Cursed

"You okay?" Allen popped his head round Lupin's door and spotted the man mindlessly flicking through a book.

"Shouldn't you be with Filius?" Lupin asked without looking up.

Allen rolled his eyes,

"Just because I'm his apprentice doesn't mean we're glued at the hip. And I finished my work early so I came to check on you"

Lupin looked up at that statement and sighed, putting the book to one side and patting the seat next to him. Allen took the hint and joined the professor on his sofa.

"I should be happy. I know I should - Siri is free, guiltless and I'm forming a new friendship with someone I thought would hate me forever. But there's just this cloud looming over me. I assume Kanda told you about my condition" Allen nodded, "Then you must know that I am probably the wolf from Miss Lee's prophecy. Who do I bite and why? I have my Wolfsbane, so it wouldn't be an accident"

Allen stayed quiet through the man's troubled rant. He had been doing research on Lycanthropy and one thing that he had noticed was its ability to almost override other body altering curses. Like his scar and hair. But, looking at the harrowed expression on his teacher's face, he felt guilty for even thinking of offering himself up to that.

"Well Pettigrew's been caught and, like you said, Black is free. Prophecies aren't set in stone you know. They can be changed - unlike what you-know-who thinks" Allen told him and Lupin gave a small smile.

"I know - and I do hope that all will be well. But the fear is still there - it's the fear of all werewolves. Well, those of us with a conscience at least" Lupin gave a slight grimace at the last part.

Allen's face twitched slightly - he'd heard of Greyback and was tempted to give him a good sock in the face for the children he'd attacked over the years.

"Well, we can only hope that the library crew manage to find something - speaking of which, Krory has his wand now. I might see if I can scrounge some tips off him" Allen grinned and Lupin chuckled lightly. He looked over at the sound of the bathroom door opening as Sirius entered the room.

"Right see you" Allen took his cue to leave and waved goodbye, heading out towards the library.

"He wants me to turn him. He's never said it directly, but I can tell," Remus admitted to Sirius's silent question.

"What, why?" Sirius sat beside his friend, alarmed.

"That scar on his face - and his white hair - is the result of a curse. He's been asking a lot of questions about curses and overlaps - whether one can override or cancel out the other. I think he believes that lycanthropy will destroy his old curse" Remus explained. Sirius sat quietly, looking at the door that Allen had just walked out of, thinking. When he eventually spoke, his voice was the softest that Remus had ever heard it,

"It must have been a horrific curse, to go to such lengths. He seems to know the risks and, if he still believes that it's worth it, maybe for him it is. What on earth would curse someone so bad that they'd rather take on another burden to possibly rid themselves of it?"

"They fought Akuma, Padfoot. A demon cursed him"

Allen had never told him specifically, but he had read about the Holy War as soon as the apprentices had been introduced. It was a harrowing world to fight in. And most of them had joined the battle as children. It wasn't too much of a jump to figure out. A demon's curse - who knew what that could do to someone?

"Sweet Merlin." Sirius breathed. "I know you don't want to, and I know it's one of your worst fears, but maybe hear him out?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if he's prepared, then it may be worth it to him"

"You want me to willingly turn someone?"

"I want you to think about removing a severe burden on someone's shoulders. You don't have to say yes, and I know this is scary stuff. But, if it improves someone's life instead of making it worse, isn't that something to consider?" Sirius queried.

Remus sighed and sank back on the sofa. As much as he hated to admit it, Allen had always seemed well versed in werewolves and curses. The man knew what he was doing. But did he want to risk something going wrong? What if it made his condition worse? But if Allen was willing to stake his autonomy to free himself, how could he deny him?

Allen sneezed as he entered the restricted section and mimed a quick 'sorry' to Madam Pince who glared at the noise. Spotting the curls of Jonny and the red of Lavi, Allen beelined for their table.

"Found anything interesting?" he asked, making the scientist jump.

"Allen! You startled me. Um, we're steadily working our way through possible curses that may have prevented death. I think we're halfway through - Lavi"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, we're about halfway through the curse section. Which is good because I'm not sure I'm used to my literature swearing back at me" the red head mumbled distractedly as he chewed on a pencil, his head stuck in a giant book.

"Hello Allen. How is the free man- Black was his name right?" Krory arrived at the table with another stack of books to add to the pile as Link appeared beside him to take the used ones back.

