Well, onward - and it's now Valentine's Day! Hee Hee!

So, once again I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter. If I did... Sirius and Lupin wouldn't have died, and Ichigo and Rukia would have been a couple a long time ago.

||Characters are speaking Japanese||

Chapter 35

The next Hogsmeade trip was on Valentine's Day. When Ron and Harry asked Ichigo if he was getting Rukia anything, he looked at them blankly, and his answer shocked them.

"Why?"

"You don't celebrate it in Japan?"

"Not the way you do," he said, scratching his head. When he saw their blank, shocked looks, he sighed, and then explained how it worked back home: Women give two types of chocolate: giri-choko, or what they call obligatory chocolate; and honmei-choko, or favorite chocolate, which is given to a loved one. Friends, especially girls, may also exchange chocolate referred to as tomo-choko or friend chocolate. (AN1)

"Wow – you mean only the guys get chocolate on Valentine's Day?" Ron asked, his eyes growing wide. It wasn't that easy, Ichigo explained, shaking his head at their expressions. March 14, or White Day, was a "reply day," where men are expected to return the favor. The gifts are expected to be two or three times more valuable than those he received on Valentine's Day.

"So I have to get her something for White Day…" he'd already asked Renji to take care of it for him, and their friend said he'd found the perfect gift…exactly what Ichigo had requested. Bill had exchanged the money and given it to Renji, and the item was sitting tucked away in Professor McGonagall's office. When the Professor had taken delivery of it for him, she'd nearly fallen down laughing. But…it was perfect. Even Renji had said so. Yuzu said she would have Winky deliver it to her on the specified day, and it would be sitting on her bed when she woke up. Renji said Ichigo owed him big time - it had taken him quite some time to find the life-sized stuffed Chappy...

"Do you know how much chocolate you're going to get?" Harry said.

"Do you know how much of it is going to have a love potion in it?" Uryu said, joining them. "I've already spoken with him, and Professor Snape is working up a preventative – in case someone tries to be sneaky and slip you something with Rukia's name on it."

"I didn't think of that," Ichigo admitted, his eyes widening and his complexion paling under his normally tanned skin.

"Well, be thankful Luna did; of course, that's why she's in Ravenclaw," his friend admitted, adjusting his glasses. "She also suggested you don't accept or eat anything that you don't take personally from someone's hands."

"I wonder what she overheard in the loo this time," Ron commented, shaking his head.

Ichigo hung back with Uryu as they walked to class. "Was I cursed or something?" he asked his friend in an undertone, "I really didn't ask for any of this…"

It was lucky for him that Uryu understood him well enough to catch his meaning. "Like Rukia said – it's that bad boy image. Even though you aren't one. All the fighting you did… because of your hair, didn't help. And now… you're new, unique. Different…and your hair isn't out of place here."

"So are you…" Ichigo argued with his friend.

Uryu sighed. He knew he was not as good-looking as Kurosaki, and he'd always been considered the geek of their group. Girls just didn't go for geeks… although Mizuiro had managed to add several names to his list. Apparently, his particular type of charm worked even in the wizarding world.

"Just – ignore it."

"I wish I could. Except that that curse was because of it," Ichigo muttered. Uryu looked at him, surprised. He hadn't mentioned that at the time…

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine someone yelling at me to keep my hands off of Slytherin girls… like I'd even want one of them," Ichigo said with disgust, "Not a single one is even halfway as cute as Rukia…"

Uryu could barely contain his smirk. Oh yeah, Kurosaki was a one girl type of guy; there was no doubt about that. He wondered if the little Soul Reaper knew how lucky she really was.

Come Valentine's Day, they were surprised to see that Ichigo's bed was chocolate free.

"I asked Dobby to way-lay any deliveries," Ichigo said with a yawn as he got up. "I think he's arranged a collection downstairs or something."

Dobby was surprisingly organized; he had a huge box full of chocolates, and a second elf was marking off who they were from as other house elves popped in and out with the deliveries.

"Blimey," Ron said with awe when he saw the box. "I know I said you would get lots, but… I wasn't expecting this!"

"I hate to think of all of that going to waste," Dean said, with a sigh. Ichigo gave him a sour look.

