A/N: This is what happens when writer's block, boredom, plot bunnies, and procrastination all come together in one neat little package. I suppose I'll just throw something here when I can't think of anything else for my other stories.

And crap-poodles, there I go already thinking of a plausible ending for this fic, and it's only the first chapter and barely even started.

Instead of completely retelling the HP plot, this will be a series of interconnected tales not necessarily told in the right order showing how Ulquiorra's presence affects the series as a whole. Heck, maybe I'll even take prompts for the chapters/years.

000

Chapter One: In Which a Simple Wish is Rather Complicated

Magic in and of itself, is such an odd, curious thing. It has rules, yet doesn't seem to follow any rules in particular. It can be a terrifying force, yet at the same time, a useful tool for everyday use.

Wishes fall under the odd and curious category as well. They can be powerful in their own right; blowing out candles, wishing on stars, and throwing money down certain wells – which are also quite mysterious – perhaps even having some sort of wishing catalyst. Add magic and powerful emotions to those wishes, and a person could potentially find themselves displaced. But here, it is where people don't realize that wishes are fickle things, much to their displeasure and misfortune. For you see, people will get their wish granted, yet it doesn't come about in the way they suspect it should.

Their wishes get granted either in a very roundabout way, or are somehow slightly corrupted. There are many stories that involve the dangers of a corrupted wish. The most infamous of them is the tale of a girl who had a rather horrible fight with her lover. He was simply leaving the premises, as one would do to clear their mind – it wasn't as if he was leaving her. But alas, as he was leaving, she was worried he would leave her. Instead of being willing to simply talk and listen, and unwilling to risk having her heart broken if that ever came about, the girl had access to a wishing catalyst.

So in her selfishness, anger and sadness, she wished that her boyfriend would never leave her. And he never did; he became a tree that forever rooted itself in her garden. She was also unable to find love with anyone else, because technically the love of her life had never left her.

So their emotions when they make their wish must be taken into account. Are they being selfish, selfless, or – if the person is thinking of themselves – are they wishing they could have another chance to do and become something more? A desire that is not selfish, because it is something all truly sentient beings should strive for.

A desire to change; and be better for it.

To say all of that, is how this tale has led here.

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of Number Four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

Here, there is a young boy named Harry Potter – he has a great destiny waiting for him, yet, that does not seem to be the case, as far as he can see. He is currently five years and some odd hours old, and his Aunt Petunia has locked him away in his cupboard under the stairs for doing something he couldn't have helped.

Young Harry had caused his rather terrible cousin Dudley's hair to turn a frightful shade of pink. Amidst his Aunt and cousin's caterwauling that consists of "Oh, my poor Dudders" and "What will the neighbors think?!"

Harry is upset, because he was simply defending himself against Dudley's physical and verbal bullying. As he laid back on his cot, Harry is lost in his turbulent emotions. So he whispers to the darkness, so quietly that not even the spiders in his cupboard can hear him.

"I wish I could go somewhere far away from here…" but where would he go? Slowly, logic began to take over. "I don't know if anyone is listening… but I wish I could have a friend." Harry wiped a stray tear from his eye. "I don't like being alone. Just one would be enough. I wouldn't mind living here if I had just one friend…"

Unintentionally, a small, thin string of his magic began to reach out, searching.

0o0o0

At that same moment, in a world that was almost nothing except shifting sands that went on as far as the eye can see, three people stood in amid the rubble of a broken building where a fight had just taken place.

Ulquiorra Cifer was fading after having been defeated by Ichigo.

He slowly reached out towards the girl named Orihime. She looked at him with an expression he couldn't really identify. Perhaps it was pity. He was never very good at identifying that sort of thing anyway; frankly because there had never been a need of it. But there was the desire to learn. Orihime was a curious thing; she spoke of Humanity and love with such conviction, he found himself wanting those things as well. He wanted to learn more.

What does it mean to be Human?

For such a simple question, it does not have one, complete answer.

Orihime was an emotional girl who wore her heart on her sleeve to an absolute fault – that was how she had ended up in Hueco Mundo in the first place. But through her conversations with Ulquiorra, she had found that while he was unemotional, he wasn't as detached as she first thought. It was as he was fading before her eyes that she saw it: the flicker of emotion in his otherwise stoic features.

He didn't want to die, even though it seemed before it would not have made a difference to him.

