A/N: This chapter took me way to long, I know. Don't get me wrong: I was overwhelmed and am completely grateful for all the response I received for the last chapter. Thank you so much to all who reviewed; I really loved reading what you liked (and disliked) and all your reactions to Rukia's transferal. Feedback is always much appreciated. ;D

Believe me, I would've updated sooner, but the past few months have been stressful and packed full. I haven't really had time to write b/c of finals, school projects, and all that…plus, I was leeching off DeviantART and uploading pictures to my profile there (the link is on my FF profile). I'm sorry again for making you guys wait this long.

Please enjoy this chapter! It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Part 3: The Great Divide

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Chapter 12: Encounter

A month later…

"So…you think it'll be here?"

"Well it's worth a look."

"Why would You-Know-Who hide a piece of his rotten soul in a run down shack like this?"

"Be quiet, Ron! You don't want everyone to know about this, do you?"

Ron, his nose and cheeks red from exposure to the frosty air, immediately shut his mouth. Shivering in the ratty hand-me-down sweater he was wearing, he hastily looked around to see if any passerbys had heard, but to his relief, the area around them was deserted.

"What's this place called again?" asked Ichigo, who was bundled up in a heavy jacket. He had a Gryffindor scarf wrapped tightly around his neck.

"I believe Hermione said a mere three minutes ago that it's the Shrieking Shack," muttered Rukia, slight ridicule in her tone. She too was shielded from the cold by a thick sweater, and a green Slytherin scarf was hiding half her face.

Ichigo shot her what was supposed to be an angry glare, though he couldn't hold it for too long. Sighing, he murmured, "We're…happy you're able to come with us, Rukia."

"Ah…yeah," Rukia said, trailing off rather uncomfortably. Her violet eyes refused to meet Ichigo's and she looked away, seeming unsure.

Ichigo ran a hand through his orange hair, wondering what was up with her. She was obviously hesitant about something. Still, from Rukia of all people, he was expecting a reply more along the lines of, 'Yeah, well you'll be even happier when I save your sorry butt from whatever danger's in there.'

Instead of saying anything, Ichigo only let his gaze rest on the building. It was run-down, as Ron had said; many of its windows were missing panes and half of them were shattered, letting snow drift into it freely. The roof was void of at least three quarters of its shingles, and the chimney seemed to be lopsided.

A moment passed, the two of them standing in silence. Hermione and Ron had already opened the gate which led into the shack's lawn and were carefully treading through the foot-high snow toward the building.

"Uh…" Ichigo started, coughing awkwardly.

Rukia's eyes darted up, startling Ichigo when their violet gaze landed on his face. Something flickered in them, but before he could figure out what it was, they blinked. "What?" Rukia forced out sharply.

"Let's not stand here all day, shall we?" Ichigo replied, frowning slightly. "And make sure none of your Slytherin friends are watching us. We don't need any more trouble," he added, spitting out the words harsher than he meant to.

Narrowing her eyes, Rukia only tightened the scarf around her face and walked ahead of Ichigo towards the Shrieking Shack. "C'mon Ichigo," she called over her shoulder. "Don't want my Slytherin friends to catch sight of you out here, right?"

Ichigo sighed and threw a glance over his shoulder, just to check to see if they were alone. His eye caught sight of no one and, muttering crossly under his breath, he began to follow Rukia inside the abandoned Shack. 'Sure hope Renji and Harry are making as much progress as I am…'

"So what are we looking for again?" asked Renji, frowning in boredom.

Harry, too immersed in the book he was holding, only mumbled in reply, "Hermione wants us to find something."

Renji leaned against one of the many bookshelves surrounding them and skimmed his eyes casually over their spines. "Hogwarts: A History, Witchcraft Through the Ages… And what does she want to find, exactly?"

"This won't do," Harry sighed, snapping the leather-bound book in his hands shut in agitation. "We're going to have to look in the restricted section…" he quietly mused, turning to walk away from Renji.

"Oi! What are we looking for?!" Renji finally snapped, frustrated at being left in the dark. "Tell me, Potter, or else!" Breathing heavily, he crossed his arms in anger and waited for a response.

Instead of backing away in shock, like Renji had half expected him to, Harry only raised an eyebrow quite calmly and stared up at the fiery redhead. "I think Malfoy's getting to you, Renji," he teased. "Since when did you start calling me 'Potter'?"

"Ah, well…" Renji started, stopping himself. He glanced away from Harry in embarrassment. "I guess…he's been around more often than he was at the beginning of the year, no? You know…"

To his surprise, Harry nodded understandingly. "You mean, he's been hanging around with Rukia quite often, right?" His piercing green eyes searched Renji's, picking up a slight detection of jealousy in them.