"Yeah - he seems to be settling in fine. Am I doing the right thing Crow?" he looked up at his friend, lost.

Krory smiled kindly and sat beside him at the table.

"I understand why you are pushing for this, but it is Lupin's choice at the end of the day. Whether it would affect you or not does not change the fact that he will probably have been dreading it" Krory explained.

Allen leaned against his shoulder and Jonny looked up from his papers,

"I think it may help if you told him what your curse was - or at least why you want it gone. It's personal but that kind of trust would probably help the professor to make a valid decision." he added. Lavi read on, blissfully unaware of the serious conversation happening around him.

"I think you should also talk to Kanda and maybe Snape. He seems to know a decent amount about curses - and he was the one to improve the Wolfsbane" Link returned from the shelves and placed a hand on the albino's shoulder.

"He did?" Link smirked,

"He did - the man was reinventing potions and spells while still at school. At least that's what Dumbledore has told me"

"Alright - I'll head down to the dungeons after this. Thanks guys" Allen stood from the table and Link slid into his seat.

"Take care of yourself Walker" Link gave him a stern look before turning to his papers. Allen chuckled and looked around,

"Where's Chaoji?" he finally noticed the missing member,

"Ah Chaoji isn't the biggest fan of books" Krory gave an amused smile. Link rolled his eyes,

"That's an understatement"

"He's by the lake trying some stuff out," Jonny finally answered. Allen shrugged, sounded like something the ex sailor would do.

He slunk out of the library, prepared to head to the dungeons, but paused as something by the path to the greenhouses caught his eye.

Timothy stood by the wall beside Hermione. Allen's gossip senses were tingling and he hovered nearby to see if anything happened.

"You just come from which lesson? I've lost track"

"It's okay. Ancient Runes - it's quite interesting"

"But weren't you going to Divination before?"

"I uh. No?"

"Granger, you're a terrible liar. What's this?"

Allen frowned at this. Granger seemed like a good girl. What was she up to? His curiosity kept him listening, even though he knew he should leave.

"It's - oh don't tell, but it's a time turner. It's how I've been getting to all my lessons"

"You're taking double lessons? Jeez, wait, does that mean you've been doing each day twice?"

"Pretty much"

"But how old would that make you? - Like biologically I mean"

"I-I'm not sure. Though with the amount of backwards and forwards I've been doing, I'm probably nearly fourteen now, if not already"

"Have you told Harry and Ron?"

Allen saw her shake her head.

"I guess you have it legally?"

"McGonnogal gave me it at the beginning of the year since I didn't know which lessons to take - I think she intended for me to test them all out then decide and give it back. But I want to do them all. I enjoy them all"

"Hey, hey it's okay. I'm not gonna make you give it back. I'm just worried. Maybe tell your buddies though. They'll at least be able to help you clear up any loose ends"

"Yeah I guess. Thanks Tim."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

"Yeah"

The conversation went silent and Allen found himself staring at the wall, contemplating the conversation.

"Allen, you lost again?"

Timothy's voice shocked Allen out of his concentration and he realised that the pair had started heading his way.

"Uh a bit but I've just been to the library" he omitted the spying. Hermione smiled slightly,

"Do you know if they've found anything yet?"

"Well they're only half way through the curses section and Lavi is swimming in books that swear so not yet but they're making progress." he summerised. Hermione cringed at the swearing books, probably from encountering some herself, but patted Timothy's shoulder,

"It's good that they're making progress though"

"Yeah" Allen hid a grin at Timothy's pinking face. Hermione caught it and rolled her eyes,

"Right I need to get back to lessons. See you later?" she directed the question at Timothy whose expression softened into one Allen had never seen on his brother's face before,

"Yeah, see you later"

She gave the pair a quick wave and headed down the corridor towards the stairs. Allen decided to desist from any mocking remarks - his little brother deserved some normal happiness.

"I'm heading down to the dungeons to bug Kanda if he's free. What are you doing now?"

"Potting Mandrakes" Timothy grumbled, even though they both knew that the boy was happy to get his hands dirty, "Which reminds me, I should head back before Pomona drags me back. See you Al" he slapped the older boy on the back before heading back towards the greenhouses. Allen rolled his shoulder with a wince before wandering back to the library to find his bearings before his journey to the dungeons.