"Hey, if you want to take a chance… be my guest," he said dryly. They all hurriedly passed on the offer. Rukia and the others came down a few minutes later, and Rukia looked at the offensive box as if she'd like to have Momo use Tobiume on it. Ichigo was more than happy to take her offering, and his sister's and Tatsuki's as well.

They arrived down at breakfast – they had all dressed very carefully – just in time for the owls to arrive. Hermione received a letter, delivered by Ichigo's Great Grey Owl; they had all taken to using his owls for posting messages. The pair was tough, and fast, and they liked being busy. And if one of the pair had arrived from Japan – an even tougher and bigger pair – they would sometimes use those before sending them home. There was one other thing about the four owls – they wouldn't stand for having a delivery searched, not by anyone. Filch had found that out the hard way when a pissed-off Fish Owl had taken off two of his fingers, necessitating some serious magic on Madame Pomfrey's part to regrow them. The little Elf Owl was simply a spoiled, pampered little pet, as was the Barn Owl, although she was not quite so spoiled. They had also taken to standing guard over Hedwig; Ron thought it was funny, with Harry's Snowy Owl sitting there with the Great Horned Owl on one side of her and the Great Grey Owl on the other; and one of the others resting up before returning home, guarding her back. Like a pair (or trio) of Amazon Warriors guarding their Queen, he said.

"About time! If it hadn't come today…" she said as she tore open the envelope, as Ichigo coaxed the owl over to him. The owl, seeing some pork sausage being waved in her direction, hopped on over. Hermione read through her letter, a pleased look coming over her face.

"Harry, this is really important – will you be able to meet me at the Three Broomsticks later around midday?"

"Well… Cho is probably expecting me to spend the whole day with her. We never said what we were going to do…"

"Bring her along then, but will you come?"

"Well – all right. Why?"

"I can't tell you right this moment, I've got to answer this quickly…" She hurried away, after scooping up the Great Grey Owl, who was gulping down another sausage.

"Are you coming?" Harry asked Ron. He shook his head glumly.

"Angelina wants a full day of training. I don't think it's going to help – we're the worst team ever… although Tatsuki and Rukia are really coming along, they're getting some coaching from George and Fred. She's letting them go into Hogsmeade for a little bit today… I dunno why she won't let me quit…"

"Because you're good when you're on form, that's why!" Harry said as he left, irritated with his friend's moaning. Ichigo watched them part, and sighed. He turned to look at Tatsuki and Rukia, who both shrugged.

"He's feeling the ban, I guess," Rukia said quietly. Ichigo nodded.

"This year isn't going very well for him," he replied, "I got the feeling he would rather not have come back after Christmas."

"So did I," Tatsuki nodded her agreement. She propped her head up on her palm, looking off in the direction they had walked. "I know Fred and George are feeling it as well, but maybe not as keenly…"

"Living vicariously through you, are they?" Rukia drawled, which caused the tomboy to blush. Ichigo shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. He never thought he would see the day that his old friend would be blushing over a guy…

"Come on," he reached out for Rukia's hand. "We don't have much time before you have to be back for practice." He had locked his chocolate up in his trunk, so it couldn't be messed with… Yuzu, as always, had baked hers. It paid to make friends with the house elves, he thought, as he walked down the road to Hogsmeade, with Rukia tucked close against his side. She wanted to try this little shop the others had been talking about, a Madame Puddifoot's… Of course, when he walked in, he had to hide his shudder – it too closely resembled Dumbridge's office for his satisfaction. Rukia noticed the resemblance as well, and raised an eyebrow.

"We don't have to stay," she said softly, "We could always just go to the Three Broomsticks…"

"We're here, we can have some tea," he shrugged, looking around. "And I can try to ignore the frills and the - pinkness." At least it didn't remind him of Pepto Bismol.

They sat down and ordered tea, and while they were there, saw Harry and Cho enter; they didn't appear to see them, however.

||Let's just forget about him for a moment,|| Ichigo muttered. Rukia looked at him with surprise. They were outside Hogwarts, so there was no one who could give them detention for speaking Japanese…

||What?|| she asked him.

||It's Valentine's Day. The only people in here are other students – and no Slytherins, thank god. So for a few minutes, at least, can I just focus on you?|| his tone was almost whining. Rukia had to repress a giggle.

||And how do you want to focus on me?|| she asked coyly, her insides warming.

||Like this,|| he replied, leaning forward to kiss her. She sighed and kissed him back, deepening it, and she very quickly forgot where they were – at least until they heard an argument start. With an oath, Ichigo broke off their kiss.

||What the hell…|| Ichigo muttered, turning around to see Cho running out of the teashop.

