Holy- has it really been so long since I last updated? Shit, I'm sorry guys. This chapter's been written since last month, so I don't really have any reason to not have posted it. I appreciate your continued support and hope that you will all stick with me further.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach in any way, shape or form. However, I do like playing with the characters.

Anything you recognize is from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

O-o-O

After the Quidditch match, Ichigo helped Severus down the steps to the ground and up towards the castle, silently musing on the events that had just transpired.

It had to have been Quirrell who had jinxed Harry's broom; there was no other option to figure out all of that. He'd been right next to Severus the entire time while the Potionsmaster murmured a counter-curse that effectively stopped Potter from falling to his death. Mind, it was slightly amusing to see Granger setting Severus' robes on fire, but he would have a word with her later. Since Longbottom had had that run in with Fluffy, he'd gotten the sense that the girl had been doing some digging around to find out what the mystery of the dog was all about.

"Whoever did that will deeply regret it." Severus hissed, limping along and just barely resting his weight on Ichigo's shoulder. "No doubt it was one of those blasted Gryffindors."

"Yes." Ichigo agreed. "Don't worry though- I'll take care of it later."

"Of course you will. You were always fond of them, weren't you?" Severus drawled in reply, pulling away. The redhead turned his amber gaze to Severus, features suddenly dangerously blank. The dark haired man realized too late that he'd managed to nick a nerve at the very least with the younger- older, male.

"I have made it quite clear over the years that I do not favor one house over another, Severus. My reasons are my own, and you would do well to remember that in the future."

Straightening, Ichigo stalked off, leaving Severus scowling behind him. Neither male noticed the several students and one teacher had witnessed the exchange.

O-o-O

"Miss Granger. I'd like a word with you in my office tonight." Ichigo stated, tapping the bushy haired girl on the shoulder and causing her to whirl, shock written clearly on her features. However, Ichigo continued smoothly, "It's two doors down from Professor Flitwick's, left hand side of the hall."

"Yes, sir." The girl replied, a sudden drop of dread entering her systems. Was this about the Quidditch match? She'd been sure no one had seen her!

"Good. Seven o'clock. Password is Quincy."

With that, the Professor continued down the hall, hands shoved into his pockets and sauntering along as though he were completely at ease. He probably was, really.

"I'm going to be expelled." Hermione whimpered.

O-o-O

Right after dinner, Hermione arrived at Ichigo's office two minutes before seven. At seeing a plain door, with some kind of star engraved on it, she stated the password and entered the room. At doing so, she blinked in surprise. It was as if no one used this room. No portraits hanging from the walls, no books, nothing personal. The only furniture present was a slightly dusty desk and a couple of chairs.

Who on Earth was Ichigo Kurosaki, if he left no clues as to give away who he really was?

"Good. You're right on time."

She jumped, turning and nodding shakily. She hadn't even heard him come in!

"Take a seat."

Taking a breath, Hermione did as she was told, taking the seat across the table, Ichigo taking the other.

"Hermione Granger, I know what you did." Ichigo stated as soon as he sat. "And let me tell you that as a student at this school, attacking a member of staff is prohibited and can be punished by expulsion. Not only that, but you can be fined for damages and in some extreme cases, be sent to Azkaban. Am I clear?"

Hermione was pale- extremely so, and Ichigo raised a brow.

"I asked you a question, Granger." He said softly, eyes gleaming darkly.

"Yes, sir." She stuttered.

"Very good. Now, why did you set fire to Professor Snape's robes? And do not lie to me."

"He was cursing Harry's broom."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then perhaps, if you had been paying more attention, you would have realized that I am one of the staff members who was sitting next to Professor Snape during the match, and was able to hear very clearly the counter-curse that he was using." Ichigo said slowly. "And thanks to you, you very nearly could have killed Harry Potter by doing what you had. And before you say anything in protest, I do understand that the two of you are friends and that you were doing what you believed to be correct, but do not act rashly again. Am I clear?"

Hermione tried to think of something she could say, but words refused to come to her tongue.

"I am also curious, Miss Granger, as to why you assumed Professor Snape was the one cursing Potter's broom?"

"Err…well, you see…" she murmured, trying to think of a way to explain to Ichigo why she thought it was a bad thing when it came to Professor Snape.

"Out with it."

"I think Professor Snape might be trying to steal whatever the Cerberus is guarding."

