Disclaimer: Still not mine

So I am still undecided on pairings but have decided there will be no slash, Harry will be Ichigo's best friend/older brother/mentor and not his lover.

Harry will probably be paired with a goddess from one of the pantheons, just not one associated with death.

Chapter 3

"Nice weather."

Ichigo started at the voice and then released he wasn't getting any wetter. He looked up to find a stranger holding an umbrella over him, shopping dangling from the other arm.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he offered as he sat, ignoring the wet grass, beside the teen who jumped slightly.

"What?" Ichigo looked at the man, a foreigner although his Japanese was flawless.

"It's a saying, a penny for your thoughts. They seem pretty deep," Harry shrugged as the rain picked up. "I'm Harry," he offered his hand.

Ichigo hesitated but then took it. "Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you. So, what is wrong? Sometimes having someone to listen can help." What he really wanted to do was get the boy out of the rain before he became ill.

"No one can help."

"Well, that's a rather defeatist view of it. Come on, before you catch pneumonia or something." Harry pulled him to his feet, finding he was taller than the lanky teen who stared at him in shock. "I promise I don't bite," he tugged the teen into walking and headed home.

Ichigo was shocked by the stranger, Harry's, actions. Who did that? Apparently, this Harry did. He wasn't too worried, the older male was taller but he didn't look much like a fighter, for all that he moved silently and elegantly, more like a noble than a warrior. So, for now he let himself be led, part of him not caring too much where they were going. Who would miss him anymore? Who needed him?

Harry bundled the teen into his house as quickly as possible, leading him to sit at the chabudai while he went into the kitchen to warm some hot chocolate as well as cut two slices of the rich chocolate cake he had made the day before. Remus had known the secret of the universe, chocolate cured all. He put one mug and plate before the teen before getting a blanket to wrap him in. He then sat and they ate quietly, Harry happy to see some colour come back to the teens cheeks as they did. Once done he pulled the unresisting young man to his feet and led him to the bathroom, ushering him in to have a shower as he went and dug out some pyjamas that would do for the night.

Ichigo was exhausted and cold so he let himself be nudged around. The cake and hot chocolate had been heavenly and had revived him a little but then the hot water soaked in and he leant against the wall of the shower. What was he doing? This was so dangerous, making himself so vulnerable in a stranger's home…he was going to end up dead in a ditch or something. He turned the shower off and found clean sleepwear waiting for him, he hesitated but his soaked uniform was gone, leaving them the only option. He dressed and cautiously left the bathroom to find his host waiting.

"Which do you prefer, futon or western bed?" Harry asked, seeing the tired wariness in almost amber eyes, the colour reminded him a lot of Remus but this boy wasn't a werewolf.

"Bed?" Ichigo offered and then he was guided down the hall to a room with a bigger bed than his own only to be gently put to bed and then he was alone. He should run, bolt out the window or something…. but the bed was so warm and he was sooo tired. He yawned and curled under the blankets, maybe tonight there would be no nightmares, no memories…

Harry leant against the wall outside the bedroom, monitoring the team as he subconsciously fought the sleep charm for a few minutes before succumbing. Harry then headed straight for his lab where he could safely blow things up. Someone had damaged the boys very soul! Two thirds of it was just…gone? But not gone. It wasn't something he had ever seen before. How much pain must he be in all the time? He assumed it had something to do with his defeat of that Aizen character. Had Soul Society done this to him to keep him away? Ichigo was damaged, from the war and who knew what else. Even if Hel hadn't come to him, he was the sort of person Harry would always help…because no one had helped him when he really needed it. He was twenty-six, despite looking no older than around eighteen or nineteen, and he still wasn't over everything that had happened during his own war.

Maybe using magic on the teen had been cheating but he wanted him safe and there was nowhere safer than in his house. if he was keeping an eye on him then the teen couldn't angst his way to suicide, either purposely or by inaction. The pain he had to be in, well it wouldn't surprise him if Ichigo would prefer death.

He worked through the night, relying on a monitoring charm to keep an eye on Ichigo. When the teen startled awake form a nightmare at 5am Harry was swiftly at his side, concerned that he hadn't made any noise, like he'd taught himself to remain quiet even in the grip of terror. "Easy Ichigo, it's okay, you're safe," he whispered, not touching him since he didn't want to set off any fighting instincts. Slowly the teen showed more awareness until he was fully awake and blinking at Harry in confusion. "You were having a nightmare."

"Did I make a noise?" Ichigo had only screamed once and it had scared his sisters so badly he had forced himself to remain silent, no matter what.

"No, I'm very good at picking up on nightmares, I've had my fair share of them," harry perched on the end of the bed now that Ichigo was awake. "How do you feel?"

Ichigo hesitated and then blinked as he realised he felt better than he had in a while. "Fine," he answered automatically and Harry just hummed.

"Think you can sleep more?" he asked, magic pooling in readiness to help him.

"I don't know," Ichigo admitted, why did it feel right to be truthful with this man? Was he a Shinigami sent to check on him?

"It's still early so try," Harry offered and Ichigo lay back, soon fast asleep thanks to magic. Harry finally headed to bed as well, glad that his need for sleep had diminished some since becoming Death and he had the feeling it would shrink further the older he got.

At 7am Harry got up and prepared breakfast which was ready as Ichigo stumbled into the kitchen, looking around in awe. Harry chuckled at his reaction. "I love cooking so I splurged, eat up before it gets cold."

Ichigo sat at the bench and looked at the mixture of traditional and western breakfast foods. Normally he grabbed a piece of toast on his way out the door for school but this morning he was hungry. They ate quietly and then Ichigo helped clean up.

"Your clothes are clean and dried now," Harry pointed at the pile on the counter.

"Thank you…why are you doing this?"

Harry put the last dish away and turned to face Ichigo. "Go get dressed, we'll talk in the main room."

Ichigo hesitated but then grabbed his uniform and went to clean up and change. He looked in the mirror and ran a hand through his air, feeling more himself than he had since… since the end of the war. He straightened his uniform and then left for the room where they'd eaten the previous night to find Harry tending the Ikebana there. As he entered Harry straightened and turned to watch him approach. Ichigo hesitated and Harry quickly sat on the zabuton so Ichigo sat as well. "I know you have a lot of questions and I will do my best to answer them," he quickly assured the teenager. "My name is Harry Potter and I am from England. I was born in 1980," and then he waited.

1980? But... "That would make you…"

"Twenty-six as of last month."

"You don't look much older than me," Ichigo pointed out and Harry nodded.

"I haven't really aged since I hit eighteen. What do you know of magic?"

"Uh…." Did he mean Kido?

"Magic." Harry held his hand out and a pale blue flame danced in his palm.

Ichigo stared in shock, he…he could feel it. He reached out hesitantly and then touched the flame, it tickled but didn't burn. He looked back up at Harry who smiled softly and began to tell him a story that was even more unbelievable that his own life.

TBC…