Beta'ed by ArisuAmiChan
Chapter Seven: Electric Crimson
As it turned out, 'unorthodox' translated to 'mad, dangerous, and possibly fatal.'
Ichigo could only stare with wide brown eyes at what was to be the location of that night's detention, unable to believe a professor as propriety-oriented as the Potions Master would send two of his students, no matter how much he disliked them, into the Forbidden Forest. It was pure insanity.
After he'd snared the orangette on the stairs, Kuchiki had led him straight out of the castle and across the grounds, ignoring Ichigo's question of where exactly they were going. And as they had passed the quaint hut belonging to the Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, the teenager's gut had clenched with dread. He'd then been positive that Kuchiki was leading him to the expanse of thick, towering trees that symbolized the line between safe and perilous ground.
Since the war, Ichigo didn't do very well in situations posing real threat.
"Ah, Mr. Jaegerjaques, so nice of you to join us," Professor Kuchiki said icily from beside the orangette, breaking the spell of disbelief so that Ichigo turned his head to catch sight of the familiar, alluring figure of Grimmjow. His stomach jumped when the other boy's sharp blue gaze, brighter than the moon above, locked onto his and easily sliced right through him like a Diffindo charm.
Ichigo abruptly tore his eyes away. The half-veela had been occupying his thoughts far too often recently, almost constantly and to say it unnerved him would definitely be an understatement.
Grimmjow merely grunted in response to the older wizard's greeting, hands in his pockets, earning him a very minute, almost invisible twitch of Kuchiki's eyebrow.
"How eloquent," the professor sneered. Then he reached with one pale hand into the dark sleeve of his robes, withdrawing his wand. A quick flick of his wrists summoned from thin air a roll of parchment and another swish sent golden sparks from the tips of his wand, conjuring what looked liked a carpet bag an elderly woman would carry. "For tonight's detention period the two of you will be collecting ingredients in the forest. You will-"
"Have you gone completely mental?" Grimmjow's gravelly voice interrupted the Potions Master and Ichigo glanced over at the half-veela to see him frowning deeply, aquamarine orbs glittering in displeasure. "You can't send students into the forest to do your damn dirty work."
This time Kuchiki's entire face twitched for a few moments until it smoothed as he regained his composure. Ichigo, however, was still slightly slackjawed from hearing the blunette speak to a professor in such a manner. Sure, Grimmjow had said far worse to him, but Ichigo had guessed the other boy had more common sense being raised as a pureblood and all.
"You will refrain from speaking to your superiors like such in the future, Jaegerjaques, or you'll suffer much greater consequences than a few detentions," Kuchiki said, sliding his wand back into the folds of his robe. However, Grimmjow didn't appear fazed, a expression of contempt on his attractive face. "As I was saying, you will use this bag on which I've placed an undetectable extension charm to collect all the items on this list. I will return in three hours time to this very spot."
The professor turned on his heel and walked a few steps away before pausing to glance over his shoulder at the two students.
"Oh, and please proceed with caution while in the forest. There are few things in there who haven't yet had their dinner." Kuchiki then continued in his retreat back to the castle, walking so swiftly that within a few seconds he was out of sight.
It only took a moment after that for Ichigo to snap, tangerine eyebrows knitting together in a fierce scowl as his outrage reached its boiling point.
"That psycho bastard! Has he lost his ever-loving mind? This is student cruelty!" Ichigo said, his temper flaring to a place where his mind was running too fast for his mouth and so he instinctively switched to Japanese, spitting out essentially the same phrases of malcontent towards the Potion Master in the exotic language. When he had run out of steam, the orangette suddenly remembered that he had an audience and his face began to burn. Bashfully cornering his eyes to where Grimmjow was regarding him with an unreadable expression close to amusement.
"You're cute when you speak Japanese," the half-veela said, his trademark grin stretching his lips.
"E-excuse me?" Ichigo sputtered. Grimmjow grinned wickedly before snatching the carpet bag and roll of parchment off of the ground.
"It's a compliment, Kurosaki. Just accept it," he said.
Ichigo frowned but said nothing, He didn't like being called 'cute' in the first place but for some reason it especially bothered him that Grimmjow possibly saw him as being so. He didn't want the Slytherin to think of him as something as flippant as 'cute.' He wanted Grimmjow to take him seriously, see him as... important.
"Well, are you coming or what?" Grimmjow's call to the other teenager pulled Ichigo back to reality to see the other a few steps ahead, holding the carpet bag with one hand resting on his shoulder and the roll of parchment in the other. "It's getting darker by the minute and we wanna get this shit done as quickly as possible, yeah?"
"Yeah," Ichigo muttered, jogging up beside Grimmjow so that they fell into step with each other as they crossed into the Forbidden Forest. The trees here were massive, so tall you couldn't see the tops and thicker than a giant's leg but with fair distances between them. Moss and roots carpeted the ground and there was a gray, almost unnatural mist hovering in the air and making it near impossible to see more than twenty feet ahead.
Ichigo reached for his wand, pulling it out of his pocket and feeling a pleasant sense of comfort as his fingers grasped the well-worn holly wood. He uttered a quick Lumos, a sphere of light blooming at the tip of his wand. He then looked over to Grimmjow, the boy's gait and posture casual though his eyes warily scanned the area around them like a hawk.
"So, um... what's first on the list?" Ichigo asked as they continued to trek deeper into the forest.
The blue-haired boy flicked his wrist, letting the parchment unfurl on its own and Ichigo let a moan of dispair slip from between his lips upon seeing its full length neared two feet, all of the space filled with an agonizingly detailed list of needed potion ingredients and directions on collecting them. Beside him, Grimmjow ground his teeth together audibly in obvious irritation with the Potions Master and their current situation.
"Bloodroot, twenty five stems. Handle with care," Ichigo read off of the top of the list.
"You have any idea what the hell that is?" Grimmjow said.
"It's a white flower, grows under tree roots," the Gryffindor said smugly. "I actually paid attention in Herbology class, unlike some people."
"Yeah, well some people might've thought that was the best class to take naps in."
"Is that so?"
"Those were the most comfortable desks in the whole bloody school," Grimmjow said, training his winning, predatory smile onto the other boy. Suddenly they both heard a sharp snap. Ichigo jumped, tightening the grip on his wand and looking around the menacing setting of the forest almost desperately. Grimmjow was staring off the left intensely, as if he was looking directly at whatever had caused the noise but when Ichigo looked he saw only trees and mist.
The orange-haired boy lay a hand on his clenching stomach, his heart alternating between fluttering lightly and pounding hard against his ribcage. He really didn't like being in the forest. Who knew what was watching him right at that very moment from the shadows?
"You all right?" Grimmjow said, unaware of how the sound of his deep, husky voice soothed the anxiety coursing through Ichigo's veins. The sixth year took a deep breath, reminding himself of the fact that this time he wasn't alone and then gave the blunette a shaky grin.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ichigo said though the way Grimmjow didn't say anything, his gaze fathomless like he was trying to see through the other, told him that the half-veela didn't believe him. "I just don't like being in here, creeps me out."
Grimmjow again didn't respond but he did finally release Ichigo of his ardent pair of sapphire orbs as he faced forward and then nodded once.
"What, doesn't this place give you the creeps too?" the orangette asked, following directly behind the other boy even though his view was blocked by broad shoulders. "I mean, with all of the... things that are in here."
"It doesn't bother me," Grimmjow said, shrugging.
"Is that because you're a veela, so you like... nature and stuff?" Ichigo said, realizing how lame he sounded asking such a stupid question afterwards.
"I don't know, maybe." Grimmjow stopped and the other was forced to as well lest he collide into the blunette's back. "Where did you say those bloodroot things grow?"
"Under tree roots, usually big ones above ground."
"They'll be farther in then," Grimmjow said almost to himself and resumed treading through the forest with a Gryffindor hot on his heels who was dying to ask the half-veela about what he'd read about the race of magical beings not that they'd gotten onto the subject, but not really sure why he wanted to know so badly.
"So... I was reading this book in the library, about veela," Ichigo started cautiously, not wanting to offend Grimmjow by phrasing his query the wrong way and was relieved when the other boy grunted to signal for him to continue. "It said something about veela having... mates."
Ichigo could've sworn he saw Grimmjow falter in his step but if he had then he'd recovered quicker than the orangette thought possible.
