A/N: From this point on, updates are probably going to be a bit slower, what with schoolwork and all. It's really heating up right now and the chapters coming after this are going to get quite a bit longer.

Personally, I'm not all that satisfied with this chapter. Not much happens and I'd rather just jump straight to Hogwarts, but it's kind of important for further development, so I have to stick with it. Oh well.

Edit note: Thanks to SeanHicks4 for spotting a grammar mistake which I'm very prone to making all the time! Thank you very much!

Chapter 3: Mutual understanding

"Harry?" Hinamori breathed.

Lupin was looking at her oddly. "Yes, Harry—oh you don't know. I'm sorry; it's just that sometimes it is strange when someone doesn't know."

"What do you mean? What is strange?" repeated Hinamori. "What… are you talking about, Remus-san?"

"Harry Potter," he said shortly. "Everyone knows… I… sorry, let me explain this properly. You see, fourteen years ago, right before his supposed death-"

"That evil wizard?" Hinamori asked.

"Yes, Voldemort," Lupin said. "The night he vanished, he was out to kill a family; the Potters. He killed the elders; Lily and James, but he failed to kill their son, Harry. The curse he used rebounded and by all rights should have killed him instead. No one knows the exact reason he'd stayed alive."

"No, really?" Ichigo mumbled quietly.

"Kurosaki-san, this isn't a joke!" Hinamori said.

"I know, I know, geez… take it easy…"

Hinamori frowned at him, but said nothing on the subject. "So… this Harry Potter…"

"Is a student at Hogwarts at the moment," Lupin said easily. His voice as if suddenly had become a lot lighter, much easier to follow through. "I believe you may even be in the same year."

"He's fifteen?" Hinamori questioned. Ichigo couldn't make sense of why, seeing as they already knew that, but never mind. Seconds later, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Why, yes. Yes, he is."

"Wait… that makes him one year old when that other creep tried to kill him…" Ichigo said incredulously.

"That is the other part of the mystery," Lupin said. "How could have a baby repelled an unstoppable curse?"

"That is a good question…"

"But he's all right now? And he's considered a hero? So why doesn't the Ministry believe him?" asked Hinamori. "It is… unprofessional and…" she stopped there, shaking her head.

"I think I told you he's a little bit of a troublemaker, didn't I?" said Lupin.

The two nodded.

"Well, you better turn that little bit into quite. There has, as of yet, been no year at Hogwarts without a scandal arising with him in the midst of it… And most of the things aren't even his fault…"

"But he gets to clean the mess?" Ichigo said.

"Something along those lines, I'd say," Lupin said exasperatedly. "It gets even more complicated than that, but that is the gist of it."

"That's some pretty nasty problem you've got here," Ichigo murmured, but he could see it happen. The situation had reminded him awfully much of his own and a little sympathy for Potter was something he could afford.

"You're kidding me, right?" Lupin said. "I'd rather call it Murphy's Law at its best. Or worst, depending on how you take it."

Ichigo snorted in amusement.

Hinamori blinked.

"Um… Murphy's law?" she asked.

"Human thing," Ichigo said and only when Hinamori nodded did he realize exactly what he'd said.

Lupin was looking at them curiously. "So, your term for Muggles is… human?" he asked.

"Something along those lines, yeah," Hinamori admitted quickly, with a sheepish grin plastered over her face.

Lupin raised an eyebrow.

"Well, now that we're finished with the serious stuff," Ichigo said, stretching his arms. He turned to Lupin. "How about we unpack those books and all?"

"That's… not a bad idea. And oh, look at the clock! I better get some lunch soon. Would you mind it if I only returned your things into normal while you organize it?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Ichigo said.

Lupin smiled a little before taking out the whole of their things from his pockets, unshrinking them and returning them their natural weight. Ichigo was staring at the pile, his eyebrow twitching.

"This might take some time," he muttered.

Beside him, Hinamori chuckled awkwardly. "Ah… probably."