"Cho!" Harry called after her. As if realizing he was now the center of attention, he threw down a Galleon and followed her out the door.

||Crap,|| Ichigo muttered, watching him leave.

||I suppose you need to follow him,|| Rukia sighed. Besides, by the time she got back to the castle, she'd just have enough time to change and get to the Quidditch field. He nodded.

||Room of Requirement, later?|| he asked her, a faint gleam in his eyes. That gleam warmed her all the way down to her toes… she wondered if anyone else had figured out that the Room of Requirement could serve more than one purpose… or what else it was being used for. It was Rukia who had figured that out, to Ichigo's bemusement… She smiled at him, and gave him a quick kiss, letting him see her answer in her eyes, before she hurried out after Cho, and he left after Harry.

"Harry!"

Harry turned when he heard his name being called, and relaxed when he saw Ichigo hurrying after him.

"Hey."

"What happened back there?" Ichigo asked him.

"You saw that?" Harry asked, his eyes widening. He hadn't realized Ichigo was in the tea shoppe.

Ichigo nodded. "We were in the corner, heard something of an argument; Looked up to see her leaving."

Harry sighed, and quickly told Ichigo what they had argued about.

"Oh," Ichigo said as they slogged through the mud, the snow and the rain towards the Three Broomsticks. It was too early to meet Hermione; but they could have a butterbeer, and there might be someone inside they could talk to.

"Rukia go back already?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Lousy day to practice, though…" something appeared to catch his attention, and Harry followed his line of sight; Momo was down the street, talking to a tall blond man in one of those black kimono things. Ichigo was smirking at the pair of them.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Oh, an old friend of hers…" Ichigo said vaguely, still smirking. "Renji told me he's had a crush on Momo for years; I wonder if he's finally going to ask her out…"

"He came a long way…" Harry said, seeing Momo blush, and nod shyly. "But it looks like she just said yes…"

"It's not really very far, if you know how to do it right," Ichigo said, again being vague. More Japanese magic, Harry thought as they entered the pub. Ichigo grinned. "And yeah, it looks like she may have. Good, I always liked Kira," Ichigo, being about a head taller, saw Hagrid first and pointed him out. He had new bruises and cuts on his face.

"Oh, it's you, Harry. An' Ichi. You all righ'?"

"Um…yeah, I'm fine," Harry lied. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him. Although compared to Hagrid, Harry was just peachy, he thought. "And you?"

"Me? Jus' grand, Harry, grand…" The giant man was staring down into his tankard, which was far larger than anything either of them would use. Actually, Ichigo thought, the only person he knew who would consider that tankard small was Jidanbo, the Gate Guard. The two teens sat there and watched Hagrid silently for a long moment, before he said abruptly, "In the same boat, you an' me, aren' we Harry?"

"Er –" Harry glanced over at Ichigo, who shrugged.

"Yeah, both outsiders…orphans…" Hagrid nodded wisely, "Orphans…" he took a big swig, "Makes a diff'rence, 'avin' a decent family. Me dad, he was decent. Just like your folks were decent. An' yer ma, Masaki, she was a real decent sort. If they'd lived, life woulda bin diff'rent, eh?"

"Uh…" Ichigo just stared at him, not quite knowing how to reply.

"Yeah… I s'pose," Harry said cautiously. Hagrid was in a very strange mood…

"Family…" Hagrid said gloomily, "Blood's important, no matter what yeh say…"

"Hagrid, where are you getting all these injuries?" Harry asked urgently.

"Wha' injuries?"

"Those injuries!" Ichigo pointed at Hagrid's face, "The ones on your face. The ones you keep saying you don't have."

"Oh, just normal bumps and bruises… I got a rough job." He drained the tankard, and got to his feet, "Be seein' yeh."

The pair watched him leave, utterly baffled.

"Well, that was odd," Ichigo muttered, staring after him, "I'm guessing he isn't always like that?"

"No – I don't know what's going on with him this year…"

"Harry! Harry, over here!"

