Next chapter up; don't have much to say as a pre-amble, except to thank everyone for their support, and to wish everyone a Happy Holiday.

Oh, and M. is short for Madame. I got lazy :p

As always, I do not own either Bleach or HP, but I do own the story idea. Thanks.

=Hell butterfly message=

==Eavesdropping bug==

||Japanese speaking||

:Zanpakuto speaking:

Ichigo talking to Zangetsu/Hichigo

:Inner hollow talking:

Chapter 37

Luna intercepted Ron and Harry on their way down to breakfast after they had been released by M. Pomfrey; they were being escorted by Ginny, Hermione, Ichigo, Tatsuki and Rukia. She had to rummage through her bag, thrusting a large, green onion-like thing at Ron, and a bag of something else at Hermione, before she came up with a scroll that she presented to Harry. He knew right away what it was, and with a quick glance at Ichigo, who nodded briefly, he shoved it in his pocket.

"Nice commentary!" Ron grinned at Luna, while turning the onion-like object over in hands with some curiosity.

"You're making fun -"

"No! Really – I loved it!" he insisted earnestly, "I really liked the 'Loser's Lurgy' and the last comment you made right before Ichigo transformed McLaggen – I knew exactly what was going to happen…even without being there –" he stared down at the object. "Um – what is this?" he finally asked, deciding not to guess anymore.

"Oh, it's a Gurdyroot. I got it for Orihime to ward off the Gulping Plimpies."

Behind her back, Tatsuki face-palmed, Rukia sighed, Ichigo just shook his head, Ginny bit her lip to keep from laughing, and Hermione rolled her eyes heavenward. Luna and Orihime apparently had a great deal in common – in very many ways they were soul sisters.

"You know," Ron said as Luna skipped off, "She's grown on me. She's weird, but in a very good –" he gulped when he saw Lavender Brown standing at the foot of the staircase looking thunderous. "Er… hi."

"Ah – we'll see you down at breakfast," Ichigo said, grabbing Rukia's by the hand and hurrying off, with the others on their heels. They could hear Lavender chewing out Ron as they fled.

At breakfast, Ron's expression hadn't cleared up any as he sat next to Lavender. They did not appear to say anything to one another, and the rest of them – Hermione especially – ignored the pair of them, although she did appear to be rather gleeful over the turn of events. She was in such a good mood she even finished Harry's homework. She had been refusing to help him, because then Ron would get it… which had left it to Ichigo to assist him. However, the days they met with Professor Dumbledore were rough, because Ichigo had to get his own done in order to be there as well, so he had usually spent the afternoons on homework, so that if he needed to help Harry and Ron, he'd be free. Today, however – he gave Hermione a very grateful look when he slipped out of the Tower.

Harry wondered why Ichigo had said that he would meet him there… unless he wanted to make sure his body wasn't disturbed. That was something he meant to ask Ichigo about; what happened to his body when he was 'astral projecting'? Where did he leave it? He was pretty sure he couldn't leave it in Gryffindor Tower...

Ichigo was outside the door when Harry arrived, with an expression that looked like he had just sucked on a particularly sour lemon drop.

"What –"

At that moment, the door was wrenched open by a disheveled Professor Trelawney.

"AHA!" she stared at Harry and pointed at him dramatically, while ignoring Ichigo; in fact, her finger was about an inch from his nose, "So this is the reason I am being ejected so unceremoniously from your office, Dumbledore?"

"My dear Sybill," Professor Dumbledore said wearily, "I have no wish to go through this with you again. Harry has an appointment – you do not."

"Very well," she tossed her head, and said with a sniff, "If you will not banish the nag, then so be it." she toddled unsteadily past Harry, leaving a cloud of sherry fumes behind her, nearly tripping down the stairs on one of her fringed shawls.

"Come in boys, and close the door."

