" Ron questioned Allen the moment the exorcist entered into the common room. The common room was practically devoid of students except for the trio.
"Ron, he's only been gone for an hour. It took us two and there were three of us." Hermione replied, not even looking up from her homework. Allen decided it would be best to keep the fact his detention had only been half an hour. The other half had been spent begging portraits to lead him in the right direction.
"Doesn't mean he didn't have do anything less foul! Poor bloke's probably traumatized!" Ron scolded Hermione. Brown eye glared at him in annoyance as she looked at the red head. Putting down her quill, her mouth opened as she was about to fire back something equally harsh, so Allen intervened. After all, the conversation did concern him.
"Professor Snape just had me mark some papers for him. There weren't very many and I'm a quick writer so I finished earlier than expected." Allen piped up before the two ended up squabbling. That statement made all three, even the daydreaming Harry, focus on him.
"What? Professor Snape never lets students grade for him!" Hermione said aghast, "He always personally grades the papers."
"And gives most of us P's." Ron muttered. "Ow! 'Mione that hurt!" He yelped as he massaged his ankle that had just been kicked by said girl.
"Ron's right though," Harry told Allen. "Snape's more of a manual labor type of teacher when it comes to detentions." Well, shoot. So much for thinking they'd believe that lie. Allen thought it over for a moment, before responding. Dumbledore did say they knew about Snape's position as a spy. Hagrid had accidentally spilled the beans last year when the three had come to his hut for tea.
"Now that you mention it," He started out contemplatively tapping his chin with his index finger, "I think he was going to, but then his behavior changed. He told me he just remembered something important he needed to do and left me to grade papers with an answer key. It looked like his left arm hurt but I might be imagining things." He ended with a shrug. The trio was silent but the looks they cast each other spoke volumes.
"Oh, yes, well," Hermione hedged out, obviously trying to find a way to give the Potion's Master an alibi, "He might have had a meeting with the Headmaster and only remembered at last moment." She finally chocked out.
"Hmmm, I don't know." Allen said in a concerned voice, deciding he's make them sweat just for the hell of it. "He left in something of a panic. . ." He trailed off and withheld a smirk at how pale they became.
Dear Merlin. Maybe he should have been in Slytherin. Oh well. Too late now.
"Say Allen!" Harry cut in; desperate to change the subject. "How's your crusade with befriending a Slytherin going?"
"Smashingly!" Allen cheerfully told them with a big smile. "I haven't gained they're trust yet, but I did convince them that my intentions were sincere. Poor things thought it was a prank! In any case, the chances of them killing me and hiding my body in the loo have diminished-slightly, anyway." He ended, his blue eyes bright with specks of greyish silver shining through.
"That's great Allen!" Hermione responded first, true joy in her voice. "I think it's great that you're trying to be friends with them." Harry and Ron clearly didn't feel the same way, but a sideways glare from Hermione had them nodding in agreement.
"Y'know," Allen started out, "It doesn't just have to be me. You guys could be friends with them too." His statement, as predicted, had their jaws dropping to the floor. Whether it was from astonishment or shocked offense was hard to tell.
"Um, that might not be a good idea for us." Hermione said nervously as Ron and Harry gathered their wits.
"It's definitely NOT a good idea!" Ron practically yelled. "They hate our guts! And no offense to you mate, but the feeling's mutual!"
"Yeah, we're kinda on their list of people to curse into oblivion. Right on the top, to be more accurate." Harry added helpfully
"Maybe you should apologize." Allen said.
"We didn't do anything!" Ron and Harry both yelled at him.
"We've been trying to tell you, they're the ones that started this whole mess!" Ron screamed, his face as red as his hair.
"If anyone deserves an apology it's us." Harry told Allen, emphasizing on the 'us'. Allen just stared at them before shaking his head sadly.
"Sometimes," He told them softly, "The road to forgiveness starts with an apology- even when it's not your fault." He let loose a yawn and stretched his arms above his head. "I know it's still early, but I think I'll go ahead onto bed." He told them with a smile. "Good night!" And with that he hopped up the stairs to the dorms.
"Oh well." Ron said as he dumped himself on the couch. "He'll have to find out the hard way just how distrustful those Snakes are. Poor guy, it'll break his heart. Can't say we didn't warn 'im though." He told the other two.
"Yeah, it will be sad. He seems like the type of person who likes to be friends with everyone." Harry voiced out, pity clear in his voice. Green eyes widened as he recalled something and turned to Ron. "By the way, did you see when quidditch try outs where?" He asked excitedly.
"Yeah! End of the week. Hope I make it on. Already know you'll make it. This year we'll wipe the floor with those dirty Slytherins!"
As their conversation turned to their favorite sport, time slowly ticked away.