Hermione was waving at him from the other side of the room, sitting next to – of all people – Luna Lovegood. And to his immense surprise – Rita Skeeter, the ex-journalist from the Daily Prophet, and one of the people that Hermione liked least in the world. (AN2)

Harry looked over at Ichigo, who shrugged.

"Go on, I'll wait here," Ichigo said, "If you need rescuing, give me a sign. I'll think of a way to get you out of there."

"Thanks," Harry said gratefully, getting up and going over to the table.

Apparently he did not need rescuing; he was there for a good long while. Ichigo was eventually joined by Uryu and Mizuiro, who kept him company while watching over Harry.

"I saw Kira was here," Uryu said with a faint smirk.

"Yeah, I saw him as well – and so did Harry," Ichigo replied. "I think Kira came specifically to see Momo." The other two chuckled, and discussed the ramifications of Harry being able to see Soul Reapers. Why, they wondered, could no one else? Just the handful they had already discovered; and it couldn't be because of Ichigo this time – his spiritual pressure was under control. Even Uryu admitted defeat finally and said he didn't know why.

They did not find out what it was all about until after they got back to Hogwarts; Ichigo said he would tell Uryu and Mizuiro later what he found out.

"You gave an interview?" Ichigo glanced over at the high table. "Damn…" Dumbridge was going to have a cow when she found out about it…he snickered under his breath.

"Can't wait to see what Dumbridge thinks about all this…" Dean said an awestruck look on his face.

Neville thought it was the right thing to do, as people had to know what Voldemort and his Death Eaters were capable of. After he, Dean and Seamus had left (Seamus had been eavesdropping shamelessly, Ichigo had noticed) Hermione asked how his date with Cho had gone. Ichigo winced for Harry, knowing how badly it had gone.

"It was a fiasco, actually," Harry muttered, describing it to her. "What was all that about? I mean, what was going on?"

"Oh, Harry," Hermione shook her head, and then proceeded to tell him what he had done wrong: he had been tactless, she had been trying to make him jealous and find out how important she was to him, and he hadn't told Cho in the right way that he had promised to meet Hermione… Harry was still baffled as she went on, and even Ichigo was confused. When Harry looked over to see if Ichigo understood what she was saying, he shook his head and shrugged.

Hermione sighed as Ron walked in, followed by Ginny, then Tatsuki and Rukia, all of them mud splattered and disgruntled.

"How was practice?" Ichigo was almost afraid to ask.

"Horrible."

"I'm sure it wasn't…"

"Yes, it was," Ginny said grumpily, "Angelina was nearly in tears by the end of it."

They devoured what they could, then went off for hot baths, while the others went back up to the Common Room and the piles of homework waiting for them. Fred and George eventually joined them.

"Ron and the others not here yet?" asked Fred, looking around as he pulled up a chair. "Good. We were watching their practice earlier. They're going to be slaughtered. They're rubbish without us…"

"Come on, Ginny's not that bad," George said, sitting down next to him. "How'd she learn to play, anyhow?"

"She's been breaking into your broom shed since she turned six," Hermione replied from behind a pile of books. She and Ichigo were working on their runes homework together. She was extraordinarily happy to have people who understood the work, studied, and paid attention in class; in fact, it made studying so much easier – and much more enjoyable for her.

"Oh, well that would explain it," George said, "And at least Tatsuki and Rukia seem to be coming along nicely…"

"Has Ron saved a goal yet?" Ichigo asked, looking up from behind his pile of books. It was odd to see someone else with as high a pile as Hermione...

"Well, he can do it if he doesn't think anyone's watching him… so now we just have to ask the crowd to turn their backs and talk among themselves every time the Quaffle goes up his end on Saturday," Fred rolled his eyes. "Rukia has figured out how to use the Bludgers to knock the Quaffle out of the way of the goal. She can even use it to knock it into the goal. Of course, she doesn't always have the Bludger." He stared up at the ceiling. "You know, Quidditch was about the only thing in this place worth staying for – that and Tatsuki…"

"You've got exams coming!" Hermione said sternly.

"Told you already, we're not all that fussed up about N.E.W.T.s," George replied. "The Snackboxes are ready to go, we figured out how to treat the boils…"

"I dunno if I really want to watch this match. If Smith beats us, I may have to kill myself," Fred muttered.

"Kill him, more like," George muttered back, while Ichigo nodded. He didn't like his distant cousin very much, either.

