Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter, they belong to Noriaki "Tite" Kubo and J.K. Rowling respectively. I make no profit from this fanfiction, well, besides the joy I find in writing it. =3
~ CH 9 - Repercussions and Rendezvous ~
Voldemort had been lounging in his study, looking over the reports of the disappearance of Bellatrix Lestrange. In all reality, between the gory scene in her bedroom and her haughty attitude towards all others besides himself, the dark lord expected her to be dead by now. She had obviously upset the wrong opponent this time. She was a member of his inner circle though, so if he did find out who was responsible then he would see to their brutal punishment himself.
He had finally decided to call it a day and stood to leave when a frighteningly powerful wave of pain hit him. He fell to the floor oblivious to the world around him as images flashed before his eyes and agony washed over him. There were disjointed images playing through his mind as he felt himself within another. A dingy room. A pale hand... a familiar golden locket. The last image burned into his mind as he realized the significance of it.
Once the dark wizard was able to break the surface of this mental torment he realized what a weakened state it had left him in. His breathing was ragged. He felt feverish and drained. It took him a long moment and quite bit of effort to calm his breathing and stager to his feet. Once he had righted himself and managed to use his desk to supported himself, Voldemort reflected on what he had seen. He remembered what he had felt. The realization of what it all meant had him seeing red. "Wormtail!" He rasped out in harsh anger to the ever sniveling presence outside his door.
He heard a squeak like sound from the other side of the door before the man entered hastily. "Yes my lord?"
"Come here," Voldemort hissed out impatiently and the rodent like man did as he was told. The moment he was within reach, Voldemort snatched the mans arm in a brutal grip and jabbed his wand into the mans dark mark. He didn't even register the man's pitiful whimpering at the force of the summons being directed through him. The thing consuming the dark wizard's mind was that his secret had been discovered and his immortality was being jeopardized. That, and the familiarity of the mind that he had visited in unwillingness. The war had just changed tides once again and there were persons who needed to answer for such crimes against him.
The meeting of the Order of the Phoenix ended immediately after Harry had emerged and told them that the deed was done. Severus had just about made it to the front door when one of the most violent summonings he had ever had the displeasure of feeling hit him like a ton of bricks. It actually sent the seasoned spy to his knees as he waited for the immediate burning pain of the call to subside.
Unfortunately for the potion master, the werewolf had been directly behind him when this occurred. The greying man kneeled down beside him and placed a comforting hand on his back as if to steady him. "...erus, Severus, are you alright?"
The man had probably been asking after him the minute he had collapsed, but he hadn't heard it through the pain of the summons from his dark master. Severus, regaining his bearings, shrugged the hand off of his shoulder with as much force as he could muster. "I am fine," the potion master growled out with a glare. He staggered to his feet and placed his hand on the door nob.
He paused before leaving however. It was to much of a coincidence that this horridly powerful summons had been issued directly after Potter destroying the horcrux. Things did not look favorable for him on this night, so he had better let someone know what was happening. Severus turned back to the werewolf with a blank facade covering the fear in his heart of what awaited him. "Inform Dumbledore that I have been summoned." That was all the dark man said before leaving through the threshold and apparating away.
Remus blinked at the open door a couple of times as the information registered with the scene he had just witnessed. His eyes widened slightly at what the implications could be. Instead of leaving like he had intended, the werewolf shut the front door and made his way back to the group of people still lingering from the meeting.
Ichigo sat at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour eating one of the few normal things in the place called Diagon Alley. The plain vanilla ice cream was a nice relief from the absurdly flamboyant items in the shops surrounding him. He would have to thank the kind shop keep for gifting it to him out of pity for his growling stomach. Ichigo had been scouring the hidden place all day without a bite to eat since he didn't have any of their money. The fact that they had their own currency was another weird thing. Something he was going to have to chew Rukia out for the next time he saw her.
