Mors Amicus in Uiam Uitae

by StrifesLady

Sequel to Familia Ante Omnia. Join us back in the world where Lily, James and the Prewett twins still live. Where Ichigo was once Regulus and Sirius is Kaien's current incarnation. Where Harry is not a boy but a girl, where Remus and James are his parents... Won't you join us in our story or will you sit this one out?

26. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Vote of No Confidence

Renji gazed down at the slumbering Arrancar next to him, as he watched Ulquiorra he thought about how the other male had slowly come to trust him little by little until the Arrancar could sleep while Renji laid beside him. Ulquiorra opened a single green eye sleepily before he nuzzled the tattooed man's neck as he murmured, "go to sleep, Renji," he then closed his eye and went back to sleep. Renji chuckled quietly before he ran his fingers through the bat evolved Arrancars short black hair, he then laid down from his slightly elevated position beside him. As he laid beside the other man he allowed himself to remember their first meeting, a few months ago as well as the first month or so living together.

Flash Back

Renji approached the Arrancar he had been assigned parole officer of, he smiled cheerfully at the silent green eyed being before he said, "hi, my name is Renji Abari and it seems we'll be stuck together for a while." The Arrancar blinked at him in puzzlement and Renji sighed as he said, "in other words we'll need to learn to at least tolerate if not outright like each other."

Ulquiorra looked almost bemused at that remark before he followed Renji through the portal to the living world, the gigai's that Ulquiorra and Renji had been given just an hour ago was immediately manifested as soon as they set foot outside of Urahara's shop. The Gigai, Urahara reassured them, would not only convert human food into the proper nutrition for hollows but it would change into a type of jewelry: a necklace, a ring, a set of earrings or a bracelet. Nel had chosen a necklace as hers, Tia had chosen a pair of earrings instead, both Lilynette and Coyote had chosen bracelets same as Grimmjow while Ulquiorra had been the only one to choose the ring option. All of the Shinigami were given similar gigai as the Arrancar save the fact that theirs didn't need to process human food.

Ulquiorra's gigai looked just like he did usually minus the remains of his Hollow mask, his hollow hole, his Espada rank tattoo and the green tear marks going down his cheeks from the outer corners of his eyes to his jaw. His gigai was also much less pale then he normally was, Urahara had remarked that no human could be as pale as he was, shortly after they stepped out of the Senkaimon, Renji winced slightly before he said, "I'm sorry but I'm going to need to put the Reiatsu suppression bracelet on you." Ulquiorra pinned him with his flat green gaze before he nodded in understanding and held out his right wrist to the red haired lieutenant. Renji took a plain bracelet with the engraving of a bat on it out of his pocket, he opened the bracelet by trailing a finger coated in Reiatsu along a point opposite of the bat engraving. It opened and Renji slipped it over the small wrist before he snapped it closed with a soft click, where it had been opened it appeared to be seamless.

All of the Reiatsu suppression bracelets had been spelled with notice-me-not charms by Ichigo so no one would realize that the bracelets didn't have a visible way to be taken off. It would have caused too many unanswerable questions if she hadn't spelled them that way, before they had left for the living world Renji had been handed an envelope by Kisuke. Renji opened the envelope inside was a letter and a pair of keys, he eyed the keys and took out the letter so he could read it.

'Dear Abari-San,

Your apartment is at 314 Raiden St Apt C. Some items for the apartment have already been purchased and an account for your use has already been set up. The bills will automatically be paid out of the account so don't worry about that and your rent has been prepaid for three years. I understand that you don't know much about the living world but take the time to explore it with Ulquiorra so the two of you can learn together. If there is something you don't understand you can as Uryu-Kun or Chad or you can consult a book as the Visoreds and I often did if we didn't understand something when we fled to the living world one hundred years ago. The keys inside the envelope are to your front door, one is for you and the other is for Ulquiorra's copy, do NOT lose them.

Have fun with the little Bat,

Kisuke Urahara

Captain of the 12th division

Fiancé of Kushina Uzumaki

Mad Scientist

P.S. Don't break your pet Arrancar, we won't replace him. ^_^

Renji snorted at the parting note before he handed one of the keys to Ulquiorra and said, "here, this is yours don't lose it since it belongs to the front door to our apartment." At the green eyed mans puzzled look the tattooed lieutenant raised an eyebrow be fore he asked, "haven't you ever seen a door lock?"

Ulquiorra stared at him before he asked in a slightly confused tone while tilting his head to the side, "what is a door lock?"

Renji facepalmed before he took a deep breath and let it out as he said, "tell you what. Let's go to our place so I can show you what it looks like and what it's used for, alright?"

The green-eyed Arrancar gave him an odd look but nodded in agreement before he said quietly, "alright. Is it far from here," he asked before he stepped up next to the tall redhead.

