Hey everyone! Sorry for the really long wait for this chapter, but I had to settle back into a school routine :( and I also had million tests to do - don't you just love that? But anyway, I rote an extra log chapter to compensate for the long wait so I hope you enjoy. And also a huge thanks to everyone everyone who reviewed - there were so many and I was so excited!

Chapter 8

Toushirou slowly stood up from the rock he had been sitting on and brought Hyourinmaru up to rest on his shoulder. It was completely dark and he couldn't see a thing. He had thought long and hard over the problem of the arrancar and had been unable to come up with a solution. If the arrancar had indeed come from the future and were after him, they would probably know where he was by now so it was too late to do anything anyway. If they came than they came, and if that did happen he would just have to cut them down. He was strong enough to defeat any arrancar without breaking a sweat, but what really worried him was if General Potter was here as well than he wouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to defeat him – not without his trusted Zanpaktou.

He glanced briefly at the empty sword on his shoulder. It was for all intents and purposes Hyourinmaru, just without the reiatsu, the thing that he needed the most.

He went to jump into a shunpo when he felt a strange sensation in his chest. Looking down he saw that there was nothing wrong, but the strange feeling that was now flooding his entire upper-body felt familiar. Toushirou's eyes widened as he finally recognised the feeling that he hadn't felt for almost six years – the frigid cold power of the most powerful ice Zanpaktou. The power seemed to seep into his very core and he fell to his knees by the sheer weight of it. But there was something weird about it, off, because even though the power surrounded him it didn't seem to be entirely directed at him either. After what felt like an eternity the weight lifted and he was able to breathe properly again. Slowly he rose to his feet and ran a hand shakily through his white hair.

That had been strange and overwhelming, and for a second he had thought that his closest friend was back; that he his sins had been forgiven. But apparently that was not the case, and now that he had felt that cold again, the only thing he could concentrate on was getting back. He noticed that while he had been going through whatever it was that he had went through, the sky had taken on the lighter tinge of morning. He had been out in the forest for hours and judging from the light seeping into the darkness it had to be around four to four-thirty in the morning. All of a sudden he felt bone-tired, as though all his energy had been sapped from his exhausted body. The body could only take so much stress before it needed to shut down and repair in the form of sleep. And that episode that had taken hours had left him empty inside and the only thing that now went through his mind was the need for rest.

Hitsugaya swiftly shunpo-ed across the wide expanse of Hogwarts lawns before he reached the bottom of the Gryffindor tower, and in one smooth jump, he was perched on the windowsill. Thankfully somebody had left the window open for him and he gratefully went through and, after first stashing away Hyourinmaru in the false bottom of his trunk, he slid into the confines of his sheets and let himself drift into the state of rest his mind screamed for. But, before he let sleep take him completely, he had one last thought "Going to bed this late is going to mess up my whole day" and then he was asleep.

Harry woke to sun blinding his eyelids. He rolled over with a groan and slowly opened his eyes to look at the bright, unfocused room. As he got his glasses, Roan, in a nearby bed, also was waking up. The two boys dressed in silence, both still not fully awake and fighting off lingering drowsiness. But that was what always happened in the morning, and they both knew the routine well enough to not break the silence that seemed to be an unspoken rule. But as Harry cast his gaze over the now stirring figures of Dean, Seamus and Neville, he realised that something was out of place, different in his morning routine. He couldn't quite place what though... And then he saw him – Hitsugaya Toushirou was in bed. In all the time Harry had known the strange student he had never seen him still in bed when he woke up – he always got up ridiculously early. What if he's sick? Harry thought to himself slightly alarmed. Should I wake him up? But he knew the answer. The boy looked way too peaceful, and he would only feel bad about waking him, so he might as well just let him sleep.

With that in mind he followed Ron and the other boys out of the dormitory to go to breakfast, leaving Toushirou behind.

Hermione was coming out of her dormitory at the same time as the boys, but she must not have seen them because she kept walking out of the Common Room, not even pausing for them. In fact, she didn't even wait outside the door for them like she usually did. Weird... Ron didn't seem to notice though as he plodded forward beside him, still looking half-asleep. When they reached the Hall the boys made a beeline for a small group of people that consisted of Fred, George, Ginny and Hermione. Two seats had been saved for them and as they sat down the three Weasley's gave them cheery "Good Morning"s, but Hermione didn't even look at Harry, as though avoiding his eyes. The mood was decidedly awkward but he didn't know why – had he done something wrong? He couldn't remember doing anything, but Hermione could be a bit strange with her moods. The rest of the morning went kept up the same atmosphere and it was definitely not his imagination, but Hermione was avoiding him, she wouldn't even sit next to him.

And if the morning couldn't get any weirder Toushirou didn't show up for any of the morning classes. Was there something in the air that was making people act differently to how they normally act? The only person who seemed unaffected by Hermione's attitude and Toushirou's disappearance was Ron – in fact he seemed happier today.

It wasn't until Transfiguration straight after lunch that Toushirou made his first appearance of the day. Everyone was just walking into the classroom and he casually slid in with the rest of the students and slipped into a seat at the back of the classroom. He had to admit he was a little surprised, if not grateful, that his presence went unnoticed. Hitsugaya couldn't believe how long he had slept after he had fallen asleep in the morning, and because of his extended sleeping he had missed all of the mornings' lessons and lunch – a fact his stomach told emphatically. Even now after sleeping for an unnaturally long period of time he still felt a little light headed and fatigued which wasn't a good sign.

He shook his head a little as though to clear it and focused his attention on Professor McGonagall who had just entered the classroom. The lesson for that day would be the application of their theory work from the previous lesson which included transfiguring paper into all sorts of animals. Birds flew overhead and a rat scampered along the floor, and there was even a half formed swan floating lopsided in the air. As the lesson progressed Hitsugaya's mind slowly became more alert and he was able to concentrate better. It would seem that whatever had affected him earlier in the Forbidden Forest was finally wearing off. He was just transfiguring what felt like the millionth piece of paper when Harry came over and fell into the empty chair beside him.