Ichigo sighed, losing his anger. He was on edge from the useless search and the long day trying to sift through intel about an entirely new world. He shouldn't be surprised that something as big as this magic world had been kept hidden from the common masses so well. He did, after all, work for one such hidden society. Grant it, even if they did interact with the outside world on a common basis, his society was at least technically one full of dead people.
Maybe he was just miffed that after all he had done in his short life something as big as this had been withheld from him. Apparently this society of magical people lived all over the world. That included Japan. The fact that this supper society lived right under his nose didn't sit well with him.
*Flashback
Ichigo looked up at the broken-down old shop in disbelief. Then he turned narrowed eyes on his 'guide'. "Are you sure this is the place?" The question earned him a whack in the back his head.
"Of course it is. Your just not seeing it because you don't know it's there yet." Rukia didn't find the need to explain further which only set Ichigo off.
"Now you're not making any sense at all! 'You're not seeing it cause you don't know it there,'" He mimicked in a naggingly high voice. "If you're just jerkin me around- mpfh"
Rukia had clamped a hand over his mouth and gave him a fake smile, talking through her teeth as her eyebrow twitched. "Shut up before they take us for a couple of muggles," she ground out quietly. Ichigo sent her a glare, but complied. "That's better," Rukia commented before removing her hand. "Now, just follow me and once we are inside you'll see what I mean.
After Ichigo made it through the threshold of the decrepit old building his jaw nearly fell to the floor at the sight that greeted him. At some minuscule point in time, the abandon shop had melted away from his vision to reveal a tavern with a few brightly dressed individuals and ...floating dishes? After a moment of just gapping he felt a hand gently pushing his jaw back up to close his mouth. When he tuned to look at the owner of the hand Rukia just smirked at him. "Wha...?" He looked back up at the pub scene. "How...?" He stopped and shook his head. He hated to admit it, but this wasn't the weirdest thing he had seen before and he wasn't about to go all dumb struck over a couple of floating plates and men wearing colors that men had no business wearing. "Let's just get started." He growled out.
* End Flashback
Ichigo was now on a crash course of their world. Apparently the weirdos in this part of the world cast a giant kido or rather 'spell' over the whole place that made it so hollows couldn't be formed... or something like that. Rukia had left him with that brief explanation and the order to investigate the area for the day. The only thing she had warned him against was to stay away from the big white building a little ways down the alley. It was some kind of 'wizarding' bank and after Ichigo saw what was guarding the doors, he had no problem following those orders.
It was a good idea for them to investigate the society that had originally dealt with the hollows. If something was wrong with the spell then it made sense to think there was a good chance it involved their world. Ichigo hadn't turned up much so far though. A lot of the people seemed suspicious of him and at first he wondered if it was his accent or the weird black cape Rukia had thrown over his clothes. The information he pieced together through the day helped shed a little bit of light on the situation.
He manage to dredge up some information on the current state of things. Apparently there was some mad man on the loose, that no one would tell him the name of by the way, snatching people up that went against him. That would be why everyone acted so suspicious. As enlightening as the information was, he still didn't have a clue as to why the hollow spell had been faulty after working properly for so long. Maybe it was wearing off? Or maybe a war, the vary nature of such an event causing many many deaths, would overload the spell and cause it to short out.
All of his theories sounded perfectly reasonable to him except for one factor. Even if the spell wore out or messed up, why couldn't he sense the hollow after they were formed? Could the spell be catching up late or were they being concealed? Non of these answers seemed forth coming. Ichigo had a feeling he was going to be there for a while. He didn't so much mind the stay, but the thought did concern him. He was still uncertain how long his powers would hold out. He could only hope it was long enough to complete the mission if not longer.
The feeling of something wet and cold trickling down his hand caught his attention and broke him out of those depressing musings. He looked down at the melting ice cream cone in his hand and startled. He had forgotten he was eating it somewhere along the line of contemplating his mission and his future. He quickly ate the melted parts up so it would stop dripping all over him and then liked his fingers clean.
As he was doing this, giggling caught his attention. he turned to glare at whoever was laughing at him and found it to be a girl around his age with long blond hair and pretty blue eyes. "Oi, what are you laughing at!" he yelled at her.