"She didn't see you…" Harry said, blinking at Ichigo, and then remembered that not everyone had seen Toshiro the year before, at their first DA meeting… and it had appeared as if some of the Death Eaters at the Ministry had not been able to see them either, while others had.

"No, not everyone has the ability," Ichigo admitted. He looked over at Professor Dumbledore. "So – she still isn't happy about Firenze?"

"No. Both would be unsafe outside the castle walls, and Sybill still doesn't know she made the prophecy about Harry and Voldemort." Professor Dumbledore sighed. "But you are not here to discuss my staffing problems. Have you managed to retrieve the memory from Professor Slughorn?"

"Ah…" Harry winced, and Ichigo studied a spot on the floor.

"I see," Professor Dumbledore stared at the pair of them.

"We've been trying to brainstorm the problem," Ichigo said suddenly, "Uryu, Toshiro, Hermione, the two of us…" he sighed, "We thought we had something when we took Ron to him to cure him of the love potion…"

"Yeah – it sort of hit us when he took out that bottle of mead – get him drunk and in a good mood –" Harry grimaced, "but then Ron got poisoned."

"Of course, this naturally made you forget all about trying to retrieve the memory, quite understandable. That is to be expected, of course. However, I would have thought, that once Mr. Weasley was going to make a full recovery, you would once again have bent your intellects to the task."

Ichigo grimaced as Harry winced again at the sound of disappointment in Professor Dumbledore's voice.

"At that point – well, we were busy playing Dodge McLaggen," Ichigo shrugged. It wasn't much of an explanation, but it was the only one they had.

"Or Dodge Lavender," Harry added, "it's a little hard when you're hiding in the boy's bathroom."

"I see."

Ichigo went back to staring at the floor; Harry began to feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry sir," he said, "I should have made more of an effort. I know that you wouldn't have asked me if it wasn't important."

"Thank you for saying that, Harry," Professor Dumbledore nodded, "You see, there is little reason for us to meet after this, without the memory."

"I'll get it," Harry nodded, "I know what a Horcrux is, thanks to Ichigo's mother; I think I know what it is exactly that you're looking for from Professor Slughorn."

At the mention of Masaki's name, Professor Dumbledore had started with surprise. Ichigo smirked. "Bless my mother and her journals."

"I see," he nodded, giving Ichigo a long look. Ichigo met it, his expression saying they would talk later.

"On that note, I guess it's time for me to take up my post outside," Ichigo said; his job was to keep those like Trelawney from barging in on the two; she had already been with the Professor when he had arrived. Unknown to Harry, he had already seen the memories that Professor Dumbledore planned to show him. One of those was from a very old and almost senile house-elf named Hokey, who had once worked for one of Ichigo's distant Smith relatives. There was also going to be a great deal of speculation as to what He had been up to for a number of years.

Ichigo felt his own anger at Voldemort growing. Kisuke had shown him the locket after he'd sliced it with Benihime, and told him what had happened when he had; the damage… the fury he'd felt had nearly choked him, which had startled him, but not Dumbledore. Not when he'd seen the ring…

"These are heirlooms," the Professor had told him, "your family's heritage. He's warped them, turned them to his own dark purpose so that you have no choice but to destroy them, in order to destroy him. Of course you are angry; I'd be surprised if you weren't."

And poor little Hokey, an innocent, sweet house elf, so much like Taffy – had been tricked, confunded into killing her own mistress, the elderly witch Hepzibah Smith, all so that – bastard – could get his hands on a pair of heirlooms. The locket, which had once belonged to Riddle's mother, that Smith had purchased from Borgin and Burkes – that Ichigo could understand, it was Slytherin's, and Riddle was – or so he thought – the last of the Slytherin line; and a cup that had once been Helga Hufflepuff's.

He clenched his fists tightly together.

Don't try to calm me down, he warned Zangetsu, when he sensed his zanpakuto was about to try, I want to be angry.

There was a cackling laugh. :Ooh, Kingie is upset -:

Shut up you – or else.

