Chapter 14

Ichigo burrowed deep into her blankets, trying to hide a blush from the rest of the world. 'Damnit, Harry just had to bring up the fact that I put Ulquiorra into each of my drawings.' She curled up tighter, 'But then again I do owe him for starting our kiss, Kami that kiss was great.' Ichigo could feel tingles going up and down her spine just remembering it. 'I truly love him with all my heart, but sometimes I just wish he would hurry up and propose. I wonder if Yamamoto-jii will let me propose to Ulquiorra,' She snorted, 'Yea right, he's way too traditional for that.'

With that Ichigo slowly fell asleep, but no later had Ichigo closed her eyes then she felt Ulquiorra's reiatsu spike from inside the boy's dormitory, judging from the amount of reiatsu in the spike she could tell that he only did so to get her attention, prompting her to throw off her blankets and quickly sonido to Ulquiorra's side where she was greeted by a confusing scene.

Harry was thrashing wildly in his bed, sweat pouring from his brow as his face screwed up into a grimace though from what Ichigo couldn't tell. Jumping into action she helped Ron, Neville and Ulquiorra holding him down, thankfully the other boys hadn't noticed her use of sonido since she stopped just before the door. She tried to hold down Harry's left foot but it somehow managed to get past her grip and clip her on the chin, ignoring the pain she simply narrowed her eyes as her usual scowl was fixed firmly onto her face. 'Damn gigai,'

When they finally had Harry under control somewhat Ron finally noticed her, blinking stupidly he spoke up, "What the bloody hell are you doing here? How-?"

Ichigo didn't even look at him, "Does it matter? We need to get Harry under control and figure out why this happened." She turned her head around and focused on one of the other boys who were doing nothing more than staring at her dumbly, "You! One of you go get McGonagall-san now!"

One of the boys, she thought his name might be Dean, rushed out of the room. While he did Ichigo frowned to herself slightly, she was slipping back into the role of a Captain, and she had used her Japanese title for McGonagall but she could honestly care less, what mattered was that the find out what was wrong with Harry, who by now had woken up and was staring at Ichigo, "Why are-? Never mind, Ron, your dad's been attacked!"

Ichigo and Ulquiorra watched as Harry argued with his friend about whether or not he saw Mr. Weasley get bitten by a snake in his dream and whether or not it was true when Dean finally returned with the head of Gryffindor House, "What is the meaning of this? And— Ms. Kurosaki? Why are you in the boy's dorm?"

Ichigo felt an eye twitch, 'Fuck it, I don't care what they say, am I the only one here besides Ulquiorra who knows what is important?!'

Looking over everyone she stood at her full height and, unconsciously began releasing some of her reiatsu as she spoke in a voice more authoritative than even McGonagall's, "Does it matter why I am here or not? Something abnormal has happened to my cousin and there is a possibility that someone's life is at risk, now stop standing there gaping and figure out what. The. Hell. Happened!"

The last three words came out in a slight growl, causing the wizards and witch to all jump and argue over whether or not Harry should be taken to Dumbledore. Beside her Ulquiorra smirked slightly, he loved watching when Ichigo finally showed her real self rather than falling back to how she acted prior to being a soul reaper.

Finally Ichigo had enough of their arguments, "URASAI!" She yelled out, her angry spiking of reiatsu causing the room to grow slightly darker, "Ulquiorra, shōnin o sakujo."

Ulquiorra quickly sonidoed behind Sean, Dean and Neville, hitting each of them in the back of the neck and forcing them into unconsciousness all within a second of each other before unceremoniously throwing them onto their beds. Meanwhile Ichigo walked up to McGonagall, "I'll be taking command of this situation, Harry we are going to Dumbledore, he knows more about magic than I do and is the most likely person at this hour to take decisive action."

With that Ichigo bodily snatched her cousin and held him bridal style as Ulquiorra opened the window. Seeing what Ulquiorra did McGonagall and Ron tried to stop them, and even Harry squeaked out a protest, "What are-", "No!", "Are you BLOODY INSAINE?"

Ichigo and Ulquiorra just ignored them as they jumped out the window, solidifying the spirit particles of the air beneath their feet and began to run to Dumbledore's window. Personally Ichigo was tired of Harry's death-grip on her, he had been higher up on a broom, what was the issue? It was faster this way anyway since they wouldn't have to wait on those stupid stairs to move to the correct position, nor did they have to spend ten minutes guessing candy names. When they arrived it was to see Dumbledore just walking into his office, Ulquiorra saw that the windows were sealed shut, and also saw a very surprised old man on the other side as he looked at the odd sight outside his windows. Ulquiorra was dressed in black sweatpants and a loose black shirt; his hands were currently leaving his pockets while Ichigo was dressed in faded red sweatpants with a black tank-top that had a plushy lion face on it, she was currently holding on to a very pale Harry, whose eyes were the size of dinner plates as he looked down below them and had grabbed on to Ichigo's shoulders as tightly as he could. Ulquiorra looked over to Ichigo with mischief sparking in his eyes as he raised one fist, his trademark green energy flickering into existence around his fist as he gave her a slight grin, which she returned. Harry managed to tear his gaze from the ground to look up at Ichigo since they had stopped, only to see a stunned Dumbledore looking at them from inside his window and Ichigo grinning at an Ulquiorra who was grinning with one fist raised. Harry was about to question why Ulquiorra had a fist raised, it wasn't like he could just punch through the lead framed, and magically enchanted windows of the headmaster's office, when suddenly his cousin's boyfriend said "Bala," while extending his arm like he was miming punching the window,

"HOLY SHIT!"

The window had exploded, no word for it, was this another of his cousin and her boyfriend's strange abilities? He hadn't seen a thing and had left a freaking hole in the wall. The dust cleared and Harry saw Dumbledore with his wand out and a magical barrier in place, "I think 'holy shit' is a very good description dear boy."

Harry flushed with embarrassment as Ichigo and Ulquiorra quickly stepped into the office and let Harry describe to Dumbledore his dream. As he did so though Ichigo looked over to Ulquiorra with a wide grin on her face, "We are going to have to go to Hueco Mundo and duel full out soon,"

Ulquiorra let a full grin show on his face as he replied back also in Japanese, "I agree, I don't think I ever missed using bala so much."