"And?" the blunette said.
"Well I was just wondering if it was true, that veela have these lifelong mates they fall in love with on the spot." Ichigo held his breath as he waited for the answer and yet he still wondered why in the name of Merlin's beard he cared so much.
"Yeah, it's true."
"Oh," Ichigo breathed, and though he had been expecting that to be the answer he felt something like an electric spark course through him. But there was one more thing he had to know. "Grimmjow, do you... have one? A mate, that is." Ichigo hated how hesitant he sounded, like the issue currently being discussed was life or death. He heard Grimmjow inhale sharply, a telltale sign of what the answer would be and his heart stilled when those incredibly blue eyes swirling with a kaleidoscope of emotion glanced over the Slytherin's shoulder.
Was it supposed to have felt like the whole world had suddenly just stopped? And that the two boys were the epicenter, everything still and silent and waiting with eager eyes?
Because that's what it felt like to Ichigo, who had to use every bit of his will power and strength not to look away from those blue daggers pinning him to the very forested ground he barely registered standing on. He felt like he wasn't even on Earth but spinning and twirling in the atmosphere, completely disconnected to everything except for the blue-haired force of nature before him
Probably not the normal response to the situation, but Ichigo had never been normal and wasn't going to start anytime soon.
Finally, finally, there was an answer.
"Why do you want to know?" Grimmjow said, voice painfully controlled and it was then that Ichigo noticed they'd stopped walking and were now standing face to face.
"Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just curious," Ichigo said and while their direct eye contact was entirely too powerful for two acquaintances, he couldn't break it for anything. There was something beyond words holding their gazes together and Grimmjow's aura darkened after the other's words, dazzling crystalline sapphire dulling to flat cobalt and then he was turning away and Ichigo's breath rushed out between his lips. It felt like a part of the orangette had suddenly vanished, leaving an incomplete boy behind.
"Yeah, I have a... mate," Grimmjow said as he walked up to one of the biggest trees they had seen yet, giant roots bursting from the soil underneath. His last word had been whispered so softly Ichigo had strained to hear it.
That was it, then - the answer Ichigo didn't even know he'd been waiting for with a life or death kind of apprehension.
Ichigo thought Grimmjow seemed awfully apathetic as he confirmed he had someone in the world somewhere whom he supposedly loved unconditionally, a person to whom he'd devoted his entire self and he viewed as the single most important element in the whole universe. But somehow the idea of Grimmjow thinking of anyone in that way just seemed so... wrong.
"Oh," was all Ichigo was able to utter, watching as the blue-haired boy lowered himself to kneel beside a place where the large, moss-covered tree roots intertwined together a few inches in the air over the charmed dirt ground of the forest. After a second Ichigo realized he looked like an idiot, just standing there as Grimmjow set the carpet bag on the ground beside him and after parting the handles to open the enchanted small piece of luggage, reached in until his arm was submerged up to his elbow.
Watching his former hated rival bathed in the moonlight at that moment, right after he'd revealed something so... intimate, Ichigo shivered and goosebumps appeared on his flesh.
There had to be a reason he was reacting this way, but Ichigo just couldn't figure out why...
The orangette knelt down to Grimmjow's right, listening to the distinctive sounds of glass clinking before the Slytherin withdrew his arm, holding a glass jar with a cork stopper and handwritten label reading 'Bloodroot stems.'
"So we just pull the bloodroots out of the ground and put 'em in here?" Grimmjow asked, keeping his gaze fixated on the glass jar rather than his detention companion. "'S not too hard." The half-veela then reached under the tree roots where the white flowering buds were clustered together and grasped several of the stems in a harsh grip.
"No!" Ichigo cried out before he could stop himself. Managing to keep a firm grasp on his wand, he clasped his hands over Grimmjow's larger one to stop the other, who looked at the orange-haired boy in mild surprise. Ichigo felt his face grow warm, faint embarrassment undoubtedly staining the tip of his nose and the planes of his cheekbones a deep, creamy rose and he shifted a bit, uncomfortable, but he held fast. It was like little beads of heat like wand sparks made of pure, raw magic were pulsing at the place their hands met. "You have to be careful with the stems. If you crush them, there won't be any juice left in the stalk. Here, like this."
Ichigo gently loosened Grimmjow's grip on the bloodroot stems, trying to ignore the electric pulses that seemed to be radiating from the other's hand that had him suppressing shivers, and guided the other's boy's fingers so that they delicately plucked the white buds and their stems from the ground. In a moment of perfect stillness he raised his eyes from where their hands were joined and into the intense cobalt stare that had been unfathomably sublimely plaguing his conscience. It was sweet agony, aching and heavenly, and Ichigo found he could barely stand it.
He dropped the blunette's hand as if it had burned him and ripped his eyes away, setting about plucking more bloodroot stems from the soil as if nothing was amiss.
"Good thing you're here or Kuchiki'd have me out here every night collecting these damn things," Grimmjow murmured, dropping the already collected stems into the glass jar from the bewitched carpet bag.
"Yeah, good thing," Ichigo said quietly.
They continued their work in relative silence and Ichigo wondered if he should've never asked Grimmjow about his mate, concluding that he definitely shouldn't have. Not only did it seem that he'd struck a nerve with the other half-veela, turning the usually loudmouthed, brash individual quiet as a lethifold at midnight, but now the orangette couldn't stop imagining what the other's mate was like. Were they female or male? Blonde or brunette? Were they kind? Caring? Did they attend Hogwarts as well? Did they notice how Grimmjow's eyes darkened and lightened according to his mood, or even how simply, purely, amazingly beautiful they were and how-
Ichigo was barely able to reign in his expression of surprise upon realizing just how far his mind had gotten off track. Since when had he noticed how 'beautiful' Grimmjow's eyes were? He'd spent years looking directly into them and not once had he ever made a note of them besides the fact they were blue - a fathomless, entirely bewitching blue, that is. And why was he spending so much time reflecting on the possible traits of Grimmjow's mate. It didn't make any sense, not at all.
They worked for a little over an hour speaking as few words as possible to each other. Ichigo wasn't sure why, but ever since he'd brought up the subject of Grimmjow's mate there had been a slightly uneasy tension between them. Not exactly an unpleasant one, but it was definitely noticeable, the invisible strings pulled taught.
It wasn't until they had gotten almost all the way down the list, down to where 'Horned Toads' was written in elegant script, that anything happened that was... out of the ordinary, so to speak.
"You mean we've got to catch these things?" Grimmjow growled, scowling at the parchment as he read off of it. Ichigo allowed a small smile to cross his face, pulling at his lips. "How the bloody hell do we do that?"
"Idiot, all you've got to do is cast a freezing charm on them," Ichigo said, chuckling little. "Then you can put them in the jars."
"All right, so then where do we find these suckers?"
"Well, they're nocturnal so they should already be out and about, on fallen tree logs most likely," Ichigo said, walking forward and further into the forest, feeling Grimmjow follow him, enchanted carpet bag slung over his shoulder.
It didn't take long to find a group of horned toads were gathered together on a mossy log, croaking loudly on their perch. As they spotted Ichigo approaching in an attemptedly surreptitious manner, their croaks grew in both pitch and rate and their thoraxes bulged in order to try and scare away the wizard predators. When the Gryffindor came within three feet of the toads, Grimmjow only a step or two behind, they collectively leaped off of the log and fled for their lives, croaking bloody murder.
"Hey, come back here!" Grimmjow said in a vexed snarl, the ridiculousness of the heart-throbbingly masculine half-veela ordering the diminutive amphibians to do his bidding causing Ichigo to laugh out loud.
"Come on, chasing them is the best part!" Ichigo said, only just managing to refrain from grabbing Grimmjow's hand before he took off jogging after the escaping horned toads. He felt, rather than heard, the other boy lope after him, his footsteps inhumanly silent. Must be the veela in him, Ichigo thought as he spotted one of the toads hopping behind a tree trunk. Grinning, he sprung for the poor thing and wrapped his hands around it's slimy, wriggling body. The ticklish and weird sensation made Ichigo giggle and the toad squirmed in his grip, desperately simultaneously trying to get away and stab the boy with his two pointed horns.
A deep chuckle had Ichigo turning his head to see Grimmjow looking on with a peacefully amused expression, a half-smile on his perfect face. The humored sparkles in those orbs a deeper blue than the Great Lake brought a huge grin to Ichigo's lips and he held out the aggravated toad at arm's length and directly into the other's face.