:Or else what?:

You'll be eating carrots. Permanently. I can still access your powers if you have long ears and a fluffy cotton tail, he threatened. Hichigo shut up.

He sighed, and went back to his 'deep thinking,' only this time he put up a mental wall to hide his thoughts. It wasn't easy, blocking out Zangetsu; but usually his zanpakuto understood when he "wanted privacy" and put in the equivalent of earplugs.

He had – rather casually – questioned Toshiro and Yoruichi about Zanpakuto habits. Most, they told him, were not prone to shoving their proverbial noses into their bearer's lives every waking moment. In fact, the majority remained rather quiet – even when the Soul Reaper was making an ass out of themselves. So the extreme interest that Zangetsu – and by extension Hichigo – took in everything that Ichigo did… took both of them by surprise. Usually, one had to communicate with their zanpakuto using jinzen; it was unusual to hear of one so casually interfering – commenting – on a day to day basis.

Very highly unusual.

Ichigo wasn't sure if he was flattered or not. He could do with less interference.

He rubbed the side of his nose, and glanced back at the door. By now, Harry had probably finished seeing the first memory, that of Hokey. Professor Dumbledore had told him that Moldy had tried to get a job teaching at Hogwarts after he graduated, but was refused, and subsequently he had gone on to work at – Borgin and Burke. After obtaining the locket and cup from Smith and framing that poor little house elf for the deed, Moldy had vanished for a number of years before finally resurfacing, again seeking a teaching position at Hogwarts. Dumbledore was Head Master by this time; the second memory was another one of his, the meeting he had with Voldemort shortly after he applied for the job a second time. He refused the so-called 'dark lord' outright.

The change in Tom Riddle had been staggering. His appearance was not as advanced towards being a snake's as it was today, but it was more of an in-between stage. There were the red, blood-shot eyes; the waxy and distorted features; the pale, drawn skin. The handsome young student was long gone. The Death Eaters existed, and awaited him in the village. Professor Dumbledore knew they were there – and even named some of them. He was – or Ichigo felt that the Professor's tongue was firmly in his cheek here – friendly with the barman. Something there, he mused, remembering the glint in Dumbledore's eyes and the twitch on his lips when he said those words. He tried to remember what the barman in the Hogs Head Inn had looked like, but couldn't. The important fact was that the jinx had started right after the failed interview – they were unable to keep a teacher for longer than one year after that.

The last piece of the puzzle, Dumbledore was certain, was that memory from Slughorn. Ichigo resolved at that point to also make sure to give Harry extra lessons in kido; not that Ichigo was an expert… but Momo and Rukia were. They had been slacking off a bit, and if Ichigo started pushing, he knew the pair would take over, since they knew he was fairly new to the skill. They'd be afraid of what could happen… and besides, Harry was going to need all of the help he could get.

Harry opened the door and the pair of them stared at each other.

"Well?" Ichigo finally asked, as they started back down the stairway.

"I need that memory," Harry sighed.

Ichigo nodded. "We'll think of something," he replied as they walked away from the office. "Probably in the middle of the night."

Harry sighed again. "He – was so much like us, and yet –"

"I know; what's the saying? 'There but for the Grace of God go I?' or something like that?" Ichigo nodded. It would have been very easy for either one of them to follow the same path… or both of them. The image of a four-way fight for Dominion flashed into his head, which caused Hichigo to howl with laughter.

"Hey – where's your body?" Harry asked him suddenly.

"Room of Requirement – with Rukia," Ichigo smirked, "So I'll be leaving you here. See you later."

"Uh – why the Room of Requirement?"

Ichigo just gave him a long, wicked look over his shoulder that had Harry blushing, before he vanished with a flash step.

"Oh."

He was never going to be able to look at the Room in the same way ever again.

