Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Bleach.
At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the ground for their first flying lesson.
The Slytherins were already there, as were 20 or so broomsticks lying in neat lines.
This is stupid, Ichigo mumbled. And horribly cliche.
It is not. Harry replied.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" Madam Hooch barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Harry looked at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd places.
I mean, seriously. That looks like it won't even support your weight! You'd probably break your neck!
I don't think the school would let their students ride around on broken brooms, Ichigo.
As Ichigo continued protesting, Harry ignored him and listened to Madam Hooch's instructions. "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'up!'"
"Up!" Everyone shouted.
Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had rolled over, and Neville's had gone halfway and fell back down.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms. Ron and Harry were delighted to hear that Malfoy had been doing it wrong for years.
The expression on his face was priceless. Ichigo cackled.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle- one- two- three!"
Harry pushed down hard on the ground and shot into the air, 20 feet or so high. Air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him- and in rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught- this was easy, this was wonderful. He pulled his broomstick up to take it even higher.
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stopstopstopstopstopstop! Ichigo moaned. We're gonna fall, we're gonna fall, we're gonna fall, we'regonnafallwe'regonnafallwe'regonnafallwe'regonnafallwe'regonnafallwe'regonnafall-
Harry grinned cheerfully, ignoring the cheering and shouts from below.. Then, do you want to go back down?
Ichigo, probably sensing that Harry was planning something, said slowly, Yes...?
Harry leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down- next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive-
No, no, no, no, nononononononono! Ichigo shrieked. This isn't what by saying I wanted to back down! We'regonnacrashwe'regonnacrash-
-Wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of Madam Hooch and the students- two feet from the ground he pulled his broom straight and landed neatly on the ground.
Harry got off his broom and brushed his clothes off. Then he looked at the gaping Madam Hooch and said very innocently, "Yes?"
"HARRY POTTER!"
"You're joking."
It was dinnertime, and Harry had just finished telling Ron what happened after Professor McGonagall dragged him off.
"Seeker?" he said. "McGonagall's letting you become seeker? But first years never- you must be the youngest house player in about-"
"- a century," Harry said, shoveling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after all the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood, the Quidditch captain, told me."
Ron was so impressed that he just sat and stared at Harry.
If he stares at you anymore, I'm going to get very annoyed.
Well sorry that you're in a bad mood, but it's not my fault. Harry protested, quickly understanding Ichigo's comment. Unless... don't tell me you're still mad about my stunt with the broomstick?
...
It can't be helped, it's not like you ever told me you were afraid of heights.
I AM NOT! Ichigo yelped in protest. What I'm afraid is falling to my death!
Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.
"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too- Beaters."
"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year." Fred said. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."
"Anyways, we need to ask you something, Harry."
Harry blinked as Ron leaned in to listen. "What is it?"
"Not right here!" George hissed, pushing Ron away. "We'll meet you in the Gryffindor common room at midnight, alright?"
Bewildered, Harry nodded mutely.
"And don't bring Ron with you."
"Hey!"
Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"
Ron and Harry glared coldly at Malfoy and his goonies while Ichigo did, well, what he did best. Insult people (What!? That's not true!).
"I'm challenging you to a wizards duel. Wands only- no contact. We'll meet in the trophy room at midnight. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizards duel before, I suppose?"
"Of course he has," said Ron. "Only-"
"Only I've already got something planned," Harry said smoothly. "So unless you've got something else to say, shove off Malfoy."
Malfoy smirked at them, and in one swift motion (did Harry just see... disappointment?) he stalked off, Crabbe and Goyle following. Harry and Ron glanced at each other, confused. That was... strange.
"Excuse me."
They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.
"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.
"I couldn't help but overhear what you and Malfoy were saying-"
"Bet you could," Ron muttered.
"- and don't get me wrong, I'm pleased that you didn't go along with Malfoy, but you musn't go meeting with other people at night either, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really selfish of you."
"And it's really none of your business," said Harry. "We're meeting in the common room anyway."
