Chapter Two.

Disclaimer: Insert witty disclaimer here.

Thank you sooo much to Acedia's Apathetic Simplicity and MissJessi-Pon for reviewing. I'm a little disappointed that only one of you has voted on the poll, so please go and do so or that one single person is going to have their way (not that I would mind).

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough.

-Ezra Pound, In a Station of the Metro

Allen's eye was twitching. At the moment, he sincerely wished it was because there was an akuma around, but he couldn't even blame it on that. He was just lost… as usual.

"Who ever heard of a platform that wasn't even a whole number!" he said, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat, his calm façade nearly completely wiped away. Masa stood beside him in silent irritation. He caught the train ticket as it floated back down to earth after Allen threw it.

"Platform 9 ¾ …" he muttered to himself, "Makes absolutely no sense." Allen grunted at the agreement, glaring at the wall between platforms 9 and 10.

"And why is it ¾? Why can't it be ¼ or ½? Wouldn't 9 ½ be better?" Allen was rambling now, some sort of coping mechanism, Masa assumed. He was stressed. Allen had managed to get them lost several times on the way to the first train, and Masa had to find their way back every time. Now, they couldn't even find the platform they needed, standing right inside the station.

"I already dislike this school," Masa said, turning in a quick circle to survey their surroundings.

"At this rate, we'll miss the train." Allen rubbed his temples with his gloved hands. Masa was a little surprised that no one seemed to stare at their obviously out of place uniforms. Both boys had their hoods over their heads, hiding the odd hair they both sported.

"Maybe the stick is supposed to do something," Masa suggested, earning a blank stare from Allen as he remembered their trip to the village called Diagon Alley.

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"Robes, books, quills and parchment, cauldrons, a wand? What is all this for?" Allen asked as they walked. The long haired boy beside him raised an eyebrow, as if to ask why Allen was asking him. Allen returned the look sheepishly, and decided to lead the way into the robe shop first. Upon seeing the silly things actually on them, they had to be held back from running right out the store. The owner, Madam Malkin, insisted that they would have to have them for school.

After they, quite unwillingly, took the robes and paid for them – they had paid a trip to the Wizard bank Gringott's to exchange money – they went on their way, getting a cauldron that held all the books they had to buy, choosing to share sets instead of buying two and wasting the money. They also had to buy sets for their companions that would be joining them. Masa was quick to convince Allen that throwing the books into the Ark for the others to find would be a great idea.

After all of the basic shopping had been done, they dragged their cauldrons full of stuff into the wand shop, where they spent nearly the rest of the day destroying the place and having wands snatched away from them.

After hours of attempts, Allen left with an 11" birch with phoenix tail feather core, and Masa with a 10 ¼" hawthorn with Dragon Heartstring core. Neither seemed to hold the wooden devices in a high esteem, and stashed them away within their coats nearly as soon as they had gotten them.

They briefly entertained the idea of getting an owl, but with Timcampy and the Ark, they decided against it. The Order wasn't giving them much money for shopping, and neither wanted to waste those funds – especially Allen, who shuddered at the thought of his days with his Master.

The rest of the day was spent exploring, and then sleeping in the Leaky Cauldron.

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"Could they expect children to know how to get on a non-existent platform using magic they haven't learned yet?" Allen asked his apprentice. Masa looked about to respond, a small blush dusting his cheeks, when the loud bickering of what had to be a mother and her child caught their attention. The boy pushed a large trolley in front of him, luggage piled on top of it and finished with an owl in a cage on the top.

"Oh, just run through the barrier, Jason. I'm not getting you that broom!" she said, pushing at his back to encourage him forward. The two exorcists shared a look as they watched the boy grudgingly run through the wall between the platforms of 9 and 10. Allen's surprise when the boy disappeared was minimal, having been exposed to the mysteries of innocence for so long seemed to make him immune to odd occurrences. Masa, however, was barely able to contain his interest as his eyebrows shot up beyond his bangs as the mother ran through the wall as well.

"You think there's some sort of trick?" he asked, approaching the strange wall, letting his luggage sit off to the side. The longer haired boy inspected it impassively, pulling up just behind Allen.

"Why don't you try it?" Masa asked, his voice monotone and sounding uncaring. It was after this that he rested a hand on his General's back, pushing him just hard enough to make him stumble forward and then –

He fell straight through the wall. Brown eyes shifted back and forth, from the wall to the people passing, and as he realized that his General wasn't coming back, he pushed Allen's (and his as well, he supposed) trolley towards the wall, and had to force himself not to stop as he stepped through the barrier that was the very solid looking wall.