"Yeah, exactly!" Renji shouted awkwardly. "It's annoying…"

"Well, they are in the same House now, aren't they?" retorted Harry with the same quiet calmness that was beginning to irritate Renji even further.

"Screw that!" the redhead yelled, slamming his fist into a nearby bookshelf in a show of violent anger. "She's our friend; he has no right to be stealing her away like this!"

"Oh come now. We still have chances to talk with her!" Harry reassured. "For instance, she's not with Malfoy and his crones right now, is she? No! She's with Ichigo, Ron, and Hermione searching for— … Well, you know," he trailed off, lowering his voice abruptly.

Renji glanced around warily before sighing, "Still, it's not the same. She's become more distant! Doesn't talk freely around us…like the Rukia I used to know."

A cool hand was placed on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort. "Don't worry. Have more faith in her; Rukia must have a reason for doing what she's doing. She's very clever…" Harry said, smiling.

Renji laughed. "Ya know," he teased, "if I didn't know any better I'd say you are just as jealous as I am."

Narrowing his eyes, Harry countered, "Well…now I know you're jealous."

A deep flush colored Renji's cheeks as he shrugged Harry's hand off his shoulder hastily and turned away. "Shut up!"

"Hah, your face matches your hair now," snickered Harry, laughing into his hand.

"Be quiet, Potter."

Harry took his glasses off to wipe tears of laughter from his face. "Sorry, sorry, couldn't resist." He sighed and, placing the book in his hands back onto a shelf, quietly said, "Anyway, Hermione told us to look for a book relating to the Horcruxes."

"Oh, I see," Renji said, turning back around to face Harry. "But you can't find anything on them?"

All seriousness now, Harry shook his head and muttered, "No, nothing detailed enough…"

"Is there anywhere else we could look? Or perhaps we can ask a teacher…" suggested Renji.

Harry looked around and, seeing no one around, whispered, "Well, there is the Restricted section…"

Ichigo cringed as the floorboards beneath his feet creaked. "You said no one lives here anymore, right Hermione?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, this place is abandoned…" came the muffled answer from the other side of the room.

"…Unless you count the ghosts here as 'living'," joked Ron, throwing Ichigo a nervous grin. By the way he was throwing quick, suspicious glances over his shoulder at every second, Ichigo could tell Ron was just as wary as he.

The air around them was damp and musty, giving off smells of rotting wood and mildew. Ichigo could barely see what was a foot in front of him, as it was gray outside, leaving the inside of the shack with no natural light. By the squeaks coming from the walls, he realized that this place was rat and mouse infested…. and probably ghost infested as well.

"Hey," Ichigo called out to Ron, Hermione, and Rukia. "Why don't we split up?"

"Sounds fine," muttered Rukia, who was already halfway up the run-down stairs leading to the upper floor. "I'll go upstairs." Without waiting for a reply, she made her way up the remaining steps and disappeared.

Ichigo listened to the creaks that betrayed her movement upstairs and sighed. "I guess…I'll go upstairs as well." Although the last thing he wanted to do right now was to make small talk with Rukia, he was remotely worried about her.

"Ron and I will stay down here then," Hermione declared. "Be careful upstairs, Ichigo," she added. "There's no telling what's up there…"

Ron threw Hermione a look. "Hear those rats?" he mused, sounding a bit odd. "I wouldn't be surprised if that bloody Pettigrew is hiding up there somewhere."

"Don't bother looking for him," advised Hermione sternly. "I doubt he'd do anything to us since he owes a debt to Harry. It's best that you don't get yourself into unnecessary trouble, Ron."

Sulking, Ron turned away and moved to a dark hole in the floor which a rickety ladder was protruding from. "Fine then. I'll go have a look in the cellar." He turned his body backwards to make his way down the ladder. After a second, Hermione and Ichigo heard a loud yell and a crash.

Hermione sighed and motioned for Ichigo to go find Rukia. "I think he fell down…I'd best go help him." She threw Ichigo one more 'be careful' look and disappeared down the dark hole into the cellar.

Ichigo stood still for a moment, lost in his thoughts. A creak of the rotting boards from upstairs reminded him that he had said he'd go help Rukia. As he made his way up the stairs, he made sure to look all around – up, down, right, left, and straight ahead – for anything out of the ordinary… which didn't turn out too well, seeing as how he had no idea what a Horcrux looked like.