The girl giggled a couple more times before she suddenly just stopped and sent him an eire smile. "It was just amusing to see someone like you in such a normal and silly setting."
"What do you mean, someone like me?"
Hermione couldn't find rest that night. There was so much swimming through her mind about every thing that had happened over the last few days. Besides Harry's return, the revelation of horcruxes, and Lestrange's execution, there was also Harry himself that left the witch's mind whirling about for explanations.
The boy that left them in the ministry was certainly not the one that returned to them. She loved Harry as much as she would a blood brother, even more so, but it was so hard to pick Harry out from the colder person with the pale face. There were moments, like when he had told her not to cry for him or when he had given the answer to Sirius's security question that she had caught glimpses of him, but the gap was just so great.
Then again, she probably couldn't consider him as a boy anymore anyways. A couple hundred years was enough to change and mature anyone really. It was just another one of the things swimming around in her head. Harry had died and been turned into some sort of soul eating creature called a hollow. He had somehow been thrown back in time and was now a couple hundred years her senior. There was also this mysterious cause he had alluded to fighting for that could have caused some sort of end to the world. And the cherry on top was that he said he had sold his soul to return to them yet he also said that his soul was bound to his body. How on earth did that work? Did he mean sold it in a metaphorical or literal sense? There was so much she didn't know or understand about this Harry and it left her heart aching. He had once been her closest and most dear friend and now she knew next to nothing about him.
Hermione had stuck by his side through everything, even when Ron had let his jealousy clouded his judgement and left the two of them with only one another. Now it seemed as if Harry had finally been left to himself completely, all alone to deal with everything. There was an air of loneliness mixed with a sort of untouchability that seemed to surround him. Hermione was loath to admit she too had picked up on that feeling and had yet to approach him. Though in her defense he hadn't given them much of an opportunity to mingle. If it didn't involve the order or a discussion on Voldemort, he seemed to be hold up somewhere. Perhaps some sort of self quarantine?
What ever the reason he felt it necessary to keep to himself, she wanted to find him and attempt to break him from that. 'It's was probably our initial reactions that made him this way anyways. We weren't exactly welcoming,' she thought in shame. If it had been her who had fought for years just to get back to the people she cared about only for them to act suspicious and attack her, she would have reacted similarly she supposed. Maybe she would have reacted even worse. All things considered, Harry had taken their reaction to him rather well when she thought about it. The only time he had really complained about their behavior was in regards to their attitude about the war.
Once she sat down and thought about it, his words weren't meant to belittle them. Harry had been trying to protect them in his own way. He wanted them to be strong enough to survive the war. It was another one of those hidden moments that she found her Harry behind the cold mask. It left Hermione wondering, yet again, what had happened to him in the many years of his life to change him so radically. It must have had something to do with the mysterious war he had been involved in. He had eluded to being some sort of double agent. What kind of toll would that take on the kind hearted boy she knew Harry as? This question only had her reevaluating her take on Professor Snape as well. How had his life as such affected the person he had become? It was yet another question added to the long list of things quickly over whelming her mind.
Back to the situation at hand, Hermione had been unable to sleep due to the many thoughts occupying her head. She had left her room with the intention to maybe find Harry and see if she could just talk with him. If she was being honest, she needed to get to know him all over again. As much as he was his old self somewhere in there, he was very much like a whole new person as well. It was a strange situation to be sure, but Hermione was determined to stay true to her friend. She had never given up on him before and she wanted, no, needed to make things right between them. She would fight to stay by his side now even if he didn't want to be close to her again.
Unfortunately, he hadn't been in his room, the kitchen, or the sitting room with the other adults that were still awake. She hadn't let them know she had been there, so she didn't get the chance to ask if Harry was out on another mission of some sort. She didn't think that was the case, but she still hadn't found him. Eventually she decided that she would turn to her one place of comfort.