Renji looked back down at the letter and said thoughtfully, "no, it's not that far and we'll be close to Chad's home." He sighed slightly before he said, "lets go to the apartment so we can find out what we need to buy." With that said he began walking toward Chad's place, as they walked Renji kept an eye out for the sign for Raiden St. Once he spotted it he checked to see which way they'd have to turn onto the street, they turned left and five places down he spotted three fourteen, it was a building with only four apartments lettered A through D.

A and B were downstairs so that meant C along with D was upstairs, the red haired man led the way up the outside steps to the apartment above A. Sure enough it was apartment C, Renji pointed at the doorknob and deadbolt as he did he said, "that is a door lock and doorknob. It takes a lot of force for a human to break a deadbolt, door locks are to ensure both privacy and safety, unless you pick or break a lock you can only get past a lock by having the key that goes to the lock. Why don't you try your key in the lock," he suggested with a small gesture toward the door.

Ulquiorra stepped forward hesitantly and after he studied the lock as well as the key, he carefully slid the key into place before he sent a questioning look at Renji. The red haired man smiled at him encouragingly before he instructed him, "turn the key, some locks will unlock if you twist the key right and others will unlock if you twist it left. You should hear a faint click when it unlocks," he added thoughtfully. Ulquiorra followed the instruction and twisted the key to the right, when he didn't hear a click he tried it the other way. He heard a soft series of clicks and the door knob turned but the door remained stubbornly shut. Renji smiled at the confused look on the hollows face before he reached down and said, "here, I'll show you," he put his hand over the dark haired mans. He then turned the key slowly back to the right but stopped it at the neutral position then pulled both the key and Ulquiorra's hand away from the lock.

Renji then pulled the unresisting hand up to the deadbolt and slid the key into place, the slightly befuddled look disappeared from the green gaze as it dawned on Ulquiorra that the key unlocked both locks. He twisted the key in the same direction as the way the door lock opened and heard a single click this time and the door swung open. Renji gestured for the other man to enter first and explore his new home, while he looked around the living room Renji had shut the door and locked it. The first place that the red haired shinigami checked out was the kitchen, upon seeing the place was devoid of food, appliances, (except for a fridge, stove and dishwasher of course,) dishware, cutlery, and cooking vessels, he knew they would be going shopping.

The next place Renji went was to see about the sleeping arrangements, he sighed when he saw that there was only one bedroom but he guessed that they wanted him to keep an eye on Ulquiorra. Not to mention getting the Arrancar comfortable in the belief that letting someone near him wouldn't cause him pain. Renji made a mental list of everything they needed to buy, luckily it was still early in the day so they had plenty of time. He added new clothes onto the list upon remembering that the two of them only had the clothes on their backs to wear and after peeking into the bathroom he added towels, washrags, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, toilet paper as well as shaving cream to the mental list he had going.

He had found another envelope addressed to him in the kitchen, it had been stuck to the fridge via a magnet, this one was from Ichigo's cousin.

'Dear Renji-San,

I've taken liberty to open an account for you, the cark inside is linked to the account. Use it to buy whatever you need for your time in the living world. That includes frivolous things like paying to see a movie, or play, or to visit a carnival. I don't believe that any of the Arrancars have had a good life with Aizen and hollows are only born due to a human soul becoming greatly distressed.

In other words, make sure your Arrancar has fun!

Good luck,

Kushina Potter-Lupin

Head of the Kings Guard

Professor of the Shinigami Arts class

Student Head of Gryffindor House

Lady of the Houses Slytherin, Gryffindor and Noir

Fiancée of Kisuke Urahara

Prankster Extraordinaire'

He walked out into the living room to find the Arrancar staring at the various movies in curiosity. Renji shook his head in amusement before he reached out and tapped the hollow on his left shoulder as he said, "come on. We've got a bit of shopping to do, thankfully we won't need to buy furniture but we will have to come back after each shopping trip." Before they left the apartment Renji asked, "do you have your key," Ulquiorra pulled it out of his left front pocket and show it to him before he put it back. Renji nodded as he locked the door as he said, "I was just checking, make sure that you never leave the apartment without it. Even if I'm there when you leave I might not be when you get back so make sure never to forget it, okay?"

Once again Ulquiorra nodded in understanding as he followed Renji to a store that sold nothing but linens, the tattooed man steered him over to the bedding department first. "Get whatever you like, I recommend the highest thread count you can find in a color you like, the higher the thread count the softer it feels. Make sure to get several sets," Renji added absently as he checked out a set of tie-dye sheets.