The two shook their heads, "Tell me about it, even Zangetsu is tired of being stuck as a stupid stick. And I miss feeling back at full strength, and using it. Flying only goes so far."

Ulquiorra just nodded before they both turned back to see McGonagall arriving with Ron and the rest of the Weasleys, all of them stopping a performing very good fish imitations once they saw the hole in Dumbledore's wall. The deputy headmistress was looking faint, "How? Who?"

Ulquiorra sonidoed behind her and said, "I did, with bala." In a monotone.

Ichigo just giggled when the woman just shrieked and jumped a good foot in the air, apparently she and Ulquiorra had developed a slightly, vindictive sense of humor. It was then that a thought struck her, 'Wait, did I just giggle? Ulquiorra….you are lucky, only you can get away with that,'

Dumbledore also chuckled slightly, "Mr. Ciffer I would prefer if you did not cause my Transfiguration teacher to have a heart attack."

He just shrugged and put his hands in his pockets as Ichigo spoke up, "So, what is being done?"

Dumbledore pulled out his wand and began repairing his wall, "I have already contacted St. Mungdo's to get Mr. Weasley to medical attention, I must thank you for your…swift…actions, had we been any latter then he would not have survived, as it is he is in very critical condition.

Ichigo frowned, 'That doesn't sound good.' Looking over to Ulquiorra she quietly murmured in Japanese, "I'm going to try and watch over Weasley-san, I have a bad feeling about this."

He frowned, "You think he might be attacked by hollows?"

Ichigo nodded, "If he goes into a coma and gets his spirit separate but still linked to his body then he would be an easy target."

Ulquiorra nodded; if a coma patient had what they called an 'out of body experience' it was identical to having their body separated from their soul, though still linked by their Chain of Fate. Oftentimes they needed a Shinigami to help them back into their body, and would then have most of their memory of the event erased.

"I'll cover for you if you go," He whispered back, holding her loosely in a hug.

Ichigo smiled, "I know, thanks."

When they ended their discussion Dumbledore had finished explaining his portkey to Grimwald Place and had just turned to ask if the two hybrids wanted to join the Weasleys and Harry.

Ichigo just glared at the old coot for asking such a question before placing a finger on the portkey, Ulquiorra doing the same. Then all went black as Ichigo felt a hook and yank at the navel before she was tossed violently around, instinctively she grabbed onto Ulquiorra with her free arm as he did to her before everything finally, thankfully, went still and she opened her eyes to see that she and the others were sprawled in a heap in one of the clean living rooms of Grimwald Place. Getting up she noticed that she still had her hand on Ulquiorra's arm, and his own around her waist, not that she minded, "Everybody okay?"

She received several groans and moans of pain, which she ignored, "Good, you are all alright. Damn, remind me to never use a portkey again."

Ron looked up from his position beneath one of the twins, who had fallen on top of him, "Alright? Alright?! I'm crushed by my brother, and who knows about Dad and you say we are alright?!"

Ichigo sent him a glare, causing him to quickly shut up and get slightly pale, "You have the will to complain so you are alright, and as for Weasley-san we can do nothing but wait. Ulquiorra and I already did what we could by getting the information to Dumbledore-san as fast as possible."

Each of the Weasleys looked down at the mention of their father, Harry just seemed numb, it was in the silence that followed that Sirius made his presence known, "Uhh, Ichigo? You're adding some Japanese suffixes, you okay?"

She just pinched the bridge of her nose, "I am and while I am grateful for your concern it is unnecessary, just having to remind myself that everyone else here isn't used to dealing with these kinds of situations."

Everyone seemed to ignore the second half of what Ichigo had whispered, instead the Weasleys all wanted to visit their dad. Sirius seemed a bit overwhelmed by all of them asking at once when Ulquiorra spoke up, "You cannot visit Weasley-san yet."

Ron's face reddened in anger, "Why the bloody hell not?"

Ulquiorra did not even move, or have any external reaction to Ron's anger, "It would be suspicious if you arrived asking for the health of someone who was obviously on a classified mission before the healers have contacted you."

They all stood dumbly and it was up to Sirius to explain more, "Ulquiorra's right, it would be suspicious if you all knew was injured before the even Molly was contacted. He wasn't even supposed to be in any danger so he has enough suspicion as it is." He sighed heavily, "For now we can do nothing but wait."

The room lapsed into silence before Sirius broke it with an awkwardly happy sounding question, "So, anybody want any butterbeer? I'm sure Kretcher is around here somewhere."

Ichigo and Ulquiorra just shook their heads before heading off to a chair in a corner and sitting down together, with Ichigo on top of Ulquiorra's lap and her head using his chest as a pillow. "Wake us when he is stable."

Fred, Ichigo could finally tell them apart by the way their anti-reiatsu signatures felt, stood up, "How can you just go to sleep when someone is dying?"

Ichigo closed her eyes, "After standing by so many beds of injured friends I have come to understand and know when I can do nothing but wait. Me worrying will do nothing for him, might as well sleep to pass the time faster." She hated saying that, but she needed an excuse to leave her gigai, had the circumstances been any different she would probably stay up till her body gave out on her.

As it was they seemed to grudgingly accept her excuse, allowing her to subtly press her charm against herself, ejecting her soul form from her body. Looking down she noticed that the necklace had vanished from her gigai and was still around her neck; looking back to Ulquiorra she gave him a quick nod before she turned and rushed out an open window. Ichigo knew it would be a challenge trying to find Mr. Weasley's magical signature, but she had gotten better at sensing the anti-reiatsu of her wizarding friends and knew what she was searching for. Concentrating hard she used her Pesquisa and sent out a pulse of Reiatsu throughout the entirety of London, normally it could only tell her the locations of the spiritually aware but in this case she was searching for a massive void, after all if St. Mungdo's was a wizarding hospital then she just had to find the largest gathering of wizard and witch anti-reiatsu that wasn't Diagon Alley. Her eyes snapped open as she found what she was looking for before she shot off, running with shunpo to reduce any sound, as she ran she couldn't help but revel in the feeling of her reiatsu flowing through her body. She felt lighter, being free of the gigai was always like removing a weight from around her body, and the feel of her reiatsu pulsing through her body and Zangetsu's reassuring weight on her shoulder was welcomed with open arms. Eventually she had to stop and she came upon a closed down department store, she knew that this was the place but she didn't know how to get in. She was going to try and search for Mr. Weasley's magic when she felt something much more familiar, 'Shit, why do the Jibakurei always have to be in a damn hospital?'