#

Draco stared at the vanishing cabinet, frustrated. He had assistance repairing it now – probably more than he wanted or needed. Just the other day, he'd come into the Room of Requirement and found Uryu and Toshiro working on it, having been let in by Ichigo - before the other teen had had to go serve detention with Professor McGonagall for what he had done to McLaggen.

Not that he wasn't grateful to them for their help: he was, and seeing them there meant they were taking his situation – and his mother's – seriously and their vow to help save her was more than just lip service. He had sent that letter to his Aunt, who had replied – she had gone to the shop herself with Greyback to visit the proprietor to check on the cabinet and to make certain that he was taking it just as seriously. When Draco had first learned that someone had severely damaged it, he had nearly panicked; however, that had turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as he had found new allies – allies that would help him save his mother. And never, in a million years, would he ever expect that those allies would include Potter and his mudblood friend…

Draco was aware that he was perilously close to hero-worshipping Kurosaki; Ishida had noticed the burgeoning symptoms and pointed them out to him – but he really didn't care. Ichigo was powerful: he was probably the most powerful wizard Draco had ever met, and that included Professor Dumbledore and Voldemort – but, as Snape had pointed out – he did not abuse his power. Kurosaki was also the older brother of the girl Draco wanted….

Draco heard the door open, and froze. Who had entered? Only three people knew how to get in: Crabbe, Goyle, and Kurosaki. If it was one of the first two, he'd borrow a page from Ichigo's book and turn them into rabbits as they were supposed to be standing guard…

He frowned when he didn't hear anything further; he was about to go investigate when a slight figure suddenly appeared in front of him, causing him to jump. He blinked with surprise.

"Yuzu?" he stared at her, stunned. How did she get in?

"Hi," she said, a bit breathlessly, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Uh – how?"

She smiled at him. "Onii-chan told me how to get in, Harry loaned me his cloak," she held up the material in his hands, drawing his attention to it.

"But – how did you get past –"

"Crabbe and Goyle?" she laughed, "You really may want to have them polyjuice older students. Hermione is a Prefect – she comes across a pair of young students just hanging around in the hallway – she has the authority to send them packing. Especially if she has Tatsuki and Rukia with her."

Draco mentally face palmed. Tatsuki alone could have sent that pair packing… then he realized what she was saying: they had all conspired – even Potter – to help her sneak in here so she could see him alone. He was in debt to Potter and Granger – again.

"I'll remember that," he said, "although if they do that, it will make it harder for you to sneak in here."

"I'll find a way," she assured him, as she looked beyond him at the Vanishing Cabinet. "How is it – oh, dear," she murmured, seeing what was supposed to be an apple.

Draco looked back down at it and sighed. "Yeah," he said, "I'm not sure which cabinet is responsible, though."

Yuzu reached out to touch his arm reassuringly. "You'll figure it out," she said, "Ichigo is helping you, and so is Ishida-kun."

"Thankfully," Draco admitted. Uryu Ishida was a genius, and he almost wished he was helping to repair the second one. Unfortunately he wasn't, so he had to be grateful for the help he was getting. Especially since it was going to help him win not only his mother's freedom, but the girl of his dreams. He had every reason to accept all the help he was getting.

Yuzu leaned against him, and lay her head against his shoulder, watching as he sent the apple back to the other cabinet. She had every reason to believe in her brother, who always pulled off miracles, and she had no reason not to believe he would not pull this one off for her.

After all, he had promised. And Ichi-nii always kept his promises.

#

The group as a whole brainstormed over the next week, with no one having any ideas. Draco suggested Legilimency, but Ichigo was loathe to use it in that manner.

The first Apparition exam was coming up, and sign-up sheets had been posted. Hermione and Ron were both eligible, although Harry, Draco and Neville were not. Hermione had managed to Apparate twice, and Harry once; Ron, Draco and Neville had not managed at all. So in addition to Draco's tutoring and the kido lessons, they were also working on Apparition, the group having decided to let them know the Room of Requirement would allow them to Apparate – but only within its walls, from one end of the room to another. Basically, they were able to reproduce the training environment of the Great Hall.