Ulquiorra picked out six sets, two sets in dark green, one set of black, two more sheet sets in red and one in a chocolate brown. After he had chosen his and Renji had placed all of the sheet sets, as well as pillow cases, into their cart the red head had let the green eyed man over to the blankets and comforters. Once again, Renji told him to get several sets he liked, the Arrancar chose the same amount in the same colors, while he was doing Renji had retrieved four pillows from nearby. The red haired man also picked up towels, washing and terrycloth robes in the same colors as the sheets and comforters. Thankfully, the store allowed them to use the cart to take their purchases home as long as it was returned immediately so they took all the linens home and placed them all in the living room. Renji had also thought to grab curtains while at the store so when he got home from the last shopping trip so he could put them up.

After dropping off the cart, the pair headed to a nearby kitchen supply store, Renji spotted different sets of Hallowe'en themed dishware and after seeing that the theme for one of them was just Bats he grabbed it. They also picked out some pots, pans, cooking utensils, or cutlery set as well as a toaster, microwave, can opener and coffeemaker, Renji preferred coffee over tea any day. After they had taken the results of that shopping back to the apartment the headed to a large scale retail/grocery store for bathroom supplies and food.

After they had bought everything they needed for two weeks they headed back to the apartment, the store would be delivering the groceries to the building since it would take the two far too many trips to and from the store to carry it all. While waiting for delivering Renji put up the curtains Ulquiorra got the beds ready for when they to bed, the two of them had gotten two pairs of jeans and three tee shirts while at the last store but had decided to go clothes shopping in a couple of days. After he finished putting up the curtains Renji started putting away the kitchen stuff they had bought, shortly after he finished he heard a knock at the door.

After the food had been delivered and put away Renji asked, "are you hungry?"

Ulquiorra gave an affirmation to him and Renji began to fix them lunch, a simple chicken stir-fry and store-bought egg rolls. After lunch had been eaten and the dishes cleaned, Renji decided to watch some TV, Ulquiorra, not having anything better to do, followed him. The red headed man plopped into one of the recliners while Ulquiorra had sat down on the sofa, he watched as Renji fiddled with the remotes, Renji finally settled on the discovery channel. The channel, amusingly enough, was doing a special on Bats, Renji allowed the flow of the narrators voice to lull over him, before he could slip into slumber he mentally told Zabimaru, 'defend me and wake me up if he attempts to kill me'

He heard Zabimaru murmur, 'of course, master.' With that he made mental notes on habits of bats, along with other behaviors such as feeding habits, mating habits and courtship behavior. Eventually the tattooed man slipped into slumber, after the program ended Ulquiorra looked over and saw that his probation officer was asleep, he blinked in shock that the shinigami would be so trusting as to fall asleep around him. He then noticed a sword propped up beside the chair that Renji was sleeping in, it glowed slightly as it pulsed slightly as he watched.

His green eyes gleamed as he realized that Renji wasn't that trusting after all, 'good,' he then turned his attention back to the TV, as he did he idly wondered just what in the world was a pyramid and why would someone build one let alone three.

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Two days later, the pair stepped into a clothing shop, two females shop assistants ogled the two men who were now browsing among the clothes. Renji pulled severed slacks off the rack before he handed them to Ulquiorra as he said, "here, try these on." The green-eyed man warily took the pants from him and went to the changing rooms to try on the clothes, within twenty minutes he was back, he handed three pairs over to Renji. All three pairs was the same size so the red haired man assumed that they were the ones that fit the Arrancar, especially since the other man was putting rest of them on the racks. Renji looked the slacks over and said absently, "go ahead and pick out eleven more, that way you'll have enough to last you two weeks."

While he was doing that Renji was picking out fourteen slacks for himself before he drifted over to the jeans he picked out three sets of jeans. He again handed them to the green eyed man when he brought Renji the rest of his slacks. When he returned from trying them on he handed Renji the jeans that were the same size as the slacks. Once the pair had gotten five blue jeans and nine black jeans each they decided to look to tee-shirts that had sayings on them, Renji got one that said, 'I bet my sword is bigger than yours,' on the front of it. Ulquiorra got several of the shirts one said, 'who wants angel wings and halos? I'd rather have demon wings, a tail and horns any day…' It was written in blood red on a black shirt and had an emotionless smiley under the words.

Renji snickered when he found a tee shirt that said, 'who cares about angels in a bed, I have a pair of devils in mine,' he smirked as he added it to the pile. At Ulquiorra's curious glance he said, "it's for Yumichika, he's dating twin pranksters so it somewhat fits." The pale man snorted as he placed his eighteen tee shirts to the pile before he headed over to the dress shirts, Renji smirked as he shook his head. He then took the pile of clothes over to the register and asked the girl running it kindly, "can I leave these here? I'm afraid we have a bit more browsing to do," he shrugged apologetically.

The woman at the register smiled happily at him as she took the pile from him as she said, "of course you can leave them here while you continue shopping. If I'm not here just tell whoever it is that you left some items here when you checkout, alright sir?"

