Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story.

Chapter 10

"Toushiro?" Hermione called out to the orange haired boy hesitatingly.

Toushiro rolled his eyes and looked up from his Herbology homework, putting on the most patient face he could. "Yes?"

"Are you sure that she's an assassin?" she asked.

And the same old question that Toushiro had both heard and replied ever since yesterday. He couldn't understand why the wizards just could not accept that there are some assassins in the school. They were wizards for god sake! They saw giants, dragons, merpeople, gnomes and Basilisks! So why can't they handle assassins?

"Yes, I am sure." How many times had he already replied the same old answer?

"Then, won't Harry be in huge trouble?" She said this for the 37th time that day.

"No, he would not be. Sure he'll get some bruises here and there but its not like he would be mentally scarred for life. Besides, I'm sure Harry is already use to it. And Soi Fon knows what she's doing. She's still a captain, remember. So, I don't think she'll "assassinate" Harry or something. Much less when she has no orders to do so and Yoruichi is there to keep her in line."

"She's a cat!"

"No. She's an unregistered Animagus. There's a huge difference."

"Right, whatever. If Harry comes back dead or in coma or anything like that. I'll personally chop your head off."

"Right. He'll be fine. Don't worry too much. You remind me so much of Kuchiki some times. Worry too much then others."

And the same old conversation again and again. It was like they were some type of broken recorder or something. And he had enough of it. Why can't the worried girl go and irritate some other Shinigami anyway? Go and irritate them for all he care. But she decided to cling on him and only on him. He could be some type of psychotic murderer in the past life or something, since he has some sucky karma.

"But..." Hermione began.

And here she goes again, Toushiro thought. The whole room suddenly dropped 5 degrees celcius since the boy was really irritated of the girl. Toushiro got a feeling Hermione would ask the same questions if it was not for Harry saying, "Hermione, I'll be okay. For goodness sake, you've been going on and on. Pity him, won't you?"

The girl huffed and pouted. "I'm just caring about you."

"Yeah and I appreciate it. But let it drop for now, please?" Harry pleaded.

Hermione looked reluctant for awhile, thinking whether she should continue to worry for Harry and leave Toushiro to get tortured from her questions or she should trust Toushiro and leave both him and Harry alone. Thankfully for the white-haired boy, she chose the latter. "Fine."

"Thank you", Harry said.

Toushiro let out a sigh of relief. He was freed from torture. With little other thoughts, he went back to his homework which is due the next day.

Renji faced Harry and pointed to the clock hanging at the wall above the fireplace. "Isn't it time for you to go to Soi Fon's office?"

"Its 8pm! There's one more hour!" Harry said.

Ichigo shook his head. Didn't Harry paid attention to what Soi Fon said? If he was Harry, he certainly would. "Soi Fon said to not be late. And I'll listen to her if I were you and leave right now. The earlier, the better!"

Harry looked at them incredulously. "What's wrong with you guys? Its one hour! One freaking more hour!"

"Yep." Rukia said, "And thats the best. You don't want to be late, do you?"

"No, but one hour is alot of time!"

"I know. But like Ichigo said the earlier the better. She prefers you to be early. The earlier you start, the faster she'll get rid of you." Renji explained.

"Right... Right... Then... I'll be going now..." Harry said hesitantly as he stood to and left the common room.

"Harry Potter, I dearly respect your courage to go and see Soi Fon-taichou. I shall personally prepare a funerals with beef ribs for you!" Renji exclaimed.

That was exactly what he said to me when I went to see Soi Fon, Ichigo thought.

Rukia hissed in anger and punched Renji in the ribs. "Do not curse Harry before he got in any trouble!"

"Toushiro! Didn't you say he won't be in any trouble?" Hermione exclaimed.

Toushiro sighed and replied, "Ignore Abarai. He's an idiot."

"HEY! Thats mean Hitsugaya-taichou!"

"I don't give a damn!"

With Harry

Now he understood what Rukia and the rest was trying to say. When he reached there at exactly 8:10pm, Soi Fon was already at her door, waiting for him with an irritated expressions on her face. "You're late." was what she said.

Wait... What. The. Hell? "But, Professor Soi Fon, you told me to come at 9!" Harry exclaimed, incredulously.

"Oh yeah? Did that idiot of the name Kurosaki or that bastard with the name of Urahara ever told you the way I work? When you come to look for you, I expect you to come one hour earlier." Soi Fon said coldly.

"Well... Now that you mention about it... Something like that." Harry replied with a frown.