They had their last dueling class in DADA, as well; and the group tried not to show any happiness over Draco's performance other than as teammates when he retired from the platform after defeating five straight opponents. If they looked at each other with some smugness and a smidgeon of pride – it was over a teaching job well done.

Professor Flitwick selected another name from the box – Smith's – and he then was able to defeat the first opponent he drew. When he reached in to pull out the name of his second dueling partner, however…

He stared at the name, his face draining of color, his hand shaking, and for a moment, Harry thought he was going to pass out.

Smith looked up at Professor Snape. "C-can I y-yield?" he asked in a voice that was so soft no one should have been able to hear him, yet everyone did because they had all grown quiet upon seeing his reaction. Professor Snape stared down at him, one brow raised with sardonic amusement as he reached over to take the slip of paper from him; he never looked at it – he didn't need to – and simply said "No." Then he strode away with one brief nod at Ichigo, who walked forward slowly, like a predator stalking his prey. The unholy gleam in his eye as he took his place opposite Smith did not bode well for the other boy.

"Do try not to kill him, please," Professor Flitwick cautioned. Ichigo gave a brief nod, his eyes never leaving his hapless victim. Everyone watched with baited breath as they went through the formalities, and Harry thought that Hermione was going to squeeze his arm off she was holding onto it so tightly.

No one moved, no one blinked, as no one wanted to miss one second of this…

Smith tried striking first; to everyone's amazement, Ichigo let him.

Or did he?

He held his wand out, and there was a small 'snap' as whatever Smith sent at him was absorbed by this wand – and then flung back at him, with interest.

One moment Smith was standing there, then he was gone – but there was a man-sized hole in the hall door. All of their classmates stared at the hole – and then back at Ichigo, who had turned to look at Hermione and Ishida, both of whom were grinning back at him, and Hermione had thrust and arm into the air with a crowed, "Yes!"

"It worked," Ichigo said to them with a smirk.

"Obviously," Uryu replied, one finger on the nose piece of his eyeglasses, an answering smirk on his face.

"What did you do?" Ernie asked, looking back at the hole, and at Smith, lying unconscious in the hallway where he was drawing a crowd.

"Absorbed his spell into my wand and sent it back at him – with some interest," Ichigo smirked. "We worked it out last week."

"Holy –" someone muttered. Harry couldn't help but smile – Ichigo's reputation had just grown to a whole new level; along with Uryu's and Hermione's, since he had made it clear that the three of them had put their heads together to work out the particulars. He was awfully glad the three of them were on his side…

"Very well," Professor Snape nodded, "Miss Bones, please escort your house mate to the medical wing. He should be right at home next to Mr. McLaggen. Mr. Kurosaki, if you would – please select your next – victim."

Some people laughed at that, although Ron didn't when his name got drawn. Instead, he went pale.

"Oh, relax," Ichigo glared at him, "I'm not going to do that to you - you haven't pissed me off that much."

Ron sighed with relief, but then yelped when, after the formalities, he found himself hoisted up in the air by his ankle when Ichigo used Levicorpus. He dropped his wand, which pretty much ensured he lost the match.

"I did say 'that much'," Ichigo grinned, moving him until he was back in the midst of his group – and then dropped him on his head in front of Lavender.

The Slytherins (on both teams) of course thought this was hilarious. Even Harry found himself laughing at the situation – and a covert glance at Snape proved that even that dour gentleman was striving not to openly smile.

Next up for Ichigo was Orihime – and before she had a chance to do anything, he was holding her wand.

"Orihime," he shook his head as her cheeks flushed pink, "I should not have been able to get that away from you so easily."

"Oh, um…"

He handed her wand back to her, shaking his head as he did so. "Never mind."