Renji nodded as he said, "alright, thank you miss."

"Glad I could help you, sir," she said brightly as she organized the pile of clothes so it could be rung up easily when he went to checkout.

Renji walked through the underwear department and spotted some Hallowe'en themed socks on clearance, when he saw some bat themed socks he grabbed a few for Ulquiorra. He then began browsing through the dress shirts and picked out sixteen of them in various colors, by the time he was done so was Ulquiorra. He then led the other man to the underwear department so he could pick out some underwear and socks. Twenty minutes later the pair was exiting the store with four large bags each, Renji was carrying the pants while Ulquiorra was carrying the shirts and undergarments.

As they walked back toward the apartment, Ulquiorra paused in his tracks and tilted his head to the side as he listened to a strange, to him at least, noise. When Renji realized that the other man wasn't following him anymore he looked back at him curiously. Upon seeing the raised tattooed brow, the pale skinned man asked him, "what is that noise?"

Renji tilted his head so he could hear better, he recognized the music type but not the artist, "it's classical music," Renji finally placed the building, it had looked familiar to him. He pointed at it as he said, "that's the Performing Arts Theater, they don't allow the public to view practices today but they o allow the public to view tomorrows practice. If you want we can go see them," the tall tanned man suggested.

Ulquiorra nodded absently as he began walking toward the apartment, as he neared Renji he said, "if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see this practice."

Renji smiled as he fell into step beside the quiet man before he said, "it's no trouble at all, heck my captain and Rukia will probably adore you for getting me to listen to it." When the green gaze became worried, Renji bumped him lightly with his hip and said, "hey, don't tell them this, but I like classical music, it's soothing to me."

At that Ulquiorra relaxed next to him, Renji hazard a guess that the former fourth Espada hadn't wanted to make him angry by having him do something he disliked just for Ulquiorra's sake. Renji silently thanked the King that the wary being had accepted his reassurance that he wouldn't find the affair tomorrow boring, although he did enjoy the occasional listening of classical music he'd probably only not find it boring if the other man enjoyed the music.

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Renji grinned as he sent Zabimaru flying toward his now winged opponent, Ulquiorra dodged out of the way with a small smile on his face. The green eyed man sent a barrage of Ceros at the now laughing redhead, who easily dodged the attacks, this was not the first time they had sparred together and Renji had gone into Bankai when Ulquiorra had entered his Segunda Etapa, the former Espada had been startled the first time he had used that stated in a spar against Renji. Instead of becoming disgusted or repulsed by his appearance like Ulquiorra had thought he'd become Renji had returned his sword to it's sealed state and pounced on the startled Arrancar. He had ran his fingers along the fur on both of Ulquiorra's arms before running his fingers through the longer fur at the hollows waist. Unconsciously, the bat evolved hollow made a crooning sound at Renji's actions, his now elongated furred ears twitched as his long, thin black tail wrapped around Renji's waist and upper body.

Suffice to say that they had never finished that particular spar, it also marked the first time that Zabimaru had appeared outside of Renji's inner world out of their combined animal forms in front of Ulquiorra. The green eyed man had been slightly startled by the way a young woman with mauve hair that had black colored marks in it that looked identical to Renji's tattoos, her hair reached her mid calf. A boy with shoulder length red hair appeared along with her, the hollow had noticed that a thick black chain connected a collar around the boys neck to the woman's waist, the chain wrapped around her hips in an X shaped pattern. He had then noticed that the pair had fangs, he also noticed that the boy was suddenly the same height as the woman and when Ulquiorra looked down he noticed that a long white snake tail trailed from the boy, it was holding him up. The boy was clad in white clothes trimmed in gold, he had his arms and legs crossed, the sleeves of his top extended far past his hands.

The woman seemed to be covered in dark green fur except on her inner abdomen and chest, her green eyes stared at him as if measuring his worth. The blue eyed gaze of the boy also seemed to be assessing him, after several long moments the boy nodded approvingly and the woman said to Renji while still staring at Ulquiorra, "he'll do, Master."

Ulquiorra would have been insulted if not for the teasing lilt to the slightly rough voice and the faint glint of humor in her gaze, he realized that the pair was merely teasing Renji about something. "Saru," Renji shouted in a fit of embarrassment before he said sternly, "both you and Hebi need to stop teasing us. Or I'll ask Captain Kuchiki to come spar with us so we don't get rusty while in the living world."

Both of them blanched before the woman glared at Renji and growled, "very well, Master, Hebi and I will cease our teasing."

Ulquiorra laughed as he remembered the first time his Murcielago had decided to appear in front of Renji. They had been sitting in the living room watching TV, Renji had taken off Ulquiorra's Reiatsu bracelet earlier in the day and had yet to put it back on him. "What are you watching," a voice came from behind them, the pair was sharing the couch, Renji was sitting upright while Ulquiorra was laying beside him with his head pillowed on Renji's right thigh.