"Got the cage for my little buddy here?" Ichigo asked whilst Grimmjow raised one arm to block the other from touching him with the toad and gave a short laugh.
"Yeah, just give me a second," the blue-haired wizard said, dropping the carpet bag to the ground in a careless action Ichigo that usually would've sent the latter into a Type A, chastising rant, or would have if he'd even noticed. Grimmjow opened the enchanted carpet bag and reached in with both hands. He withdrew a small, wire cage labeled 'Horned Toad - handle with caution when acquiring mucus secretion.'
"Gross," Ichigo said, sticking out his tongue in distaste. Grimmjow opened the little door and the sixth year made to lower the horned toad into the cage when he suddenly had a better idea. In an action too fast for even the half-veela to process, Ichigo bypassed the cage and using his pinky finger to widen Grimmjow's shirt collar, let go of the slippery, slimy toad.
"What the-!" came Grimmjow's shocked yell, the Slytherin dropping the cage to the ground and backing away a few steps. He immediately began jerking his body around in comical convulsions, dancing from foot to foot as he grabbed the hem of his uniform shirt and shook it in hopes of dislodging the small creature trapped between the fabric and his undoubtedly chiseled torso. Ichigo didn't stand a chance; he burst out laughing out so hard his peals of laughter echoed around the forest. Tears sprung to caramel brown eyes and Ichigo bent over to clutch his contracting abdomen with one hand, his other clasping his knee.
With a indignant croak from the toad and a grunt of relief from the blunette wizard, Grimmjow reached under his shirt and tore the magical amphibian from underneath the fabric, his broad hand able to hold the horned thing in one palm.
"You little... argh," Grimmjow growled, eyes rising from the toad in his hand to the other teen still laughing raucously at his prank. Ichigo raised the hand from his knee to his mouth in order to stifle his chortling but when Grimmjow's irritated frown morphed into a wicked, scheming grin his eyes widened and the orangette instinctively took a step backwards. Both of his hands then went palm out in front of him, putting on his most pleading expression.
"No, Grimm, don't - don't!" Ichigo exclaimed even while Grimmjow advanced with big, menacing strides, horned toad still in hand. "C'mon, it was just a- ah!" Once Grimmjow was a few steps away, Ichigo gave up reasoning with the other male and turned on his heel, instantly beginning to run for his life. He swiftly accelerated to a sprint, dodging trees and roots begging to trip him, Grimmjow's sadistic cackling sounding behind him. It was infectious and within seconds, Ichigo was laughing with glee as the half-veela, half-wizard chased him through the forest.
A minute passed and it was then that the Gryffindor realized that his own laughter was ringing so loudly in his ears he didn't notice the absence of Grimmjow's presence right behind him. Chuckles abruptly stopping, Ichigo slowed to a steady jog and whipped his head over his shoulder. His brows furrowed in confusion upon seeing nothing but the dense, dark foliage of the forest the heavy fog allowed his eyes to perceive. Ichigo unthinkingly stopped short, turning his head in every direction to try and catch sight of a head of hair or pair of eyes so blue they were practically luminescent in the dim, wooded atmosphere.
Nothing.
"Grimmjow?" he called out tentatively, the familiar tensing of his stomach quick to respond to his rapidly growing worry and anxiety. There were so many dangerous entities in the Forbidden Forest and any number of them could have snatched his detention partner without a trace. Oh Merlin, what if...
"Grimmjow!" Ichigo shouted. "This isn't bloody funny! Come out right now or I swear I'll leave you here!"
It was getting harder to breathe, like his own lungs wouldn't cooperate. Ichigo reached into his pocket and took out his wand, a growing certainty some one or some thing was watching him from where he couldn't see them. His grip tightened like death itself on the holly wood, his only line of defense between himself and whatever was out there. Though it was admittedly a pretty damn powerful one.
A preemptive Protego was on the tip of his tongue when enticingly warm breath tickled the back of his neck.
"Boo."
Something slick and squirming and gross slid its way down Ichigo's back from the nape of his neck down to the base of his spine and the sixth year jumped about a foot in the air, squealing in a very undignified manner. He nearly lost his wand as he wriggled about, arms bending behind him so that he could rid himself of the icky feeling of a horned toad's slimy, webbed feet and bulbous body on his back. The toad again fell from out of the fabric of a shirt, landing upright and giving an outraged croak before hopping away as fast as it could.
Ichigo spun around and shot such a fierce glare at the guffawing Grimmjow it would've froze over the pit of a volcano, but the blue-haired veela merely smirked widely.
"You started it," Grimmjow said simply.
"Oh, what are you- five? I was really sca-...!" Ichigo's words were cut short when his mouth clamped shut, his scowl deepening (if that was possible.) However, there was a sense of serenity washing over him now that he saw Grimmjow was okay and he hadn't been left all alone in the forest. His racing heart calmed and his muscles relaxed, losing the tension anxiety brought on.
"You were really what?"
"Nothing!" Ichigo said, mentally cursing when he realized that he'd retorted far too quickly. "Let's do what we were told so we can get out of here. I need some sleep tonight, you know."
Grimmjow didn't respond but the smirk did disappear, those full lips pressing together as he nodded once in agreement. But the next second brought that spine-shivering inducing grin back to his face.
"Then let's go back and get 'em. You said something about a freezing charm, right?"
In a slightly unnerving mood swing, Ichigo's only reply was a Lumos-bright smile.
If Grimmjow had thought fighting or talking or even just being with his Mate was a euphoric nirvana, he'd never been prepared for what it was like to laugh and play around in what he could only hope was a flirtatious way with the boy. But chasing the stunning orangette around with particularly vicious horned toads, watching him squawk and squeal without ever losing that heart stopping smile and make an utter fool of himself lunging for the slippery amphibians, the both of them laughing uncontrollably?
Now that was something worth living for.
Grimmjow was certain if he could see what he looked like with that big, goofy grin on his face and blue eyes undoubtedly shimmering with stupid little hearts in the facets he would have AK'ed himself right then and there. Or, well, he would have if that wouldn't have meant never seeing Ichigo again.
Merlin, why did his veela blood turn him into such a simpering, lovesick sap? Ichigo could barely even stand to be around him! They were only spending time together as a punishment for Godric's sakes and surely that was how Ichigo saw the entire ordeal, being in the company of his former rival only a part of the repercussions earned from their magnificent duel that'd done significant damage to the Great Hall and apparently injured a few students not bright enough to back away from two powerful wizards duking it out.
But... Ichigo had to like him somewhat, even as just an acquaintance. Why else would the Gryffindor use up his scarce free time to read up on veela?
And then, of course, there had been that damn question.
Needless to say, after the word 'Mate' had left Ichigo's dollish lips, utter and complete shock with hints a fear and the tiniest dash of hope had coursed through Grimmjow's veins. He hadn't known what to say at first, but he'd always known he couldn't ever in a thousand years lie to his Mate, so he'd told the truth. Sort of.
He was ashamed to admit that he'd wished with all his might Ichigo might have figured it out right then and there, that the boy was that Mate ever since their first encounter at Flourish and Blott's all those years ago and always would be, no matter what. Grimmjow Jaegerjaques would love Ichigo Kurosaki until the world ceased to exist and even after that. It was in his blood, his core, his very being. He only needed to find that place deep within Ichigo that felt the same.
Easier said than done, of course.
"Hey, Grimm!" Ichigo, voice simultaneously exhausted and cheery, called to him from a few yards away where he was putting a horned toad, frozen stiff under the effects of a freezing charm, into the cage. Oh, and don't think Grimmjow hadn't noticed his new nickname. He only knew that if he pointed it out in that teasing manner that was second nature to him, Ichigo would stop addressing him as such and he certainly didn't want that. "That was the last one. Should we head back to the castle now?"
Grimmjow was surprised that the other was asking him for his opinion instead of out-rightly stating what they should do or even doing it without so much a word in the blunette's direction. Nevertheless, he hid it exceedingly well with a blank expression due to six years of disguising his true feelings from his Mate.
