A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to my newest crossover: Varia Quality Bodyguards! I'm really excited and I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it... Anyway, some basic information about this story is that it will follow the plot of CoS with some obvious changes because... well... the Varia gets involved. What else did you expect? Aditionally, this takes place two years after the ring battles, but the future arc didn't happen (I've got plans for that, but that's in the faraway future...), for now, read, enjoy, and please leave a review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Katekyo Hitman Reborn, no matter how much I wish I did...

Justin Finch-Fletchley had been attacked last night, and even though he had only been petrified and not killed that fact did little to ease anxious students' worries and fears. Wherever Harry went, whispers and wary gazes seemed to follow his every move. He could swear that whenever he opened his mouth to speak, somebody in the room flinched or stiffened as if expecting him to suddenly crack and attack them with Dark Magic. Even some of the teachers seemed to be giving him the cold shoulder, and it was not a particularly pleasant feeling.

Harry Potter, also known as the Boy Who Lived, sat in the Great Hall that evening, idly picking at his stew but not really being able to find it within himself to actually eat anything. Being suspected of possible murder (never mind the fact that nobody had died and that Harry hadn't done anything) sure did no favours to one's appetite.

Ron and Hermione sat by his side as usual, but even they seemed to be rather out of it at the moment. Not that Harry could blame them… it had been an eventful couple of days and between discovering their friend was a parselmouth (he could speak to snakes, Salazar Slytherin had been able to speak to snakes too) and the attack on Justin, he was honestly surprised they'd stuck with him at all.

("Of course we're still your friends, Harry." Hermione had reassured him just last night, a comforting hand placed on his shoulder.

"Yeah, mate." Ron had chirped in, shrugging in that careless manner of his. "This doesn't change anything, does it? You're still Harry."

But at the same time Harry hadn't been able to ignore the looks of collective distrust the Hufflepuffs sent him- huddling closer to each other each time he was in the vicinity- and he couldn't shake Hermione's earlier remark of: "He lived about a thousand years ago. For all we know, he could be."

Because what if he was? What if Slytherin really was his great great great great grandfather? What if the sorting hat had been right that time, what if there was something inheritably evil in him, what if-)

"Harry. Harry, are you listening to me?"

"Huh?"

Hermione's look was one of worry but he wove it off, reassuring her that he had only been daydreaming and that, yes, everything was fine and what was that you asked again?

His friend didn't seem sold, but she accepted it with a mild nod all the same.

"I just asked if you had figured out question two of Professor Binn's worksheet. I'm pretty sure I got it right, but the terminology was just a tad tricky and-"

Ah, typical Hermione. Harry really wondered what they would do without her sometimes (mispronounce a spell and blow up half of Hogwarts probably). The Gryffindor shook his head, admitting that he had actually not even started yet.

"Blimey! That's not due until next week, Hermione." Ron pointed out. "Why bother with it now?"

At this point Hermione huffed something about the importance of getting things done in advance, but the argument was –perhaps not surprisingly – lost on Ronald Weasley. It wasn't very long before the two of them were engaged in a battle of leisure versus responsibility. Harry couldn't help but smile fondly at his friends. He appreciated the attempt at normality, no matter how glaringly obvious it was.

He was opening his mouth to say something when suddenly a large, angry-looking owl swooped down onto the Gryffindor table… right in the middle of dinner time. Harry and his fellow Gryffindors exchanged confused looks. They never got mail during dinner, except for cases that were really urgent.

The owl, an abnormally large brown screech owl, hooted loudly, obviously wanting to be relived from its duty. It looked rather windswept and ruffled, Harry nodded, as if it had had a long, tiring journey behind its back. Even so, it somehow managed to look menacing.

"I think it's for you, Harry." Neville whispered with a light push to his side, sounding rather anxious. Well… considering the bird was glaring them down with a ferocity contesting even Professor Snape's, Harry was starting to feel a bit intimidated himself. He also had to – however reluctantly – agree with Neville. The owl was glaring in his general direction, and whenever something weird happened at Hogwarts, Harry somehow seemed to be the centre of it.

Resigning himself to his fate, Harry reached out for the envelope. The moment his hand came anywhere close it to though, he was given a loud, disapproving screech and a bleeding finger.

The owl had bit him!

"Ow! What was that for?"

The owl hooted impatiently, as if telling them all to hurry up.

When Hermione cautiously reached for that same envelope a couple of seconds later, the bird stayed completely still. How was that fair?

"Who is it from? Owls don't usually deliver letters after breakfast."

Only that Hermione seemed to be too preoccupied with staring at the pristine white envelope in her fingers to pay any attention to Ron's question. It was a paper envelope, Harry noticed, the kind that muggles customarily used to write letters. That in itself wasn't unusual considering Hermione was a muggleborn. What was strange was the official-looking seal that had been placed upon it. It was some sort of a crest, Harry thought, and though he couldn't recognize the design, Hermione sure seemed to.

She seemed to hesitate for only a moment before breaking the seal and pulling out the neatly folded paper inside the envelope. It was adorned by that same official-looking crest. Harry craned his neck to take a look at the letter's contents over Hermione's shoulder only to realise the note wasn't even in English. He was about to ask about it when all hell broke loose.

It started with a BANG, followed by a loud cry of "VOOOOOOOOIII!" (whatever that may be), and the big double doors of the Great Hall being slammed open. Or blasted off their hinges… to be more accurate. Splinters went flying everywhere and several Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students had to duck in order to avoid flying pieces of door. There, amidst the smoke (when had that gotten there?), a couple of very distinct silhouettes stood.

Harry had never up until this point in his life seen a more strange assortment of people.

"Trash. Where's the food?"

"Ushishi~ the Boss is hungry. Better make sure he gets fed."

"Did you have to shoot the door down?! VOOOII! Does collateral damage mean anything to you, Xanxus?!"

"Shut up. I'm starving."

It was a strange sight indeed, but nothing could have prepared Harry for what happened next.

"Why are you here?"

This was when all heads turned towards the Gryffindor table.

HERMIONE?!