"That's the problem with Quidditch, it creates all this bad feeling and tension between the Houses," Hermione muttered. She looked up again, to find Fred, George, and Harry staring at her with expressions of disgust on their faces, and Ichigo trying his best not to laugh, and had to hide it in a cough. "Well, it does!"

"Forget it, Hermione," Ichigo said, laughing when they all left in a huff, "they all have Quidditch on the brain – you will never convince them of anything otherwise." She reluctantly grumbled an agreement, seeing that he was right. At least he wasn't obsessed with it, she thought gratefully, returning to Ancient Runes – it gave her at least one person to hang out with while everyone else was fretting over the matches. And if the others were to be believed – he was as bad on a broom as she was. Tatsuki had told her he was so bad, she had taken the broom away from him and told him to keep his feet earthbound. Poor Lupin had actually feared for his life… when he was only three feet off the ground.

The game on Saturday had everyone wishing they didn't care about Quidditch. At least it was short – only twenty-two minutes of agony, Ichigo thought gratefully. It was hard to name what the worst part of it was – the opposite team knocking Rukia's bat out of her hand with the Bludger, effectively side-lining her until she could retrieve it – and then use it left handed because her right arm was broken (which then caused Ichigo plenty of anxiety and forced him to watch the game from between the fingers he now held over his eyes, seeing as she was now trying to guide her broom using no hands at all) which caused Hermione to pat his shoulder sympathetically; Tatsuki hitting Angelina in the face with the Bludger because her target moved out of the way; or Ron's fourteen failed saves.

The blessing was that they only lost by ten points because Ginny caught the Snitch.

"Good catch," Harry said to Ginny in the common room later. Everybody was sitting there depressed; Ichigo, who by now knew the way to medical by heart, had gone with Rukia to get her arm fixed up.

"I got lucky. Summerby sneezed, closed his eyes, and missed it. Things will be better when you're back on the team."

"Ginny, it's a lifetime ban."

"Only for as long as she is here," Ginny scowled. "There's a difference. Don't forget there's a jinx or hex or something on her job. She's only here one year, guaranteed. Next year Angelina and Alicia will both have graduated, so I would prefer to be a Chaser…" They both looked over at Ron, who was staring morosely at the floor. "She won't let him resign…"

"Except for a few 'newbie' player gaffes, Tats and Rukia didn't play too badly," Fred said, joining them.

"We don't even have the heart to tease him about it," George said, sighing.

Rukia and Ichigo returned then and she looked heartily discouraged, despite what Fred and George told her. She vanished upstairs not long after, where Tatsuki had disappeared earlier. They waited for Ron to go upstairs first, and be able to pretend to be asleep if he wanted. And they could tell he was pretending, by the exaggerated loudness of his snoring. Harry and Ichigo looked at him, then each other; neither said a word. What could they say? There was nothing either of them could think of to say for a situation such as this. All they could do was silently change into their nightclothes and climb into bed themselves, hoping that sleep would claim them quickly.

Author's Notes:

1. Women feel obliged to give chocolates to all male co-workers, except when the 14th falls on a Sunday, a holiday. This is known as giri-choko, from giri ("obligation") and choko, ("chocolate"), with unpopular co-workers receiving only "ultra-obligatory" cho-giri choko cheap chocolate. This is in contrast with honmei-choko (Favorite chocolate): chocolate given to a loved one. Friends, especially girls, may exchange chocolate referred to as tomo-choko (friend chocolate). March 14 is a "reply day", where men are expected to return the favor to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day, calling it White Day. Gifts are expected to be at least two or three times more valuable than those received on Valentine's Day. Not returning the gift is perceived as the man placing himself in a position of superiority, even if excuses are given. Returning a present of lesser or equal value is considered as a way to say that you are cutting off the relationship. Originally only chocolate was given, but now gifts of jewelry, accessories, clothing and lingerie are usual. According to the official website of White Day, the color white was chosen because it's the color of purity, evoking "pure, sweet teen love", and because it's also the color of sugar. The initial name was "Ai ni Kotaeru White Day" (Answer Love on White Day). In Japan, the romantic "date night" associated to Valentine's Day is celebrated on Christmas Eve. http:/ en dot Wikipedia dot org /wiki/ Valentine%27s underscore Day#Japan (remove spaces and add a few . and _).

2. Explanation found in Goblet of Fire.