"Yeah, here, hand me the cage," the half-veela said, hands outstretched toward the approaching sixth year who placed it in his hands gently, the taller of the two disappointed when their hands didn't even brush against each other with the action. Grimmjow then knelt down by the enchanted carpet bag and opened it, seeing the dimly lit abyss of what looked like a well-organized yet chaotic pile of glass jars and cages filled with other small animals. He carefully lowered the horned toad cage into the space, setting it atop another enclosure holding a rather hostile Cornish pixie.
The seventh year only managed to stand up again when his keen senses caught a peculiar scent on the wind. It was different than Ichigo's essence of warm honey, sugar, vanilla, gingerbread, and autumn leaves and was vigorously overwhelming it with a heavy musk of firewood and a hint of a distinctively bestial odor. Grimmjow's entire frame stiffened and his teeth clenched in his now ticking jaw, eyes darting warily from the trees around them and the orangette at his side, whose left eyebrow was now arched in obvious bafflement.
"Grimm, what's-"
"Be quiet for a second, Ichigo," Grimmjow hissed under his breath, his hand slipping under his left sleeve and withdrawing his hawthorn wand. Fortunately, the infamously stubborn as a hippogriff orangette's eyes widened to saucers but he obeyed, not moving a muscle. When his sensitive ears heard the slightest of noises to their right, a hoof against a dead leaf, he almost broke his wand in two as his grip tightened into a white-knuckled fist.
"You're not as smart as they say if you think I can't hear you," Grimmjow barked to what appeared to be a relatively deserted piece of forest and he saw out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo tense and raise his own wand, subconsciously edging closer to the other male. It was clear the orange-haired boy had not a clue as to what was going on but he didn't have to wait for very long when merely a second later a towering figure appeared from the dense, gray mist, followed by an unnerving ten more.
They easily cleared ten feet, the lower part of their bodies was recognizable as equine and from the hips up the beings looked as human as any normal wizard or muggle, but they were all strangely male. The leader and the two flanking him were holding knocked bows, the tips of the arrows pointed directly at the two students, and the other eight either had their readied weapons lowered or hadn't bothered to knock their arrows at all, bows, quivers, and a few loops of rope hanging from their shoulders. Unable to control every last bit of himself, Grimmjow growled lowly through his gritted teeth - a warning.
He didn't particularly care for strong magical beings, centaurs, so close to his Mate.
"You have good ears, wand waver," the leader said steadily, his arrow never moving from its aimed position. "Certainly with them you must have heard by now that wizards are no longer welcomed in the Forest?"
"You can't dictate that, we're allowed to be here; after the war this was declared free land by the Ministry," Ichigo said, bravely contesting the centaur's accusation even as Grimmjow heard his voice tremble under its defiant tone. While Grimmjow was proud of the orangette for holding his ground, he nearly sent a disbelieving look in the other's direction. The blunette knew he could fend for himself using his duelling skill if the centaurs attacked them but he didn't want to take the chance to find out if he would once again be able to keep Ichigo safe from harm.
"Hah, you wizards still think we listen to what your government has to say," the centaur to the leader's left said in clear distaste, spitting to the side. "We spit on your Ministry."
A few of the other centaurs laughed but it only served to darken the aura around them rather than lighten it. One of these centaurs, a look to him a little wilder than the rest with his pure ebony mane and equine body, stepped forward from his place toward the back of the group, reaching behind his back for an arrow and causing Grimmjow to take a step closer to the left, his free arm bending at the elbow as it was held in front of Ichigo.
"Bane, why are you breaking rank?" the leader addressed the advancing centaur, sounding almost as if he knew the answer.
"Obviously those foul wizards haven't gotten the message that this is our forest," Bane said calmly. "I think it would be a good idea to send them our own message, about what happens to those who trespass in our forest."
Even as there was a tense silence in the air, Grimmjow's mind was racing. Though many wondered if he would've ever been placed in Slytherin if not for his pureblood heritage due to his nature being much more animalistic and feral than any of the other serpents, or any average wizard for that matter, but Grimmjow was far more clever and cunning than he let on. In a fraction of a second he'd already considered every offense, defense, and even escape strategy possible and came to the inevitable conclusion that he couldn't protect Ichigo.
Or, at least, not in his current form.
Unsurprisingly, Ichigo was a bit startled when Grimmjow thrusted the wand of hawthorn into the sixth year's hands but the blunette didn't meet those enlarged maple syrup brown eyes, instead taking in several centaurs' surprised expressions at his actions, a few of them turning wary. Taking a deep breath, Grimmjow slipped his hand under his shirt and felt for the chain around his neck.
"Stay out of the way, Ichigo. No matter what happens, don't interfere and don't you dare try to fight them," Grimmjow whispered out of the corner of his mouth although he continued to evade making eye contact with his Mate, keeping his gaze trained on the eleven centaurs merely yards away. "Do not lose this, it was my mother's."
And with that, Grimmjow roughly tore the chain over his head, a necklace full of multi-colored rings and feathers made into pendants appearing from underneath the crisp, white fabric of his collar, and in the same action he lowered over that head of spiky, tangerine hair and onto Ichigo's neck.
The sudden removal his glamour's effect was immediate. In simple terms, Grimmjow's turquoise blue hair lengthened to fall in attractively messy, wavy locks over his shoulders though his infamously tousled strands over his forehead stubbornly remained, his already magnificent eyes intensified to a beatific blue, the purest blue anyone anywhere had ever seen and teal markings appeared underneath them, running along the lash line to flare out at the ends like a version of a more colorful Egyptian eyeliner. His six foot one frame grew a staggering half a foot, so that he stood just three inches below seven feet tall and luckily his clothing had changed as well, leaving something resembling a one-shouldered, short tunic worn in ancient times made of deep navy blue fabric. Glimmering golden armor covered his brawny, bronzed forearms up to his knuckles and there protective plates on his knees and elbows made of the same metal, his feet adorned in metallic gladiator sandals. Then there were the two physical alterations of sharpened, pointed incisors showcased to their full potential in a silent snarl and his fingernails had elongated into dark blue talons like that of a bird of prey's.
Then, of course, there were the wings.
Massive, they unfolded to span a magnificent twenty feet, and they were feathered like a bird's as well, but they were far from ordinary. The feathers on those wings were every shade of blue in the whole wide world, a gradient scale starting with ocean fathom blue so dark it was nearly black at the place they were attached to Grimmjow's flawless back and lightening gradually until they were the palest of baby blues at the tips. The other unique aspect of those feathers, as on any veela's wings, the ones adorning the exterior were nearly indestructible, hard and razor sharp - so much so that one need only gently tap a point or edge to pierce flesh draw blood.
But these are all parlor tricks compared to the veela's true power - beauty.
Where a remarkably handsome youth had once stood, now there was a vision of a blindingly, ethereally, angelically, unimaginably, heartbreakingly, devastatingly beauty so pure it could drive one absolutely, insanely mad just from one mere glance. Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, despite being only half-veela, was positively radiant, brighter than the stars, the moon, and the sun. He was more than perfect, he was beyond what any human mind was capable of imagining, and that was not his blessing, but his curse.
Grimmjow was all too aware of his Mate's eyes on him, seeing him in his true form for the first time, but the half-veela couldn't look at Ichigo. He didn't want to see what might be in those warmer than sunlight sepia orbs; the possibility of alarmed trepidation in those depths as the one he loved finally realized he wasn't entirely human too much for Grimmjow to deal with, especially when he had a fight on his hands to protect said loved one.
The centaurs were all gazing at him, some blatantly showing their disbelief in their dropped jaws and large eyes whilst the rest controlled themselves and remained composed. However, none of them lowered their weapons, rather all of them now either preparing their bows or lifting them to aim the arrows straight for the mystical being that'd appeared right before their eyes. Grimmjow was pleased to note they'd all seemed to forget about targeting Ichigo for the time being and in a show of aggression, he beat his wings in the centaurs' direction and sent a huge gust of wind their way. It wasn't enough to bowl them over but it did knock four or five a few steps back.
After several moments, the information that their enemy was not only a wizard, but of veela blood, sank in and the lead centaur frowned at Grimmjow, though the shuffling of his back hooves gave away his unease.
"A veela," he said. "Unsurprising, no wizard would have heard us approaching."
"This is no veela!" the centaur named Bane spat aggressively. "No beak, no lower talons, and not only does that prove he is just a half-breed but look - no Mating stone upon on his hand; he's nothing but a fledgling."