"Ow!" Allen's voice rang out loudly as Masa felt the trolley collide with something… or rather, someone.

"Sorry, General," he said, automatically going to help the white haired boy up.

"I told you to call me Allen," he protested, accepting the hand that the smaller boy was offering. Masa ignored his words as the other brushed himself off. Looking around, he realized how glad he was they had left so early. With Allen's track record at getting lost, something Masa had learned quite soon after he became the boy's apprentice that he was directionally challenged… often. The platform was bustling with activity, and there were only about ten minutes before the train would be leaving.

The two exorcists hurried onto the red steam engine, travelling almost the entire length of the train looking for a relatively empty compartment.

"Let's just use this one," Allen finally said, seeing the lone older man sitting in the corner. He looked like he was about to pass out, so they would have some sort of privacy if the man actually did. Masa nodded as Allen opened the sliding door.

"Hello, do you mind if we join you?" Allen asked quietly so as to not startle the man. The compartment's only occupant opened his eyes just wide enough to take in the figures of the two exorcists before sitting bolt upright.

"Of course!" he said, motioning to the seat in front of him. Allen gave a quick bow before the two sat, looking wary of the man who seemed suddenly rather enthusiastic to their presence. As the door slid closed behind them, the man began speaking again. "You are the exorcists Dumbledore told me about, am I right?" he asked, looking at the rose crosses on their uniforms. Allen's golden trimmed jacket stood out rather much next to Masa's normal silver trimmed one. The smaller boy's was fashioned like a trench coat, thin and fitting but loose enough for him to store things on the inside without them being seen, something he insisted upon when Komui was ordering the thing.

Allen's was almost exactly like his old one, only now it was the fancy golden General's version. He always felt a little odd in it, considering he still didn't feel like a General, and the only ones who even called him one were the higher ups and Masa, who didn't seem to listen to him whenever he protested.

"Yeah," Allen answered the man, holding out a hand. "My name is Allen Walker and this is –"

"Masahiko Hara," Masa introduced for himself as Allen took the man's hand.

"I am Remus Lupin, I'm going to be the new Defense against the Dark Arts professor," he explained. The two nodded, taking in the information for later. "I hope you don't mind if I take a nap," he added, "it's been a long day."

"Of course, please do," Allen answered, giving the Professor a smile. Lupin smiled back and got himself comfortable against the window once more. A few minutes passed in silence after that as Masa and Allen waited for the man to fall asleep before speaking.

His breathing evened and Allen turned his body towards Masa. "I have a question," he said, and waited for Masa's response. It came in the form of a head nod, and Allen continued, "When you were being held by the Order, what made you decide to comply?" It was a question that had been bugging Allen. From the very moment Allen saw Masa, he had been running away. And then all of a sudden, while he was locked away, he decided to give in and become an exorcist. Masa never spoke about it. He never said anything about family, friends, or anything. The only people he ever heard Masa talk about was the mysterious them. Allen wasn't sure who they were, but he seemed to be quite affected by them.

"Lenalee," was the long haired boy's simple answer. Allen raised an eyebrow in a questioning gesture. He knew that Lenalee and Masa didn't normally interact. Not because Lenalee didn't want to, but more because Masa hid from her. He truly went out of his way to avoid Lenalee, and that was another thing that Allen was curious about.

"What about Lenalee?" he prodded, trying to get Masa to explain himself. He let out a sigh, knowing that Allen wouldn't give up on the subject.

"Lenalee came to visit me once a day. She told me stuff about herself," he answered. Allen understood that part. Lenalee probably told him all about how she was confined too. "She thought it would make me feel better, but I don't think she realized that I was not resisting because of any familial ties," he explained further.

"Why did you resist then?"

"I had to go back to them," he said. "If I didn't get back, they would come looking. I decided after everything Lenalee told me that cooperating would be the best course of action. If I was able to get more freedom, I might be able to get back to them. Imagine my surprise when they gave me you as a General, and I had to be toted around with you to learn how to use my innocence." Allen wasn't sure whether to be surprised or offended. He chose neither, and motioned for him to continue.

"You want to know who they are, and what I was doing when you captured me," he stated. Allen nodded, knowing it really wasn't a question. "I can't tell you that, but I will tell you that they won't give up on me. They'll track me down, so you should be prepared for it." Allen wanted to ask more, but they were interrupted when the compartment door slid open.

"-the only one, guys," the two caught the tail end of the sentence, and were soon met with the faces of three young teens. The one that spoke was a messy haired boy with emerald green eyes, hidden by glasses Allen could only compare to Johnny's, though slightly less ridiculous. The two behind the boy, his friends, consisted of a bushy haired brunette girl, and a boy with the brightest red hair he'd ever seen – next to Lavi's, that is.