"So where were you this morning Toushirou? You missed potions and Snape missed you. It's strange; you're like his favourite student even though you're in Gryffindor." Hitsugaya gave him a weird look; Harry was even worse at reading people than he had thought. The only response he gave was a non-committed grunt.

"Were you not feeling well this morning because you were still asleep when I woke up, which is really odd."

"I feel fine; I just had a late night." Harry nodded his head to show that he accepted the answer.

"Well, you didn't miss much, just some homework. Though the weirdest thing is happening with Hermione though," Hitsugaya looked up at Harry, silently telling him to continue. "It's like she's trying to avoid me so I was thinking that maybe I did something wrong, but I don't remember anything that I could have done to upset her. Do you have any ideas?"

"No, but are you sure you're reading her body language correctly, maybe she isn't avoiding you at all. I wouldn't worry about it. And if there is something bothering her, she'll talk to you when she's ready." Harry smiled.

"Thanks Toushirou, you're right, I'll just let her get over it. Well, c'ya!" And with that Harry stood up and walked back over to his chair and sat down. Toushirou watched him as he left and then watched his interactions with his friends. He narrowed his eyes slightly as Hermione refused to make eye contact with the scarred boy, instead talking to other female members of Gryffindor. Something was definitely up, but everything was fine with Harry, and it didn't involve him, so he would just leave her be for now.

The rest of the day past quickly and soon it was dinner time. Hitsugaya sat at the Gryffindor table to eat instead of going outside, and as he ate he reflected on his half day. Nobody had commented, but he was pretty sure a lot of people had noticed his absence and then his non-absence. Also, it wasn't just Harry Hermione was avoiding; it was him as well, which puzzled him. There was no logical reason for her behaviour that he could think of, so it must be illogical, and they were always the hardest ones to figure out. Well, whether she wants to talk to me or not, it is her choice, and I couldn't care less, he thought as he looked along the table to were the Golden Trio sat, surrounded by other friends, but in his mind he knew that he did care on some level. How irritating.

Up the table Hermione was silently picking at the food on her plate. Ginny was talking to her about something that had happened to her in one of her classes that day, and the twins were telling Harry and Ron about some of their more successful attempts to lure in a customer for their shady products. But it was all a blur around her; she wanted to be a part of it but she knew that she wouldn't be able to be a part of it until she confronted Toushirou over what she had seen last night. Had it all just been some demented, messed-up dream? No, the ice plain with the dragon, as unreal as it may sound, had actually happened. But were those really the images of what the future could be like – what the future has already been like?

Her gaze slid across to Harry, one of her best friends. She's known him for almost five years now, and while they had gotten off to a rocky start they were now extremely close, and she would like to believe that she knew what the boy was capable of, to be able to say emphatically that it was impossible that he could become a mindless killing machine – a monster. If somebody had asked two days ago if she believed he could be one she would say no and then call them stupid for even asking such a ridiculous question. But now... now she wasn't so sure and that was what made her feel sad. And because of that she had found she was unable to even look at him as the images that she had seen would play in her minds' eye.

She knew that she needed to talk to Toushirou as soon as possible, before she went insane, but he was another person she couldn't look at. Every time she saw him the same sort of thing occurred, but worse. Hermione had never met someone with a past so incredibly tragic and every time she looked at him she would be reminded of it; every time she saw him she would see the weight of that sadness pushing down on him, aging his face beyond his years; every time she looked into those dark pools of aqua she would feel as though she was drowning in sorrow, being crushed by despair and hopelessness – she was actually a bit surprised that nobody else could see it, now that she looked close enough. But at the same time as all this she could see the brave, unwavering commitment and she would feel unworthy to be near him. For someone to have suffered so much and yet still have the strength to move forward... it was amazing, and that was why, being a coward, she had yet to confront him. Would he be mad that I know? He's such a private person; I would think that he would be upset at least. Maybe he will hate me for prying into his life; into a past that he wants to erase. Would it be better if I don't speak to him at all?

"Earth to Hermione! Hello!" Hermione's head snapped up sharply as Ginny waved a hand in front of her eyes.

"You zoned out there; were you even listening to me?" Hermione looked at the red head girl who looked slightly annoyed. She decided then and there that she wouldn't talk to Toushirou about it just yet, but she had made a promise to the ice dragon and to herself, so she would talk to him about it – just not yet.

"Sorry, Gin. Can you start again?" All she got was a 'Hmph' before the story was restarted.

The next few days past by and Hermione had tried to make things as natural as she could between her and Harry, though she still couldn't bring herself to act normal around the cold, short Gryffindor. Harry was walking up to the Common Room by himself as his friends had left him behind to just walk around and clear his thoughts up. He hadn't told anyone but his scar had been slightly painful recently, with the pain sometimes flaring to a greater pain that left him with a splitting headache. He unconsciously rubbed at his scar as he walked.

Harry

Harry stopped walking immediately. It had been weeks since the mysterious voice had spoken to him and he had thought that it had decided to leave him alone, but apparently that wasn't the case. He stood as still as a statue, but when it became obvious that the voice wasn't going to say anymore he started walking again, only this time a bit more slowly.

You've been upset Harry. Have you made up your mind yet? I've seen what has been happening in your life – it must be hard for your 'friend' to be so distant from you. Hermione is pulling away from you, just like I said would happen.

Harry had again stopped to listen, his breathing heavier.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" His words rebounded off the walls in the empty corridor.