"Good-bye," said Ron.
Harry, seated in the chair nearest to the fireplace, fidgeted uneasily as he waited for the twins to arrive. He glanced at the nearest clock. It was a minute before midnight.
Maybe they want me to help them on a prank, he mused.
I doubt it, Ichigo said. They seemed oddly serious, I don't think that's going to be the point of this meeting.
At that moment, the twins burst through the portrait hole rather unceremoniously, Fred holding onto George's shoulder for support.
The two gasped for breath for a moment, then looked up at Harry. "We're not late, are we?"
Harry shook his head.
"Okay," said George. "We're going to have to ask you not to reveal this to anybody. Anybody, you understand? Not even Ronny-kins."
As Harry voiced his agreement, Fred pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment from his pocket and held it up for Harry and Ichigo/Zangetsu to see. It was blank. Harry, despite what Ichigo had said, suspected that it must've been one of Fred and George's jokes, and stared at it.
"What's this supposed to be?"
"This, Harry, is the secret to our success," said George, patting the parchment fondly.
"A bit of old parchment?" Harry asked.
"A bit of old parchment!" said Fred, closing his eyes with a grimace as though Harry had mortally offended him. "Explain, George."
"Well... when we were in our first year, Harry- young, carefree and innocent-"
Both Harry and Ichigo snorted.
"- well, more innocent than we are now- we got into a tight spot of bother with Filch."
"We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason-"
"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual-"
"-detention-"
"-disembowelment-"
"-and we couldn't help but noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."
"Don't tell me-" Harry said, starting to grin.
"Well, what would've you done? George caused another diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open ,and grabbed- this."
"And you know how to work it?"
"Oh yes. This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."
"You're winding me up."
"Oh, are we?" Then, George took out his wand, touched the parchment lightly, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
At once, ink lines spread across the parchment, revealing it to be a perfect map of Hogwarts. What was so remarkable was that there were tiny ink dots moving around, each labelled with a name.
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief- Makers
are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP
"Now, one thing you should know about this," said Fred, watching Harry's reaction with a pleased expression, " Is that The Marauder's Map never lies."
"Really?" Harry said absentmindedly, gazing at the map. There were seven passageways that led to outside the castle, maybe he could use them sometime...
What? Never lies... never lies... what does that mean? Ichigo muttered. Oh, fuck! It couldn't be! Harry, Harry, listen to me damnit! We're in deep shit!
Naturally, Harry ignored him
"Yup!" said George. "So that's why we were wondering, could you help explain why we saw a name labelled Kurosaki Ichigo?
Harry, not understanding what George said, stared at him blankly for a minute.
Kurosaki... Ichigo? No, wait a second, ICHIGO?
"I don't know what you're talking about." He lied, forcing himself to stare the twins in the eye.
"My, my, Harry." Fred said, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "All right, how about this? Last Sunday, George and I were walking down the corridor, minding our own business (for once)."
Seeing Harry's disbelieving glance, Fred said, "Oh fine, we were planning our next prank. So here we are, looking at possible prank locations on the Marauder's Map, when somebody pushes past us-"
"Very rudely, mind you-"
"-Yes, and seeing as we've never seen him before-"
"-We were sure we hadn't; who could forget that orange hair?"
"We checked his name. And there it was; Kurosaki Ichigo."
Harry forced himself not to panic, and ignored Ichigo's... well, whatever he was doing in there, it was loud.
Deny it.
Of course.
"I still don't know what this has to do with me." Harry said as calmly as he could.
"I told you didn't I? The Marauder's Map never lies." Fred said. "We followed the name as it walked toward the forbidden corridor. And we couldn't believe it. The dot labelled Kurosaki Ichigo changed into Harry Potter."
Harry gulped. This was bad. This was really bad. They had caught him at the worst moment possible.
"And we think-"
"-That we-"
"-Deserve an explanation."