"Hello," Allen greeted politely, waving a hand gently. Masa turned away from them, his eyes hidden by the hood both he and Allen had kept on their heads.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" the boy asked. Allen figured he was their leader of sorts, as he was the only one to speak and he stood in the front, the other two simply following.

"Certainly, if you don't mind a tight fit," the General answered, motioning towards the ragged Professor. The three spread themselves out, Hermione taking the initiative to sit next to Masa – a brave gesture, seeing as he didn't seem to be in the mood to entertain – while Ron sat himself next to Lupin, and Harry next to Ron.

The Golden Trio sat awkwardly, as if there was something they wanted to say, but not in the presence of the strangers they were now accompanying.

"I've never seen you around before, are you new? Those are quite interesting uniforms you have," Hermione started, ever the curious one.

"We're transferring in," Allen explained, ignoring the latter half of her sentence.

"My name is Hermione Granger," she introduced, and then turned to her companions, "And this is Ron Weasley and… Harry Potter," she continued, hesitating on the raven haired boy. Allen didn't comment, and instead moved to introduce himself in return.

"My name is Allen Walker, and this is Masahiko Hara. I believe the Headmaster said we'd be joining in the third year?"

"You're transfers? I've never heard of such a thing. We're in the third year too, I hope you get into Gryffindor," she said. Allen blinked.

"What is a Gryffindor?" Hermione looked appalled that she hadn't thought about them being transfers and therefore not knowing the house system, so she began telling them all about it as the train pulled itself away from the station.

"I see. I hope you don't mind if Masa and I excuse ourselves from conversation for a while, we have some private things to speak about with each other," Allen said politely. The three looked a little shocked that the strangers were the ones to excuse themselves first. Harry had been thinking of ways to get private time with his friends as well, in order to tell them all about what Mr. Weasley had said to him about Sirius Black.

"Of course! We actually were going to request the same thing," Hermione answered for them. She seemed the far more talkative one when it came to the two exorcists, probably because of her natural curiosity to know and understand things.

Allen smiled and turned himself away so that Masa would have to scoot himself in closer to speak with him. He did so reluctantly, moving himself away from Hermione as Allen began speaking to him in a hushed tone, after the other three had begun their own discussion.

"Remember what Dumbledore said. Don't let the Potter boy know anything about the latter half of our mission," he muttered.

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"You want us to go to school?" the white haired General asked, blinking his eyes in confusion.

"That's right. We have reason to believe there is innocence there, but it's going to be particularly difficult to find since the school is actually a magic one. Strange things happen there all the time, as a norm, so you're going to have to go there for the full term and keep your eyes peeled for anything… not normal to the wizarding standard," Komui explained. Neither Masa nor Allen knew what to say to this. It wasn't like any mission they had been sent on before.

"We were able to come to an agreement with the headmaster. While you are there, you are to protect the boy called Harry Potter, as he is being targeted by a mass murderer that recently escaped their wizard prison…"

"When you get there, you are ordered to find a place to open the Ark before the opening ceremony begins to allow Kanda, Lenalee, and apparently Lavi to join you."

"They actually want me to open the Ark?" Allen asked. Last time he had, he had been chewed out rather harshly, though he wasn't punished since he had done it in order to bring back Masa.

"That's right. They want a bridge to your location in case of emergency," Komui answered.

"You mean they want it there so they can come directly to me if there is ever a problem. I can't leave the door open all the time, the wizards would notice a white structure with numbers on it in the courtyard."

"You don't need to leave it, just have the connection open, and that should work," Komui replied. Allen nodded with a sigh.

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"Yeah, yeah. I didn't plan on talking to him, anyways," Masa said, showing off the influence Kanda had on him during his time at the Order.

"I wonder how Lavi got himself into this mission, and how Lenalee convinced her brother to let her leave for a year," Allen asked, but there wasn't room for answer. A faint whistling noise cut off any further discussion between the two as they began looking around for the source.

"What is that?" Ron finally asked. The fivesome all quieted to listen for the strange noise. Ron stood and began digging through the luggage, pulling out a shiny… thing. Allen and Masa weren't quite sure what it was, exactly.

"Is that a Sneakoscope?" Hermione questioned, inspecting the thing.

"What do they do?" Allen asked interestedly, looking at the foreign object.

"They're supposed light up and spin whenever someone untrustworthy is around," Hermione answered.