Well, that was a new one, though he couldn't completely say that he hadn't expected to hear something like this. After all, Neville had managed to find Fluffy, and then Harry had seen Severus' leg, and Hermione had now seen what she thought was a non-friendly spell being cast at her friend.

Sighing, he rubbed his face, completely unwilling to continue this meeting. He never recalled other girls her age being this difficult, and he came from a long line of female friends and relatives. "Hermione, if there is one thing I am certain of, it is that Professor Snape is not trying to steal what is being guarded. Nicholas wouldn't have left it in Dumbledore's care otherwise."

"But sir-"

"Granger, I mean it. Leave this matter alone. First years shouldn't even be wondering these things. For the next three days, you'll be helping Hagrid fix the brooms. Report to him tomorrow night at seven."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Dismissed."

As soon as the girl left, Ichigo smirked to himself. Oh, was he ever curious to see how long it took for her to figure out who Nicholas was.

O-o-O

Not much occurred, after that. It was mid-December by the time it sunk in that Christmas was coming, and it was only due to the arrival of several feet of snow. The lake froze solid, and by the end of the first day, the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching a handful of snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. On top of that, the few number of owls who determinedly flew through the unsettled weather had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

The absolute worst thing about the arrival of the winter season, by far, was the sudden drop in temperatures in the castle. While the Great Hall and Gryffindor Common Room had roaring fires, the corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in pretty much every classroom. Not only that, but given that Professor Snape's classes were down in the dungeons, everyone kept close to the heat of their cauldrons and did their best to ignore their breath rising from their lips. The only people who didn't seem to be affected at all by the cold were Shirosaki and Dumbledore, strangely enough. Ichigo still ended up donning a warm jacket, but other than that, that was it.

One Potions class, while Malfoy was busy at taunting Harry, Neville did something that no one saw coming. He calmly looked over to the smirking Slytherin, raised a brow, and told him to shut up. That, of course, had everyone in the room falling silent- mostly due to the fact that Neville had actually said something that was considered brave for him. Mind, Snape did take points, but everyone thought it was well worth the look on Draco's face.

The reasons the blond Slytherin had been more ruthless as of late had stemmed from his disgust that Slytherin had lost the match. So, he'd tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. The only problem about that plan was that everyone was impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So back he went to the drawing board. Which was how he'd managed to come back around to irritating Harry by taunting him about his lack of a proper family. Of course, Harry wasn't going back to Privet Drive for the holidays. Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the Christmas holiday, and Harry had immediately signed up, closely followed by Seamus and the Weasleys, as their parents were going to visit their brother in Romania. All in all, Harry could sense that it was going to be a good Christmas.

O-o-O

The first morning of the holidays, Ron, Harry and Seamus were having too good a time to remember a hissed warning from Hermione that Ichigo and Snape were up to something. They had the dormitory to themselves and the Common Room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire and snacking on anything they could spear on a toasting fork. Among other things they spoke about, they plotted ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about, even if they wouldn't work.

Ron and Seamus also started teaching Harry wizard chess. It was exactly like Muggle chess, except that the pieces were alive. Ron's set was very old, and he knew them all so well that he never had any trouble getting them to do what he wanted. However, Harry was currently playing with Seamus' set, and they didn't trust or like him at all. He wasn't a very good player, and the fact that they continued to shout things to him didn't help one bit.

On Christmas Eve, the day flew by in a flurry of laughter and games out in the snow. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students ended up starting a snowball war, to put it mildly. It started when the Weasley twins targeted a fourth year boy by the name of Cedric Diggory, and had quickly turned south when the Hufflepuff called for back-up. The Gryffindors were forced to hide behind a snowbank and retaliate until they began gaining ground, and by the end of it all, the entire group came tromping into the Great Hall for lunch, giggling and in high spirits. By dinner, all of the group had introduced themselves, and were all laughing at the twins' antics. Everyone was quickly entranced by a pretty seventh year witch by the name of Nymphadora Tonks, who was a Metamorphagus. She spent a good hour cheerfully morphing her features into whatever was requested of her. Susan Bones and Ernie MacMillan were a couple more of the Hufflepuffs, and by the end of dinner, it was clear that they would all get together again in the next couple of days. To the staff watching, it was one of the few things that made them smile. Particularly Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall. It was good to see that the Houses could still intermingle without hostility.