The Library, if it could be called that, was nothing more that a study with quite a few shelves of books on magic. Some of the books were focused on the more practical skills, but most of them pertained to the dark arts. Before she would have shuddered at learning the dark arts, but Harry had been right. It was time for them to grow up and face their fears. Even if you didn't want to learn the darker side of magic for use, a lot could be had from at least understanding it. It was in this way that she would make good use of her time until she tired herself out enough to fall asleep.
Imagine Hermione's surprise when she entered the small Black library only to be met with the target of her previous search. The pale man sat in the back corner of the room calmly reading a large, leather bound book. He glanced up at her for a moment before returning to his text. Hermione truly hadn't expected to find him there. As the Harry she knew, he wasn't overly fond of libraries and he had recently displayed the ability to cast some form of powerful spell wandlessly. Both of these facts had contributed to her not even considering his need to study as she had searched the house.
"Um... hi," she started lamely. She had yet to have a real conversation with him since his return, let alone a conversation alone with him.
He looked up again and nodded at her. "Good evening Hermione." Then he was focused back on his book.
"Right, I'll just..." She went to a shelf to find her own book to busy herself. She had originally felt a strong conviction to start a conversation with this man and reveal her friend in the process, but it was turning out to be more difficult than she thought. Once faced with the real thing, she felt awkward and unsure of herself. Since he obviously didn't share her desire to converse at the moment, she decided to occupy herself with the original reason for coming to this particular room.
She did find a book on dark curses for battle, but she was to focused on her distant friend to really concentrate on its contents. The lonely man was completely immersed in the text while he seemed to be rubbing absent circles in his chest. After a short period of silence she finally got up the nerve to try and start a conversation again.
"So, what brings you here?" Hermione questioned as she fiddled with the corner of the page she was looking at. "I mean, because of your age and the power you've shown already, I wouldn't think you would feel the need to study," she rambled on.
Harry set his book on the small table next to the chair and pulled his wand out of his pocket. The movement caught Hermione's attention and she looked up at him as he spoke. "I have forgotten a good deal of the magic I learned as a human. Hollows do not use the same "magic" as wizards and witches do." He muttered something under his breath and tapped his wand to the stylish black robes Sirius had given to him. Suddenly the black material turned the purest of white. "Hollows especially do not have any spells for such mundane things like this." Harry motioned to his recently transformed attire. "For the few of us that can even access the ability, the spells are solely focused on binding and battle." He informed her of this as he stood and inspected his clothes. Apparently satisfied with his work, his bright green eyes once again found Hermione's. "And what of yourself? Shouldn't you be in bed with the rest of your friends."
"Our friends Harry." She reminded him before she even had the chance to think about what she said. The out burst had her blushing, but she didn't break eye contact with the slightly surprised emeralds across from her.
"It is not my place to claim as such." He turned away from her to replace the book he had been using on the shelf.
Hermione put her book down and furrowed her eyebrows. She had been right. He did not feel welcomed by them and he was most likely keeping his distance on purpose. "Harry, of course we all consider you our friend. How could you think any different?" She asked, trying to reassure him as she moved closer.
He turned on the spot and pinned her with cold eyes that seemed to burn into her soul. "So you say, but you will have to excuse me for be skeptical." His gaze lost it's edge slightly as continued. "While I concede they have become somewhat accepting of me, I am not naive enough to believe them ready to just throw themselves back into a relationship with an obvious monster like myself." As he said this, one of his hands strayed to his chest to clutch the material over his sternum.
"Don't say that Harry," she reprimanded him with pain in her voice. Hermione hurt for him, for the fact that he would think that way or even need to.
"Say what? That I am seen as a monster?" He cocked his head ever so slightly as if contemplating her. "Are you telling me that you do not see me as such or, in the very least, saw me as one at the beginning?"
"Well, I..." She had to think about it for a moment. She had been afraid of him at first, but she couldn't remember ever thinking of him as a monster.
Her brief pause had been taken the wrong way by the former espada however. "See, even you, the most open minded witch I know, have thought of me as such."
"No I haven't!" She burst out in indignation. "You didn't give me the chance to answer."