When he had heard the voice from behind him, Renji had jumped slightly but all Ulquiorra had done was glance over his shoulder and the back of the couch as he said, "it's a nature show called Crocodile Hunter. I'm of the opinion that this Steve Irwin is absolutely insane."

Renji blinked up at her, he eyed her appearance and noticed a great deal of resemblance to Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa form. Like the green eyed hollow, she had large bat-like wings covered by a short pelt of fur, she had the same long ears that somewhat resembled horns as well as the same long, thin black tail. He couldn't see her feet but he took a wild guess and would bet that her feet probably resembled those of a predatory bird. She had long black hair, her gold eyes didn't have pupils nor any iris' in fact Renji probably would have described them as molten gold. She wasn't wearing clothes but was instead covered in a pelt of black fur all over her body except from the top of her shoulders to her clavicles. Her inner abdomen was also devoid of fur, her hands were tipped with silver colored talons, she absently reached down and ran her talons through Renji's loose hair as she watched the show.

End Flash Back

That had been about two months ago, Renji glared over at the clock on the dresser as he wondered why he couldn't get to sleep, he noted that it was almost eight a clock at night. Renji frowned as he slipped out of the bed and padded silently to the front door, after he checked his appearance he opened the door. He raised an eyebrow at the way his Captain and Ichigo were dressed before he asked, "how can I help you, sir?"

To Renji's surprise Ichigo had handed him the baby bag for Masaki and said, "I've been summoned for an emergency Wizenmengot meeting. Since both Heads of the family are required to attend all emergency meetings along with their spouses if they have one, so we need someone to watch Masaki for a few hours. Can you and Ulquiorra watch her, I doubt she'll even wake up but I'd feel better if she was with a shinigami tonight."

Renji snorted lightly as he put the strap for the bag over his shoulder and took the sleeping baby from his captain before he said, "of course I can watch her. Go to your meeting, I wasn't getting much sleep anyway," Renji the shooed them away from his door.

After the pair had left Renji went back inside and locked the door behind him, he then went into the bedroom and set the bag on the dresser, he then rummaged through it with one hand until he found the shrunk crib. He silently thanked the King that Kushina had given Ichigo the automatically shrinking and unshrinking crib. After he had reversed the shrinking charm he had placed Masaki into the crib before he crawled back into bed with Ulquiorra, a small light flashed and Zabimaru appeared next to the crib.

As soon as he was sure that his Zanpakuto was keeping an eye on the child Renji had rolled onto his left side behind the slumbering hollow before he nuzzled the back of the other man's neck and draped his right arm over his waist. Within minutes he had fallen asleep, Zabimaru rolled their eyes and curled up next to the crib, it closed it's eyes to take a small nap.

Scene Change

At Hogwarts Draco and Theodore had gotten dressed in the official robes of the Heads of their respective families, Kushina had already dressed in the combined robes of Noir, Slytherin and Gryffindor. James and Remus were already dressed in the robes of House Potter while Sirius was clad in the robes of House Black, Severus was reluctantly clad in the robes of House Prince. Lily and Coyote had agreed to watch over both children while their parents were at the ministry, Isshin had bowed to Sirius and said, "the House of Kurosaki will stand behind the Head of House Black's decisions."

Since Rodolphus and Rabastan had been acquitted of all crimes that they had been convicted of, the elder brother was clad in the robes of the Head of House Lestrange. Many of the muggle raised students were wondering what was going on, their pureblood and magic raised neighbors began to explain what the robes along with the crests meant. At nine in the morning everyone required to attend rose and exited the school, once at the designated area they all apparated to the atrium of the Ministry.

Everyone stopped at the check in wizard and handed over their wands for inspection before identifying themselves along with their reason for visiting the Ministry. Albus hadn't been required to hand over his wand since he was the Chief Warlock of the Wizenmengot he wand was already on file. Draco stepped forward and handed over his wand, after the wizard identified what his wand was made from Draco said, "Draco Malfoy, Head of House Malfoy. I'm here for the Wizenmengot meeting."

After he recorded the name of the wands owner and purpose for visit the wizard handed the wand back to Draco as he said, "very well, Lord Malfoy." Sirius then stepped forward and handed the man his wand, he scanned it before he said, "Dogwood with the blood of some type of magical dog as the core."

Sirius nodded as he said, "correct, Sirius Black, Head of House Black. I'm here for the Wizenmengot meeting as well." The wizard recorded the information before he handed Sirius back his wand.

And so the procedure went for Severus, James and Remus, the only differences were the names, Houses, and wand components.

"Ebony and Dragon heartstring," was Severus, who had claimed the Prince Headship shortly before he married Sirius.