Who am I? You should know Harry – I'm you. I'm that small part of you that holds all your doubts and suppressed feelings. I've always been with you, right from the start. When you've felt angry or sad, I've been the one to hide away those feelings to save you from the hurt. I know you're going to ask next 'But why now? Why are you talking to me now?' And the answer to that Harry is that a lot of things are going down. People aren't who they seem to be – which I'm sure you have already started to notice – and things are changing. You need to embrace me, embrace this part of yourself. Together we will get through this rough time, and with me the hurt of when your friends eventually leave you will be lessened. Embrace me Harry, let me make you whole again by combining all the parts of your mind so that you can stop being so confused. Let me help you

Harry was speechless. The only thing he could think of was I'm crazy, I'm talking to myself. But he knew that the voice was telling the truth, because how else would it have known about Hermione and his ever present doubts about certain people. And if it was right and it really was a part of him than the only logical thing to do would be to accept it and make himself whole. He was just about to accept it when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up – he was being watched. He turned around to look for his mysterious observer, but no matter where he looked, he couldn't see anyone. I'm getting so paranoid.

"If you are who you say you are – which is me – than I guess the only thing to do would be to accept your offer. I want you to make me whole; to help me." Harry slid his eyes closed and power swirled around him, though he didn't notice. It seemed to seep into his very being, and Toushirou, who was in the Gryffindor Tower, was unable to feel a thing due to a cleverly placed reiatsu shield, making him oblivious to what was happening.

In the shadows, Harry's silent observer smirked to themselves – the boy had acted as expected.

"How predictable, the gullible fool," and with that the figure turned around with their cloak swishing out behind them as they walked away from the scarred boy, who had just slowly opened his eyes and was looking slightly dazed.

Harry looked around himself, wondering how he had gotten to the hallway he was now in – the last thing he remembered was leaving dinner to go for a walk, so how had he ended up here. Without pondering on it he hastily ran to the Gryffindor Common Room before he was seen by Filch and skinned alive.

In the morning Hitsugaya's routine went back to normal. He woke up at – according to Harry and Ron – and ungodly hour of the morning to train before getting some breakfast. But throughout the morning he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. But he hadn't felt any change in reiatsu so everything had to be fine. Maybe all this time-off and tension had made him paranoid. It wasn't until he saw Harry, Ron and Hermione that he knew that his paranoid thoughts weren't that at all – something was wrong. He narrowed his eyes in a frown as he studied Harry, the object of his observations since he had arrived at Hogwarts. He had completely mapped the boy's reiatsu patterns and knew them like the back of his hand – inside and out.

But now they had changed; they were different. The difference was only slight and usually not a cause for concern at all, but if Hitsugaya was anything it was overly-cautious and suspicious. The change in Harry's reiatsu plus his feelings all morning sent of little red flags in his mind. The three of them sat down at the table and were talking like the friends they were – though he had noted that Hermione was still distant from Harry.

Harry felt the aqua eyes boring into his head and turned to look at Toushirou, and when their eyes met Harry's blood ran cold. He had always hated Toushirou's eyes because he felt as though they could pierce straight through his soul and uncover all his secrets and thoughts that he wanted to keep hidden from the world. However, as he looked into them now, he still got that feeling but now the eyes had developed an icy quality, as though they had been chiselled from an ice cube. They were hard and cold, and just looking into them Harry felt as though the smaller boy wouldn't hesitate to hurt him – perhaps even to kill him. They were calculating as well, as though trying to determine what Harry would do next and it made him squirm uncomfortably. He had felt that the two of them had developed a sort of bond of friendship, even if it was slightly tenuous at times, but that was gone now.

All the doubts that he had had about Toushirou came crashing down on him and he was unable to stop them. He had always thought that the boy was strange, and that there was something not quite right about him. What if he had been right? What did he want with him? Harry broke the eye contact and tried to concentrate on what his friends were saying, though it was hard because he could still feel those eyes burning holes in him, but he ignored them as best he could.

Hitsugaya tore his eyes away from Harry as he mulled over his thoughts. He had seen fear in the boy's eyes as they looked at each other and Toushirou knew that he was the cause of it. He hadn't tried to be intimidating or cold, but that was the way it had come across and he knew it. But one thing had been proved, Harry was different this morning. He had felt his reiatsu spike when he thought he looked at Hitsugaya, more than it would normally have done. Was Harry's reiatsu deliberately being amplified? But that didn't make sense – to what end would somebody have to amplify Harry's reiatsu? And then it hit him. If he was right than that would mean a lot more trouble for him and if he couldn't find a way to fix it then he would just have to kill Harry before anything bad happened. He rose out of his seat as the bell rang and went to follow the other students out the door when he felt it – the reiatsu that would probably answer his questions.

He pushed through the mob of students and ran to the stairs, taking them two at a time. He needed to reach the Common Room as quickly as he could, and he would need to skip some lessons – how many he wouldn't know. It would be harder to carry Hyourinmaru during the day due to all the students everywhere, and if he was caught it would pose a lot of awkward questions that he had no answers to. He was almost there when he felt the reiatsu disappear – he was too late.

"Damn!" He cried it out to the hall that was deserted because most students would by now be in their classes. He had missed a valuable opportunity because he hadn't wanted to be unarmed. But then he felt multiple reiatsu of hollows in the same general area and continued to move swiftly. He may not be able to speak to who he wanted to, but he would still need to engage in a battle. When he go to the portrait of the Fat Lady he felt multiple reiatsus behind the door – probably year seven students who have a free period. He uttered the password and pushed the door open and was instantly assaulted by the two people who he wanted to see least at the moment – or at any other given period of time.

"Hey Toushirou, what are you doing out of class, hm? Maybe you want to buy some Fainting Fancies."

"Or Puking Pastilles."

"Or maybe you want a Fever Fudge."