"If that is the truth then why did you pause for so long? Admit it. Admit that you see me as a monster, a demon." He said as he walked towards her, invading her personal space and causing her to back up slightly. "Why do you back away? Do I scare you now, even after you have claimed you see me as your friend and not the monster I am?"
"You don't scare me," she stated with conviction and forced her feet to still.
In a couple of steps he was directly in front of her, a breath away. "You know I was turned into a monster that prays on the souls of the living and have little qualms with killing. Even though you have witnessed me suck the soul from a woman not five feet from you and know I destroyed a powerful dark artifact with my breath alone, you say you do not fear me? Even though you are here alone with me, no one to help should I find myself hungry and turn on you, you still say you do not fear me?" He asked as he reached up to touch a stray curl of her hair.
"No." Whispered Hermione. "I am not afraid of you."
"Foolish," Harry scoffed at her, his serpentine pupils narrowing slightly. "At least now we know how you made it into Gryffindor despite your superior intelligence. Your bravery is thorough and foolhardy," he stated as he started to turn away from her. "You lack even the survival instincts to run from danger."
"You're not dangerous."
He was on her in a flash and she was pinned against the nearby wall before she even registered what was happening. Cold green eyes bore into her own as she looked up at the person restraining her. "Aren't I?" He asked in a chilling voice.
"No," she answered honestly, "you are Harry. Harry wouldn't hurt me or any of his friends."
Harry watched her with those haunting eyes of his causing Hermione to shiver slightly as she gazed into them. Slowly he moved in closer to her face and she felt the warm tickle of his breath on her skin. Closer still he moved and she felt herself getting panicky at their proximity and the domineering hold he had on her. Just as she thought his lips might connect with hers she heard him speak.
"Naive." He backed away from her, letting her go completely. "You still think of me as that same useless boy that died at the veil don't you?" He seemed to be speaking more to himself as he once again clutched the fabric of his robes over his chest and turned to leave.
Hermione, blushing and flustered, realized that he had been messing with her just to see her reaction. Her fiery temper got the better of her and she grabbed the nearest thing to chuck it at him.
Harry had wanted to seclude himself for the evening after the horcrux incident. After speaking with the others briefly, he slipped away to find a quiet place to recuperate. The ache in his chest was back again, reminding him of what he still was at the core. It left him wondering if the attack had depleted enough energy to require him to feed or if he even still needed to feed in the same sense as other hollows anymore.
Just to be on the safe side, he kept himself away from the others while he tried to regain his strength. Harry had managed to be left in peace for a better part of the evening, but his luck seemed to run out when Hermione walked into the room. At first Harry tried to ignore her presence, hoping she would get the hint and leave. When he realized that wouldn't work, he tried to rebuff her with his words, but still she fought to stay with him and convince him of her sincerity.
At some point his attempt to turn her away from him had turned into a real debate that hit closer to home than he would have liked. Between that and the weakness he was still trying to shake, he felt on edge. He needed to leave before he did something to actually hurt the girl. A weak espada is a dangerous one.
The girl obviously wasn't through with him however. Before he could even make it to the door, Hermione did something foolish and flung a book at him. Harry caught the book out of reflex and turned back to send her a questioning glance. The sight that met him was one that set his blood on fire and excited him in unexpected ways.
Hermione stood with her hands on her hips and a fiery look in her eyes. The angry blush on her cheeks only complimented the overall look that she was giving off and he found himself fighting off a smirk. It may have had to do with his weakened condition or the fact that she looked like a warrior ready to face him down, but what ever it was that sent a stir to his emotions, he knew he wanted to seize it.
Harry was behind her before she could breath. He had one of the girl's arms behind her back while the other was held by the wrist across her chest, helping to pin her to his own body. "Tell me Hermione," he felt her shudder as his silky voice sounded next to her ear, "do you know why a hollow feeds on the souls of others?" She shook her head in the negative, obviously not trusting her voice at the moment. Harry smirked. "We feed on them to fill an emptiness in our own soul."
