A/N: Hey everyone! How have you been? Good I hope! Thanks to all those who reviewed, it really makes my day to read them all.

**There will be a small bonus chapter-thing to find out about what ended up happening with Matsumoto and Byakuya. I'll post it soon enough, it's already done**

PS. It's your last chance so if you all could remember to review it'd be AMAZING! I'd don't care if you've never reviewed before. Tell me what you thought about the entire thing and your favourite parts!

We're finally here

"So I suppose," Toshiro chuckled "That means we'd best hope I don't see you for a while."

Harry nodded, "We'd best hope."

The days following Sirius' escape found Toshiro along with Ron in the Hospital Wing. Harry was released after a good night's sleep but Ron's leg had needed a few days to heal while Toshiro needed to recover from the lingering effects of the Dementors but when he was finally released it was only to be met with Luna and Neville waiting for him by the doors.

"So," Neville started as they began making their way down the hall "How do you feel like spending your last few days at Hogwarts?"

Hitsugaya shrugged, "I don't really care."

"I think we should go down to the lake," Luna suggested, playing with her radish earrings as she did. Her two friends considered it for a moment before nodding.

"There'll probably be a bunch of people down there though," Neville pointed out as they ducked down an adjacent hallway.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find a spot," Toshiro assured quietly as he pulled at his tie.

So they made their way to go and sit by the lakeshore and sure enough, they did find a quiet spot to sit under the shade of a tree much to Hitsugaya's relief who was pulling off his vest after five minutes in the humid air.

"Luna," Neville laughed as he pointed at the blonde, "Your hair!"

Toshiro glanced over at the girl only to find her hair slowly frizzing right before their eyes. The sleek mass of waves was transforming into a static mess even after she'd tried to flatten it out.

Before long she just shrugged, clearly not all that concerned with how her hair looked, "Compared to yours, I think mine is just fine."

"She's right," Neville agreed, tugging at a lock of white, "The only time I've ever seen it lay flat was when it was wet. It's like your entire head has a cowlick."

Hitsugaya glared as he swatted at the offending hand, "Can we please move away from the topic of my hair?"

"Whatever you say," Neville chuckled as they fell silent under the shade of their tree.

Toshiro huffed as he glared down at his trunk which was once again refusing to close. It wasn't like he'd bought anything to add to it's contents and yet it seemed as if it was even fuller than it'd been at the beginning of the year.

The only things he could think of were the gifts he'd been given during Christmas and possibly a few trinkets he'd been given for his birthday. But even so, they shouldn't have been enough to fill it so completely.

The taicho managed not to sigh after a moment when he realized he'd forgotten about the different text books and scrolls he'd collected over his stay at Hogwarts.

A pale hand delved in to wrap around a large grey book they'd used for transfiguration and he gave it a lingering glance before carelessly tossing it aside. There was soon a giant pile of books and random scraps of scrolls and old assignments but what really caught his eye was the picture Neville had given him for Christmas, the two of them smiling out in the court yard as snow continued fell from the cement coloured sky.

As he watched Neville flicked his smaller counterpart on the ear earning the brown haired boy a glare. It was always interesting watching the pictures around the school. It reminded him of the movies and videos people seemed to have become so taken with.

The smaller Neville sneezed earning himself a look of disgust as the tiny Shinigami handed him a handkerchief that'd been hanging from his pocket.

The taicho gave a small smile as he slipped it carefully into his jacket pocket, glad to find that his trunk could actually close.

He carefully picked up Ran who'd been napping on his bed before making his way to the door. In a moment of hesitation he looked back into the room.

Ten months had gone by a little too fast maybe.

With a nod to himself and a deep breath, he shut the door with a snap.

---

He met with everyone down in the Common Room where Harry and Ron were crowded together over what appeared to be the Marauder's Map that Lupin had confiscated a few months prior.

"So I take it he gave it back?" The taicho asked as he took a seat.

Harry nodded as he look up, "Yeah but, he got fired."

"Well I'd expect so," Toshiro said plainly as he gently ran his fingers through the cat's fur. Eyes glared back at him so he continued,

"Surely parents wouldn't take too kindly to having a werewolf running around their children's school. I'm not insinuating that he deserves it, and I'm not saying he isn't a good teacher or a good man, but it's to be expected. People fear those that they can't see themselves in."

Ron huffed, "Well that's just not fair."

"No one ever said it was."

"So uh…you're leaving?" Harry asked quietly as he folded the map.

Toshiro stood, pulling his wand out from his pant pocket as he did

"Yes," he nodded as he leaned down and pressed the tip of his wand to the worn paper, "Mischief Managed…right?"

Green eyes crinkled as the teen smiled up at him as he turned to leave with a small wave in their direction

"Right."

---

Toshiro found Neville and Luna waiting for him at the gates and was happy to note that the Dementors were gone from their previous posts.

When he arrived back in Soul Society he'd have to submit his report quickly so they could begin the irradiation project that was sure to ensue promptly.

"Are you happy to be going home?" Luna asked dreamily as she pushed a few strands of blonde behind her ear while they began walking down the dirt path.

Neville shrugged, "It's always nice to see Gran, but she can be a little…overbearing."

"It will be nice to see those I left behind," Hitsugaya answered flatly.

"How about you?" the brown haired teen asked.

"I'm going on an expedition with my father for the summer and I'm quite looking forward to it."

The two boys nodded and left it at that because when it came to Luna, sometimes it was better just not to ask.

"What was your favourite part about Hogwarts?" Neville asked, directing his question towards their white haired companion.

The Shinigami's nose scrunched as he thought, "I'm not entirely sure. Meeting the two of you was…nice."

