A/N: Hey! *wave* So I finished this, uh, last night. *sheepish grin* Shows me to depend on flight time for anything. I fall right asleep, can't get anything done.

Thank you to Ktteddy, HipsterL, newby6320, jy24, Kiri Kaitou Clover, and guest for reviewing!

Title: Murmured Magic Words

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: Link/Allen

Genre: Friendship/Romance

Warnings: Hogwarts AU (for DGM)

Summary: In Allen's fourth year, two things happen. One, the Triwizard Tournament. And two, Link becomes Professor Snape's apprentice. Only one of these things directly affects Allen.

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man. Or Harry Potter.

Allen was always the last in his dorm to fall asleep and the first to wake up. If this hadn't been among the least significant of his traits, it might have earned him a nickname. As it was, most of the negative attention remained on his hair and his scar - it was a testament to Harry Potter's infamy within Slytherin house that the epithet 'scarface' had gone to the Gryffindor instead. Allen still winced every time he heard it, directed at him or not.

Allen pulled on his robe, glanced around at the drawn curtains of his housemates, suppressed an amused smile, and stood up to head for the Great Hall.

Even this early in the day, there were a fair few people at breakfast. He could see Kanda, as early a riser as Allen himself, at the Gryffindor table, and, he noticed with interest, Howard Link as well, at the Hufflepuff one - perhaps sitting at the staff table had simply been a formality. He was talking to a pair of younger girls, around Allen's own age, looking far more relaxed than he ever had at the front.

Other people were scattered around the hall, including a few at the Slytherin table, where Allen headed now. He was ignored as he settled down to eat, which suited him fine.

Things had been strained from the start between him and his housemates - it was rather uncommon for victims of Death Eater attacks to be Sorted into Slytherin house, given the aversion to it that normally resulted. Allen, however, had never been normal.

It had eased over time, but in that time, Allen had already made friends in other houses. As a direct result, things between him and the rest of the Slytherins were, at best, lukewarm, and at worst, just this side of civil.

"As uncouth as ever, I see, Mr. Walker."

Allen started, halfway through his meal already, and looked up. Professor Snape was eying him distastefully, a thick stack of schedules tucked under his arm. Allen swallowed and gave him a bright smile.

"Professor Snape," he greeted cheerfully. "Good morning."

Snape snorted, almost too quiet to notice, and held out Allen's schedule for him to take. "See me after classes tonight, Walker, before you retire. I expect you no later than eight."

"I'll do my best," Allen assured him, taking it. He smiled a little. "I might even remember the way this time."

Snape snorted again, clearly dubious, and swept away without another word, leaving Allen to his meal, schedule now safely in his lap.

The hall slowly filled up as Allen ate. He saw Lavi arrive first, and then Lenalee, who sat beside Kanda despite the older boy's halfhearted glower. He kept an eye on both of them; he would finish first, but he didn't want to leave without them. Kanda was finished already, but he was waiting, too, under the guise of examining his schedule.

Finally, Lavi stood up, which was the cue for the rest of them, and they made their way out of the Great Hall, eventually meeting up just outside.

"We've got DADA together!" was Lavi's cheerful greeting to Kanda.

"Joy," Kanda muttered with a soft scowl. "I can't fucking wait."

"Don't be like that!" Lavi protested, slinging an arm around Kanda's shoulders with a broad grin. "This way we can duel in class."

"I'll sever your goddamn arm off if you don't stop touching me," Kanda snapped, giving Lavi a glare of death. Allen smirked.

"So touchy for a Gryffindor," he teased. "Tell me again, how does that go over with the Weasley twins?"

"Shut the fuck up. I'll kill them, too."

"Boys," Lenalee reprimanded sternly. They exited the castle, making their way toward the Forbidden Forest. "I can't believe you're still acting like first years at this age."

"I'm not doing anything," Lavi denied, but his grin betrayed him, and Lenalee cast him a reproachful look. "What? I'm not! There's not a force on Earth that can keep these two from fighting!"