"Unless you want to buy a Nose-blood Nougat. What do you say?"

The two Weasley twins looked at him with their best selling smiles, but it had no effect on him. He needed to get out of there quickly to deal with the hollows which could be potentially dangerous for the wizards.

"No thank you, I don't want, and I will never want, any of your questionable products. Now if you will excuse me I need to retrieve a book that I forgot to pick up and get back to class before I'm any later than I already am." He smoothly brushed off the twins and hurried to stairs and ascended up them, only to be extremely annoyed when the two boys followed him. It had become quite obvious to him over the weeks that the Weasley twins didn't know the concept of 'no' and it would seem that they would keep hassling him until he bought something from them. But he knew that if you gave in and fed the hungry dog it would always keep coming back and be even more determined than it was originally.

To keep up appearances Toushirou grabbed a random book from the top of his trunk and left the room, making sure to keep the door open when he left. The twins continued to follow him and try to sell him their products.

"You know, if you bought a Nose-blood Nougat, than you would have a legitimate excuse for being late to class."

"Yeah, teachers really hate the 'I was late because I forgot my book and needed to go get it' excuse; it's really old."

Toushirou ignored them and exited the portrait. He was painfully aware of the ever growing amount of hollows in the Forbidden Forest and he knew that he would need to time his next move just right. As the door swung shut he appeared to the twins to be walking away. Knowing when a customer has gotten away the twins, too, walked away from the portrait – which was exactly what Toushirou had been counting on. When the door was almost completely shut he turned on his heel and shunpo-ed as fast as he could back through and up the stairs into the Dormitory.

"Hey Fed, did you just feel that wind? Maybe somebody left a window open in one of the dorms, we should go and close it before it freezes the entire Common Room. The two stood up and went to walk up the stairs.

Toushirou swore quietly under his breath as he heard the twins decide to investigate the Dormitories for a window that wasn't open. That meant he wouldn't have any time to get changed, so he would need to fight the hollows in his uniform. He hastily threw open his trunk and chucked everything onto his bed to reach the false bottom. The twins were on the stairs now and they reached the first dormitory room just as he reached in a grabbed his sword. He flung all his belongings back into the trunk and was about to leave when he felt something poking into his side. Without waiting to see what it was he pulled it out of his pocket, threw onto his bed and opened the window beside his bed.

Beneath him he could see students milling about on the lawns and knew that he couldn't be seen jumping from a window at the top of the Gryffindor Tower. But he had no time to think of how to jump stealthily because the twins had reached the steps before his dormitory room, as soon as they turned the corner he would be in full view. So without further ado, he jumped from the window and landed gracefully on the ground before immediately snapping into a roll and rolling out of sight. Nobody had seen him. Damn that was stressful.

Fred and George reached the room that Toushirou had just left and they saw the open window.

"Here we go Fred; this window's the one that has been cooling down the room. George strode over to the window and pulled it shut. He was just pulling away from the window when something on the bed next to the window caught his eye. He slowly bent down and picked up the most exquisite wand he had ever seen. It was a light brown colour, but the handle was a soft, powdery ice blue that seemed to extend delicate tendrils along the wand, some almost reaching the end, others not even stretching too far passed the handle. It seemed so delicate and he was captivated by its beauty. He had seen many wands in his time at Hogwarts, and even before Hogwarts, but never had he seen anything quite like this wand. And he could feel the power humming beneath the surface, giving the surface of the wand a cool feeling, making it slightly cold to the touch. Fred had joined him by the bed and he too was looking at the wand in awe.

"George, whose is this? It's... amazing."

"I don't know, but can you feel that power? Whoever this belongs, I would not want to get on the bad side of them, that's for sure."

Meanwhile, Toushirou was shunpo-ing around students, going too fast for the untrained eye, making him invisible to everyone. He entered the forest without slowing down and soon he burst into the area to find it crawling with all types of hollows. He unsheathed Hyourinmaru and threw the sheath on the ground – he had had no time to secure it to his back. He charged at the first hollow before his presence was even noticed, but as soon as the first hollow was dead all the others turned towards him and attacked.

He fought hard because even though they were weak, they had power in numbers, but he had fought way more than this and he slowly gained the upper hand as he skilfully manoeuvred his blade to slay hollow after hollow. The unearthly screams of the dying enemy shattered the silence of the forest and Hitsugaya felt for sure that somebody would hear it and would come to investigate, but nobody came. He couldn't spare another thought on the matter, however, because the numbers of hollows kept increasing, and he was slowly being forced backwards. He wasn't near exhaustion, thanks to all his stamina building exercises during the war, but he knew that he needed to end this as quickly as he could before he was forced back out of the forest and onto the school grounds, where his fight would be in plain sight. He grunted with the effort of cutting through the tough skin of a slightly more powerful hollow, ripping his blade clean through to separate it into two perfect halves.

After what was seemed like hours the clearing was empty and a deathly silence hung in the air. Hitsugaya stood among debris of fallen branches and bits of hollows before they disintegrated, blowing away in the slight wind. His breathing was harder than it normally was, but not too much more. His arms felt heavy as he held his sword in both hands, his arms straining slightly. He was still human after all and so was not immune to the effects of fighting for long periods of time, and he must have been fighting the small-fry hollows for almost three hours. If that was the case than everybody should be in their third class of the day, which for him would be Care of Magical Creatures. It would be too late to join the lesson now, and besides he needed to change and stash away Hyourinmaru as well. He would go to fourth, which would happen after a small recess so he had plenty of time to change and probably have a shower too.

