Chapter 4: The Hogwarts Express... Shinigami vs Dementoids...
Me: Okay, who's gonna offend me this time?
Yoruichi: Hi, twistedthinking3! How are you doing?
Me: Very well, thank you... Wait, what are you up to...
Yoruichi: She says she doing fine! Plan A.37!
Hitsugaya: What one was that again?
Rukia: I don't remember...
Harry: I think it was the one where I said the disclaimer...
Yoruichi: Ah! That's right!
Ichigo: Are you saying even you didn't know?
Harry: twistedthinking3 begs reader-sama to understand that she does not own Bleach, Harry Potter, or any of their characters. Thank you.
Me: I don't understand why that is such a big deal... Plan A.37?-
Note: I am already done with the fifth chapter, I just have to edit it. It'll probably come out on Monday or Tuesday.
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Warning: Major Time Skip!
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Rukia choked on her chocolate frog. "Say what?!" She gasped, staring accusingly at the offender.
"You heard me!" Yoruichi chuckled playfully. "I asked who you would choose: Ichigo, or Renji!"
"I'm not sure I understand..." Rukia stalled, looking for a way out of the conversation. They were sitting in the Hogwarts Express, in the same cabin as Harry, Hermione, and Ron, all of whose ears were bright red. Even Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, looked embarrassed.
Ichigo and Renji also belonged in the small compartment, but they had both gone out to use the bathroom, making it simple for Yoruichi to spring the embarrassing question on the petite Shinigami. The only other one who could've taken in Rukia's mortification was a Professor R.J. Lupin, according to the stamp on his suitcase, and who was asleep, thankfully.
"C'mon, Rukia," teased Yoruichi. "Answer..." Rukia was saved when Renji slid the door open.
"Sorry," he said noncommittally. "You're gonna have to wait for Ichigo's esteemed company, he's got some nasty... Intestinal issues..." Rukia turned slightly green, looked down at the candy in her hand, deemed it not worthy of her stomach due to unforeseen circumstances, and handed it to Renji, who gulped it down like it was water.
"Oh," Renji added. "I ran into Kuchiki on my way back. He said the rest of them were doing fine, although the teenage they were sharing a cabin with was wearing weird glasses, and reading her magazine upside-down."
Renji, Ichigo, Yoruichi, and Rukia had parted ways with Byakuya, Gin, Soi Fon, and Hitsugaya when there was no compartment empty enough to fit them all. Rukia stroked the pink rabbit in her lap, whom she had named Chappy. "That's good, I'm glad Nii-sama is okay."
"Yeah," Renji chuckled. "He didn't look too pissed." The Golden Trio flinched at Renji's language. "So, anyways," continued Renji. "What were you talking about while I was gone?"
"What?!"
"I heard Yoruichi saying to tell her something when I came in. They don't call me Sou-er, Shino Academy's best tracker for nothing, you know."
Rukia groaned inwardly. Renji's acute hearing could be really inconvenient. How could she answer that? Rukia was rescued again when the door slid open once more. She wondered vaguely if perhaps there was a friendly konpaku chained to it.
Behind the door stood a kid with blond, slicked back hair, and a pale, pointed, sneering face. He was flanked by two human-ish gorillas, who, by the way they acted, seemed to exist only to do the blond boy's bidding.
Renji openly disliked him immediately, but Rukia, being in 13th Company, forcefully made herself give him a very small chance.
"Well, look who it is," the boy drawled lazily. "Potty and the Weasel." As his two minions chuckled trollishly, Rukia decided that his chance was down the drain. Good, she didn't want to make a bad impression on her new, living Chappy. Yoruichi, who had been taking a cat nap on the floor, yawned and stretched.
"I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley." The boy continued. "Did your mother die of shock?" Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks's basket onto Yoruichi, who hissed in surprise. Professor Lupin gave a snort.
"Who's that?" asked the boy, taking an automatic step backwards as he spotted Lupin. "New teacher," said Harry, who got to his feet, too, in case he needed to hold Ron back."So is she," Harry continued, jerking his thumb at the purple-haired woman sitting on the floor. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"
Malfoy's pale eyes narrowed; he wasn't fool enough to pick a fight right under a teachers nose, let alone two. "C'mon," he muttered resentfully to his companions, and they disappeared.
"Good lord!" said Renji, exasperated. "Who the hell was that guy?"
"I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," Ron muttered darkly. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm gonna get ahold of his head and-"
He made a violent motion in midair, during which Renji nodded approvingly. "Ron!" hissed Hermione, pointing at Professor Lupin and Yoruichi, while Renji peeled his face off the floor from when Rukia hit him. "Be careful..." But Lupin was still fast asleep, and Yoruichi didn't care.
Watching the rain fall down outside the window-wait, when did it start raining?- Rukia sighed. As the train went further north, the rain thickened, and fog began to set in. It got so dark that lights flickered on, along the corridor, and above the luggage racks. About this time was when Ichigo returned from his deadly trip to the restroom, still looking fairly nauseous. "Hey," he managed weakly.
"Oh," Rukia exclaimed. "I'd forgotten you were here!"
"Yeah," Renji agreed. "What the hell did you eat?!"