He turned her to look at him, but kept a firm hold on both of her wrists. "The need to fill that emptiness can grow to be quite ravenous." He knocked her feet from under her and sent them both crashing to the floor. Harry landed gracefully over top of her, pining her hands to the floor on either side of her head. Staring deeply into her eyes, the pale man continued with his monolog before she could speak. "If there is not the possibility of consuming a soul then other... more carnal things could be used to temporarily sate the hollow." He seemed be appraising her with his bright emeralds in a way she had probably never considered he would.
Harry pressed his body down on her slightly as he leaned in to speak into her ear again. Speaking in a low tone, he repeated the question from before. "Are you still claiming to be unafraid of me Hermione?" As he leaned back to gauge her reaction he saw tears beginning to leak from her eyes. That seemed to be the proof he wanted as well as the shock he needed to break his hold on her. She was still so innocent and here he was working to destroy that. It was in that moment, as he began to pull away, that he wondered for the first time if he really should be working so hard to strip the teens of their innocence, their naivete, in preparation for what was to come.
Before he could pull away completely, however, Hermione had her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him into a loving hug as she sobbed beneath him. "You don't have to do this any more Harry." She pleaded with him. "It's ok. You're home now and we love you, so please stop pushing us away."
This had been so completely opposite of what he had thought was going through her mind that he was too shocked to react for a moment. When he didn't respond, her hold tightened slightly and he found himself wanting to give in. After all, this had been what he wanted deep down wasn't it? He had wanted to be welcomed back with open arms and kind words after his long stay in the hell that was hueco mundo. Here she was offering him exactly that and he found himself hard pressed resist. As Harry slowly wrapped his arms around her in return, the ache in his chest lessoned and he felt more at ease than he had in countless ages.
If he had not been so absorbed in the feel of warm acceptance and love, he would have found the situation amusing. It was laughable that someone like himself, an former espada of his ranking, could so easily be humbled by such an insignificant gesture. This, however, was the furthest thing from his mind as he just immersed himself in the truly happy emotion. It found its way deep into his heart and filled him in a way that no soul ever had.
He could have stayed like that forever, but it seemed as if fate had other plans. The door was flung open just moments after their embrace began. The action was followed by a startled, "Oh merlin, I..."
Harry looked up slowly, unconcerned with the provocative picture the two of them must be painting in the eyes of their intruder. "What is it Remus?"
Remus suddenly averted his eyes from the two as he spoke. "I just came to inform you that Severus has returned from his summons and he is in pretty bad condition. I thought that you would want to speak with him before he passes out from the potions he will be taking for the pain."
Harry untangled himself from Hermione and helped her back to her feet. "I'll be along in a moment."
Taking the obvious dismissal for what it was, Lupin nodded and left them to themselves.
Harry looked back into Hermione's honey brown orbs and gave her a small smile while he reached out to caress her cheek. "Thank you Hermione," was all he told her. It was all that he really could say. Harry then readied himself and took his leave of her. There were things to be done and he couldn't waist time on selfish emotions.
Hermione lifted a hand to he cheek where he had touched her so gently. In that tender moment, Harry had looked at her with a softer look than she could remember gracing his face since his return. In that moment she had seen her Harry shine through as brightly as the sun. Thank you was all he had said, but the tone in which he said it left the bushy haired witch full of hope that he would make a recovery from the unknown horrors of his afterlife.
She then had to watched as his hand dropped and the emotionless mask was back in place, blocking out her harry once again. It was slightly disheartening, but she would not loose her optimism. She had seen the Harry hiding just below the surface and she was now determined to bring him out for good. He would never fully return to the boy she knew, but she wouldn't let him hide behind the mask he had constructed around himself either. She was still his best friend and she would see to it that he was able to be happy again, even if it killed her.
IVX: So how did ya like that? ;;;smirk;;; What did you think was going to happen as you were reading? Did I manage to throw you off? As always, I love to hear you thoughts on everything and also I wanted to thank those of you who gave me writing tips. I hope the improvements are to your liking. Any who, thanks for reading!...^_~