"But I think it's just a cheap one. It kept lighting up when I was trying to send it to Harry for his birthday," Ron added quickly. Hermione looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Were you doing something untrustworthy when you sent it?" she asked.

"No!" Ron replied, looking guilty. "Well.. I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. He doesn't do well with long journeys." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Put it away, it might wake him up," Harry said, gesturing towards the sleeping Professor. Ron complied, and things went relatively back to normal.

"Why do you s'pose it lit up?" Ron asked after a moment of silence. Masa shifted his body, and looked out the window, ignoring their conversation. Allen raised an eyebrow at this, but he suspected the sneakoscope went off because he and the other exorcist had been discussing about hiding things from the owner. He shrugged it off as the trio began speaking of some town called Hogsmeade.

Rain began to slam against the roof of the train, and the two exorcists watched as large drops fell down all around them. The world was wet and gray, a gloomy atmosphere. Never a good sign, in Allen's book. And then it happened.

"Your eye is twitching, General," Masa whispered, seeing the obvious tick on Allen's face.

"I noticed," he said, rubbing the offending eye. It felt like it desperately wanted to activate, but the lack of akuma nearby wouldn't allow it to. "Stay alert, something's not right. I can feel it approaching." Masa nodded, having been thinking the same thing. As the words left his mouth, the train began slowing to a stop.

"We can't be there yet," they heard Hermione say. The train halted roughly, jolting everyone in their seats as the lights all flickered off at the same time. Allen looked out the window, barely able to see the movements of something just outside.

"Something's boarding," Masa said. Allen glanced at him just in time to see his eyes turn from red back to their normal soft brown.

"Something?" Hermione asked, ready to interrogate him. Meanwhile, Harry moved to open the door but it was opened for him, as a body stumbled inside.

"Ow!" Harry said as he was pushed back into his seat.

"I'm sorry!" was the timid reply of another boy.

"Neville?" Hermione asked, and the door opened once more. The voice of a girl cut through the silence this time, squealing as she tripped also, landing roughly on Hermione and Masa.

"Off!" Masa yelled immediately, not enjoying this contact. At the same time, Hermione called out to the girl. "Ginny? What are you doing here?" The newest girl replied, saying something about finding Ron, before things just began getting out of hand. Feet were trampled, bodies squished, and there was fumbling for seats. Shouts went off left and right and Masa was ready to throw everyone out the window when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Quiet," Lupin's voice rang out. Everyone stopped moving and settled as the man lit his wand, illuminating his haggard face and just enough of the small compartment for everyone to see. There was an eerie silence as something seemed to rattle just outside their compartment, and not a moment later the door was being slid open once again.

Allen grabbed his eye. It wanted to activate so badly that the irritation had turned into sheer pain, and he began feeling ill. The figure in the doorway could only be described as a large shadowy cloak. It didn't seem to have any sort of human figure, and Allen wanted to puke at how twistedly similar it looked to the souls of the dead, mangled inside the akuma shell. Bony hands began reaching out, a sucking sound filled the air, and Allen clutched at his head. Terrible memories and thoughts filled his mind, ripping away any happiness he had ever felt. He wanted to bash his head through the window in agony.

Meanwhile, Harry, who was receiving the brunt of the attack, had passed out. The compartment exploded in fear, his friends catching him and holding him up.

"General?" Masa yelled out, uncaring if the others heard. They were all too busy with their own to care about Allen as he fell against the wall, holding his head in his hands. Masa placed his hands on Allen's head, pushing the hood away and pulling him closer. He wasn't sure what would help, other than getting rid of the creature.

Lupin, however, was already on that. He muttered some word that Masa was unconcerned with, and a bright white light filled the small room. The creature made a terrible screeching sound, and then it was gone. Allen fell limply into Masa's arms, though still conscious. He took deep breaths, stabilizing his trembling body.

"General Walker?" Masa whispered softly, holding onto the taller boy awkwardly. He wasn't good at comforting others, so he wasn't sure what to do.

"I told you to call me Allen," the other replied weakly, though his defiance was still clear in his tone. Masa chuckled. How like Allen.

Harry was just getting back on his feet as well, and everyone swarmed around him in worry. He was babbling something about screaming, but no one seemed to know what he was talking about. Lupin handed out chocolate to all the inhabitants who were particularly shaken by the event – Harry and Allen – explaining the effects of the dementor, and then left, on a trip to see the train's conductor.

"I don't think I like this train," Allen said, breaking the awkward silence that had consumed them, earning an uneasy chuckle from the others.

While editing this, I couldn't stop thinking of Baccano. Oh goodness, it's my newest obsession.

Now go vote on the poll. Else I can't update for a while..