And Hermione stayed silent, staring thoughtfully down at her open book as the portrait to the common room swung open.
"Yes! Big bed!" Allen giggled to himself as he jumped onto his bed. While the Black Order did provide rooms for its exorcists', they weren't near as luxurious as the beds here. Snuggling into his pillow, he thought over his day. Considering he had never gone to school before, he thought he was doing rather well. He enjoyed the silence of the room, until he heard a muffled shuffling noise. Sitting up, he looked toward his book bag on the floor and saw something moving inside. Grabbing it and opening the lock, he let loose a smile as Timcampi flew out and zoomed around the room.
"Hey Tim." He called out to the golem, his hand stretched out, beckoning the tiny creature to come closer. It did as Allen silently commanded and nuzzled his fingers as the boy sat back against the bed.
"Sorry you had to hide all day." He apologized, feeling guilty that Tim had been stuck in his bag all day. "I hope you didn't suffocate too much in there." Blue eyes looked towards the top of his head as the little golem settle upon his snowy hair. "I bet you sneaked out somewhere along the way!" He teased the little gold ball. "Can't say I blame you either; this place is amazing. If you do fly around be careful, ok? There are cats all around and they really like to eat you for some reason." He warned the Tim seriously. He didn't know how he'd explain that one to any of the witches or wizards. Putting his hands behind his head, he lied down and went over his day in his head.
'The Black Order is no more.' Snape's voice resounded in his head as he thought back on his detention. Allen frowned as he mulled over those words. It was rather unsettling to know that their demise would be from people on their side. On the other hand, now that he knew, perhaps there would be a way to fix that when they returned to their own time.
"Hey Tim, did you record what Professor Snape told us?" He felt Tim's little paw pat him on the head and took that as a 'yes'. "Sometime soon make sure Master and the others see it but be careful! The last thing I want is to learn you were destroyed because you startled some poor wizard." Timcampi was apparently becoming annoyed with Allen's concern because the golem's tail slapped him square in the face; no mercy. "Ow! Tim!" The boy whined. His ears perked up when he heard someone coming up the stairs. Quietly he motioned to Timcampi to hide in his bag. The door opened just as the golem wiggled back inside, and Allen closed his eyes pretending to sleep. He expected whoever it was to simply move to their own bed and leave him be after seeing him "sleep".
So the high pitched squeal followed by a flying body slamming into his own and trapping him in a tight grip was both unexpected and painful.
"Oof! What the hell?" He wheezed out as his eyes snapped open. The person who was hugging him was also nuzzling his cheek so all he could see was red hair. Ron? No, the shade was too dark.
"Allen is so cute when he pretending to sleep." He heard a familiar voice whisper in his ear. Allen sighed in relief and let his body relax.
"Ravi, you have five seconds to stop molesting me before I knock you flat on the floor." He told the other exorcist with a charming smile on his face. Ravi, who knew that look and the doom it spelled for the person aimed at, pouted and reluctantly let go and sat back. "You're no fun. What's wrong with two friends embracing in a hug?"
"Nothing. It's when one friend starts to cuddle that I become uncomfortable." Allen replied in kind.
"Aww. Does Moyashi fear cuddles of love?" Ravi teased as he pinched Allen's cheek.
"No, it's only when hands start wandering that I grow suspicious." The other told him as he swatted the hand away from his cheek.
"My hands didn't wander!" Ravi shot back offended, but deflated when Allen gave him a skeptical look. "You have to believe me baby; I would never treat you so cheaply. I'm not Tyki."
"First off Ravi, we are not in a relationship-so don't call me baby. Secondly, what does Tyki have to do with this?"
"Ever since I've met him I always felt he had a thing for you." Ravi confessed with a shrug.
"Well, yes, to kill me." Allen told the other with a confused look on his face.
"No, like a pedophile thing." The red head told his petite friend; his green eye holding a serious light.
"Oh now that's just silly." Allen said with a laugh, waving off his friend's concern.
"He licks his lips and purrs every time you meet up!"
"He's probably excited to fight." Allen consoled Ravi, ignoring his 'Yeah right, I bet he's 'excited'.' and continued, "But that's neither here nor there. Why are you here? Better yet, how did you get up here?"
"The stairs, duh." Ravi deadpanned and received a swat on the head in response. "Ow! Did you have to use your left hand?" He moaned, rubbing his head. "If you mean how I got into the Gryffindor Tower, then I just used the password. Kanda and I aren't students, so we have passwords to all the Houses. I just told your friends downstairs that I needed to speak to you on behalf of Cross."
"Well that explains how you got in. Doesn't explain the molestation." Allen told him, still annoyed at getting the wind knocked out of him. "You're not exactly light." The white haired boy muttered darkly.