The leader's gaze traveled to the three places on Grimmjow's body Bane had mentioned. "It appears you are right, Bane. We need not fear a half-blooded veela; he is still half a wizard and he has arrogantly tread upon our land... " the leader said as if speaking more to himself than anyone else before raising his voice to address his entire herd of centaurs and letting his arms slowly fall to his sides so his arrow pointed downward. "Let us send that message to the wand wavers and their Ministry. Kill the veela, then his wizard friend. Do your best to make it quick and painless. Regardless what those Ministry scum think of us, we are not animals."
Grimmjow hadn't heard a word after the lead centaur ordered the others to kill him and Ichigo. It doesn't need saying that he couldn't have cared two flobberworms if they wanted to kill him but the very, passing thought that anything in the universe wished Ichigo, his Mate, harm had him seeing a vivid, crimson red. The sensation was the same as when he'd been twelve and that Dementor had preyed on the then eleven year-old.
Instinct, primal and raw and all-consuming, took over his entire body, his muscles coiling and flexing and mind clearing and focusing as he prepared to fight and defend to the death.
Nothing mattered except eliminating the threat.
Five arrows shot through the air, impeccably aimed for his weak spots - chest, throat, head - (not surprising considering centaurs were known for their skill in archery) but Grimmjow flapped his leviathan wings once and easily ascended twenty feet into the air and they flew right underneath his sandal-clad feet. The half-veela didn't hesitate a fraction of a second before he darted over to where Ichigo stood in a determined stance, wand at the ready.
A short gasp was all Grimmjow got from the orangette as he wrapped an arm around the other male's slim waist and pulled Ichigo up thirty or so feet off the ground and flush to his body. Their eyes met. More arrows were shot their way but they bounced harmlessly off of those armor-like wings, Grimmjow and Ichigo far too helplessly trapped in each other's gazes to care about such trivial things.
That moment, those eyes, their solitude. Something was different. Something had changed. Grimmjow could feel it in his bones. Their silence spoke volumes. And there was an indescribable, unnameable, and unreal but blissful something there between them that hadn't been there before. Grimmjow's heart literally ached even though he was holding Ichigo in his arms, closer than ever, and he knew it was positively insane and downright impossible but he could've sworn he saw his own immeasurably devoted adoration, his love, staring right back at him.
The one thing that could've broken through Grimmjow's feral state of mind distracted the half-veela enough he didn't sense the arrow aimed for his calf, the only part of his body not protected, in time. Fortunately, his veela form's flesh was multiple times tougher than his human's and the centaur's arrow only scraped the tawny skin but the painful sting had Grimmjow reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the boy in his arms to train tempestuously storming bluer than blue eyes on the centaurs, who were now merely feet away on the ground beneath them.
Let's just say that Grimmjow's veela blood didn't much like the fact an arrow had been able to so much as graze him and, even more so, that the potentially lethal projectile had been so close to injuring his Mate. He opened his mouth, baring his fangs and letting loose his species' signature intimidatory move, a noise that was a mixture of a snake-like hiss, a bird of prey's screech, and a lion's rumbling roar. The deep sound echoed for miles through the Forest, bouncing off tree trunks and sending creatures and beasties scurrying back into their dens. Grimmjow felt Ichigo shudder and tightened his hold though he didn't look back in order to survey the effect his roaring screech had on the centaurs. Some of them dropped their bows and held their hands over their ears, the others struggled to maintain their composure even as their hooves shuffled and their tails swung back and forth.
Now that they were thoroughly rattled, Grimmjow would make sure they would pay for threatening his Mate, and the fact they'd underestimated him since he was only 'a fledgling halfbreed.' Holding Ichigo with one arm, he lifted one hand to face level, fingers splayed.
"Don't!"
Grimmjow's inner fire halted in his veins at the command and he would've been confused had it been one person who'd spoken but unless his ears deceived him (unlikely) two separate voices had said the single word. He glanced down to Ichigo, whose lovely face showed the Gryffindor was just as baffled as he was and it was then that he heard the additional four hooves on the forest ground and not only that, but a pair of feet.
His head whipped to the right side to where two figures, different in shape and size, step through the mass of trees and dense fog.
"P-professor?" came Ichigo's shocked voice from under his chin but Grimmjow couldn't blame the orangette. He'd never expected to see the apathetic, stuffy Professor Kuchiki in the Forbidden Forest (or at least not when he had students to do his dirty work for him) and especially not side by side with a centaur.
"Firenze?" a centaur called out in equal surprise and Grimmjow deduced that was the new centaur's name, who boasted white-blond hair and blue eyes and appeared perfectly calm walking in step with the just as serene Kuchiki.
"Firenze, what are you doing with one of their kind?" the centaur leader demanded whilst the two newcomers halted approximately ten feet away from the herd. The one named Firenze, also apparently the owner of the other voice that'd cried out for Grimmjow to hold fire, cleared his throat before gesturing to the Potions Master.
"This is one of the professors from Hogwarts, the school for-" he started but was interrupted by another.
"We know very well what that school is for," Bane cut in bitterly. "How can we forget when it was you, our brother, who insisted you were morally obliged to share with those wizard brats our knowledge of Divination?"
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed as he took in the visibly tense, to say the least, relations between the sole centaur and the rest of the herd. He could feel Ichigo's soft breath on his half-naked chest and was forced to try his best to ignore that and their divine closeness, however hard it was.
"Yes, Bane, I would expect it of you to remember," Firenze said firmly, apparently not as timid as first expected. "I had also hoped you would've remembered we fought alongside those 'brats' this past spring but it seems you have a less than functional memory."
Bane started forward, growling at the other centaur, but the leader stopped him with a clasped hand on his shoulder.
"Firenze, you know we do not tolerate those that condemn us as unintelligent beasts in our part of the Forest. It is for that very reason we are forced to show the wizarding Ministry what happens to those disrespectful and arrogant enough to do so. We need to be taken seriously, even if that means being a threat," the leader said levelly and to Grimmjow it was evident why that particular centaur had been chosen as the head of their herd; the way he spoke was reminiscent of his Aunt Halibel, logical and with an underlying passion.
"Forgive me, but is your thirst for vengeance upon all of their kind so great you would willingly murder a student, a mere child?" Firenze asked with a mixture of both disbelief and disgust. "Not only this but you have pointed your arrows at a man of inhuman blood. Has it not dawned upon you that the veela are experiencing the very same difficulties as our species? Why start another war we will not be able to win with our bows and knowledge of astrology?"
"You are out of line, Firenze," Bane snapped.
"He may be. However, I believe your saying such has more to do with your inability to develop an appropriate defense," Kuchiki said in his politely acerbic way and Grimmjow mentally raised the Potions Master up a notch in his book.
"No one asked your opinion, wand waver," Bane said, again moving toward the dark-haired, bored-looking professor but he was, again, held back by the centaur leader.
"The wizard up there, with the orange hair- he is an underage student of yours?" the leader questioned Kuchiki gruffly.
"That is correct. They are both students of mine and it was I who sent them into the Forest to collect potion ingredients as a punishment for their less than acceptable behavior," Professor Kuchiki answered swiftly, glancing up to where Grimmjow was still holding onto Ichigo thirty feet above them. "It is now apparent they are incapable of doing as they are told and staying out of trouble."
"You allow halfbreed children into the school?"
"If they have the potential for learning, no child is turned away from Hogwarts."
The lead centaur was mute for a moment or two, stroking his chin absentmindedly and staring blankly down at the professor as he appeared to think hard about the situation.
"Fall back, brothers. We are heading back to the den," he finally said and there was an instant burst of confused, disappointed, and angered protests from the other ten centaurs with whom he'd arrived. "Quiet. As I said before, we are not animals nor beasts who slaughter children or members of a race whose done us no harm. Fall back and allow the students to leave with their professor."
Listening to the muttered grumbles here and there, Grimmjow watched with hawk's eyes as the centaurs backed away from their circle around and underneath where he was still airborne, Ichigo, who looked lost in thought and thoroughly disconcerted with eyes downcast and lines marring his brow, safely tucked in the half-veela's arms despite his feet dangling three stories in the air.