His two friends smiled at time, knowing what he was really trying to say.

"Meeting you was nice as well," Luna called whimsically.

"Very nice," Neville agreed.

When they got to the train station they snagged a car near the front to themselves, casting the various articles that they'd carried with them onto the upper racks.

Toshiro pulled off the thin brown leather jacket he'd been wearing and set Ran down on the seat beside his own. He glared as he picked off a few pieces of fur from the light plaid of his button up shirt and the dark material of his pants.

"Tell me this thing has air conditioning," he muttered as he sat down.

"Obviously not air conditioning but …uh…I'm not sure actually," Neville frowned, trying to recall past train rides.

"It's not really warm for this time of year so I doubt they'll cast anything to cool the air down."

Hitsugaya huffed as he rolled his sleeves to his elbows, "All you wizards are insane."

"Well all that air conditioning is just making it warmer in the long run," Neville shrugged.

Toshiro stopped for a moment, "Warmer?"

"Well yeah, global warming and all that."

The taicho looked at him confusedly, "Global…warming?"

The teen nodded, "Yeah, all the cars and electricity are supposedly warming the earth up because of the ozone layer degrading and trapping gases or something like that. A couple of my neighbours are muggles so I hear this stuff."

"So you mean to tell me, that people are making this place warmer than it already is?"

"I guess," His friend shrugged, "I don't know. I only hear bits and I think some people say it's not true or something along those lines."

"Warmer," The Shinigami practically hissed, "To think."

"Are you going to become an environmentalist?" Luna asked from her place in the seat across from him.

"Oh an animal right's activist and an environmentalist now! Aren't you the globally aware one!" Neville laughed.

Hitsugaya glared, regretting having ever told him about Dumbledore's comment, "Just shut up."

Neville grinned, "Whatever you say."

"I liked you better when you acted like a shy, bumbling fool."

The other chuckled, "I'm still a bumbling fool."

Toshiro shot him a withering look as if to say he wasn't but otherwise ignored the teen's comment and instead leaned back in his seat and stared out of at the passing scenery.

The trip back to London went by agonizingly slowly, but also far, far too quickly.

As they pulled in the trio began grabbing their things occasionally glancing out of the window to see the parents milling about, waiting for their children to disembark.

Hitsugaya grabbed up Ran after pulling on his jacket and followed his friends from the train and out onto the platform. The place was filled with the sounds of luggage thudding onto the ground and parents calling out for their offspring along with joyous hellos.

The three pushed their way through the crowd until they found where their trunks had been dropped and quickly began dragging them away so that they were no longer in the heart of the chaos.

Neville sighed in relief as he dropped the end he'd been dragging, "Damn these things are heavy."

Toshiro who'd had no trouble with his simply nodded, wondering if Luna was going to need some help getting her trunk around seeing as she looked rather winded.

"Luna? Luna darling? Is that you?" a man's voice called from within the mob.

"Ah, that's my father," the blonde noted as she dropped the edge of her trunk and straightened her sweater.

"I must be going." She said simply before shaking both their hands with vigour.

"Yeah," Neville nodded as he drew back his hand.

"I'll see you next year," she said pointedly to the brown haired teen before her eyes met with Toshiro's, "And I suppose I won't be seeing you for a while."

"Yes," the Shinigami nodded, "Goodbye."

"Not goodbye I think," she smiled mysteriously as she grabbed up her trunk and started dragging it along, "A see you later."

Soon enough she disappeared off into the people, hopefully in the direction that her father was in.

"And then were two," Neville sighed as he looked down at his friend, "It won't be the same without you."

"You managed for two years without me," the taicho responded as he sucked in a breath as if to calm his nerves, "I'm sure you'll do just fine. You'll have Luna after all."

"But we're in different years," Neville insisted gesturing in the direction she'd gone off in, "Are you sure you can't come back?"

The white haired boy nodded as he looked down at his trunk, tempted to take a seat but decided against it.

"You know," Toshiro started almost hesitantly as he looked down at Ran who was still nestled in the crook of his arm.

"I'm not going to be able to take care of him; in fact, I doubt he'd even make it through to my world."

Neville frowned worriedly as he was slammed into by a passing gentleman who quickly apologized, "Than what's going to happen to him? You can't just leave him anywhere."

"You're right," the Shinigami agreed, "So I won't leave him anywhere," he said as he gently dropped the cat into his friend's arms

"I'll leave him with you."

The taller teen looked shocked, "What?! I can't keep him! Gran will never—

"He's perfectly behaved. I doubt she'll have an issue with it. And if she does, just tell her you're doing a friend a favour," Hitsugaya cut him off.

"Yeah but you've never met her," the taller said defensively but he held onto the cat tightly none the less, "I love her, but she's a demon is disguise she is!"

"I somehow doubt that," Toshiro said shoving his now free hands into his jacket pockets, giving his friend a rather sedate-content- smile as he did.

"Neville?!" a voice called over the din of the crowd, yelling for him to hurry along.

"Oh," the boy uttered, his head jerking around to see an elderly woman making her way through the mob of people.

"Speak of the devil, there she is now," he sighed as he turned," I guess I'd better—

He stopped short when he found the place where his friend had been standing empty except for an abandoned trunk, and a lingering cold in the air.

"Toshiro?"

Dear Readers,

I just want to thank you all for reading this story and taking this little journey with me. I really hope you enjoyed it and that you took something away from this. Thanks to all those who reviewed, and even those who didn't and just read it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I just can't say it enough. You're all wonderful. It's been a pleasure.

ForeverFalling.