Ron moaned in hunger. He obviously didn't have any issues with food. "We've gotta be nearly there now," he said, leaning forward to look out the window. No sooner then he had spoken, the train began to slow down. "Great," said Ron, getting up and stepping gingerly over Yoruichi, who had fallen back asleep, to peer out the pitch black windows.
"This can't be right," said Hermione, checking her watch. "There's no way we're at Hogwarts yet..." The train went slower and slower, until finally it lurched to a stop, then without warning, all the lamps went out, and everything was plunged into total darkness. "Ouch," gasped Hermione. "Ron, that was my foot!"
"Oi, Rukia," grunted Renji. "You can get off me now."
"Sorry."
Ichigo untangled himself from Yoruichi, who still managed to be asleep, and felt his way back to his seat. "D'you think we've broken down?" asked Harry, who appeared to be back on the bench as well. "Dunno..." Harry saw a dim outline of someone- Renji?- wipe a patch of fog from the window and peer through it. "There's something moving out there. I can see it, and sense its spiritual pressure..."
"I think people are coming aboard..." said Ron, standing up and looking through the glass. The compartment door suddenly opened, and someone fell onto Yoruichi, who immediately sat upright and hissed in a way that promised death and destruction to anyone who dared disturb her nap.
"Ah! Sorry! Does anyone know what's going on? Ouch, I'm sorry!" "Hullo, Neville," said Harry pleasantly, feeling around in the dark and pulling Neville up by his cloak. "Harry? Is that you? What's happening?" "No idea. Sit down." There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain, poor Neville had apparently tried to sit on Crookshanks.
After a few moments of fumbling around in the dark, Hermione informed everyone that she was going to go up and see the driver. However, when she tried to leave, there were two twin squeals of pain.
"Who's that?"
"Who's that?"
The perpetrator was eventually identified as Ginny, and noisy confusion aroused as to where exactly she could sit.
"Quiet!" said a hoarse voice suddenly. Lupin had finally awakened. They all could hear him moving in the corner, and Renji, who had the best eyes in the group, could even see him slightly. Silence fell. There was a soft crackling sound, and flames appeared in Lupins hand, illuminating his face and surroundings. "Don't move," he said, getting to his feet.
But the door slid open before he could reach it. Standing in the doorway, there was a tall cloaked figure. Rukia only caught a glimpse of its slimy, crusted hand before it withdrew the appendage back into the tattered remains of its clothing. Its black hood covered its face, but everyone could hear its breathing, a slow, rattling sound that seemed like it wanted more then air from its surroundings.
And it was cold, not cold in the clean way that Hitsugaya was, but cold like damp, slimy, air, brought from the depths of which no one had ever felt. It went deeper than their skin, constricting their breath, and filling them with sadness. And, luckily, no one saw the effect it had on the four Shinigami. Ichigo was closest, and if the students had seen him, they would of glimpsed a... Flickering?... Dementors suck souls, after all, and Ichigo's Shinigami form was coming in and out of view while he fought to stay in his Gigai.
Rukia was the next most affected, as Renji was still by the window, and Yoruichi had backed up from the door. The situation steadily worsened. Ichigo was losing the battle with his Gigai, and Renji and Yoruichi were beginning to feel the ill effects also. Rukia was slumped out on the floor, along with Harry, when, suddenly, the Dementor froze.
Like, literally froze, and was kicked aside by Hitsugaya. Ichigo snapped back in his body, Renji walked over to Rukia and carefully lifting her up, placed her on the bench, while Yoruichi looked suspiciously like she might start licking herself. Harry was still passed out, and his friends were trying to help him up. Hitsugaya turned to the Shinigami, looking extremely pissed off.
"What the hell is this?!" bellowed Hitsugaya. "You guys are four powerful Shin-"
"Expecto Patronum!" A silver shape leapt past Hitsugaya and barreled into the dark figure that had been creeping up on him. Everyone turned to look at Lupin. "Okay," Lupin said breathlessly. "Who wants some chocolate?" As pieces of chocolate were passed around- Hitsugaya tried valiantly to refuse- the train began to move again, lights came to life once more, and a small cotton-fluff head strode back to his cabin to inform his companions of an... Interesting fact on Dementors, and the effect they had on Shinigami.
This chapter sucks. It really does. No matter what I did, it wouldn't turn out well, I couldn't make it humorous like I enjoy doing, and I even stooped to quoting from the book so that the story would actually GET somewhere! Anyways, next chapter, the Sorting, thank you, all who reviewed, and yes, Ikurus, Hogwarts will never know what hit 'em. *Evil laugh*
P.S. I have two things to say here.
1. This is nine months after the Aizen arc, so everyone has their new hairstyles, cause Renji just looks SO good... This might help if I say 'Hitsugaya pulled on the hem of his teal scarf thoughtfully', or 'Rukia leaned on the wall, breathing raggedly, her short black bob out of place.'
2. If you were wondering how the Shinigami might deal with being forced into Hogwarts, and having no prior knowledge of magic, how they're going to, you know, not not know ANYTHING. Well, for about a week after they got their wands, they rented another room at the Leaky Cauldron and practiced there. It was easy for everyone except Ichigo. Yes, Gin DID learn 6 years worth in one week. He IS a prodigy, after all.
P.S.S. Please, please, please review! Review and Chibi Byakuya will give you a cupcake and a hug!
*Damn, I got a nosebleed just thinking about it!*