The blunette didn't even entertain the notion of descending until all the centaurs but the leader and Firenze had disappeared into the misted woods, the rustling of their hooves on dead leaves and underbrush an acceptable distance away. Only then did Grimmjow beat his wings leisurely, letting gravity pull he and Ichigo to the ground. Grimmjow landed lightly and - though everything within him, wizard and veela, screamed at him not to - set his Mate on his own two feet, immediately missing the Gryffindor's warm body pressed against his.
And what was even worse? Ichigo seemed to be doing everything he could to not look at him, his gaze firmly set on the forest floor, or maybe his shoes. Scowling, Grimmjow reluctantly turned his head over to the two centaurs and Professor Kuchiki, the former two speaking in low whispers (pointless really, considering he could every single word anyway.)
"You had only just managed to gain the trust of our herd again, Firenze," the leader was saying. "After this, I am afraid you will have to start over from the beginning."
"Understood," Firenze said.
"Do not follow me and your brothers back to the den until you have made it clear to these three I will not be so merciful should I catch any one of them in any part of the Forest."
"I shall make sure of it."
Grimmjow watched as the centaur leader nodded once and then galloped off, vanishing into the flora in an instant and leaving he and Ichigo alone with Firenze and Kuchiki.
"You have my thanks, Firenze. If you hadn't taken it upon yourself to find me at the castle, Hogwarts would now house two less students," he said and though his tone was as uptight as always, the Potions Master inclined his head the slightest bit and Grimmjow was taken aback by the motion, considering in all his years of interacting with the man at family functions and such he'd never seen nor heard of Byakuya Kuchiki, most pompous wizard alive, doing anything of the nature. "I hope you will not face serious repercussions due to your generous actions this evening."
"I do not need nor deserve your thanks, it is one's moral duty to prevent bloodshed when there need be none and while I appreciate your concern, Byakuya, there is nothing about which to worry," Firenze said, smiling softly and then sighing. "Even after the war, my brothers grow more temperamental every day as the Ministry continues to restrict magical being and creature rights; everyday we lose more of our land to the Wizengamot's rebuilding project. Unfortunately, their indignation has grown so strong they are now misdirecting their frustrations toward the innocent."
For the first time since the seventh year assumed they'd shown up to stop what would have soon been an all out brawl between he and the centaurs, the professor and the centaur made eye contact with him. As expected the icy blues of Firenze and even those steely gray orbs belonging to Kuchiki glazed over for a moment and Grimmjow consciously summoned some of his inner strength and reigned in some of his veela allure, steely gray clearing closely followed by icy blue.
"I apologize for my brothers' barbaric actions. They should have never threatened either of you. I hope this will not color your opinion of us centaurs in the future." Firenze said, bowing deeply in a humble gesture Grimmjow didn't typically see in the pureblood world but of course knew of.
"Apology accepted," he said gruffly, still not keen on having a centaur, even a 'nice' one, so close to his Mate. Another moment passed, Firenze not moving an inch, and so Grimmjow looked over to Ichigo curiously, wondering why the orangette hadn't followed suit. Then it hit him, Ichigo was a halfblood, mostly raised by his muggle father; he had limited knowledge of the traditional customs of the wizarding world, especially strictly pureblood ones. Trying to hint Ichigo to what he was he supposed to do, Grimmjow coughed and gently nudged the other boy with his elbow in the arm. Ichigo still didn't look up at him but the blunette could just imagine the blush starting to heat up the boy's cheekbones and the tips of his ears as he realized his faux pas.
"O-oh, it's no problem," he murmured, eyes still on the ground. Grimmjow didn't understand what the issue was, only that he didn't like it.
"I am honored you have found it in your hearts to forgive us," Firenze said formally, straightening up. "However, the Ministry's increasingly deplorable attitude toward us and other magical races -"
Firenze's eyes flickered over to the half-veela. "- have pushed all of us to near a breaking point. It would be wise for all three of you to stay out of the Forest from now on. I do not believe I will be able to reason with our leader if there's a next time."
"I suppose I could make do with the supply of ingredients I currently possess," Kuchiki said. "Your warning will be heeded. You will not see us in the Forest again, Firenze."
"Good," the blonde centaur smiled half-heartedly. "Well then, Byakuya and students of Hogwarts, I bid you a good morning." Firenze didn't wait for a reply before trotting off into the wooded foliage, he too vanishing into the depths of the forest.
Wait, did he just say 'good morning?' Grimmjow thought, frowning and then raising his head toward the tree canopy where he was shocked to see rays of the bluish light of dawn streaming through the ceiling of leaves and branches. To confirm that it was indeed morning also meant he and Ichigo had spent the entire night in the Forbidden Forest, far surpassing their deadline, and Kuchiki had only recently decided to go in the forest himself to see what was taking the two students so long.
"Professor, did you really leave us out here all bloody night and only now just damn came to check we weren't dead or something?" Grimmjow demanded, the usual few traces of pureblood dialect in his speech now gone as tended to happen when his rage or frustration got the best of him and there wasn't really a need for a witty comeback. "Who the hell let you be a teacher?"
The ever infallible Kuchiki didn't miss a beat. He wasn't fazed in the slightest, he didn't even blink.
"Mr. Jaegerjaques, and you as well, Mr. Kurosaki, please gather the ingredients you collected so we may return to the castle. I believe breakfast will be served in an hour or so," the Potions Master directed, turning on his heel and totally ignoring Grimmjow's outburst, which was a little strange since he normally had a snide comment or two for the blue-haired Slytherin. In fact, Grimmjow was of the opinion that Kuchiki lived for those little thinly veiled insults and spent all of his free time thinking of new ones to use. The bastard probably even kept a list full of them stashed under his pillow or in a trunk's secret compartment that he took out after everyone was sleeping to read them in his bed and giggle all night long. A man couldn't be that composed and proper all the time like Kuchiki was unless they got their shits and giggles from something creepy like that.
Grimmjow repressed a shudder at the thought and took it upon himself to pick up the enchanted carpet bag twenty or so feet away, the thing somehow unscathed after all the commotion and much lighter now that he was in his veela form with which came veela strength. He cast a worried glance at Ichigo, whose head was still bowed down, the fringe of his adorably messy orange hair hiding most of his face and his arms were crossed in a sort-of self embrace. Grimmjow burned with the very sappy urge to sweep the younger boy into his arms and stroke his hair and whisper into his ear words of comfort or even just to ask his Mate what was wrong because not knowing was killing him.
The most likely reason was that they had been attacked by a herd of centaurs not too long ago and perhaps it had frightened Ichigo more than the persistently brave-faced male would ever show, or admit to. Being in mortal peril would unnerve anyone, and then the relief he'd felt when the centaurs had backed down could've caused a rapid decrease in the adrenaline brought on by dangerous situations, leaving Ichigo feeling more than a little shaken.
Or perhaps... perhaps what Grimmjow had always feared was coming true right in front of his very eyes. Ichigo had seen his true form, the undeniable proof of the inhuman blood that ran through his veins, that they were not really of the same race, and that Grimmjow possessed powers, fearsome ones, humans could never have or even begin to understand.
No matter how 'beautiful' he supposedly was when in his veela form, Grimmjow knew Ichigo saw right past that to what he really was: a beast.
And what business did a beast have ever hoping for a human with blood pure as snow, untainted by any creature strains, to love him?
Grimmjow fell into step beside Ichigo, fifteen feet apart as they trekked through the forest after Kuchiki who looked over his shoulder at his halfbreed student/distant relative, whose wings were folded inwards, creating an arch over his head.
"Do not put your glamour back on until we reach the forest's edge," the Potions master said and then faced forward yet again, stepping gracefully over a large tree root. Grimmjow knew why Kuchiki didn't want him to hide his true self under the glamour charm as his veela scent and appearance would stave off any predators still lurking about; his race was known for its savage, vicious way of fighting and veela rarely lost, leaving behind a shredded, burned carcass in their wake should someone or something cross them.
Any day before that one Grimmjow would have been mentally purring at the fact Ichigo held his custom wand made with a strand of his sky blue hair and that the sixth year was still wearing his veela family heirloom strung with feathers from his ancestors' wings and those pairs of Mating rings from the bonding ceremonies of so many lovers. But, of course, now that Ichigo was repulsed by his true nature there was no chance some day they would get their own personalized set of rings and bond and just live together, which was all Grimmjow had ever wanted.
The Slytherin felt his footsteps become heavier with every step, weighed down as his heart was slowly turning to stone. He was sure had he been alone he would've thrown a violent tantrum and broken and smashed everything in sight and he probably would later sometime that afternoon, when it fully hit him that Ichigo wouldn't ever be his and his world would implode around him.