He walked over and bent down to pick up his sheath when he felt a new reiatsu enter the clearing. Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he felt the pressure push him down – he wasn't ready for this! Not yet when he hadn't re-established ties with his Zanpaktou yet. He was down on his knees and he turned around slowly to see who this mysterious new arrival was. What he saw shocked him to no end. The person was clad in the white uniform of an arrancar, and looking at him Hitsugaya had no doubt that this person was also from the future – just as the arrancar from the previous night had been. A deadly looking sword was bared as it was drawn from a plain looking sheath of red and gold and the owner took up a battle stance. Hitsugaya had never encountered this arrancar in all the time the war had been on, but if he had he would have been better prepared for what he saw – and he would be lying to himself if he said that it was a huge surprise. Standing before him with a deadly sneer set in place, flaming hair covering cruel blue eyes was none other than Ronald Weasley.

"So, I finally get to meet the infamous Hitsugaya Toushirou, Captain of a dead race. I have to say I've never seen anything so pathetic in my entire life, and let me tell you, I know pathetic." Hitsugaya slowly rose to his feet, abandoning his sheath on the ground as he brought Hyourinmaru to face the front towards Ron.

"Ronald Weasley, I heard so much about you from one of your closes friends Hermione Granger, and can I say that what she told me would not have prepared me for this. From what I heard you were almost the embodiment of all that is good and just, but thankfully I met your younger self, which prepared me slightly for this meeting, because I realised that everything Hermione told me were lies that you fed her." Ron's face contorted into an ugly glare as he looked at the shorter Shinigami with disgust.

"Don't you talk about her you scum; how she ended up with the likes of you I will never understand. It must have been some kind of joke to put her on the wrong side of the war; as though fate was having one last jest saying 'figure this one out'. Together me and Harry along with Lord Aizen will rule the planet and have infinite power. I still am the embodiment of good and all that is just; I will rid the Earth of the scum that deem themselves akin to gods. Who gave you the right to control the death of innocent souls, to kill whenever you want and when it suits you. Shinigami are the enemies of all wizards and those who can't see that are blind. I must admit that I was sad to learn that people like Dumbledore couldn't see the truth, but it can't be helped – there are always going to be unreasonable people in this world."

"You're wrong about Shinigami, they help the souls cross over to Soul Society and protect them from being devoured by Hollows, that is our job and we are damn good at it. Aizen is a traitor to Soul Society and all who follow him must be destroyed before they bring any more havoc to this broken world than they already have. But before I kill you Ron Weasley I have one question I want to ask, why do you hate Shinigami so much? I heard you talk about how you think that we think we're gods, but I can hear the pure hatred in your tone and you have never struck me as being an overly religious man, so what is it?" Ron glared a glare that would have frozen a normal person in place, but Hitsugaya was not a normal person – you can't freeze what is already frozen. Ron was quiet for so long that he didn't think the arrancar would answer his question. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Ron spoke again in a low, dangerous tone.

"Because, the Shinigami killed me and my family for no reason at all. That is why you must die!" And with that the enraged man ran forward, his sword ready to kill. Hitsugaya only had barely enough time to throw himself into a roll before his head was cut off. His muscles screamed their protests at him as he ran to put some distance between him and his attacker. Once he had a good amount of distance he turned around and jumped into a shunpo to appear behind Ron. But his move had been anticipated and the metallic ring of metal on metal rang through the area. Pushing off from the sword Hitsugaya flipped backwards. He knew that he would never be able to beat Ron in his current state because judging from the reiatsu levels Ron was at an Espada level of strength.

Ron rushed forward again, this time pulling out just before he reached the boy, slicing his sword to the right of him as he changed directions to try and cut Toushirou who had just shunpo-ed to Ron's right. Toushirou may not be able to beat him in strength, but he had the upper hand when it came to speed and so was able to skilfully dodge all attacks against him. He parried a blow to his left side and jumped up to land smoothly behind Ron and followed through with his blade pointing between the shoulder blades. Ron managed to twist around in time to block the attack, but not before Toushirou nicked the skin on his shoulder.

The deadly sword dance continued as both tried to land a hit on the other. They were in a stalemate of sorts as Ron couldn't catch Toushirou for long enough to hurt him, and Toushirou couldn't attack Ron head on as Ron had the superior strength. They each had very minor scratches in various places, but nothing worth noting considering they didn't even bleed that much. Toushirou had just pushed off a tree and flew at Ron as Ron brought up his blade to once again block and he counter-attacked with a deadly strike to the side, but it never made it. Ron smirked satisfied. However, Hitsugaya could feel himself losing the strength in his limbs as his tired muscles struggled to keep pace. He didn't know how long he could keep pushing his body to its limit before it just gave out, but he knew that if that happened he would be as good as dead and that was not acceptable! Images of people he knew, that he had sworn to protect only to watch them die flashed through is mind.

Ichigo, Rukia, Hermione, his trusted squad, all the captains of the Gotei 13 and their squads, Matsumoto, Hinamori; he had to win this fight to undo his wrongs and protect them. Even if he had to continue until his last breath, he. Would. Protect. Them! With this flashing through his mind adrenaline pumped through his veins, adding strength to his tired body, all sense of time forgotten, all weariness forgotten, Toushirou was invigorated as strength coursed through him, lighting his blood on fire – a frozen, cold, burning fire. It showed in his eyes as they snapped with determination as he once more lifter Hyourinmaru up to face the arrancar, the person that Hermione had talked so highly of, the boy who – for all his faults – was kind and caring. He didn't spare a thought for how this would affect his body as his body and mind merged to be one. He didn't spare a thought to how ice seemed to trail over his skin, cooling it down as it covered him in long tendrils. He didn't spare a single thought as he raised his sword in said in a deadly calm voice that slowly raised in volume.