"But you don't have to enable them," Lenalee sighed, and then smiled and shook her head. "Never mind. You'll duel it out later, I know you will."

A small smirk appeared on Kanda's face, and Allen couldn't deny his own spark of excitement, one matched by both Lenalee and Lavi at the mere mention.

Duelling was probably the main thing that had brought the four of them together. Technically speaking, it was against the rules, but that only mattered if you got caught. So, around once a week, the four of them would meet in the Room of Hidden Things - a place Kanda had found as a second year, when he wanted to be able to break things - and duel.

Each of them had their own reasons for having gotten into duelling, of course, but, well. They didn't talk about those much.

They reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest and settled around a particularly old and gnarled tree, thick and as elderly-looking as a tree could get. Lavi had picked the spot; it was private and out of the way, without actually getting them into trouble.

"So!" Lavi declared, as soon as they'd sat down. "The Triwizard Tournament." He spread his arms. "Thoughts?"

"It sounds," Lenalee said ruefully, "exactly like wizards."

Kanda let a small smirk tug at one corner of his mouth, and Lavi snorted a laugh of his own, while Allen smiled wryly.

"Yup," Lavi agreed cheerfully. "Danger, glory, riches, institutionalized violence – why not?"

Lavi, like most of the Bookman clan, had been taken from the Muggle world at a relatively early age and adopted into the legally pureblood Bookman family. It was 'traditional'. In a very non-traditional sort of way.

"I might enter," Kanda commented idly. "I'm old enough." He smirked slightly. "And hell, it could be interesting. I'd like a challenge."

"I would if I could," Lenalee said thoughtfully, "except Brother might have a heart attack."

All of them snorted at the thought.

"I will too," Lavi said decisively, with a small grin of his own. "May as well, you know? Yuu's not the only one who wants a challenge." He ducked a curse from the long-haired boy beside him. "So violent."

"You're smart," Allen noted, eying Lavi thoughtfully. "And not just in an academic way. I think you could do well if you were chosen." He glanced distastefully at Kanda, but conceded, "Kanda wouldn't do so bad either. Being a stubborn ass and all."

"You better fucking believe it!" Kanda snapped.

Lenalee laughed. "I'd love to, honestly, but I'm too young. Still, it should be fun to watch." Her eyes lit up slightly. "And the other schools! I knew they existed, but I'd love to see them."

"Hey." Lavi glanced at the castle. "I'd love to continue this talk, but I think we need to be getting to class."

Sure enough, the few other students outside were starting to hurry in, and with a curse, Kanda rose to his feet, swiftly followed by the others.

"Good luck!" Lavi called over his shoulder, grinning as he shoved Kanda forward to the castle, while Lenalee and Allen followed at a slightly slower pace.

They exchanged an amused glance, and then, entering the castle, split up.

I don't think I would enter, Allen mused to himself, struggling to navigate the twisted, malevolently entangled halls. A challenge is all well and good, but there are other things than glory. Besides, I don't really want to draw any more attention to myself.

Day one of classes passed without much incident – though really, Allen wasn't looking forward to dealing with the Blast-Ended Skrewts in the future – and soon enough, it was time for Allen to visit Professor Snape.

Four years ago, a year before Allen came to Hogwarts, a Death Eater called Tyki Mikk had attacked him – him and Mana. One of the lingering effects of that night was the curse scar that ripped down the left side of his face and bleached his hair white.

One of the effects of that curse – Diabolus est Vorticem, the Devil's Vortex – was nightmares. Horrific nightmares – images of torture victims and mangled children, of the rotting undead and broken, breathing bodies. Anything to keep Allen up at night. Sometimes, Allen wondered if the curse let him look into Hell itself.

It had been Madam Pomfrey's suggestion that he go to Professor Snape, to see if there was anything he could do – and Professor Snape, to eleven-year-old Allen's endless relief, had come through.