It wasn't fair. Why did his mother have to be a veela and therefore bestow upon him the curse of living this half life? Half human, half creature, he was an abomination, and honestly a part of Grimmjow was happy Ichigo was disgusted by him, then he could fall in love with someone else, someone human, and live a life without all of the freakish attributes and duties a veela Mating bond entailed.
A cold, unsympathetic voice cut through his despondent train of thought.
"Perhaps during our stroll back to the castle, the two of you could explain how you managed to capture the attention of an entire centaur herd?" Kuchiki said, not sparing a glance back in their direction. "No ingredient nor instructions on the list would have required you to travel so far into the forest."
If the atmosphere been lighter, Grimmjow figured he and Ichigo would've shared a secret glance and stifled their laughter, but as it was the blunette couldn't bear to lay eyes on who he'd once hoped to be his Mate and he was sure Ichigo never wanted to look at him ever again. So, Grimmjow just grunted out a "Dunno," and was done with it.
Continuing his mildly uncharacteristic behavior, Kuchiki didn't respond or press the two students in his dry way for more information, rather falling quiet once more. The hike back to the castle grounds felt like an eternity and Grimmjow was almost relieved when they crossed the tree line into the bright morning sunlight.
"Now would be the time to replace your glamour, Jaegerjaques," the professor instructed. "The two of you may then report to breakfast and attend classes as usual."
A little dumbfounded and a lot pissed off, Grimmjow stared at the robed back of the retreating Potions Master, finding his voice after a good ten seconds.
"Oy, Kuchiki! Don't you want this?" he yelled after the older male, holding the carpet bag full of the ingredients he and Ichigo had spent the entire night collecting up in the air to signal that was what he was referring to. Kuchiki halted mid-step and with his keen sight Grimmjow caught the professor's lips twitch just the littlest bit - the beginnings of a smug smile.
"Don't be absurd, Mr. Jaegerjaques," he said. "What would I do with a bag full of potion ingredients I already have?"
On the verge of storming up the grounds to beat the potions professor into the ground, Grimmjow felt like all of his ire was sapped out of his body when a warm hand touched his elbow. Instinctively, his eyes drifted down to the head of nectarine honey hair now level with the middle of his chest instead of his chin and those pools of hot caramel freshly poured from a vat at Honeydukes set in an enticingly dollish face continued to hide from him.
"Here," Ichigo murmured, proffering one outstretched palm that held both the veela heirloom necklace and the wand made of hawthorn. Grimmjow hesitated for a second and then swiped the two items out of the other's hand, successfully avoiding skin to skin contact.
"Thanks," he said under his breath, inhaling deeply and slipped the charmed necklace over his head. The enchantment worked its magic instantly, the otherworldly beautiful veela there one second, a handsome young man there the next. All within a measure of time too short to be named, his fangs and talons shrank back to human size and shape, the locks of his hair shortened to the tousled hairstyle that was somewhat famous around the corridors of Hogwarts, his height lowered six inches and his clothes morphed back into the Slytherin uniform, and the beatific veela allure receded, his beauty reigned into that of a good-looking mortal. The last thing to go were his wings; they furled in on themselves and if anyone had been able to keep up with the incredibly fast action they still would have had not a clue what happened to those beautiful, feathered appendages as it appeared they vanished into thin air, some unnatural movement visible under the fabric of Grimmjow's sweater the only sign that they'd retracted into the flesh of his back.
The blunette winced and rubbed his shoulder with the hand that wasn't holding his wand; it always hurt like a bitch whenever he had to retract his wings. But that didn't mean he was about to miss a certain Gryffindor slinking away from him, walking to the castle with, that's right, his head down.
Grimmjow ground his teeth together as he tried to reach a decision. He knew with absolute certainty why Ichigo was acting so strangely and that the boy no doubt wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible and probably never wanted to associate with him ever again so he didn't know why he was considering something so stupid. But if there was the slightest possibility Ichigo was so visibly upset for another reason, something Grimmjow could solve or get rid of or even kill for the boy... Well, Grimm never really had a choice then, did he?
"Ichigo, wait," he called out to the orangette, not liking how the other male stiffened like a scared cat, only without the straight tail, raised fur, and hissing. Grimmjow stopped four or five steps behind the Gryffindor, waiting patiently as Ichigo took his time to turn around and it was like the boy had forgotten how to lift his head up, eyes firmly staring at the dying grass below their feet.
"Yeah?" Ichigo's voice was as small as Grimmjow'd ever heard it.
"Can you look at me when I'm talking to you?" Grimmjow didn't mean for it to come out as harsh as it did and he instantly felt like scum when Ichigo started. But finally those big brown eyes met his and Grimmjow had a flashback to the second Wizarding War that past spring, when he'd secretly guarded Ichigo during the battle, and even on that horrifically traumatic day Ichigo had never looked so scared.
"S-sorry, I'm... tired," Ichigo said.
"No, argh, shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you, it's just... " Grimmjow trailed off, wondering how he should phrase his question and if this had been a good idea in the first place. "Are you... all right?"
All the responses Grimmjow had expected from the orangette didn't so much as come close to what he got.
It was like that muggle book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Within the blink of an eye, Ichigo snapped from the timid, troubled doctor to the rabid, raging madman.
"All right! You're fucking asking me if I'm all. Right?" Ichigo shouted, his hands balling into fists and his eyes gleaming maniacally, glare burning smoking holes in Grimmjow's head. His entire being hummed with a completely unhinged aura and it rendered Grimmjow utterly speechless with shock. "You're a sick fucking bastard, you know that! I can't believe I-... that I... urgh!" Ichigo threw his hands up in the air, panting and evidently too angry to even form words. He whirled around with a wordless yell of enraged frustration and began stalking away, Grimmjow coming to his senses at last. The half-veela ran up to his would-be Mate and laid a hand on his shoulder, not exactly surprised when Ichigo turned and shoved him away, hard.
"Hey, what-"
"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up," Ichigo said, voice getting quieter as he spoke. "Leave me the hell alone, Jaegerjaques, and if you ever touch me again, I'll kill you."
Grimmjow didn't know how the hell he ended up in the Great Hall. After the last three words Ichigo had said to him had registered in his mind, the Slytherin entered some kind of state of shock.
It made sense, after all. After potentially lethal trauma the human body enters a stage called shock in order to prevent further damage and Ichigo had just dealt him a fatal blow.
Grimmjow was aware he had thicker skin than average, could shoulder more weight and endure more misery than most. He could have lived with the fact Ichigo would never be able to accept who he was, what he was, and he could have even survived knowing Ichigo was repulsed by his true nature as a halfbreed, but to wake up and remember every damn day the one thing that mattered most in the world to him hated him, that his reason for living wanted to kill him?
He couldn't do it.
Grimmjow vaguely registered he'd crossed the Great Hall and now sat in his regular seat at the Slytherin table. Most of the students had already left to finish getting ready for their classes and directly in front of him was his favorite morning meal - a plate of fresh, hot biscuits next to a saucer of strawberry jam. Looking at it made him feel positively sick to his stomach and he placed his elbows on the table, resting his face in his broad hands in an effort to block out the inane chatter.
"Well, you look like shit."
Grimmjow didn't have to move his hands away from his face to know who was speaking to him.
"I know you never want to because you're all 'masculine' and whatever but... do you want to talk about it?" Szayel asked in a whisper. He'd always been able to tell when Grimmjow was troubled and knowing his best friend so well, when the fellow seventh year said nothing back he didn't push the issue. Instead, the pink-haired boy dropped a small, heavily stamped envelope onto the empty plate set in front of the other.
"All right, well I'm going to Transfiguration now but Pantera brought this the dormitory this morning. It's from your aunt, so maybe that will get you out of this mood," Szayel said, standing from the table. "And don't worry your pretty little blue head, I'll take down an extra set of notes for you."
"Thanks," Grimmjow mumbled, letting his hands fall to the table and looking up to dark yellow eyes behind white frames regarding him with veiled concern.
"Yeah, well, since I share a dormitory with you I have to look at you and this miserable, depressed look you've got going on is making me depressed, so I'm really doing this for me, of course," Szayel sighed dramatically, then wiggled his fingers in a wave. "Ta, Grimm." He then strode away from the Slytherin table like the Great Hall was a Witch Weekly fashion show and Grimmjow lethargically picked the envelope up.