Ichigo stopped banging his head into the building (cursing himself for his stupidity) as George finished his sentence.
"Zangetsu, explain."
Mh. The Marauder's Map does not sense bodies, it senses souls.
"Souls?"
Yes. Spirits. If it were to sense bodies, then when you came out, it should have still read Harry Potter on the map, as it is still his body.
"Ah, I see. But if it were to sense souls, shouldn't Harry and I have separate captions/those ink dot stuff?"
... I am not sure why that is so. However, my best guess is that because you have started to merge with Harry, and will soon become the same soul.
Ichigo glanced warily at the border of his mind.
Note to self: Find out a way to stop Harry and I from merging!
"But man, is this magic stuff complicated. I mean, they use their magic for practically every single thing! Yet when it comes to combat, none of the spells that I've read are even close to useful; they're all too slow."
I do not think that these wizards are a race that fight often.
"I'm sorry guys, but I really can't tell you." Harry's voice bounced around the buildings. "No, it's not that I don't trust you, I'm just not ready to tell anybody yet. Yes, even Ron. I-I just- alright, how about this? I'll make you guys a deal. Before you guys leave Hogwarts, I'll confess every single secret I have. In exchange, you give me your Maurader's Map when I do."
Harry was actually a pretty good at making agreements.
Zangetsu glanced at Ichigo questioningly. Are you not going to ask...?
Ichigo stared blankly at his zanpaktou for a second, and his face cleared with understanding.
"Hey, Harry!" He shouted up at the sky.
What is it? Harry muttered back, clearly in a dark mood. If you're asking me to let you 'explore' again, the answer is no. You've caused me enough trouble.
"That's not it. I want you to ask the twins whether they saw another person around us at the time."
Why?
"Just do it."
Mentally grumbling, Harry repeated the question to Fred and George.
"A person? Well-"
"-There were two others that did seem to be following you-"
"Who was it?" Harry asked impatiently.
"Well, one of them was that first year, Neville Longbottom."
"And the other?" Asked Harry.
Ichigo heard one of then twins cough nervously, and said, "The truth is, well, we don't know."
"It was another foreign name-"
"-Maybe your 'Ichigo' guy knew him-"
"Yes, maybe he did, which is why the "'Ichigo' guy" needs to know," Ichigo started pacing irritatedly.
"But his name was- er- what was his name again Fred?"
"I do believe it was- er- um- something like..." George trailed off, clearly not remembering it.
Ichigo groaned. He was this close to knowing and then some dimwits forgot the guy's name! If he was right, then it could have only been one person, and that was-
"Right, it was-"
"SO? What did they tell you?" Ron asked, leaning in towards Harry.
"Nothing important." said Harry, helping himself to some more sausage.
Meanwhile:
Ichigo! Why did you want me to ask Fred and George that? Did you know that person?
Kind of...
What kind of answer is that?! Sheesh, for once, can you not tell me half-truths?
Harry. *sigh* I can't. There's just... things that I'm not ready to tell the world yet.
But Zangetsu knows.
He's... an exception.
Why can't I be an exception? I've known you longer!
Not really.
Zangetsu, can't you tell me?
No.
Why not?
...
Hey! Don't ignore me! Ichigo, I pry any more for now, but you're going to have to start giving me answers soon.
...
Ichigo?
...
Hey, Ichigo!
...
ICHIGO!
...
"Hey, Harry?"
"..."
"Harry, if we don't get going soon, we're going to be late for Transfiguration."
"..."
"Harry? Harry?! Harry?!"
Why do I love using ... so much? I mean, even if there really is no need to, I do it anyways... Like in places like that.
I'm kind of mean, not showing who the person was, huh? Sorry, I just felt that if I revealed the person this early in the story, there would be an extreme lack of suspense.
But, it really can't be that hard to guess, so just... assume!
*Types dot dot dot*
*Types dot dot dot*
*Types dot dot dot*
*Types dot dot dot*
*Types dot dot dot*
And...
...
...
I don't know.