EDITED 2011-07-16

Hitsugaya sat glaring down at the papers in his hands as if he could burn them through sheer force of will. Because, not only was he being sent away for ten months, but he was being forced to masquerade as a thirteen year old boy. He was one hundred and twenty-one and they expected him to gallivant about at some school, leaving Matsumoto in charge his division?

The small taicho pinched the bridge of his nose as he set the envelope's contents on his desk. There was no possible way he could leave Matsumoto alone for ten months, never mind in charge of the division. It could only lead to disaster, and with his luck he'd return to find all of the buildings had burned to the ground. Crazy people. He worked with crazy people.

He'd caught her lighting a fire in his office once as she was trying to dispose of the paper work he had assigned her. He'd be gone for ten minutes and already his drapes had been turned to ash, his couch had been scorched and the room smelled of smoke for weeks. And they expected him to leave her alone for ten months?

He vaguely wondered how many intervals of ten minutes were in ten months...He was doomed.

The small taicho grumbled as he once again picked up the papers and rifled through them until he found a small letter. His name was printed on it in a lurid green that quite frankly hurt his eyes. He quickly ripped it open and threw aside the envelope to spare his eyes from having to look at the ungodly colour any further.

Dear Mr. Hitsugaya,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment. The term begins on 1 September. We await your owl no later then by 31 July.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

They wanted him to reply via owl?

And people said using hell butterflies was odd. At least they didn't make a racket or a mess. He thought the idea of using butterflies to be much more practical...although he had accidentally frozen a few. That was probably the reason he'd received his mission through letter, that and the Soutaicho probably didn't feel like dealing with the cold. But still, by owl? Where exactly was he going to get an owl?

He sighed, finally deciding to worry about that at a later date. He found the list that had been described in the letter and quickly scanned it. He'd need uniforms, several text books, parchment and quills.

He couldn't help but frown at that. He much preferred writing with a brush, although maybe he could get away with that. He'd also need a telescope, some scales, several instruments that he could probably get from the twelfth division, and a wand.

Toshiro stopped for a moment. They wanted him to get a wand? From what he had gathered while reading through the information he'd received, wizards used their wands to fight. So, for ten months they expected him to replace Hyorinmaru with a stick?

The very thought made his stomach sink.

Hyorinmaru was more than a katana; he was a valued friend and a source of stability. No matter what was happening he could always take comfort in the fact that Hyorinmaru was with him. But...orders were orders. Hitsugaya sighed as he realized he'd have to head out to London in a few days to pick up his supplies. Hopefully the owl had already been sent notifying the school of his attending.

He looked up as he heard some quiet swearing from outside his door. He sat up and stared, waiting for the door to finally slide open.

Matsumoto had tried to buy herself some time by watching officer after unsuspecting officer slip on the icy floor of the hallway. The temperature would take sudden dips every now and again but over all it had gotten slightly warmer throughout the office. It was then that she decided it was safe to go and see her taicho. The only problem was the door seemed to have been frozen shut. She stared at the door, swearing quietly so her taicho hopefully wouldn't hear as she wondered how she would get it open.

She eventually decided on using a weak hado to melt the ice. When she finally pried the door open she entered to the sight of Hitsugaya staring at her with a frown set on his adorable face.

Matsumoto smiled widely, "Taicho don't worry I'll take care of the division while you're gone! You have nothing to worry about!"

The small snowy haired teen stared at his smiling subordinate and couldn't help but think there was something ominous about the way she said she'd 'take care' of his division.

"Matsumoto, I wouldn't trust you to 'take care' of one of my plants for ten months by yourself, never mind my division."

The woman just laughed loudly as she threw herself down onto the couch. "Oh taicho you're so funny!"

"I'm quite serious. I'm actually wondering if I should have Kuchiki-taicho check up on you every so often."

The strawberry blonde whined at that. "That stick in the mud? But taicho he's so mean! Why not Ukitake-taicho?"

"We both know he wouldn't stop you from lighting the office on fire the moment you bat your eyelashes. The man is too soft on you. On everyone for that matter. He's too easy for you to break."

There was also the fact he was unsure if the sickly captain could actually handle the strain that came with being in charge of her.

Matsumoto gave a huff, "I bet I could get rid of Kuchiki easy enough if I put my mind to it."

"Why not put your mind to actually doing something useful. Like oh, I don't know...the paperwork, instead of antagonizing Kuchiki-taicho," Hitsugaya snapped.

"But taichoooo," she whined in response "Work is so boring."

"Matsumoto!"

"I'll just get the third seat to do it for me," she smiled.

"You shall do no such thing! The man is on the verge of a mental breakdown because of you as it is!"

"Really?"

"YES," he yelled as the temperature dropped several degrees

"And he's only been here for two weeks! This will be the third one this year and I will no longer stand for you running through my officers quicker than your sake! Kuchiki-taicho will make sure you leave that poor man alone and behave yourself."

Matsumoto gave a 'humph', "I bet I could scare off Kuchiki."

"I highly doubt that."

A small smirk spread across the woman's face, "Ne, taicho?"

"No."

"But I didn't even—

"No!"

"Taicho I bet I can get rid of Kuchiki before you return from your mission! I'll even do all the paperwork until I do, but if (when) I scare him off I'll send all the paperwork to you!"

Toshiro stared; doubting Matsumoto could only ever lead to trouble. But, she was pitting herself against the most cold, stoic, and calm taicho in all of the Gotai thirteen.

She didn't stand a chance.

"Fine," he eventually agreed seeing as his victory was almost assured "I'll take that bet."

Matsumoto grinned; little did 'Shiro-chan' know that she actually went easy on him. After all, who could really torture the tiny, snowy taicho? He was just too cute! But she'd pull out all the stops for Kuchiki. There would be no holding back.

He didn't stand a chance.

Dear Readers,

So sorry for the long delay between chapters! Right now I'm just 'setting the stage' as I like to put if before really getting on with the story. I would just like to say that the chapter length will increase when more of the Harry Potter characters come into the plot. I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. Seriously I didn't expect that many reviews, you guys are awesome. As any writer knows, reviews are an author's driving force.

ForeverFalling.