Focusing on the much easier to find Jibakurei's reiatsu she quickly opened a window and let herself in, hoping that it would get her past the concealing enchantments. As soon as she slipped inside she found herself inside a clean hospital hallway, complete with antiseptic smell, 'Wow, glad that worked.'

She was about to track down the demi-hollow when she remembered why she came here in the first place, if Mr. Weasley was in a coma the way she had come to prevent then she needed to disguise herself. She looked down at her outfit; it was the typical dress of a member of the fourteenth squad, being a white Shihakusho with a black under-garment to signal their hollow abilities and to reassure any new recruits that they weren't dangerous despite the feel of their reiatsu. Her Haori also had its colors reversed, and with a red inside and her division's number on the back. 'I guess just covering my face would do,'

Ichigo focused her mixed energies towards her face, and dragged her hand in a clawing motion over it like how she would do if summoning her vizard mask. When her hand dropped back down to her side her face was covered with her full hollow mask, it did nothing for abilities and was purely visual but it caused her eyes to change and would also distort her voice, she just hoped she wouldn't scare anyone too badly. By also focusing on her hollow reiatsu she managed to turn her hair completely white, 'Thanks Hichigo.'

It didn't take her long to find the Jibakurei, but it was in the same operating room as Mr. Weasley whose spirit was shaking in fear as he looked at the demi-hollow chained across from him while some wizards worked on his body, their wands flicking randomly as they softly chanted spells to heal his body.

"Damn,"

Mr. Weasley's head darted over to Ichigo, and his eyes widened even more when he saw her, "Ahh! Please, don't kill me! Why? What did I do to deserve this? I just wanted to help my family."

Ichigo's eyes softened, though nobody who could see her present could tell. "Relax, I'm not here to hurt you or anybody else."

Mr. Weasley's shaking only worsened when he saw her mask move in accordance to her speech, and her voice come out with a haunting echo. "Wh-wha-what are y-you?"

Behind her mask Ichigo smiled, newbies always had the funniest reactions, "For now I am the one who sends the dead to the afterlife, I guess you could call me an envoy or somthing."

Despite her echo, Ichigo's words seemed to comfort Mr. Weasley as his shaking stopped somewhat. "So, am I … dead?"

Ichigo shook her head before grabbing Zangetsu, the wrapping that was his sheath falling away to reveal the blade. "You aren't but I am here for the Jibakurei, or earthbound spirit."

It was at this point that the demi-hollow made its presence known again, screeching so loudly that Mr. Weasley clapped his hands to his ears.

"This is wrong! It isn't fair, it isn't right! Why should I die here, in my own operating room when this man lives!?"

Ichigo looked him over; he was a plain man, dressed in hospital scrubs, apparently he was recently deceased since his hole was barely visible and Ichigo only found it because she knew what to look for. "It is the way things are, don't worry, you can start again in Avalon and perhaps live a better afterlife."

He struggled against his chains, "No! No! It was that bastard's fault I died! He didn't make the potion right! It was his fault! I'll kill him!"

Ichigo just shook her head before walking up to the still ranting demi-hollow with her zanpakuto ready.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Weasley shouted over the Jibakurei's screams,

He was ignored as Ichigo simply pressed the pommel of her sword to the man's forehead, his screams growing quiet as a blue energy swirled around him before condensing his form into that of a small glowing butterfly that flew through a wall on its way to Avalon, his soul instinctively knowing which afterlife to go to.

Turning back to Mr. Weasley she explained as she placed Zangetsu back onto her back. "I performed soul burial, it was a way to ease his soul and help him pass on."

She decided to keep things sweet and to the point for now,

Mr. Weasley just stared at her, "Who are you?"

"So, already figured out that I am dead myself?" She teased, "It's okay, as for my name, well I guess I go by many but my name could translate to 'Guardian', but it isn't your time yet so when you are healed I'm here to also help you back into your body."

Mr. Weasley blinked several times before her words finally registered in his brain, "How can you tell? From my point of view I seem pretty dead."

Ichigo just laughed "Do you see the chain linking you to your body?" He nodded, "Good, don't mess with it, it is called your Chain of Fate. Only when it is broken are you dead."

He quickly stopped shifting his feet, and began eyeing his chain warily, "Erm— not to be rude Ms. Guardian, but where is yours?"

"Ms. Guardian?" Ichigo tilted her head questioningly; Mr. Weasley would have called it cute if not for the fearsome skull like face. "Huh…nobody's called me that yet. But my own chain was cut by an axe held by a guy who worked at a candy shop with a mad scientist."

Mr. Weasley just stared, his jaw slack and his glasses slightly askew. He couldn't tell if she was serious or not, "What?"

Ichigo just shrugged, "My life was pretty weird."

He mumbled something that sounded like, "That's an understatement if that really happened."

"So, I guess we can do nothing but wait till the doctors finish patching you up." Ichigo set Zangetsu down against a wall as she slumped down to sit and wait she was soon joined by Mr. Weasley,

"I'm sorry, this is a bit weird for me and-" Ichigo just raised her hand to cut him off,

"Don't worry about it, anything you want to talk about to pass the time?"

He began to relax a bit more, despite appearing quite horrifying the woman next to him was quite friendly and open. Mr. Weasley just scratched the back of his head before readjusting his glasses, "Well, I don't really know what to talk to you about. How old are you?"

Ichigo smirked behind her mask, "A father eh?"

She just laughed as he sputtered at her comment, "It's okay, my dad is much more on the kooky side. He kept bugging me about boyfriends, and had way too much energy."

Mr. Weasley seemed much more comfortable talking about family, and Ichigo could tell it helped her appear more human to him despite how she looked. "I just asked because you seem to be in your teens, and well I have a daughter who is fourteen."

Ichigo smiled a little as he mentioned Ginny, "I was fifteen, almost sixteen when I died. It wasn't that bad though, didn't feel a thing and I knew my family was safe."

He stared at her in shock, "You died defending your family?"