"Mahogany and Thestral tail hair," was James wan, while Remus' was, "Olive and powdered moonstone soaked in werewolf blood."

After Remus was handed back his wand, Theo stepped forward and handed over his, "snake wood and Unicorn blood?" The check in wizard glanced at the teen oddly at the core of his wand.

Theo drew himself up to his full height as he stared the man down and said softly but firmly, "the blood had been willingly given to Ollivanders great-grandmother, who had then crafted my wand." The man nodded before he amended the entry to reflect that, Theo then said, "Theodore Nott, Head of House Nott, same reason for visit as the others."

While Theo was being handed back his wand, Frank and Alice Longbottom showed up, the pair along with Rodolphus went through the procedure without fuss.

"Walnut wood and Unicorn tail hair," was recorded as Frank's while Alice's wand of record was, "Rosewood with a Dragon Heartstring core." Rodolphus' on the other hand was made of Ironbark with a dragon's blood core from a Hungarian Horntail that had been unusually calm in temperament.

Next came Kushina's check in, she cheerfully handed the wizard her wand, he quickly scanned it and recorded the results of the scan. She then stated, "Kushina Potter-Lupin, Head of the Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin, Co-Head of House Noir." The wizard wrote down the information, as he handed her the wand back it dawned on him just what she had said and he stared after her in stunned shock.

When they reached the Wizenmengot chamber the moment that Kushina stepped foot inside she called forth Thanatos and Anubis, both spirits were in human form and they were wearing robes that signified that they were the stewards of the Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin. Thanatos was the steward of Gryffindor while Anubis was the steward of Slytherin, neither one of the men had any sign of their status as Kushina's Zanpakuto. Both of them went over to their respective seats since their Mistress had silently ordered them to go sit down in the chairs, the chairs changed to show that the person currently sitting in them held the status of Steward of the family. There was a single seat at the places for the Houses of Malfoy, Nott, Lestrange, Black, Slytherin and Gryffindor while the Prince seat moved to be next to the House Black's single seat. The Potter Families place had two seats, one was marked as the Lord Potter's while the other was marked as being for the spouse of Lord Potter.

There was three chairs at the Noir Family seats, two chairs were already occupied by Byakuya and Ichigo who were sitting in the spouse seat for the Lord Noir and the Lord Noir's seat respectively. To the surprise of the other Lords and Ladies, Kushina sat down in the seat assigned to Lady Noir, while the others in the chamber murmured in shock Kushina had asked, "so who is watching your daughter, cousin?" Her voice was quiet but pitched in such a way to carry toward the gossipers ears.

Ichigo modulated his voice to the same pitch as he said, "Renji and Ulquiorra, Masaki was sleeping soundly when we left her."

Kushina snapped her fingers before she said in fake comprehension, "that's right, Japan runs about seven hours ahead of England so it was night time to you." The pair nodded quietly as they watched the rest of the Wizenmengot trickle into the room over the next five minutes, finally they were all assembled.

Albus stood up and the room fell silent as he said, "I hereby call this meeting into order," he then turned to Amelia Bones. "Lady Bones, could you tell us why you requested that we meet today," his blue eyes peered over the rims of his glasses as he looked at her.

Amelia stood up from her seat before she said, "as you are all aware the former Lords of House Malfoy and House Nott along with Bellatrix, the former wife of Lord Lestrange were arrested recently. When we questioned them on their activities under the influence of Veritaserum, they revealed a truth that Minister Fudge had assured this entire body was not true."

Cornelius Fudge gulped from his seat at the minor House of Fudge when Amelia sent him a scathing glare before she said, "they told us that Voldemort," most of the room flinched at the name. Amelia continued as if they hadn't flinched at all, "is alive and commanding the Death Eaters. Also according to the three captured, two other Death Eaters were told to steal a file, thankfully a fake of that file had already been planted for over a year, so even if they had managed to steal a copy they did not obtain the true file. The real file is hidden under Fidelius while the secret keeper is hidden under the same charm," many in the room wondered what was in the file if it had this much security.

Amelia pointed accusingly at Cornelius and said, "you reassured us that the matter had been investigated and that Voldemort was dead. Obviously, you lied to us all, because if the matter had been investigated then we would have known that he was back and the Azkaban breakout might not have occurred!"

At that Rodolphus cleared his throat before he said while looking at her with a wry smile, "you'll understand why me and my brother are rather glad that it occurred…"

Amelia nodded in understanding as she said, "of course, Lord Lestrange, it's quite understanding that you and your brother are glad to be out of there. However, there is the small matter of what to do with the Minister," she again glared at Fudge.

As one Ichigo and Kushina stood up, "the House of Noir calls for a Vote of No Confidence in the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge and propose that we appoint a new Minister to office." The pair had spoken in complete unison during the entire speech and remained standing while the other houses spoke amongst themselves.