They were still at the process of separating things when Lupin announced he was going to a convenience store and should be back shortly. Only after the door was long locked and the two were alone did either of them say anything.

"You think this wizard dude could be a Hollow?" Ichigo asked.

Hinamori's hold on the Standard Book of Spells, grade five, tightened. "I doubt," she admitted. "An Arrancar is plausible, but not everyone would be able to see it… And it is still possible that this wizard never even died… then there's the issue of the wizard's Reiatsu. I'm pretty sure Remus-san's is around seventh seat level, possibly sixth."

"That's… pretty high," Ichigo muttered.

Hinamori nodded. "It is… but at least now some things make sense. I admit I was very curious as for why would a teenager ever need a bodyguard in form of a spirit… but now it fits. This Dumbledore, for whatever reason, wants to protect Potter from whatever trouble he may get into."

"Well, it certainly makes sense if you put it that way," Ichigo said, stashing the cauldron in his arms, the Potions ingredients he'd bought resting inside.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kurosaki-san! I… I really shouldn't be letting you get involved with this. You already have something you should be working on—"

"That's okay, I don't really mind," Ichigo said. Hinamori looked at him in wonder, but he quickly looked away. Coughing, he said, "What I meant, this whole thing has me curious as well."

The confusion on Hinamori's face quickly changed into understanding and she nodded. "I guess… I guess I really shouldn't be surprised," she said. "You do have a record of getting into things you shouldn't."

"Hey, it's not my fault most of you don't know how to do your own damn job," Ichigo countered.

Soon he realized he had judged the situation wrong. Hinamori wasn't like Rukia or Tatsuki, to slam a fist in his face or give a snarky remark when he's pressing the wrong buttons. Judging by the crestfallen look on her face, she was more like Inoue, taking everything to heart.

"Hey, I didn't mean… err… I didn't mean to pour salt on an… open… wound… no… really," he said lamely.

Hinamori smiled a little, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"It's okay, Kurosaki-san," she said quickly. "You're right… We really should have questioned further the events at the time. I can hardly hold it against you, so really, it's all right."

Ichigo nodded briefly, frowning. "I guess…" he said uncertainly.

The remained of the week they had spent with Lupin had been unexciting and dull. Ichigo and Hinamori only had several days to go through first to fourth year material and familiarize themselves with it. Things would have been much easier if Lupin had let them practice magic with wands, but as he was fairly certain the Ministry wouldn't welcome it very much, they did it only when Lupin was out (which was every day for at least two hours) and at night.

They had managed to finish reading the third year curriculum by August thirtieth, leaving only the fourth for their final day. Unfortunately, fourth year had long since proven to be far more difficult than the previous three put together.

Ichigo was glaring at the page of a notebook ("Professor Flitwick was kind enough to loan me this for a short while," Lupin had told them) describing the effect of a Summoning spell. Aside from the incantation, there was nothing else giving away how the wand movements went.

"How the hell am I supposed to pull this off?" Ichigo asked to Hinamori.

This time, they were in his room (less likely for Lupin to hear them if they made noise accidentally) and it was roughly one in the morning of August thirty-first.

Hinamori took the paper, reading over it. "Hmm… I don't… Wait, I have an idea." Shuffling through the smallest fascicle, she reached for one of the papers. "Here it is, 'Swish and flick – the basic motions for most of the spells'. Unless otherwise instructed, it should work."

Ichigo scowled, but nodded nonetheless.

So far, magic wasn't going very well for him, though he only had Hinamori to compare to. Usually, she'd pick up spells on her first, second or third try – except for the Cheering charm. Somehow, that one never worked for her… or maybe it was just that it wasn't working on Ichigo. Still, she was fairly good, while he had a lot of trouble with some spells. Wingardium Leviosa he'd only picked up on his fifth try, Lumos on his first and the disarming spell he'd failed spectacularly, covering the window in neon pink color. How he'd managed that was beyond him. It took Hinamori hours to come up with a solution and in the end she just broke the window and made sure Lupin had to replace it, not repair it.