She just nodded, "Yea, things were really a mess but I did what I had to, so long as my sisters were okay I was fine. Sometimes I still visit, although they have boyfriends now."

Mr. Weasley chuckled, "I'll bet you wish you could scare them,"

Ichigo turned to look him in the eye, "Oh, it was easy to scare them…the usual death threat if they don't take care of my sisters becomes much more effective if you hover a giant blade over their family jewels. And then I didn't stop at just that."

The man beside her just laughed, "I would have loved to see that, how did you get them to see you?"

"I have my ways,"

Mr. Weasley sent her a devious grin, "Think you could help me when my daughter starts dating?"

They both just laughed and talked about small things, each of them never saying any names but both enjoying talking about the people they loved.

But at one point Mr. Weasley brought up a question that set Ichigo on edge,

"You know, you have a slight accent, where are you from?"

Ichigo knew he was simply curious, but she didn't want him connecting any dots too early. She sighed, this she couldn't really hide, "Japan."

"Really? Why are you here? It is a bit far from home don't you think?" Ichigo stared at him oddly, was that concern she detected in his voice?

"It's fine, and I guess you could say that I'm just a bit overprotective." She tried to be vague,

Mr. Weasley's face screwed up in thought, "Hey, do you know an Ichigo Kurosaki?"

It took all she had not to tense up, but she managed it, "Yea, I knew her mother." It wasn't a lie; after all she did know her own mother.

He looked at her curiously, "Is that why you're here? You are watching over Ichigo as a favor to her mother or something?"

Ichigo shrugged, "Perhaps, but I won't deny things haven't been that boring. Why do you ask?"

Thankfully that was all that was needed to start him on the topic of his family, the next hour quickly came and went, and soon Mr. Weasley's body was fully healed and being made ready to move to his recovery room.

"I guess you need to put me back?"

Ichigo just nodded, "Yea, don't worry though. It isn't like you would exactly be happy seeing scary o'l me around would it? And don't worry you won't start seeing the dead once you go back to your body."

Mr. Weasley flushed with embarrassment, "You aren't that scary…"

Ichigo held Zangetsu in one hand; the other fisted and placed on her hip, "Really?"

He grimaced, "Alright, you do look scary as hell." He then gave her a small grin, "But even though you aren't human you still have your humanity. I can tell you are a very caring person."

Ichigo smiled, "I'm glad to see you learned from this experience."

He then put a hand on her shoulder, "Even though we didn't really get to know each other, and I'm sorry you had to die so young."

His reward for the sappy goodbye was a small punch to the shoulder, causing him to yelp in pain, "Ouch! What was that for? That is definitely going to bruise."

Ichigo shook her head, "Don't apologize for me dying, I'm happy. I had a job to do I did it and I'm still doing it, and you still have yours to do."

By the time they finished talking they had arrived at Mr. Weasley's ward, standing in front of his body Ichigo told him to lay down on top, but before she pushed him in he had one last question.

"Is this all real?"

Ichigo looked him in the eye, "Depends on what you call reality." And pushed him into his body before she turned to head back to Grimwald Place, she would let him remember, he was going to find out anyway.

Mr. Weasley gasped in air as he opened his eyes and attempted to jerk upwards, only to get a stabbing pain from his side. Looking around he saw that he was in the exact same ward he had been in with that girl soul reaper, but she was nowhere in sight. He quickly looked down at his chest and was relieved to see no chain, "Depends on what you call reality…" He echoed the last words he heard from her.

It was slightly frightening, watching as his body bleed out as the snake slithered away. Then following as his body was taken to St. Mungdo's and seeing that, Jibakury-something. Mr. Weasley shivered, it was all so confusing to him, watching that happen, and feeling like a ghost, and the pure heart wrenching terror at seeing the other earthbound spirit and wondering if it would be him next. And then she came, the self-claimed envoy to the afterlife who looked like a demon from hell, but despite her appearance after talking with her she reminded him so much of his own children, albeit with much more mature with a very overprotective personality. It was…nice, knowing that there were beings like her waiting to help you move on, if only it were not a dream. Mr. Weasley idly rubbed his sore arm from where she had punched him only to freeze in shock, with trembling fingers he pushed his hospital gown up to look at his arm, and saw a slightly red mark that would turn into a bruise by tomorrow.

Arriving back in her gigai Ichigo only had to feign sleep for roughly thirty more minutes before Sirius received news that Mr. Weasley was now in stable condition and would fully recover.

The family had been overjoyed at the information, Harry, Ichigo and Ulquiorra all smiling lightly from the back of the room. Turning to her cousin Ichigo quietly whispered to him, "When they ask, you can tell them everything." He only shot her a confused look to which she shook her head.

With Mrs. Weasley's arrival and subsequent smothering of her children and Harry both Ichigo and Ulquiorra simply walked over to an out of the way couch, somewhat glad they were forgotten by the happy family and laid down together. This time they went to sleep for real, Ichigo snuggling into Ulquiorra, breathing in his scent and feeling secure with his arm over her waist as she continued to use him as a pillow. It was only when Harry mentioned that the two had been the ones to get him to Dumbledore so quickly, and how they did so that everyone remembered the two hybrids. Everyone besides Ron came close to having a heart attack when Harry described their abilities, and he now understood Ichigo's cryptic remark, especially after seeing her sleeping with Ulquiorra on a couch.

After explaining everything there were mixed reactions, but Harry was surprised my just how relived he was to see how everyone accepted them. Mrs. Weasley had burst into tears and everyone could tell that the two would soon be drowned in the Weasley Matron's motherly care, although Harry warned her against pitying them. The Twins had merely smacked their foreheads, "So that is how they prank Umbridge for us,", "Absolutely brilliant."

Ginny just shook her head, "It was because of what they are they were able to help save Dad, at this point they could be half-dementor and You-Know-Who's kids and I wouldn't care."

Sirius though was thoughtful, he studied them as the two hybrids slept, "They must have it harder than even Mooney, at least he has us and even other werewolves. But you said that there were only what, ten others like them? It must be lonely. And to have to hold back what they are all the time, but what I really wonder is what they have yet to tell us."

At this point though Harry cut off his godfather, "Well, I think back home they don't hold back. They always said that they don't tell us things about them to protect us."