Sirius stood up and stated, "the Houses of Black seconds the House of Noirs motion."

"As does the House of Prince," added Severus as he stood up next to his husband.

"The House of Potter stands with the Houses of Noir, Black and Prince," James and Remus said in chorus as they too stood up. Both Theo and Draco stood up declaring their support of the motion, as did the Houses of Zabini and Greengrass.

Thanatos and Anubis stood up before they said, "the Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin also support the House of Noir's decision." Thanatos had stretched slightly before he added, "we speak for the Lady Slytherin-Gryffindor and are the stewards for the Houses, as such we can vote on our Lady's behalf." despite various objections the votes held and the motion carried, Cornelius was removed from the office of Minister.

Instead of sitting back down once the motion had been carried and Fudge stripped of the title of Minister for Magic, the Co-Heads of Noir remained standing and said in unison again, "the House of Noir proposes that Lady Bones becomes the next Minister. We suggest her due to her unflinching loyalty to both her duty and to the people of the Wizarding world along with her unwavering sense of Justice." The other eight houses quickly rose back on their feet to support House Noir's suggestion and others quickly followed including the Noble House of Shacklebolt as well as the Noble house of Scrimgeour. None of the Dark Lord supporters had a leg to stand on and Madam Bones was swiftly sworn in as Minister, her first two actions as Minister was to promote two people in the DMLE to fill the void left by her promotion.

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Twenty minutes after Madam Bones appointment to the position of Minister the meeting had concluded, some of the Heads left immediately afterward including Ichigo and Byakuya, the pair wanted to get back to their daughter as soon as possible. Some of the others had stayed to mingle, Draco gathered his courage as he made his way to Lord Kenneth Greengrass, the father of Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, Kenneth was speaking quietly with Kushina when he reached them.

Kushina smiled at him in greeting, much to the surprise of most of the room she stated happily, "greetings to thee, Lord Malfoy. Have you made the acquaintance of Lord Greengrass yet," she questioned him softly.

Draco gave a regal shake to his head before he stated formally, "nay, I had not yet been introduced to the Heads of the other Noble Houses. Father," he spat it as if just saying the word disgusted him, "was going to introduce me to the other Noble Houses this summer." He then turned to Kenneth and held out his right hand as he said, "Lord Draco Malfoy, Head of House Malfoy. I hope to raise my families name from the mire that my recent ancestors have allowed it to become sullied with and back to the place that my ancient ancestor, Dominic Malfoy, had once held it at."

Lord Greengrass huffed a laugh before he shook Draco's hand firmly, as he did he smiled at him and said wryly, "I never thought I'd see the day when a Malfoy was as straightforward as you just were."

Draco smiled at him sardonically before he quipped lightly, "you can thank your youngest daughter for that." His mercury eyes softened as he said with a fond smile, "she dislikes it when I'm not straightforward and isn't afraid to smack me when I'm not."

Kushina spotted the moment when Lord Greengrass realized that Draco was completely smitten with his youngest daughter and watched as the Lord began to quietly, yet in a still dignified manner, panic. Kushina smiled at him before she asked Draco slyly, "so when did you taking the Black family potion?"

"Just after third year," he answered absently.

Kenneth frowned in confusion and asked just as his wife Maria along with Kushina's parents walked up, "Black family potion, what is that for?"

Draco glanced at Kushina who merely rolled her eyes but she began to explain for everyone around them, "when a woman by the name of Isabella Lecanu committed Line Theft of the House Noir, the family cursed her unborn children with a variant of the Noir family magic. The Noir family magic allows all blood members of the family to dream of their soul mates beginning at the age of five and ending either when they meet their soul mate or the age of twenty whichever comes first. If a Noir is rejected by their soul mate they can still possibly fall in love and marry, it wouldn't be as close a marriage if it was to their soul mate but it's still possible. The Curse on the Black family however does not allow them the same luxury, for the Black family it's their mate or no one else, if their mate rejects them then they will be alone for the rest of their lives."

She smiled wryly as she said absently, "that's why most of the Black family take a potion that prevents dreams until they reach the age of twenty-one beginning at the age of four. The potion regimen prevents the dreams from occurring because once the dreams start they can't be stopped by any means and once they dream of their mate no one else will do." She then shrugged at the slightly reassured expression on Lord Greengrass' face, it was clear that he understood that if Draco was this smitten with his daughter then he had started to dream of her after he had stopped taking the potion.

She then said, "out of all the recent blood relatives of House Black only Dorea Potter nee Black, Andromeda Tonks nee Black as well as her daughter by her mate, Sirius and his brother Regulus, Marius Kurosaki formerly Black, his daughter Masaki Kurosaki and all three of her children, of course neither Dorea's son and granddaughter have taken the potion either. And of course Draco just stopped taking it after his third year," she added absently as she tilted her head to the side as she recalled everyone who had stopped or refused to take the potion.