Neither of them wasted a lot of time on working with spells, however. Twenty minutes per five selected spells was the most they'd done so far, in order to finish up with all the theory material; they could do magic once they were at school.

However, some spells – mostly deemed as a must know – they had to try out. And Summoning Spell was one of those.

Focusing on the wand movement and pointing it at the pillow, Ichigo said, "Accio."

Nothing happened.

He raised an eyebrow. "Nothing. Usually, there's this weird vibe when I try something, whether it works or not, but this time there was nothing."

Hinamori crossed her arms. "I don't know… Summoning Spell worked for me, though it didn't go all that well."

"Yeah, well, I'm hardly giving up," Ichigo said. This time trying to focus on the pillow, he muttered the spell.

He felt a small twitch in his hand and the pillow stirred, but otherwise remained in the same spot.

"Damn, and right when I was starting to think that I got a hang of it… Accio!"

Nothing. Not even a vibe.

"Maybe we should call it quits for the night, Kurosaki-san. We've been at this since early this morning. We've still got tomorrow, and after that we have a rather long ride to Hogwarts. There is time."

Ichigo only gripped his wand tighter. Of course there is time. We're bound to spend the whole year there, liked it or not. Damn.

"Accio!" he snapped.

Again, the pillow didn't even stir.

Ichigo took a deep breath. "Point taken."

Waking up on the first of September had been particularly tiring, Ichigo noted as he grumpily walked into the common room. He'd succeeded in reading the whole fourth year material Lupin had loaned them, though he only managed that by three in the morning so reasonably, he was feeling sleepy and short-tempered.

A very familiar looking black cat resting in the armchair could hardly make him feel any better.

He blinked several times, to make sure he wasn't seeing things. After all, he was tired and sleepy and the cat looked as if it'd disappear in the mist any second now. The more he thought of it, the faster the cat was fading in the background.

"…Yoruichi?" he asked quietly. He got an impression that the cat was opening her mouth as if to say something, but no sound reached his ears. The image got blurrier until all he could discern was two golden eyes locked on his own.

"Wait, don't…" but don't want? This wasn't about Yoruichi, Ichigo realized with sudden clarity. It was about him and his abilities… or lack of those, for that matter. But he could see a blurry shape and he couldn't help feeling a little bit better because only several days of using magic had made some, rather miniscule, but undeniable progress.

The entrance door of Lupin's apartment opened and Lupin, with Hinamori in tow, walked in. They were chatting animatedly about something and the only words Ichigo's brain had yet managed to discern were 'cat', 'Yoruichi' and 'aware'.

But then Lupin turned to him and Ichigo could hear it as clear as day, "I see that you're awake, Ichigo. That's good. Momo and I were just out shopping for some cat food."

Ichigo nodded mutely.

Hinamori grinned sheepishly. "Remus-san bought me a cat, earlier," she said, pointing in the direction Ichigo could see a faint, misty figure of Yoruichi's cat form. "I decided to call her Yoruichi-san. Don't you think it fits?"

"A-ah… I guess," Ichigo mumbled. "It fits well."

And as they settled for breakfast, all Ichigo could think was, Damn, I should've known the moment she mentioned a pet…

Somehow, while the thought of Yoruichi travelling along was only a tiny bit unsettling to him, it was also making him feel a whole lot better. At least now he had some definite proof that this whole magic business was not a fluke.

"I know you probably won't like this," Lupin started after the dishes were finally clean, "but we are going to have to head to the platform a little bit earlier."

Seeing the surprise in their faces, he quickly continued, "I mean, I have a job interview at eleven so… uhh… and it takes time to get there. I'll probably need to drop you off there at about half past ten…"

Hinamori and Ichigo exchanged a look.

"I guess that's all right," Hinamori said. Then she smiled. "You can't tutor students that are at school, after all."