Neville fared a bit better; he got out a few spells before Ichigo hit him with Jelly Legs, and he had to be carried off the stage so he could be fixed. It was now his last duel, and the very last one for the year. He'd utterly destroyed one of the people he had a grudge against; there was only one left – Blaise Zabini. Would Ichigo be lucky enough to pull his name? Or would Zabini squeak out of it?

Harry watched as Ichigo went over to the box and pulled a piece of parchment out, which he handed to Professor Flitwick. Everyone waited with baited breath, and you could have heard a pin drop as the diminutive Charms Professor unfolded the piece of parchment and looked at the name. He looked up.

"Mr. Zabini, front and center."

Hermione gasped.

"Nice knowing you," Ron smirked, as the other boy slowly walked forward, a frown on his face. He did not show the same nervousness that Smith had. Silence descended on the hall as they watched the pair take their places. Ichigo stood and glared at him, his scowl ever more pronounced as they faced off on the platform. Zabini had proven himself to be adept, even though Harry himself had defeated him once.

Zabini moved first, his wand flicking out; then he moved, so he was not in the same place in case Ichigo pulled the same trick. He didn't; instead he simply blocked the spell, his eyes tracking the other boy.

"What's he waiting for?" Hermione asked quietly as two more spells were blocked.

"He isn't sure what he wants to use," Uryu replied, adjusting his glasses, "he's been waiting for this chance since the train ride; he wants to savor it."

"He's psyching him out; he wants Blaise to make a mistake," was Draco's input. Everyone turned to look at him; he was staring intently at the duel, his eyes never leaving the pair, as if he could learn something just by watching them…

A ghost of a smile crossed Ichigo's face, and his wand moved; Blaise stumbled, his hand going up to his eyes, a muttered curse – not the kind you fling at someone with your wand – escaping from his lips. Another flick, and his body erupted in boils. Antlers grew from his head next, and then his teeth started to elongate, and his toenails burst through his shoes. Ichigo gave one more flick, and as his nose started running copiously, grew to enormous size, and then took on the shape of a bat; Ichigo must have been working with Ginny in order to master her specialty, as no one did it as well as she did. As Zabini was fighting off his own Bogeys, Ichigo immobilized him. And of course, it was all done silently.

"Are you finished?" Professor Snape asked him as he stared at the young Soul Reaper. Ichigo considered for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Very well then," the Professor stared down at Blaise; he did not appear to be highly annoyed at this member of his House; probably because it was Ichigo who had defeated him. "Class is dismissed."

Author's Notes:

The spell that Ichigo, Uryu and Hermione worked out – if it seems at all familiar – is based off of Ukitake's zanpakuto.

The spells Ichigo hit Blaise with:

Conjunctivitis Curse - affects eye/vision of target

Furnunculus is the incantation of a hex that causes the victim's body to break out with boils

Antler Jinx - victim sprouts antlers

Toenail Jinx – Harry tried this one out earlier on Goyle; he found it in the Potions book, created by Snape

Densaugeo is the incantation of a hex that enlarges the teeth of the target

Bat-Bogey Hex - causes victims "boogies" to grow to bat size, sprout wings, and attack victim's face

Petrificus Totalus is the incantation of the Full Body Bind spell, used to lock the target's body straight like a board, though it allows the internal organs to continue functioning

Gurdyroot - Gurdyroot is a plant resembling a green onion, according to Luna Lovegood it is excellent for warding off Gulping Plimpies. Luna and her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, make a drink with this plant, which they call a Gurdyroot Infusion, which has a bogey-like taste. The gurdyroot possibly made its first appearance when Neville Longbottom bought an "evil-smelling green onion" to protect himself from the monster in the Chamber of Secrets (the Basilisk). Though others pointed out that only Muggle-borns were being attacked, Neville felt he still needed this protection as he was "almost a squib". It also does not have a pleasant taste. When Hermione Granger was transforming into Bellatrix Lestrange using Polyjuice Potion, Hermione stated that the potion tasted "disgusting, worse than Gurdyroots".