Sirius had merely nodded, accepting the reason, "Well, I think today has been eventful enough. Let's all go to bed."

As everyone went off to their bedrooms Mrs. Weasley tried to walk over to Ichigo and Ulquiorra to wake them up so they could go to their own beds but Sirius just stopped her, "I think we should leave them be."

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The next morning Ichigo woke up on top of Ulquiorra, and feeling his arms around her. It was so familiar to how they used to sleep in Hueco Mundo that she almost thought they were back in Las Noches or some cave in the vast desert. Looking up she saw Ulquiorra's green eyes watching her, seeing the round pupils made her miss the way his eyes really were,

"Morning,"

Ichigo said nothing, just held him tighter as she rested her head back on his chest. She almost fell back asleep feeling his fingers gently brush through her hair when she heard Sirius loudly calling for everyone to wake up.

"Kuso, can I bala him?"

Ulquiorra just laughed lightly, his chest moving with the laughter, "No, I don't think the others would like that. C'mon, it is time to wake up."

With that the two sat up on the couch, "Your trunks appeared with everyone else's upstairs. Molly tried to open them so she could get some clothes ready for you but they wouldn't open."

Ichigo felt her eye twitch slightly at the thought of someone opening her trunk but replied calmly, "That's okay; they were created to recognize our energy signatures."

Sirius seemed interested, "Really? How?"

She snorted, "Hell if I know, Geta-boshi made them. He was the founder of the Research and Development division back home before he was framed for a crime and banished."

"Uhh…" Sirius didn't have a clue how to reply to that. "So, we heard from Harry, about everything you told him."

Ulquiorra turned to look at the man; his hands already back in his pockets, "We know, we told him he could tell you. It makes things easier."

Standing behind Ulquiorra Ichigo began thinking, "Hey Ulquiorra? Maybe we can tell them about our jobs, and the Gotei 14."

He turned to look at her curiously, "You sure? It is your call, I could care less."

Ichigo nodded,

"Alright then, you tell them what you want them to know."

At this point Harry walked in, he had dark circles under his eyes and it looked as though he hadn't even gotten a wink of sleep, "You guys are going to tell us more?"

She smiled, "Yea, we can do it over breakfast if you want. Then we can stay and clean up."

Sirius eyed them shrewdly, "Aren't you two going with everyone to visit Mr. Weasley? I'm sure Arthur would like to thank you."

Ulquiorra shrugged, "No, if we go then we shall have to explain ourselves in the hospital room. And all we did was transport Harry. Mr. Weasley's family should visit first with Harry. We shall wait here."

"Gee, could you possibly say that with any less emotion?" Sirius asked blandly, "It's like reading one of my old textbooks."

All he got was a raised eyebrow and an even stare.

"I give up."

The others weren't happy with Ichigo and Ulquiorra's decision to stay behind, but the two were adamant. Tonks and Mad-eye Moody also showed up and Harry was chosen to catch the two up on Ichigo and Ulquiorra, Mad-eye was quick to want to start hexing the two but they simply restrained him using a low level binding kido and placed him in a chair. However when they ran into the Weasley Matron she had burst into tears just seeing them and quickly engulfed them both in a bone crushing hug. "Oh you poor dears!"

The two managed to remove themselves from her hug and sonidoed to the other side of the room, their stances wary as they eyed Mrs. Weasley with apprehension. "Please, don't pity us."

Ulquiorra nodded, "That was, uncomfortable."

This only caused her to tear up more, but Ichigo just raised a hand. "Please Mrs. Weasley, let us explain."

"Now?" Ulquiorra looked over to her curiously, she just nodded.

It wasn't long before everyone settled down at the breakfast table, but an awkward silence hung over the room before Ichigo pushed her empty plate away. "I'll be honest, I've never really had to tell anyone about this kind of thing and I'm still leaving out maybe one or two key details. But for the most part, you will know more of what we are."

Everyone was silent, none of them wanting to interrupt Ichigo for fear of her changing her mind. Moody looked like he was about to say something but Tonks just smacked the back of his head, so instead he settled for glaring at Ichigo since she still hadn't released him.

"To start off a Minus is really called a Hollow, and the reason why nobody but a hollow can enter Hueco Mundo is because it is in a pocket dimension linked to this world."

Everyone's eyes grew wide with shock,

"But to counter hollows there is another group, they are known as Reapers. They too live in a pocket dimension but this one is often known as the Society."

Moody caught on quickly to what Ichigo was leading up too, "So you two aren't human at all, half hollow, and half reaper."

Ichigo sighed, "That is true, but we used to be human."

"But, then how did you become what you are?" Tonks quietly questioned,

"Perhaps it would be best if I just told you most of my story, then questions at the end." Ichigo looked down. "To start off I need to go back one hundred and thirty-five years, reapers age very slowly, and hollows don't age at all due to their natures."

Ron burst, "You are 135 years old?!"

Ichigo chuckled, "No Ron,"

He sighed in relief,

"I'm seventy."

Everyone at the table had to pick their jaws up off the ground, before they looked to Ulquiorra expectantly,

"I don't know, never cared to keep track. But it has been roughly eighty years since I became half reaper and regained most of my humanity."

Sirius sighed, "Just continue Ichigo…let's just get everything over with."

She shook her head, "Well, anyway, 135 years ago my godfather, Urahara was the captain of the twelfth squad of the Gotei 13. The Gotei 13 being the military force that protects the human world from hollows, and with captains being the highest rank besides the head-captain,"

She paused to let the information sink in, "However, the current lieutenant of the fifth squad, Aizen Sosuke," She spat out the name with such hate that many eyebrows rose in confusion, "Had performed hollowfication experiments on eight of his own fellow reapers, along with countless failed experiments often resulting in death or horrible mutation followed by death. The eight who survived were found by Urahara as they lay on the ground, half way hollowfied and completely unstable. He tried to stabilize them in an attempt to save their lives but it only resulted in permanently fusing them to the hollows Aizen had injected them with and they had now an inner hollow, or hollow consciousness that they eventually learned to keep suppressed."

Ichigo paused as her eyes roamed over the various states of shock and horror, "But because they had become hybrids of the enemy, Yamamoto-sou-taichou and the governing body known as Central 46 banished the eight survivors who began to call themselves Vizards. But it didn't end there, since he was found at the scene Urahara took the blame for Aizen and so he was also banished, but with him went Tessai, Yorouichi, and my father once he found out."