"You should not be talking! I know how much you eat." Ravi told the other boy as his eye twitched slightly. "Anyway, I did come for a reason. Can you do something to make sure no one hears?" Allen nodded and casted a spell he found one of his books that deflected ease-droppers. "Sweet. Anyway, we've caught a snag. The spy guy-I've never actually met him- Snake, Sneep? Schnapps? No that's not right, is it Snage? Eh, that's not right either. Snoopy!" Ravi said with a snap of his fingers until he saw Allen's face. "Aww, c'mon, that has to be his name!" He whined, poking Allen in the shoulder.
"It's Snape." Allen told him with an amused smile. "Really Ravi, where is that Bookman memory of yours?"
"I wasn't listening when they said his name. Anyway, he came back from the dark abyss and it turns out Voldemort- see? I remembered his name, hah!- decided to team up with our favorite fatty."
"You mean the Millennium Earl's here?" Allen asked incredulously. "That means there's something here he wants." He muttered darkly. "If he's here that means there's a high chance that there's Innocence nearby, but then again, it's hard to tell with the Earl. He might just be here to mess with us."
"It also means the Noah's are here. Which means Tyki the Pedophile will be after your fine behind." Ravi helpfully added.
"He will not!" Allen yelled as he whacked Ravi with his pillow, trying to will away the embarrassed flush that lit up his face.
"Ten pounds says the first thing he does when he sees you, is lick his lips and say 'Fancy meeting you here, darling'." Ravi told Allen. "And he won't just say it; he'll purr it out."
"I find it hard to believe you have that much money.' Allen said dryly. Ten pounds really wasn't much but exorcists didn't get paid. "However, I'll accept your wager anyway. I think the first thing he's going to do is light a cigarette and take a drag. Since I know I don't have that much money, I'll teach you some circus tricks in exchange." Allen responded as they shook hands on it.
"Score!" Ravi yelled in excitement, "I've always wanted to do fancy dagger tricks."
"Uh, yeah, even if you do win, I'm not teaching you that." A one-eyed Ravi wielding sharp knives? No thanks. "Is that the only thing you came to tell me?"
"Pretty much." Ravi shrugged. "I love Yuu to death, but all he does is threaten to kill me, so it was nice to get away." He told Allen with a grin. "But yeah, I should probably get back before he does something stupid. All the ghosts are afraid of him because he threatened to send them to the other side if they, and I quote, 'try to possess me because I will seriously rip you limb from ghostly limb and throw you in a fire to burn.' " Ravi ended.
"But, they're ghosts. How can he. . .?" Allen trailed off in confused wonderment.
"Beats me, but if they're convinced then I guess it's possible." Ravi groaned as he cracked his neck. "I should probably get back to General Cross. Those kids downstairs may have let me come up, but they didn't do it with smiles on their faces! I think they hate me because of the whole Cross-giving-you-a-detention-thing." Ravi exclaimed, slightly hurt over the whole ordeal.
"Why would they hate you?" Allen asked curiously.
"'Cause I didn't defend you, ergo, I agreed with Cross that the detention was deserved making me an enemy. Kanda too, but he doesn't really care about this type of stuff so the point's kind of moot in his case." The eye-patched wonder explained to his friend.
"That's a bit childish on their part. It was one detention."
"They're school kids. An unfair detention is like doing prison time when you're innocent to them." Ravi said as he hopped of the bed. "See ya later Moyashi." He waved as he walked toward the door.
"Ah! Wait Ravi, one thing!" Allen called to him as he reached for his book bag. "Could you take Tim with you? He has an important recording you need to see. All of you." Allen ended in such a serious tone that Ravi shot him a concerned look.
"Sure I'll take him." Ravi answered as the tiny golem flew over and snuggled inside his pocket. "Is everything alright Allen?"
"Just. . ." Allen gave him a tired smile. "Just look at the recording, ok? It's vital."
"Yeah, no problem." Ravi said slowly, still worried at the sudden change in his friend. "Are you sure you're fine?"
"It's been a tiring day. I just need to rest." Allen answered as he laid back down. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Ravi."
"Night Moyashi. Get some rest." Ravi replied as he opened the door and left Allen to doze. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned heavily on it and took Timcampi out of his pocket. "Is he really ok Timcampi?" The Bookman asked the golem who just nudged its head against his fingers.
Deciding that nothing would get done with him just standing there, Ravi stuffed the golem back into his pocket and trudged down the stairs. Reaching the common room, his mouth formed a nervous smile as three Gryffindors casted him suspicious glances.
"Thanks for telling me where he was!" he told them cheerfully. "I just came to apologize about the detention."
"Hmph, if that's the case, then why didn't you or the other assistant stand up for him in class in the first place?" Hermione sniffed, obviously still upset about it.