"Sit upon the frozen Heavens, Hyourinmaru!" The head of a magnificent ice dragon burst out of the tip of the sword as all arguments between Zanpaktou and wielder were forgotten as the two merged to once more be unified as one. The large barriers that had been set up so long ago crumbled and the blue sky turned grey and then black as massive storm clouds gathered before dumping their load on the grounds below. The storm raged, reflecting all the pent up emotions that Hitsugaya had been forced to bury for so long at the bottom of his heart. His aqua eyes had also changed from a light colour to a dark, storm-ridden turquoise and Ron Weasley sensed the danger he was in. He had heard that this child was one of the most powerful Shinigami they also said that his power was probably on the same level as Lord Aizen. But it was also common knowledge that he no longer communicated with his Zanpaktou and that had weakened him, and because if this, the arrogant arrancar had underestimated his opponent. He had underestimated the lengths the boy would go to so that everything would be fixed, and now, because of his foolishness he would probably die a very cold death at the merciless hands of this powerful embodiment of ice.

Toushirou directed the massive dragon to come crushing down on the arrancar and all Ron was able to do was hold his sword up to block. His feet were pushed back a few meters and the earth was gouged where his feet had dug in. The attacks were relentless and they kept coming, and each time they came Ron felt his defence slip a little bit more until he was on his back and completely at the mercy of his foe. Hitsugaya raised Hyourinmaru once more, preparing for the final attack.

In his mind's eye he could only see one face, the one face that he had sworn to protect from everything and had failed on so many occasions. He had let her down badly when she most needed him and he had failed to save her, both from herself and from an evil man. He had loved her as a sister and as a best friend, and possibly something more as well, but he would never know. When he had died he had been distraught and had rebounded on a person that held a similar likeness in both looks and attitude – Hermione Granger. But it was that one person that had seen him through so many times, both good and bad; who was the one to help and comfort him even when he told both her and himself that he didn't need any comfort, that he was stronger than that. But he had failed her, and now as he looked at Ron, it was her face he saw, the face of his best friend in the whole world Hinamori Momo.

He was unaware of the silent tears that trailed down his face as more power exploded from his destroyed heart. Hyourinmaru was eager and ready to finish the battle and as Toushirou raised him up time slowed down. The sword was positioned above his head, the dragon's head rearing up powerfully and proud. He slowly brought the blade sweeping down in a swift motion, without any hesitance, the dragon gliding down after it. Ice and Earth met in a shower of shards that were like deadly projectiles that shot off in every direction. He felt some sink into his own skin, some quite deep, but he was desensitised to it, and even if he wasn't he felt that it was a fitting punishment for what he had put Hyourinmaru through.

The frozen ground glistened as the rain beat down scattering the light around. Hyourinmaru slowly disappeared and time returned to normal. It had seemed so surreal, but now as he stood in the air with the rain pounding on him, drenching him he knew that things would steadily get worse from here. The adrenal gradually left his veins as the fire dyed down and he was slowly falling, like an angel from grace. He landed on the ground with a sound thud and a couple of loud crunches and he cast his dull eyes to where Ron had lain. He no longer was there as his body had already disappeared into the howling wind. Blood mixed with water and tears as it was washed away. He looked down at his abdomen and his mind saw the large patch of blood staining his soiled school shirt. There was blood everywhere else from the ice shards, but this injury seemed different. And then his hazy mind remembered.

Toushirou had just pushed off a tree and flew at Ron as Ron brought up his blade to once again block and he counter-attacked with a deadly strike to the side, but it never made it. Ron smirked satisfied.

It would seem that the blade had sunk into his flesh – in the left side of his stomach – but he was too lost in the moment for his brain to have made the connection that he was hurt. The blood flowed freely and his raw power flared around himself as his heart cried out in pain – not the physical pain but the emotional one. He had come so far, and he had so far to go; he couldn't die here, on the muddy ice and drenched in the freezing rain. But try as he might he couldn't will his lead-heavy muscles to move an inch and slowly his vision blackened and blurred and the last thing he saw was the dark, clouded sky with the rain falling from the heavens as though crying the tears that he had been unable to for all these years and then he knew no more as he slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

Earlier that day with Fred and George

"George, whose is this? It's... amazing."

"I don't know, but can you feel that power? Whoever this belongs, I would not want to get on the bad side of them, that's for sure." Fred walked over to the trunk at the foot of the bed and opened it.

"Fred, what are you doing? You can't go through other peoples' things!" George exclaimed to his twin in surprise.

"Relax, I'm just seeing who the wand belongs to, because I'm pretty sure they'll need it during class, and because I'm bored out of my mind I think we should go for a walk and return it to them.' George sighed at his brother's remark but nodded in agreement, albeit a little reluctantly.

"Ok... This wand belongs to... Toushirou." The twins looked at each other.

"He's being a bit forgetful today isn't he; I mean first his book and now his wand. Well, do you know what class he has right now?" Fred nodded his head.

"He's in Ron's class and I know for a fact that Ron has transfiguration first with McGonagall because he was complaining about some kind of hard spell that they had to do today. If you ask me though, I would just say that he was complaining for the sake of complaining."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, let's get going. Oh, maybe we'll see someone in need of a little something to get out of class, so bring the Skiving Snackboxes with you." Fred ran into his own room and grabbed his and his twins special 'merchandise bag' which had all the things available to sell in it.

"I'm all set, let's go."

The two walked along the halls without meeting up with anyone, probably because everyone was in class. It was a bit disappointing, but there would be plenty of time to sell things. They had already made so much money already and they practically taste their dream of owning a joke shop – it was that close to becoming a reality. They talked and joked as they walked down the halls, occasionally passing a random teacher who immediately kept walking as soon as they saw the twin terrors as the staff had nick-named them. When they got to the doors to McGonagall's class Fred knocked and George opened the door as soon as they heard a 'come in' from inside the classroom. McGonagall looked at them and they could almost see her visibly sigh as though to say 'what now?'