"They wandered the human world, unable to stay in one place for too long because of their longevity and for a time split up to find a safe place to settle down. It was when they split up when Urahara found Dumbledore and the whole war with Grindenwald happened, and if any of the stories say he was accompanied by a black cat then that was Yorouichi, she is kinda like a reaper version of an Animangus."

Ichigo could see Sirius, Tonks and Moody making connections, but the younger ones just kept waiting for more information.

"Time passed and my dad met my mom, I won't go into any more details there." There were some light chuckles from the group, "But I was born with abnormally large amounts of reiatsu, the energy used by reapers and hollows, but also the complete opposite of magic. This was an issue because hollows eat those with high amounts of reiatsu, so Urahara, Tessai and Yorouichi settled down in a candy store to keep an eye on my family since they were all friends. It wasn't long later that my twin sisters were born, but luckily they took more after my mom and had only normal human amounts of reiatsu."

Here Ichigo paused, she still didn't like to talk about her mother's death, and she still blamed herself despite all these years. She felt Ulquiorra reach over under the table and hold one of her hands in his own.

"Because of my high levels of reiatsu I was eventually targeted by a hollow, long story short my mother died to protect me and the hollow was chased away by Urahara but it was too late." Ichigo closed her eyes, "My sisters and I grew up, still ignorant of the other worlds until the reaper assigned to patrol our town for hollows came to our house while tracking a hollow. When she realized I had enough reiatsu to look like a tasty entrée she explained how things worked, and not even five seconds after she finished did the hollow attack my family. My father was out working late at the Karakura hospital that night so it was just us, I tried to fight it but I got my ass handed to me and Rukia, who was the reaper, was seriously injured. Faced with only death she held out her sword and told me that I would have to become a reaper if I wanted to save my family, the catch was that to do so I would have to impale myself on her sword."

There were several horrified gasps as everyone looked at her, their eyes focused on her torso as if wondering where the scar might be, or how she was still alive.

"The plan worked and I became a reaper, she erased my sisters' memory of the event and I took over her duties of protecting the humans targeted by hollows. After about three months though her adopted older brother and close personal friend came back to check on why she hadn't reported in to Society." Ichigo let out a humorless laugh, "Turns out that Rukia making me a reaper was illegal and they had come to bring her in and destroy my powers. They did so and left me bleeding out in the dirt of an alley before telling Rukia that she faced execution."

"Execution!?" Sirius blurt out,

Ichigo just nodded, "Yes, when I regained consciousness I was in Urahara's shop. I didn't know at the time that he was my godfather, with him wanting to keep his distance so as not to drag me into any mess related to him and his reputation. But he offered me a way to regain my reaper powers and attempt to rescue Rukia, who by then had become almost like another sister to me. Needless to say I accepted, but to regain my abilities I had to go through the shattered shaft." Ichigo shuddered, the pain was horrifying, even the phantom pain from her memories.

She saw them about to ask what the shaft was but she cut them off, "My arms were sealed behind my back, and I was thrown down a deep hole, the conditions were to find my reaper powers within myself or become a hollow, in three days."

Molly burst into more tears, the kids seemed too horrified to react and Sirius violently stood up, "What the hell?!"

Ichigo just ignored him, "It wasn't looking good, my inner world, the representation of my mind and the reaper power was crumbling as I searched. Everything was fading when I finally found it, but it was almost too late. I came out as a reaper," There were numerous sighs of relief, "And proceeded to knock Urahara's smile of his face with my elbow." Now there were some laughs, even Moody had a slight grin. "And then I trained, meeting and getting to know Zangetsu as well."

At this point Harry spoke up, "Can we meet him? Not now if you don't want but…"

Ichigo smiled, 'Do you want to come out?'

She felt him shrug, "You do know I look different from your drawing."

'So? I'm going to explain it later.'

With that Zangetsu materialized next to her, invisible to the group. Quickly filling her charm with reiatsu she took it off. "Here, put this on so they can see you."

Everyone looked at her in confusion, Ichigo was holding out her necklace to thin air,

"It is not girly, just take it."

"I will not put this on; it works just fine if I hold it in my hand."

Everyone jumped when they saw a middle-aged man fade into existence in front of them. Moody's normal eye was starting to look like his blue one and everyone stared in shock at the man.

"Hello, I am Zangetsu." His voice was deep, but oddly comforting,

Everyone stared at him; he was different from the picture Harry had described. For one his hair was white, and the colors of his outfit were also reversed, but finally there was a black, one horned helmet on one side of his head.

"Feel free to make yourself comfortable Zangetsu-ossan."

He simply smiled before sitting down in an empty chair next to Harry, who just stared. "Uh, nice to meet you?"

All he did was nod,

"Ichigo, why do all the people we meet who are your friends act as emotionless as a plank of wood." Sirius deadpanned,

"Cause they make up for the crazies I deal with, I'll explain why he looks so different later but going on with the story… My friends and I then snuck into Society, and I'll skip the near death situations and fights. We managed to save her life, but on the day of Rukia's execution it was revealed that Aizen was a traitor, who wanted to execute Rukia so that he could get his hands on the power Urahara had hidden in her, the same power he used to save the Vizards. It was also revealed that Aizen had slaughtered the Central 46, and replaced them with illusions to instill his will upon Society. But when he exposed himself to take the power he and his two accomplices were forced to flee back to their base of operations in Hueco Mundo."

Now Ichigo reached for a glass of water but before she could continue Ulquiorra spoke up, "Aizen began to create an army of hollows, but since the typical hollow is consumed by instincts and almost instinctively harbor a hatred of reapers and would sooner turn on each other than an enemy there are some things you have to understand first. For hollows there is an evolutionary process, first there is the ordinary or newborn hollow which you already know of. Then there is the Gillian class, stronger, much larger but also much slower and less intelligent, Gillian is the worst class to be because most who become so lose what little awareness of self they have. Occasionally there is a Gillian that retains their sense of self however and continues to evolve into the next class called Adjuchas, some say they face a fate worse than that of the Gillian because they must continue the evolutionary process or they will devolve back into a Gillian but lose all sense of self. After Adjuchas rank there is the Vasto Lorde, the strongest rank and it is only once a hollow has reached that rank that they begin to recover some of their humanity, but it is the last rank, at least it is if you don't know about the rank of Arrancar."