It was indeed from his Aunt Halibel, the painfully neat script recognizable from a mile away. Grimmjow slid his finger under the sealed flap and tore through the envelope, plucking out the folded parchment inside and unfolding it.
Please be good news, he mentally hoped. He didn't think it was possible for one person to have more bad luck after what had already happened that morning. Forgoing reading the letter word for word, he skimmed over the lines, picking out certain phrases.
Grimmjow,...
I hope this letter finds you happy and well...
Things here have not been going as well as we would have liked...
Your mother... getting worse by the day... thought it was the time to inform you... dying without your father by her side...
Ministry... Wizengamot... inflexible... infringing on veela rights... possibly will begin to intercept letters...
You know what needs to be done... time is running out... fight for him...
He is everything to you...
Yours,
Aunt Hali
If Grimmjow was clinging to sanity by a single thread before, his aunt's letter was the pair of scissors to snip it right in half. He didn't realize he was headed to the astronomy tower until he'd stepped through the door and onto the tower platform, like he'd apparated but that was impossible.
He nearly collapsed onto the stone railing, hands catching him, one of them still clutching the letter tightly. He was panting heavily like he'd just run a marathon and he was fighting an encroaching blackness as if would lose consciousness any moment. Desperately he grabbed for his glamour necklace, trying to find even that small comfort but failing spectacularly. His body was slowly shutting down, energy leaking out of him like a broken dam and he slid down the short wall to kneel on both knees, pressing his forehead against the stone.
"FUCK," he roared like a dying animal, his curse at the world booming like thunder and with it, he was spent. He let himself crumple to the cold floor, swallowing heavily as his vision clouded with tears he refused to allow to fall.
"Ichigo..."
Ichigo burst into his dormitory, the door slamming against the wall and causing the sole occupant to shoot up from where he'd been laying on the orangette's own bed to a sitting position. Gold on black eyes narrowed as a pale mouth opened but when Ichigo met his twin brother's gaze, Shiro's expression changed to one of surprise and concern and the orange-haired brother knew his beyond distressed mental state must be showing plain as day on his face.
"Ichi..." the albino breathed, standing from the bed. Ichigo strode right by his sibling and threw himself on the bed face down.
"Leave me alone, Shiro," Ichigo hissed into his pillow, imagining the look of shock on his twin's mirror-image visage. Yes, Ichigo'd been moody before on the rare occasion, but despite his permanent scowl he really never became angry or lashed out at anyone (ironically, save for one certain blue-haired prick) and he had certainly never felt like this. This was different, and he knew Shiro could tell.
"Ya know tha's not gonna fly wit' me, righ'?" he heard Shiro say from above him then felt the bed dip as his twin sat next to him. "Jus' tell me wha's got ya like... this."
"I..." Ichigo trailed off, burying his face even further into his crimson pillowcase. How did he even begin to describe what he was feeling? How it seemed that one stupid moment in one stupid night had altered his very being, like he wasn't even the same person anymore? How could he explain to his brother how everything was suddenly different now when he himself had not even an inkling as to why? Ichigo lifted his head and turned to look at Shiro with watery eyes. "I feel like... like I'm losing my damn mind."
Shiro's pale eyebrows shot up into his equally colorless hairline. "Wha' tha hell d'ya mean yer losin' yer mind?" he said in a carefully even tone.
Ichigo shook his head frantically and pushed himself off the bed, clenching his hands in his hair. "That's the thing! I don't even know. It doesn't make sense, nothing makes any sense!" The orangette's heart rate began accelerating at an alarming rate and it made his chest hurt.
Shiro rose off of the bed as well, approaching his twin with slow, cautious steps.
"Ichi, ya need ta calm down."
"Don't fucking tell me to calm down! I can't calm down," Ichigo spat resentfully, hands moving from his hair to grip his arms in the same self-embrace he'd been doing earlier.
"Okay, okay," Shiro said, stopping a good five feet away from the other boy, hands outstretched and palms out. "Why don' ya jus' tell me wha' happened las' night?"
"Well that's when all, or most of, this... bullshit started," Ichigo huffed, starting to pace back and forth. "Ugh, why did I ever agree to that stupid truce? I should've said hell fucking no and then none of this wouldn't ever have happened and I wouldn't be feeling like I need to be locked up in St. Mungo's!"
"Whoa, whoa, Ichi, let's jus' go over las' night, 'kay?" Shiro suggested and Ichigo nodded furiously.
"Okay, well that bastard Kuchiki sent us into the Merlin-forsaken Forbidden Forest and told us to-"
"Ya mean ya an' Jaegerjaques?"
"Don't say his name!" Ichigo snapped and Shiro's mouth closed shut with an audible click. "Anyway, yes, him. We went into the forest to get potion ingredients and you see stupid fucking me had to go ahead and research-..."
"Research wha'?" Shiro asked, frowning even as his inverted eyes followed Ichigo's repetitive pacing.
"Never mind, it's... uh, not important. But yeah, so of course he had to almost crush the damn bloodroot stems and I had to grab his hands to stop him and they were all stupid and warm and then he told me he had a... significant other and I mean, it wasn't like I cared or anything but why are you letting other people touch your hands if you love this person so much, you know? That's messed up, right?" Ichigo paused in his pacing and pinned down his pale brother with an impatient stare.
"Uh, yea'... real messed up," Shiro said and the orangette was suddenly aware that he'd broke out in a sweat, beads of moisture dampening his tangerine strands of hair at the nape of his neck even though the dormitory was infamously chilly.
"I know! Again, not like I care but it's just the principle of the matter and then he goes all quiet like he doesn't even want to talk to me until we get to the horned toads and as a joke I put one down his shirt and then he had to be a giant dick and chase me down to put one down mine too. That's like so immature, I don't even... but whatever, we get the toads and then he tells me to be quiet like he's my fucking father or something and-"
"Ichi."
"What!" Ichigo rounded on his twin still sitting on the edge of his bed and saw an unexpectedly deadly serious expression on Shiro's face, lips pressed together in a firm line and brows furrowed over narrow eyes.
"Look a' yerself," Shiro whispered. "It's freezin' in 'ere an' yer sweatin', ya can' stop fidgeting an' pacing, yer breathin' heavy an' I know yer hearts gotta be beatin' outta yer chest righ' now. No offense, but yer a fuckin' mess."
"Oh shit, not again," Ichigo moaned, struggling to take a deep breath but only managing several short, shallow ones.
"Again? Wha' d'ya mean 'not again'?" Shiro demanded, standing from the bed and closing the distance between them to grasp Ichigo's upper arms. "Wha's happenin' ta ya!"
"I don't know, I don't know!" Ichigo cried, tears of desperation finally slipping from his eyes and down his face. "I think I'm crazy. It doesn't make sense."
"Wha' doesn' make sense? Ichi, please calm down!"
"It's not... possible," Ichigo said in between gasps for air. It felt like he was dying. Everything in his body was on overdrive and too fast and... "All I did was... look at him... and his wings and... Shiro, I don't know but... I think... I think I love him!"
"Ya love... Jaegerjaques?"
Ichigo's vision was darkening and blurring and Shiro's voice sounded as if he was underwater and his brother's eyes were starting to look like shadows and... fire.
"But I can't... because... he has someone else," Ichigo said, feeling himself going limp in his twin's hold, the void threatening to consume him once again. Images of those heartbreaking blue eyes and massive, feathered wings and the one he now suddenly wanted with every fiber of his being with his someone else, his Mate, their image unclear. He heard his name being said frantically several times but all he saw then was the visions twisting into flames licking at his very soul, not orange-red or purple this time, but blue.
Ichigo remembered begging for someone to stop the fire and calling out to a winged creature to rescue him but the terrifying black abyss swallowed him whole and then there was nothing.
A/N: Not a long chapter, but a very important one.
If Ichigo's ending conclusion of love seems really abrupt, it was meant to be and there is a reason for why it happened this way, which will be explained in later chapters. I don't want to explain here in my author's notes because that would take away from when it's talked about in the story. Also, the story is far from its end, it won't end with Ichigo and Grimmjow finally admitting their feelings for each other. Oh no, there is much, much more to come their way.