"Yes boys, can I help you?" Fred stepped forward.

"No, we just came to give Toushirou his wand back, he accidently left it in the Gryffindor Tower, and we figured he would need it."

"Well that was very considerate of you boys – and I must say I am surprised – but Toushirou isn't in class as you can see. He must have come down with something and had to see Madame Pomfrey." Fred frowned at this and George looked confused.

"That can't be right Professor; we were just talking to him only five minutes ago because he had left his book up in the dormitory and so needed to go get it for class. He was fine."

"Are you trying to tell me that Toushirou is skipping class?" She placed her hands on her hips as she waited for an answer.

"How would we know, we only came to return his wand." Hermione saw that this was getting nowhere and put her hand up.

"Miss Granger?"

"I could take his wand for you Professor and just give it to him when I next see him if you want."

"That would be great; Mr Weasley please hand Miss Granger the wand if you would, and I suggest the two of you go do something constructive for the rest of your free period." The twins both agreed and then left the room after placing the amazing wand in Hermione's hand.

The lesson continued as normal, but the class was restless. Where was the strange transfer student? Everybody knew that he probably didn't need to attend class because he had probably already learnt everything he needed to know – he was just that smart! – but he always attended class no matter what. First period, and then second period, flew by quickly and still, Toushirou didn't show up. After the second period ended Hermione, Harry and a reluctant Ron headed over to the infirmary to see how the boy was doing and whether he was really sick or not, before heading down to Care of Magical Creatures. When they reached the Hospital Wing they couldn't find any occupied beds. Madame Pomfrey saw them and immediately came over.

"Is there something wrong? Are any of you feeling ill?" She cast an eye over Harry, her most frequent patient, as though expecting him to just fall down hurt. Hermione shook her head.

"No. None of us are sick. We were just wondering if Toushirou has been to see you this morning."

"No, I'm sorry dear, but I haven't seen that boy at all today, except at breakfast, for which I'm glad. He didn't look too well yesterday and I heard that he missed the first half of the day, but when I saw him this morning at breakfast he was fine; there was nothing wrong with him. Why do you ask about him?" Hermione was disappointed at the news and looked down at the floor. If he hasn't been to Madame Pomfrey, and he hasn't been in class, and he hasn't been in Gryffindor Tower, then where has he been? Where are you Toushirou?

"We haven't seen him today; he wasn't in Transfiguration or Divination, so we were just wondering if maybe he was sick and had come to visit you," Harry answered to Madame Pomfrey's question.

"Though it is a bit weird, I mean if he hasn't been here, or in class, or in Gryffindor Tower then where has he been? Students don't just go missing you know?" Hermione looked at her friend – it was crazy how it was like he could read her mind at times. I guess great minds think alike.

"Well, I'm sorry dears. You three should get to class now; I'm sure he's just taking a walk. You know how he sometimes likes his space." Hermione still looked worried, but Ron and Harry bid Madame Pomfrey a good day and took their friend and started heading to class. As soon as they were gone Madame Pomfrey left the Hospital Wing and went straight to a statue of a stone gargoyle. After uttering a random and completely strange password that was set by Professor Dumbledore, the gargoyle sprang to life and moved aside. She slowly walked up the moving stairs until she reached the big oak doors, where she smartly rapped her knuckles on the hard wood.

"Enter."

She pushed open the door and strode inside. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk as he peered at her through his half-moon spectacles with kind, blue eyes.

"Yes Poppy, is there something I can help you with?"

"There is. It would seem that one of the students has gone missing; nobody has seen him at all today, except maybe at breakfast. Apparently he hasn't been in any classes and he hasn't been in the Gryffindor Tower or to see me. The last two people who had any contact with him were Fred and George Weasley, and they said that he was fine, just retrieving a forgotten book so he wouldn't be late to class." Dumbledore contemplated the news that he just received. He had a good idea who she might be talking about, but he had to make sure.

"And who might this student be?"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou." He nodded his head – it had been who he thought it was going to be. They talked for a little longer before Madame Pomfrey left the office. She was to go to Professor McGonagall and a small search party would be established consisting of Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey.

"It would seem that you are quite the troublesome student Mr Hitsugaya." Dumbledore's gaze floated over the various objects in his room before pushing himself up out of his chair and leaving the room to look for Hitsugaya Toushirou.

Care of Magical Creatures class was right beside the Forbidden Forest, and as soon as the three late students arrived Hermione could feel something different in the air, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Harry told Professor Grubbly-Plank that the three of them had just been to see Madame Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing and the Professor just continued the lesson as though there had been no interruption. It wasn't until nearer to the end of the lesson that something strange started to happen.

The temperature had been dropping slowly over the course of the lesson, but near the end of the lesson there was a sudden dip in temperature, causing peoples' breath to become mist as soon as it left the mouth. Hermione started to shiver and wrapped her arms around her body to try and stay warm, but it seemed to be impossible. Also the strange feeling in the air had intensified, and it was then that she realised that it was almost... electric. It was as though electricity was flowing freely in the air, swirling around them and bringing the cold closer. By now all the students were shivering and complaining about the cold, but Professor Grubbly-Plank ignored them. When the storm clouds started to drift overhead causing the sky to darken to an ominous black colour Grubbly-Plank decided that it would be best if they packed up before the storm started. But it was too late. There had been plenty of warning signs, but the Professor had ignored them, and now it was too late.

The rain poured down immediately drenching everyone, making them all chilled to the bone. Harry looked up to the sky with his hair plastered to his face just in time to see a lightning bolt crack blindingly bright across the sky. The wind whipped about, tearing at exposed skin and hair.

It was a mad dash to the castle as the students just grabbed their things and ran – but not Hermione. Harry and Ron had run a little way away before they noticed that she wasn't with them.