Ulquiorra paused, the whole time had had been talking he was staring blankly at the glass of water he held in his hands, his voice completely devoid of emotion as he spoke. "Becoming an Arrancar is a long and painful process, and nine out of ten Vasto Lordes who attempt it are found and devoured by other hollows as the process leaves them completely vulnerable. But the reward is being free of the hunger that consumes a hollow, free of the reason why the Society wants to kill us, free of our own instincts."

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, "That is why so many hollows would follow Aizen, that is why so many looked up to him, that is why even I would follow him till I died. Because he used the power he took from Urahara to turn any Adjuchas or Vasto Lorde into an Arrancar, with no risk of death. But in the end Aizen considered us as nothing more than animals, and willingly sent us into situations he knew we could not survive."

"That is why there are only three of you left, isn't it." Harry murmured softly,

Ulquiorra only nodded before Ginny spoke up, "What does a hollow have to do to evolve? You never were specific."

He sighed, "To evolve a hollow must consume reiatsu, whether it be a reaper, a human or another hollow. To answer the most likely question I was a Vasto Lorde prior to becoming an Arrancar."

The only sound heard was Mrs. Weasley's sobs before they heard growling coming from Moody, "So, you admit to killing humans?"

Ichigo glared at him, "If you turn into a hollow and do not succumb to your hunger then you can talk, but since I don't want to put you through that you will leave Ulquiorra alone or shove my shoe so far up your ass you'll be spitting out rubber, try me."

He looked like he wanted to say more but Ginny spoke up first, "You don't -you know— now though, do you?"

Ulquiorra shook his head, "Since I became an Arrancar I have only eaten other hollows as they were the only food source available in Hueco Mundo."

Tonks grinned before turning to Moody, "See? That proves he's on our side, soon as he was able to think clearly he stopped! Stop being so suspicious Mad-eye."

Everyone heard Mad-eye's grinding teeth but Ichigo ignored him and continued,

"So Society declared war on Aizen, who was using the power he stole to try and become a god. His ego and god-complex was really something else. But Aizen ordered Ulquiorra to kidnap a friend of mine by the name of Orihime because of her exceptional healing abilities, long story short my friends and I along with some others from Society snuck into Aizen's fortress of Las Noches to try and rescue her. Ulquiorra and I fought, I barely defeated him, and then we went back to Society only to find that they had tricked Aizen into appearing there with the rest of his army and the final battle as corny as it sounds was taking place."

Ichigo sighed, and leaned even further back into her chair, "But our foes were too powerful, and I just ended up getting my ass handed to me. I'm going to skip some events and get to the part where I meet up with Zangetsu and my inner hollow Hichigo."

"What?" Harry shouted in shock, "But-"

"I may not have turned into a hollow in the shattered shaft, but I partially hollowfied. At that point I was a vizard, although my inner hollow was a representation of my hollow abilities and the manifestation of all my negative emotions and instincts. She was a sadistic bitch for sure, but despite all her threats to kill me and take over my body she only wanted to protect me."

"Err, yea," Fred said disbelievingly, "She wanted to protect you, by threatening to take over your body and kill you?"

Ichigo shrugged, "It was actually a threat to drag me down and crush my skull, very good motivator to get stronger if you ask me."

At this point Moody gave out a harsh bark of laughter, "I can see that."

"But despite being a separate entity in my head she was a part of me, a part I didn't want to acknowledge but a part all the same. In the end because of a near death situation she fused with me, and with Zangetsu to restore the balance of my powers. That fusion is what caused Zangetsu's appearance change and my own hair to become naturally streaked with white and it also caused my eyes to become amber instead of the brown they used to be."

She could tell that everyone was now analyzing her more closely, especially her hair and eyes. But they were also looking at Zangetsu.

"After that the fuse healed me of all the injuries I had prior to falling unconscious and I rejoined the fight. In the end Aizen was killed but before he died he launched a gargantua, a portal to Hueco Mundo which was supposed to be sealed shut at the time. I made sure nobody else fell in at the cost of myself, and when I passed through I fell unconscious amid the sands of Hueco Mundo."

Molly's sobs had increased to such a degree that she began to hiccup as she tried using a towel to dry her tears. Even Ginny looked close to tears as everyone else seemed frozen in shock, but Ichigo could see a gleam of respect in Moody's normal eye. "After I woke up I found myself in the care of Nel, her adoptive brothers, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra. Nel had kept Grimmjow from killing me and Ulquiorra didn't care either way at the time but I told them about Aizen's betrayal and death and we kinda just stuck together, safety in numbers and all of that. In the end we were stuck in Hueco Mundo for fifty years, which translated to ten years this world and Society's time, don't ask me how…none of us understand it really. After that Rukia and Renji found us once the seal wore off and we left and I got to see my family and friends again, but boy was it weird seeing everyone ten years older. We couldn't tell how much time had passed as it is always night in Hueco Mundo."

Ichigo shrugged, "That's pretty much it, we joined the Gotei 13 and formed the 14th squad which is the hybrid squad and things continued as normal for us."

"Any questions?"

Everyone was silent, each of the others digesting the whole tale they just heard, but Tonks was the first to break the ice, "So, how long did it take for you two to get together?"

Ichigo felt like she would face-vault, "Really? Of all the things you would want to know? It is about our relationship?"

Tonks nodded vigorously,

"It took us roughly twenty-five years to get together; we don't know the exact numbers though."

The pink haired auror whistled, "Wow, that's a long time."

Feeling like she had something to prove for some strange reason Ichigo also spoke up, "Yea, but it took Renji about a hundred years to finally propose to Rukia."

Tonk's eyes bulged out of her head, "Okay, I stand corrected."

George raised a hand, which caused Ichigo to give him a 'really?' look. "Who is the oldest guy you know?" He asked sheepishly,

"Uhh," Ichigo frowned, "Yamamoto-sou-taichou founded the Reaper Academy roughly two-thousand years ago. That is as far back as I know."

Both twin's had to pick their jaws up off the ground, "Bloody hell! That guy is older than dirt!"