Since then, every month, Allen had gone to Professor Snape to collect a month's worth of Ignaro Draught, a potion that sent the drinker into a sleep deep enough to stave off even the nightmares of his curse.

Of course, Allen had forgotten that Snape would not be alone this time.

For a moment after peeking into the classroom, he blinked at the image before him.

Link – Allen was fairly certain that was the boy's name – was standing over a cauldron, the fingers of one hand wrapped carefully around a potion stirrer, focus unwavering despite the visibly tense set of his shoulders. Snape stood only a little back from him, explaining curtly in a low tone how the potion worked.

"-the Devil's Snare seeds react with the Mandrake essence to create a deadly poison, which is counteracted by the phoenix ash. Think for a moment on what the final result will be."

Link nodded once in understanding, tight but resolute, and Snape nodded at him once before looking up to Allen and raising one eyebrow expectantly. Allen smiled at him sheepishly and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

"Good evening, Professor," he greeted warmly, ignoring the way Link glanced up and grew visibly more uncomfortable. "I forgot you had company."

Snape 'hm'ed, not so much in thought as irritation. "'Company' is not the word I would have chosen," he muttered, and Link's shoulders tightened further. Allen was growing rather concerned. "If you will give me a moment, Walker, I will retrieve the potion from the storage area. Do not move."

He turned and swept away, and Allen turned his attention on Link, who was… determinedly ignoring him.

Allen smiled anyway, taking a few easy steps toward him.

"Good evening," Allen greeted, coming to a stop a few feet away. Link finally looked up at him, rigid as a wooden board and knuckles white against the potion-stirrer, looking as wary as if Allen had approached him with a raised wand. "Link, wasn't it?"

Link inclined his head slightly and removed the stirrer, setting it down – Allen assumed it was meant to be stewing. "Yes. I believe you are Allen Walker?"

Allen lifted a hand to the back of his head, smiling ruefully – he was a rather recognizable figure. "Yes, I am." He let his expression soften. "I'm afraid I don't really recognize you. What House were you in?"

"Why does it matter?" Link's tone was noticeably guarded. Allen winced slightly.

"No reason, I suppose." He kept his tone soft and inoffensive, with a small smile on his face. "I'm around the Potions room a fair amount, though, and Professor Snape is my Head of House. I wouldn't like us to be complete strangers."

Link didn't relax in the least. On the contrary, he looked even more unsettled, gaze flicking briefly to the door before returning to Allen, wary.

Finally, though, Link replied, clipped and brief, "I was a Hufflepuff."

Allen nodded to himself – that's right, he'd seen Link at that table earlier – and smiled, holding out his hand. "It's good to meet you, Link."

Link shook his hand, but his grip was light and ginger, and he let go quickly. "Likewise," he said politely.

"Link, I certainly hope that you aren't slacking off," came Snape's silky tones as the tall man emerged from the storage room. Link flinched, and Allen eyed him curiously. "Walker, if you don't stop distracting him, I'll have to eject you from the area."

Allen turned and offered Snape an apologetic smile. "Sorry, sir. I'll leave now." He received the small box Snape handed him and added, "Thank you very much."

Snape nodded shortly, and then made a small shooing gesture with his hand that Allen took to mean 'begone'. He waved to Link with a small, still-rueful smile and called,

"I'll see you around, Link!"

Link nodded distractedly, but with Snape's return, seemed twice as determined to focus on his potion; the potion stirrer was back in his hand, and his eyes were fixed on the interior of his cauldron.

Suddenly, it occurred to Allen that Link, like many Hufflepuffs, was probably terrified of Professor Snape.

He wondered what had driven him, then, to seek an apprenticeship with the man, and why Snape had taken him.

Then he shrugged to himself, dismissing the thought, and headed back to his common room. He'd probably never find out.

*shrug* Sorry for skipping over the classes - we'll see a bit of those in the future, but I wanted to get along a little, and these weren't that interesting. Thanks for reading, and please review!