Lupin avoided facing either of them when he agreed. "Do you have your trunks ready?"

"Trunks?" Ichigo questioned.

"Well how were you intending to get your books and cauldrons and clothes to Hogwarts?"

"Err…" That's a good question, Ichigo thought. "Suitcases?"

"Don't tell me…"

"There's nothing on the list about trunks!"

"And you told me you've packed? Oh, Merlin…" With that, Lupin promptly disappeared.

Both Hinamori and Ichigo stared at the place he just vanished from.

"What the hell?"

Lupin returned about fifteen minutes later, immediately ordering them to transfer everything they were taking in the trunks and in short explained them how to un-shrink their suitcases that were now resting in the corner of the trunk.

"I don't get it," Ichigo grumbled as they walked over platform seven. "What's wrong with suitcases? They're definitely easier to carry… and they take less space…"

"It's tradition," Lupin informed them. "And here I thought Japanese were a traditional nation…"

"Hey, that's hardly fair," Ichigo countered.

"Let's just not make a big matter of this, all right?" Lupin said, stopping in front of a barrier between platforms nine and ten. "I'll assume you don't know how to go through it?"

"If I knew what you're talking about…" Ichigo started.

"You see that wall?"

"Err… yeah…"

"I want you to walk through it. If you're nervous, just make a run for it."

"Wait, you want me to run through a wall? You nuts or what?"

"That's the only way to get to Hogwarts Express," Lupin said noncommittally.

"You want me to run through a wall? Are you out of your freakin' mind?"

"Do it, Kurosaki-san."

Whatever Lupin was about to say died on his lips when he heard Hinamori's command and Ichigo turned to her, not bothering to hide how much he disliked the thought of doing it.

"Have you hit your head or something?" he asked.

"Kurosaki-san, just do it. The wall is covered with Reiatsu unlike anything I've ever felt before. I can assure you, it's not solid," Hinamori said.

Ichigo's grip on the trunk tightened. "If you say so," he muttered darkly, though it took him a lot to do it. With a glare towards the barrier, he nodded firmly. "All right, then." And making sure that he was absolutely calm – he had no intention of running – he walked towards the wall. When the barrier was right in front of him, he closed his eyes and walked.

Something in the air shifted and the noise around him changed instantaneously.

Ichigo opened his eyes only to find himself staring at a sign reading, 'Platform nine and three quarters', and behind it was a large, scarlet engine with Hogwarts Express written in front.

Hinamori emerged beside him seconds later, and Lupin followed her shortly.

"See?" she said with a smile.

Ichigo resisted the urge to groan.

"Have fun at Hogwarts, you two," Lupin said as he helped Hinamori get her trunk on the train. "If you've got no other plans, remember that you can come over to my place during Christmas Holiday. Have a safe trip and I'd like to hear your impressions of the school. Hopefully it'll allure you like most so you'll have to be back next year."

"We'll see," Hinamori said. "Hm, we could probably write you on a weekend, I guess. The school allows students to use the owls, doesn't it? Maybe I should have bought one, too. Just in case."

"That's all right, there are school owls, of course," Lupin said. "Have a safe trip."

"Thank you. Good luck on your job interview."

"Ah, thank you, Momo."

Ichigo could have sworn that it was guilt in Lupin's face he was seeing, but he decided not to think much about it.

"Thanks on your hospitality, Remus. See ya," he said. Climbing further into the train, the two waved over to the lone man in the platform. So far, there had only been several oddly dressed people around, but having seen what their school uniforms looked like, Ichigo decided that wizard's dressing style in general sucked.

Lupin disappeared from the platform soon enough.

"So, the first cart or the last?" Hinamori asked.

"Last… less annoying people there," Ichigo said.

Pulling their trunks along, the two settled in a compartment near the middle of the last cart, each taking a seat by the window.

"He was lying, you know," Hinamori said suddenly.

"Eh? What?"