"Hermione! What are you doing, we need to hurry before this gets any worse!" Ron's words were snatched up by the wind so that they sounded faint when they reached the girl's ears. But she couldn't go to the castle because she had recognised this feeling. She had never personally experienced it, but she had plenty of times when she had been going through Toushirou's memories. This electricity in the air that she felt wasn't electricity at all – it was reiatsu. Toushirou's reiatsu to be exact. She glanced up at her soaked friends before turning on her heel and disappearing into the forest behind her, following the reiatsu as best she could. The boys screamed at her to stop but she was too far to hear them, and even if she wasn't she wouldn't have stopped. Harry tore off back down the muddy grass to follow his stupid friend and Ron followed him. The wind was almost painful; even more so considering the extremely low temperature that had turned Ron's fingers a nasty shade of blue.

Hermione ran, heedless of the branches and twigs that scratched at her arms and face; that caught in her hair. The more she ran the colder it seemed to get until she burst into a clearing where it was well below 0 Degrees and the entire place was filled with ice that was stained with mud and blood. Her face was full of horror as her eyes scanned the area. They strained to stare at the glaring ice that glistened with the heavy rain and then she saw him. He would have been impossible to see him due to his white hair and deathly pale skin if it had not been for the blood that covered and surrounded him. She ran over and dropped to her knees as she gently felt for a pulse. She found it, but it was erratic and slow, and slowing with every second.

"No." It came out as whisper as she stared at his face.

"This can't be how it ends; it isn't your time, not yet. Please Toushirou, don't die." Harry and Ron ran through the foliage to reach the clearing and what they saw shocked them more than anything before had shocked them. But they didn't have time to gaze at the surrounding ice because it was then that they saw their friend with the missing, blood covered student. Ron was pale as he took in the amount of blood that surrounded the white haired boy, and also the amount of blood that still pumped freely from a wound that was unseen. The three stared transfixed; none of them knew what to do.

"I think the three of you should head back up to the castle with Professor McGonagall to get warm and dry. Madame Pomfrey and I will help Toushirou." The three looked up to see Professor Dumbledore standing there with Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey standing behind him. It was obvious the students were in shock as they stood up without a word and followed their teacher out of the forest and away from the bloody battlefield. Madame Pomfrey immediately rushed over to help the dying boy while Dumbledore gazed at his surroundings. He had no doubt that the boy would pull through, though he might be sore for a while. But the question was what on earth happened and how was Toushirou involved in it? There were so many questions that ran through the elderly Head Master's brain as he stared at the clearing of ice, but none of them had an answer to it. The storm continued to rage overhead without any signs of stopping.

Responses to reviews:

Ribbonseal: Strange goo or strange bad? I love Hitsugaya too XD and I feel a little bad about giving him such a bad life story but I guess I can't feel that bad because I keep making it worse lol

FullmetalKeyblade 13: It makes me so happy when people say they love my story so thanks heaps. Also I didn't really know about the miso soup being an aquired taste (even though I wrote that it was) so it's good to know that it is - I was just kind of guessing. Maybe I will call Hermione, Harry and Hitsugaya the 3 H'es lol, though if you notice Harry and Hermione are their first names while Hitsugaya is his last name - though I'm sure that if I tried I could work around that problem lol. And lastly about the train boarding. I just love making things as dramatic as they could possibly be and I thought that it might be an interesting chang, so I'm glad you liked it and I hope you keep reading my story. Wow! longest review reply ever, probably because you had such a long review XD

Yukira-Kuchiki: In answer to your question it was Hermione; and don't worry I'm sure we all have days where we're just out of it - I know I have :) Hope you keep reading

Ziya Hitsugaya: It makes me happy to know that this is one of your favourite stories XD I hope your surgery went good and that you're all fine now and thanks for your concern when I didn't update for a while XD Also it turns out that I couldn't quite make my deadline of updating before the end of the 6th of March, but I was close

Lady Queria: I'm so sorry! I totally didn't mean to nudge you off the cliff! Are you okay? lol, sorry to disappoint you but unfortunately no confrontation - but I can promise you that it will 100% be in the next chapter. It seems a few people were waiting for the confrontation, so I guess I disappointed a few people huh? Oh, well. I'm still wondering how I managed to write over 10'000 words in one chapter without writing out that scene - strange.

Uncle Phil: Thanks for such a nice review I just loved reading it! Though the updating more or less regularly seems to have changed with this chapter considring it's been over a month, but I will try to keep it regular. And to answer your question, the pairing does seem to flow, but that was more of a character building thing, rather than a plot line if you know what I mean. I'm not all that good with writing romance, so I'm going to have no pairings in my story, but there may be hints of things from time to time

Flamelord99: These are the questions, but unfortunately (or not so unfortunate depending on how you look at it) you'll just have to wait and see what all the answers are to them

The Mythical Pen: Don't worry too much about any possible foreshadowing you may or may not have given away 'cause you blocked it ou so it's all good! It was pretty good blocking as well if I do say so - it took me forever to figure out what it meant lol XD And it's always good to make connections because later if they're right you can be like 'Yeah, I'm so smart, I figured it out!' or you can be like 'Wow, I totally didn't expect that, what a great idea!' so it's a win-win situation lol

Black Flash: What a really good question, and I had to think of a really good, plausible answer for this before I started writing, so all I can say is it will make complete sense, you'll just have to wait though. Hope you keep reading my story :)

Sapphire-Angel-Gem, jgood27, 4marauders, animeloveramy and deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover: Thank you all for your really great reviews, it always just makes my day XD

And there goes another chapter. Hope everybody liked it and if you did it would be great if you sent me a little word by reviewing or pm-ing or whatever because I love to hear from you even if it is only a 'great story', but I also accept critism as well. Until next time.