"If so, why are you late?" Soi Fon asked.

"Uh... I... Uh... Me... They..." Harry tried to think of a perfect excuse but nothing came to his mind.

It was then when Yoruichi, the unregistered Animagus, decided to pounce on his shoulder. Shocked, Harry gave a manly scream as he jumped a few feet of the ground. Upon seeing who she was, he smiled and started patting her around the ears. And what happens next just freaked him out. Yoruichi gave a scary and creepy feline smile and spoke in the manly voice, "Leave him be Soi Fon. At least he was smart enough to come before 9."

And Harry freaked out. He shouted in shock and surprise as he pushed the black cat off his shoulders and pointed his shaking finger at it. "Aghhh! Who the hell are you? Cats don't talk! Animagus cats don't talk! Who are you, what are you, why are you here?"

The cat gave out a hearty laugh. "Well, thats a mystery neh?" she teased.

"What?" Harry exclaimed, "You didn't answer me properly!"

"And would likely never will. Before you know it, everyone you know here that is or used to be a Shinigami would disappear from your life in a snap."

"Huh? Ichigo, Renji, Rukia and Toushiro is my friends. Urahara is my teacher. How is it possible for me to forget them?"

"Oh you get what I mean sooner or later. But maybe then, you can't even remember them anymore!"

"You know for a noble, you're pretty weird you know. I have completely no idea what you're talking about."

Soi Fon frowned at his choice of words and snarled back coldly with a frown, "Do not call Yoruichi-sama weird. Especially when you do not know what she is trying to say. For all you know, it may be something to help you!" Harry could not help but gulp and shrink back in fear. For such a small woman, she can be pretty scary sometimes.

Yoruichi laughed out one more time before gesturing him to come inside. Inside was almost empty with wooden floors and rice doors. To Harry it almost seem like an ancient japanese houses that he read from books. Despite the old-fashion, there was a huge lump of cushions on the centre of the room which was of many different colours, from hot pink to neon green.

"Sit down here and try to prepare a barrier in your mind." Yoruichi ordered. And Harry did just that. Well, at least he tried to. Somehow his barriers was really contradicting of what the cat said. It was not strong, more like flimsy and soft like some type of rotten banana peel. He was about to open his mouth to complain about it when Soi Fon grabbed her small, black wand and said, "Legilimens."

And there was images and images again. The searing pain that made his mind unable to think. The taunting images of Voldemort. The heart-beaking images of his parents dying. The guilty pictures of the falling Cedric Diggory. The interesting time with the Shinigami. The wonder of their mysteriousness and their hidden strengths. The feel of happiness as they stood up from him and comforted him. The way he felt glad that he wasn't the only odd one out in this school. The warmness he felt ever since a very long time. The fun, the joy and the happiness... Come to think of it, the Shinigamis was strange with their weird habits and all. But it was this habit and maybe their whole self and personality that actually made Harry fit right in. Their sense of disregard towards the rules. The way they stand up for whats right and never give up once their mind is set up. The way they have all those crazy ideas in their heads. The way that their presence made them feel safe and scared sometimes. He had felt so belonged or happy ever since they came. And they were probably the first that his heart opened to, except for Sirius of course. It was amazing, they were. To still be standing and smiling. God knows how many emotional and physical set back they went through... And yet they were still caring, strong and always carried themselves with a sense of pride.

Somehow this thoughts fueled his mind with more concentration, the will not to give up and hurt whoever he cared for. And suddenly, a strong barrier covered his mind, one side at a time until there was no way an ant could even crawl in. Harry took a deep breath. He had suceeded. He, had managed to master Occlumency. He din't dare to open his eyes, afraid that there was a chance that this could be just a dream and if so, might wake up from it.

"Open your eyes, doofus." came Yoruichi's voice.

Slowly, Harry did just that and came face to face with Soi Fon, who has a smug look on her face. He knew it, it was only a mere dream. Had he been unconscious? When?

"Not bad... Not bad at all... You only hear this from my mouth once but you did a great job. At least better than Abarai or Kurosaki learning Kido." Soi Fon praised with a scowl.

Wait... Did she meant that he had actually did it? If it was Urahara teaching him and not Soi Fon, he would have already be jumping up and doing some weird little jig. But she was there. So he didn't.

The smug smile on Soi Fon face quickly disappeared and a scowl was fixed on her face. "now that you're finished, when are you going to leave? Now? Then hurry up!" she snarled at Harry.

And he found himself in the hallway once more.

To be continued