The side wall leading upstairs had a whole line of crooked, faded black and white photographs, all showing one boy in his different stages of life. He appeared to be frowning, obviously not happy with having his picture taken. The banister which Ichigo's hand rested on was caked with dust; still, he could feel deep gashes along the wood, as if something sharp had cut into it repeatedly.

One more step and now Ichigo was on the upper floor; he could sense Rukia's steady reaitsu to the right of him. Not wanting to get in her way, he made his way left. A few steps down a dark, chilly hallway lead him into a large room. Small windows with shattered glass let flakes of snow fly into the room, landing on a grand piano which was dusty with disuse.

Just out of curiosity, Ichigo let one finger strike a key – it was definitely way off pitch. With closer inspection, he saw that fingerprints spotted the fine layer of dust on the white keys. Someone had been here, if not recently, then in the near past.

He was just about to hit another key when he felt Rukia's reaitsu fluctuate wildly from another room down the hall. Though there was no scream (and he wasn't expecting one), he knew she was in trouble.

"Here it is. The Restricted section," muttered Harry, looking around him warily.

Renji eyed the heavily locked gate that blocked the section off. Behind it, he could see two bookcases jammed with dusty, fat books, some even with chains on them. "So, uh…this is it."

"Yeah. It's not called the Restricted section for nothing…"

"…I can see that."

The two of them fell into silence after that, Harry still glancing over his shoulder as if waiting for someone. The library was oddly empty and eerily silent; no sounds of footsteps could be heard, and no voices of students reached their ears. Renji shifted his weight from foot to foot, getting tired of standing still. Muttering under his breath, he reached out his hand to grasp one of the locks.

Harry's hand immediately slapped onto Renji's arm, stopping him in the process of nearly ripping off the lock. "Don't do that!" he hissed, his green eyes narrowed.

"Why not? We're not gonna gain any information by just standing out here!" Renji shot back. "We need to get in there!"

Harry slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Don't you see the locks? There's no way we can get in there without a key."

"Well why don't you use that lock-opening spell of yours to get us in?"

"Be q--"

Suddenly, a figure emerged behind them, rendering both Harry and Renji silent. Cold hands grasped both of their shoulders, spinning them around to face it. They stared at a looming face glaring at them suspiciously. "May I help you boys?"

"Uh…yes, please," answered Harry, regaining composure quicker than Renji. She doesn't look familiar… where's the one who's always here? "Are you the librarian working here today?"

The woman leaned back and eyed the two of them. "Yes I am. What can I do for you?"

"We need to look in the Restricted section for something…er, research for a paper that we're writing," Harry told her, gesturing to the locked gate. "We don't have a signed permission slip yet, but we'll go to our professor and get one now."

The librarian shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that won't do," she told Harry. "Only the Headmaster can give you permission to access the information here."

Harry's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

"Rukia!" Ichigo gasped, instantly lurching himself out of the piano room and sprinting down the hall. He easily located Rukia's reaitsu and ran into the uncomfortably cramped and dark room.

Cold fear stopped him in his steps when he saw the cloaked Dementor which was hovering over Rukia. She seemed paralyzed in fear, sweat glistening on her pale skin and her wide violet eyes staring apprehensively into the dark space underneath the Dementor's hood. It had one bony hand clenched around Rukia's throat, clearly cutting off her ability to breathe and call for help.

As Ichigo barged into the room, the Dementor swiveled its faceless head around to meet the newcomer. A deathly rattle began to emit from somewhere in the Dementor's body as it slowly started to move towards him.

Rukia blinked, the paralyzing fear from looking into the depths of the Dementor's hood broken as it now focused its attention on Ichigo. However, its cold hand still remained around her neck; she could only whisper a distorted "Ichigo…" when she recognized the blurry, swimming shape standing in the doorway. Her vision gave way and she fell into a dark sleep.

Noticing Rukia's stiff body go limp in the Dementor's grasp, he realized that she had passed out. Well that rules her out for helping me to get out of this mess… he thought distantly. Still panic stricken, his shaky hand anxiously felt for his wand in the back-pocket of his pants.

He held up the wavering stick and pointed it at where he guessed the Dementor's face was. "Shit! What do I do now?!" Ichigo asked franticly, amber eyes darting around for any means of help. It would do him no good to run out of the room, as he didn't want to leave Rukia's body behind. He also didn't want to call Hermione and Ron; he wanted them to stay out of harm's way. If only he had Zangetsu… though he doubted that would do him any good with some bodiless hooded demon which was a mere three feet away from him now.

What was that spell Harry taught me?!