She looked at him and said softly, "personally, I've been betrothed to my soul mate since I was seven and I've known him since I was six, he was a friend of Uncle Isshin but I hadn't been introduced until a year after my dreams began." Draco glanced at her questioningly and she realized that he was trying to ask her who the soul mates of the family members were. "My cousin Ichigo is bonded to and has a child with his soul mate Byakuya Kuchiki who is the current Head of one of the four Noble Houses of the Seireitei. Karin's soul mate is currently courting her, he's the captain of the Tenth Division of the Gotei thirteen, Toshiro Hitsugaya. Yuzu and her soul mate are progressing through the courtship ritual slowly, I believe Yuzu is trying to convince her mate that growing up isn't that bad."

She huffed a laugh before she quipped almost to herself, "sometimes, I swear that Yachiru is a female version of Peter Pan, what with her refusal to allow her body to grow up so she won't have to leave Kenpachi's side." At that statement most of those who hadn't pieced who Yuzu's soul mate was goggled at the red haired witch in shock.

She then turned to Draco and stated, "Astoria is your soul mate isn't she?" He nodded wryly at that so she continued by saying, "that's why you started asking her out and after she became friends with me you started to pay attention to the facts not your father's word about something." Again he nodded so she said while keeping her eye on Kenneth's expression, "because as your soul mate you value her approval, opinion and judgment far more than your parents." Once more he nodded, he didn't question how she knew what had been going through his mind, as a fellow member of the Black family she knew just what a Black will do to gain the love of their soul mate. Kushina had been accepted almost immediately by her mate, unlike Draco she hadn't needed to gain Kisuke's love and acceptance the way Draco had to fight for Astoria's.

Draco then turned toward Kenneth Greengrass and his wife, Maria before he asked in a formal tone, "Lord Greengrass, Lady Greengrass, may I court your daughter, Astoria Greengrass?"

Both Maria and Kenneth thought it over, after several nervous, for Draco at least, moments they nodded before they said, "Lord Draco Malfoy, you have our permission to court Astoria Greengrass, second born daughter of the Noble House of Greengrass. Should said courtship end in a betrothal then we will give our daughter into your hands and welcome you into our family," as they had spoken the words a light appeared around the three and as they had finished speaking it flashed signaling Magic's acceptance of the agreement.

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The next morning most of the Great Hall was in shock over the Daily Prophet article, Karin and Yuzu shared laughter at the stunned look that Fudge's picture sported after his removal from office. If it weren't for the fact that Lord Gryffindor and Lord Slytherin had announced that Kushina was their heir they'd be clueless as to how the Lady of those two houses was.

Kushina was in her rooms and was at her desk eating a light meal as she read the paper, she snorted at something and Minato asked, "can you read it aloud to me, 'Shina-Chan?"

She looked up at the curious portrait before she said, "of course, 'Nato-Kun." She cleared her throat before she began, "Fudge ousted as Minister! By: A. Nonymous.

The first vote of no confidence since 1509 was held just last night. Three Noble Houses, two Most Ancient and Noble Houses and four Most Ancient and Royal Houses voted in the motion. The nine families involved are the Noble Houses of Nott, Greengrass and Zabini, the two Most Ancient and Noble Houses are the Houses of Black and Malfoy while the four Most Ancient and Royal Houses are the Houses of Noir, the Royal Family of France, the House of Slytherin, the Royal house of Spain, the House of Gryffindor, the Royal house of England and finally the House of Potter, which is said to be descended of Gryffindor.

Two men claiming to be the stewards of the Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin stated that a single woman holds the Headship of both families. The nine houses voted Lady Amelia Bones, head of House Bones to become the new Minister. After a vote was held by the Wizenmengot the former Head of the DMLE was promoted to Minister. She handed over the title of Head of the DMLE to the Former Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour, who in turn handed the position of Head Auror to Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt.

More news to follow as we discover it!"

At the end of the article Minato smirked at her before he remarked, "you certainly never change, my dearest Dragon."

She leaned backwards in mock arrogance before she said haughtily, "of course not. What would be the fun of that," shortly after she had made that comment a cheetah and one of her clones popped into the room. The clone immediately dispelled and Kushina had almost fallen over from shock, she blinked before she began to grin like a very hungry shark.

Minato took one look at her face and wondered what the clone had been doing to cause that look to cross her face. Kushina idly pondered whether or not to tell Mikoto that her eldest child and his lover/partner was going to make her a grandmother in about five to six months. In the end she decided against telling her old friend since if Itachi wanted his mother to know he'd/she'd send a crow to her with a message.