"Remus-san," she clarified. "He was lying about the job interview."

"You sure about that? He seemed suspicious, yeah, but—"

"His fists clenched, he avoided looking at either of us and his voice faltered. He was lying, I'm sure of it. But he was also feeling very guilty about it."

Ichigo shrugged. "Well I doubt he brought us here earlier just to have someone kill us from a shadow. Besides, he's good with Dumbledore. Doing that would kinda kill the point of us coming here in the first place."

"Well, I guess you are right," Hinamori said. "I think he was lying about tutoring too, but I can hardly blame him. We've been lying to him a lot, too."

"Well, it's not like we could tell him you're dead and that I'm once again trying to become an equivalent of that," Ichigo pointed out.

Hinamori said nothing.

As he had nothing better to do, Ichigo pulled out the Defense Against the Dark Arts book, Defensive Magical Theory and began reading through the first chapter. So far, that subject had proven to be the most interesting he'd yet found.

Kids safely shipped off on Hogwarts Express and the train already out on the move, Remus slumped into a seat at Grimmauld Place, which was empty of any other resident besides him and Sirius, along with Kreacher lurking somewhere upstairs.

"What's up with you, Moony? You look you've eaten one particularly nasty flavoured bean," Sirius noticed.

"It's nothing."

"Come on, you know you can tell me. You really look down. What happened?"

"Really, it's nothing... I just... Remember those two transfers I was looking over for the past week?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, Momo... and Ichigo, right? The Japanese joining Hogwarts?"

"Yes, them."

"What's up with them?"

"It's actually really stupid, you know."

"Geez, just say what's wrong already," said Sirius. "You're worrying me, Moony."

"It's nothing Padfoot... it just didn't feel right to lie to them so much. After all, I told them they could always rely on me if they needed. I know they've been withholding stuff from me and that sometimes they were outright lying as well, but they're decent kids... it just didn't feel right."

Sirius laid his hand on Remus's shoulder. "I hardly doubt you could have told them about the Order, Moony. Like 'hey, look at me, I'm a member of a secret anti-Voldemort unit, wanna join?' First of all, I honestly doubt that they'd even believe you."

"Well they did seem like smart kids," Remus said. "And they believed me when I explained them a little about Voldemort. I still can't believe they were completely clueless on what they were getting into."

"Not that it matters now," said Sirius. "Hey, what house you think they'll be?"

"Hm... I was wondering about it, too," Remus admitted. "So far, my guess is both of them in Ravenclaw. They were just so curious about the way things went here... Curious enough that I had to explain them why Potions were deemed important. I bet Ichigo's going to have a same opinion on Potions like Harry, after attending one of Snape's lessons. He didn't seem to like it very much."

"Who would ever in their right mind like Potions?" Sirius asked disbelievingly.

Remus shook his head with a definite smile. "Well, I suppose Momo could also be a Hufflepuff. She just gives out that vibe. Though I admire her love for cats. Have I told you? This morning we went to the Menagerie to get her a familiar. The moment we got there, the cats just... tackled her, I don't know how else to put it. And she chose the weirdest cat of all. Named it Yoruichi and if my knowledge of Japanese, which is very scarce, tells me anything, it's a really fitting name."

"Yeah? What? It means weird or something?" Sirius asked jokingly.

"Translates to 'night one', I think," Lupin said. "Perfectly fitting for a pure black cat with golden eyes."

"Well, that's certainly a new combination. I bet it'll get along with Hermione's Crookshanks just fine."

"It would be an interesting development," Remus agreed with a chuckle.

"You think Harry will get along with them?" Sirius wondered. "Wouldn't hurt having some foreign friends."

Remus chuckled even more. "Not sure about Harry, but I bet they'll get along with Hermione splendidly. There's so much one can hear from them. Hermione won't be satisfied until she'd pried out of them everything about their school and home."

Sirius winced. "I already feel sorry for them." Then he burst out laughing and soon enough, Remus joined him.