"Uh, you have met Professor Cross right? Does he look like someone you want to go up against?" He asked incredulously. "You guys are students so he can't lay a hand on you. Me on the other hand, well, I'm sorry, but I can't let my beautiful face be ruined over one bad call concerning a detention." He told them in mock desperation.
"Coward." He heard the red-head cough and felt mildly annoyed. 'So that's how you wanna play? Well two can play that game, punk.' Ravi thought mischievously.
"Tell me, do you say that to your friends every time your Potion's Master gives you an unfair detention and they don't defend you?" He asked slyly and let loose a truly mean smirk when they blanched. Oh yeah, he knew all about the Gryff's relationship with their Potion Master. It was hard not to know with all the gossip and complaining flying around. "Yeah, I didn't think so. Can you say pot calling the kettle black?" He teased as he walked toward the door. "I mean, it's not really your business anyway. You act as if you were the one's issued a detention. Fact is Allen's forgiven me and that's all that matters." Ravi, being the mature person that he is, then stuck his tongue out at them and shut the portrait before they could react.
"Bwhahah!" He laughed out loud, scaring several portraits in the hallway as he walked. "I love this job." And then, since no one was around, he did a little Ravi-Celebration dance.
He did the Bunny-Hop all the way to Cross's office, and he looked damn sexy doing it.
"What are you doing fool?" He heard a cold voice ask, startling him. Looking around he saw Kanda step out of the shadows with a truly disturbed look on his face.
"Yuu!" Ravi cried loudly as he glomped the swordsman. "I missed you buddy!"
"If you don't let go right now, you will regret it dearly." Kanda grounded out.
"What are you gonna do? Cut me up 'till I bleed to death? You'd be tried for treason and murder." Ravi chided.
"I don't have to kill you to make you suffer. Tell me, how much do you love that thing called a reproductive organ?" Kanda asked calmly and immediately Ravi let go of him and was on the other side of the hall with an aghast look on his face.
"That's low, Yuu." Ravi shivered as a chill came over him. "To go after my little Ravi like that! I think I'm traumatized! I see intensive therapy in my near future."
"You'll live." Kanda said sharply as he opened up the entrance to the office and walked inside and Ravi quickly followed him into the room where Cross was sitting with his feet propped on the desk.
"Were you able to talk to my stupid apprentice about the situation?" Were the first words out of the man's mouth before he lighted up and took an inhale of smoke.
"But of course! I told him what went down and in return he gave me Timcampi." Ravi said cheerfully as the golem flew to Cross who held out his hand as a mock landing strip. "He said Tim has a recording that we needed to see; said it was vital." Ravi finished with a mock salute.
"Alright, enough of your yapping." The General dismissed, turning his attention to the machine in his hands. "Show me what you got, Tim."
The three watched in apt silence as an image of the Potions Master appeared.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Close the door and come sit down." The recording started out and by the ended with Snape clutching his arm. All three of them wore deep frowns at the information they had just received.
"That man deserves a drink and a boat load of sexy women." Cross muttered carelessly has he rummaged through his desk. Where on earth did he put that whiskey?
"Shouldn't you act a little more concerned?" Ravi questioned the ever calm Cross. "That recording just told us we're gonna get knocked off by the Pope in a few years when we get back! Harsh." Ravi stated. Kanda just grunted while Cross just snorted.
"I've ran from enough angry drunkards, I can run from the Pope. Can't be too much of a difference. Samurai Boy!" He suddenly yelled, startling the younger two. "Take Tim, go through the gate and show that recording to Komui, pronto." He commanded. Kanda grunted and glared but did as he was told without question.
"While it sucks that we can't trust people on our own side, we have time to prevent it." He told Ravi with a satisfied smirk. "Our priority is in the now."
"Um, while I think that was a good call showing Timcampi to Komui, what if we can't stop it?" Ravi asked the General. He actually felt bad because he knew he would escape because he was a Bookman. Gramps would never let them get caught like that. He refocused on Cross when the man let out an annoyed sigh.
"I plan on doing what I always do; run away when I don't feel like dying." He said blandly making Ravi look at him in disbelief. "What? It works. Even my stupid apprentice runs when he realizes he can't win. I taught him that." He said with such pride, that it would make one think he was talking about teaching baboons to hold polite conversations as they drank tea.
'Is that the only thing you taught him?' Ravi wondered as the man let loose a yawn.
"I'm going to bed. If you wake me up it better be because of an Akuma attack or because the extremely beautiful women in the nearby town finally caught wind of me being here." The man then stumbled off to bed still praising himself for how awe inspiring he was.
Ravi, left all alone in the cold class room, just shrugged and began to whistle as he wandered off to the library. Like hell was he going to leave without checking that out.
"This just keeps getting better and better." He chuckled to himself.
10 pounds is about $16 U.S dollars according to the currency exchange I googled.