So Orihime wished that Ulquiorra could have that chance. To learn how to be Human; to love and care for someone and be loved and cared for in return. Such a selfless wish that was filled with strong desire for someone else and regret for so many things.

It was thanks to these deciding factors that so many things happened.

And then Ulquiorra faded into nothing but ash before their eyes.

0o0o0

Ulquiorra didn't know where he was when he woke up. He was in a room that looked to be 8x8 with a high ceiling, and it appeared to be manmade, seeing how the cool stones were laid out and smooth. There was no light except for the soft blue glow from a large screen of some sort that took up the entirety of the wall in front him. It did not show much; it was dark and blurry.

Ulquiorra's first thought was that he was a prisoner somewhere, but that didn't make sense. He remembered fading. There was no mirror, so Ulquiorra checked over what he could see and feel about himself. He wasn't injured, and he still had his sword.

He just stood there, for however long, not knowing what to do. There wasn't any door that he could see, and his Cero didn't seem to be working. Was he a prisoner in Seireitei? But if that were the case, why would they have let him keep his sword? Perhaps this was a test? If so, then for who?

Ulquiorra's musing was interrupted by a sudden deep shout of, "Boy! Get up!" accompanied by banging.

Except the banging wasn't on the walls of his prison. The screen in front of him jolted, and was now a blurry mess of dull colors. Something pink and hand-shaped reached out to grab something and then brought it towards the screen. The screen shifted into focus within seconds, and Ulquiorra could see a room – it was small and filled with various objects like a small dresser and books. A door to the room opened, and the largest man Ulquiorra had ever seen loomed there.

Now when Ulquiorra thought large, he was comparing the man to an animal that was called a walrus.

"None of your freakishness today, eh, boy?" the man questioned, looking into the screen.

"No..." a child's voice answered.

"Good, good. Now hurry up and get in the kitchen, Petunia needs help."

The screen shook as if it were nodding, then slowly rose up and went out of the small room. A boy who was like a tiny clone – and the term 'tiny' was used loosely here – of the large man purposefully shoved by the one with the screen, causing them to stumble slightly. The large man said and did nothing.

How irritating.

The owner of the screen, as Ulquiorra didn't know what else it would be called – went into the bathroom. Ulquiorra quickly looked away in disgust, having no desire to see or hear anything pertaining to this room.

After the toilet was flushed, the owner was washing their hands and face. The owner put their glasses back on and looked into the mirror. Ulquiorra stared at the boy in the mirror who had green eyes and wild, almost black hair. Except one of his eyes was covered in a bruise. The boy frowned at his reflection before muttering, "Stupid Aunt Petunia, and stupid Dudley…I wish someone would beat 'precious little Dudders' up for once."

Ulquiorra couldn't help it when he said dryly to himself, /"'Little' isn't a word I would use."/

The boy's eyes widened and he fell backwards onto the floor, knocking a few bottles down as well. While nothing broke, the screen was wildly shifting back and forth as the boy's eyes flitted around the room. "H-hello?"

Wait…could this boy hear him?

/"Can you hear me?"/

"Yeah…Where are you? How are you talking to me?"

There was a banging on the door at that moment. "You better not be doing any of that bloody freakishness! Hurry up and get out here!"

The boy muttered a reply about having tripped and quickly picked everything up and set it back in its proper place.

The boy went out to the kitchen to help prepare the other Humans' breakfast. The woman looked very much like a humanoid horse, and that left Ulquiorra wondering how the two adults had even mated in the first place.

While Ulquiorra was demanding answers, he wasn't willing to distract the boy while he was busy with these Humans' needs. It wasn't until they were sitting down for breakfast that Ulquiorra spoke again.

Of course, his voice caused the boy to suddenly flinch, which resulted in the other occupants at the table to glare at him.

/"Stop flinching when I speak."/ Ulquiorra ordered, not having the patience for such silliness. "My name is Ulquiorra Cifer, Fourth Espada…well, I should say former forth Espada. Who are you and where are we?"/

Well, the boy couldn't answer that easily. It wasn't until well after breakfast was over and the dishes cleaned and put away that Harry went to his cupboard and shut the door. He then whispered, "I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

/ "Very well. You will tell me everything there is to know about this World, boy."/

Harry wasn't sure who or what Ulquiorra was, but it certainly wasn't as lonely anymore. The small boy smiled.