Ulquiorra, Ichigo and even Zangetsu chuckled, "I would advise against letting him hear you saying that, he is very strict. And Old-fashioned."

Everyone stared at Ulquiorra in shock, Sirius had raised a shaking finger to point at him, "Did you just, make a joke?"

Ulquiorra looked over to Sirius out of the side of his eyes, "Perhaps."

Everyone laughed at Sirius's face, and at the fact that Ulquiorra really did make a joke. Harry however looked at Zangetsu, "What is it like being Ichigo's sword?"

Zangetsu just looked at Harry, "It is my duty to support her in times of need, to help train her and to protect her. I try to keep the rain away."

"Rain?" Harry sounded confused,

"When Ichigo feels despair, or hopelessness it rains in her inner world. I don't like rain."

With that he tossed Ichigo back her charm necklace and vanished from sight before going back into Ichigo's inner world, causing her to roll her eyes.

"He doesn't talk much."

"That's an understatement," Sirius frowned, "Does he always talk so cryptically?"

Ichigo snorted, "All zanpakuto talk cryptically, but I'd take talking with him over talking with Hichigo any day, even if we did come to an agreement."

Tonks perked up, "Wasn't Hichigo your inner hollow? What kind of things did she talk to you about?"

Looking over to Ulquiorra Ichigo asked, "What do you think? Quote or summarize?"

He grinned slightly, "Quote, I want to see how they react."

She just rolled her eyes, "Alright, here goes the quote, although I'm surprised I remember what she said so well, but then again it scared the hell out of me, 'In order for identical beings to get stronger and gain the power they need to become queen, they must search for more battles and power! They thirst for battle, and live to mercilessly, crush, shred, and slice their enemies! Deep, deep within our body lies the honed instinct to kill, and slaughter our enemies! But you don't have that! You don't have those pure, base instincts! You fight with your brain. You try to defeat your enemies with logic! And it doesn't work! You're trying to cut them with a sheathed sword! That's why you're weaker than me, Ichigo!' Yea, she was certainly a piece of work alright. And in case you were wondering she called me queen because I was the 'queen' of my body. And she said that before stabbing me in the gut with my own sword."

Everyone was staring at her; Ichigo was starting to get tired of it. "That is, freaky.", "She sounds crazy,", "You dealt with that?", "She stabbed you?", "How the hell are you still here?"

Ichigo rolled her eyes, "Yes to all."

Everyone just shook their heads, and Harry spoke up, "I think I'm done for today, my brain is going to explode."

Moody however asked one last question before everyone left the table, "If hollows go after people with this reshi energy, then how do we protect ourselves from them?"

Ichigo released her restraining kido from him before answering, "You all don't have to worry about that, as wizards you all possess an anti-reiatsu." Seeing all the blank looks Ichigo expanded, "It's like this, to a hollow a regular human is like…a sandwich? Whereas a reaper is a chocolate bar and a witch slash wizard is like curdled milk. You guys just wouldn't be appetizing, especially with Ulquiorra and I as comparison, soon as they would get a whiff of us they would drop you guys like a bad habit, if they were even thinking of eating you all in the first place."

Fred and George looked at each other, "Interesting analogy, but…"

"I don't know if we should be offended,"

"Or relived,"

Both hybrids just rolled their eyes before saying the same thing, "Relieved."

With everyone finally leaving the table both Ichigo and Ulquiorra started on the dishes, Molly had tried to get them to stop but her overbearing nature was curbed when Ulquiorra shot her down with a glare.

Before Harry left however Ichigo pulled him aside, "Are you okay?"

He looked at her oddly, "What do you mean?"

Ichigo looked down at her feet, "I mean, are you okay with what we told everyone."

Harry let out a big sigh, "Well, it is a lot to swallow. But it's kinda cool in a way."

"Huh?" Ichigo tore her gaze from her feet to stare at her cousin in shock,

He grinned sheepishly, "Well, who else can say that their cousin is a warrior of another dimension who defends humanity?"

Ichigo couldn't help it, she laughed, "I don't think I've ever heard it put that way." When she finally recovered she pulled her cousin into a hug, "Thanks Harry, and if you ever have any problems you know you can talk to me."

He pulled away somewhat, "Like you don't have enough of your own?"

Ichigo scowled, "Baka, you are family. You can always ask me for help."

Eventually everyone left, except for Sirius who was now alone with the two hybrids, he had started questioning whether or not they would make sure their past did not come to hurt Harry. He clearly thought he looked intimidating but both Ichigo and Ulquiorra had seen way worse, and promptly told him so causing the grown man to pout comically and claim that they had an unfair advantage.

It was the end of the day when the group come back, each of the Weasleys having a grin on their face as they talked about their father but Ichigo noticed that Harry was numb again, his eyes wide and afraid, he also seemed to be distancing himself from the rest of the group. Ichigo tried to go over to him so she could find out what was wrong, her older-sibling senses telling her something wasn't right with him, she could just see 'wrong' written all over his face. But before she had a chance she found him in his room, the door closed and he refused to answer.

Despite her worries, and desire to bala the door and get her cousin to talk Ichigo decided to give him the night to sort it out himself. If he wanted to be alone she would give it to him, but if he was still like this by the end of tomorrow then she was getting some answers.

The next day dawned uneventfully, Ichigo had gone to sleep with Ulquiorra on the couch again, and the whole group had eaten breakfast quietly. But the whole time Ichigo and Ulquiorra had slight frowns on their faces, and just seemed to poke their food.

"What's wrong you two? You look glum." Tonks called from her seat at one end of the table,

Ichigo pushed a sausage into her syrup, "Something seems, off, like I'm forgetting something important."

Ulquiorra nodded, "The same here, but it seems more like a someone."

Tonks opened her mouth to say more when suddenly a Senkaimon opened up in the middle of the room, causing everyone to grow silent as a small butterfly came out before Renji stepped out of the door.

"Renji? What?"

The normally brash hot-head simply lifted his hand, revealing a copy of one of Ichigo and Ulquiorra's charm necklaces full of reiatsu. "Urahara gave it to me to help explain, Ichigo all seated and unseated officers are being recalled."

Both hybrids eyes widened in shock, "What happened?"

"We're under attack, and nobody remembers Rukia."