When Harry finally made it to bed, he was looking forward to next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting any presents at all. However, when the next day dawned, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.

"Happy Christmas." Ron muttered sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on hi dressing gown. Seamus bolted upright a moment later, blinking in confusion before mumbling something about pixies and his mother doing the tango.

"You too. Happy Christmas, Seamus." Harry replied. "Will you look at this? I've got some presents!"

"What did you expect, turnips?" Ron asked, turning to his own pile, as did Seamus.

Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was 'To Harry, from Hagrid'. Inside was a roughly-cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it- it sounded a bit like an owl.

A second, very small parcel came with a note.

'We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia'. Sellotaped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.

"That's friendly." Harry rolled his eyes.

Ron was fascinated by the fifty-pence. "Weird!" he said. "What a shape- this is money?"

"You can keep it." Harry laughed, pleased Ron was enjoying himself. "Hagrid and my aunt and uncle- so who sent these?"

"I think I know who that one's from." Ron said, going a bit pink and pointing to a lumpy parcel. "My mum. I told her you didn't expect any presents and- oh no." he groaned. "She's made you a Weasley jumper."

Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of home-made fudge.

"Every year she makes us a jumper." Ron explained, unwrapping his own. "And mine's always maroon."

"That's really nice of her." Harry said, trying the fudge, which was very tasty. "Here Seamus, try some."

The other boy did so and sighed. "That right there is heavenly."

His next present also contained sweets- a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione. There were still two parcels left. Harry picked up the one closest to him and felt it. It was very light. Curious, he unwrapped it. Something fluid and silvery-grey went slithering to the floor, where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron and Seamus gasped, leaning forward on their beds.

"I've heard of those." Ron said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is- they're really rare, and really valuable."

"What is it?" Harry asked, picking up the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.

"It's an invisibility cloak!" Ron said, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is. Try it on!"

Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and the other two boys let out yells of both glee and surprise.

"It is! Look down!" Seamus exclaimed excitedly. Sure enough, when Harry looked down, there was nothing. Dashing over to the mirror, his reflection stared back at him- just his head suspended in mid-air. His body was completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.

"There's a note!" Seamus said suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry peeled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:

'Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well.

A Very Merry Christmas to you.'

There was no signature. Harry stared at the note, wondering if it really had belonged to his father, while Ron admired the cloak.

Anything else could wait, however, as there was still one package at the end of the bed. Grabbing it curiously, Harry unwrapped it and stared at the simple black book in his lap. Another handwritten note fell out- this one in thin, neat writing.

'I mentioned I knew you parents. I also knew you. These are some copies of pictures and notes you may find interesting. Note- the black haired man is your Godfather. His name is Sirius Black. Don't hesitate to come and ask me any questions you may have, and I hope you and I could get to know one another in the future. Merry Christmas.'

This note wasn't signed either, but at opening the book, it was clear who the photo album was from. The first photo displayed was one with Ichigo holding a tiny infant in his arms, with Lily, James and the man who had to be his Godfather smiling at the awestruck look Ichigo had on his features. Flipping the page, he was greeted by the sight of his mother in pajamas asleep in a rocking chair, the same infant in her arms. Harry realized that the infant was him.

"Harry? Something wrong?" Seamus asked. Harry blinked, realizing that there were tears blurring his vision. Swiping them away, he nodded and closed the book, reminding himself to go ask Ichigo about his gift later.

"Yeah." He assured.

Ron looked as though he were going to say something, but the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George bounded in. Harry quickly stuffed his new cloak out of sight. He didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey look- Harry's got a Weasley jumper, too!"

Fred and George were wearing blue jumpers, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G.

"Harry's is better than our though." Fred announced, holding up Harry's jumper. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on. They're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon." Ron moaned half-heartedly, causing Seamus to laugh as he pulled it over his head.

"You haven't got a letter on yours." George observed. "I suppose she thinks you won't forget your name. But we're not stupid- we know we're called Gred and Forge."

"What's all this noise?" Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly come halfway through unwrapping his presents as he too, carried a lumpy jumper over his arm, which Fred seized.

"I- don't- want-" Percy protested thickly, as the twins forced the jumper over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either." George scolded. "Christmas is a time for family."

They frogmarched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his jumper.

As soon as they were out of earshot, the three first years broke down into loud laughter.