Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Katekyo Hitman Reborn and I don't earn any money with this story.

Author's note: Don't get used to the quick update pace ;) Anyway, this chapter's a bit fillery and shorter, but it DOES contain plot relevant information. I wonder if you'll figure out who Harry's talking about in the latter part of the chapter, before I give you more information. You're very welcome to guess!

Rating: M

Warning: None

Beta'd by the lovely NonchalantxFish, thank you very much :)

It was just past nine in the evening when Reborn opened the door to Potter's temporary room. The Sky was still knocked out, as was his Cloud Guardian, making staying for the night the wiser decision. It was both a blessing and a curse. Some of the people residing in the manor were grating on his nerves, particularly a certain red-haired matriarch who'd taken exception to him 'almost shooting her children'. Che, civilians . They were all the same, even magical ones.

The hitman had wandered off while she'd been in mid-rant, not willing to listen to her for another second. Instead he'd scouted the building, which housed a dozen families and a few lone individuals. He'd come across some of them and promptly dismissed most as uninteresting. The talking portraits had been considerably more entertaining, as had the books in the library.

All the while the brunet had contemplated the twins. They were somewhat annoying, yes, but they'd seemed very protective of Potter. Maybe they'd make good Guardians? Reborn's plans still included throwing as many active Flame users at his protégée as possible until he had a full set of Guardians, but he knew the teen would be more receptive to people he already knew and had a connection with.

Were the twins capable of activating their Flames, though? Did they even have Flames? And if they did, which type? If they were Clouds, Mists or Lightnings, they'd be useless.

Reborn hummed to himself as he hopped onto the chair next to Potter's bed, side-eyeing Spanner, who was dozing in the armchair in the corner of the room, the lollipop in the corner of his mouth almost falling out. The blond was the least surprising choice, when it came to Potter's current Guardians. According to Shamal's narration, Spanner had become Flame active while under duress, with a trusted, unconscious Sky he'd wanted to protect right there. It had been the perfect circumstances to achieve harmony. Shamal's situation hadn't been quite the same, but similar (though by the sound of it had involved Sky attraction), so Reborn wondered if Potter had been knocked out in Snape's case, as well. He didn't know much about the man, only that he used to be Potter's teacher and a spy.

Having nothing better to do, Reborn put his hat on the night table next to him and cracked open the book he'd picked up in the library. It was a primer for Arithmancy, which he knew nothing about, yet, but seemed to be magical math and had therefore aroused his curiosity.

When he was halfway through the book, maybe an hour later, Potter's fingers started to twitch, but it took another two or three minutes for his eyes to open. Reborn watched him by peering over the pages in front of him and finally closed the book when the wizard's hazy gaze swivelled towards him.

"Ciaossu."

"Hey." The brunet blinked a few more times to wake himself up further. "How long was I out? And…" Potter studied him more thoroughly even as the corners of his mouth turned upwards. "And where did you get that outfit?"

Reborn looked down at his midnight blue robes with a star pattern, which was accentuated nicely by a wooden staff and the wizard's hat Leon had turned into. He was a bit surprised his chameleon hadn't turned back, yet, but it wasn't the first time his companion had fallen asleep while changed.

"I made it."

"A man of many talents, huh?" Potter grinned, but his compliment sounded genuine enough. "What else can you do? I mean, outside of mafia stuff."

Reborn echoed the grin and put the book aside for now. He'd get back to it at a later time.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" His voice had adopted a surprisingly teasing tone instead of the mocking one he'd aimed for.

"I would, actually."

"Too bad for you then, Potter. That's for me to know and for you to probably never find out." Reborn liked his secrets and the mysterious air that came with it. He only revealed bits and pieces, when it benefitted him or when he felt like it. "You've been unconscious for half a day. You better recover fast, I won't spend another day here."

Potter snorted and shifted into a sitting position. His face had regained some colour and his hand had been healed. His ankle too, probably. He was still wearing the same clothes, however.

"Met Molly, have you? She can be a bit overbearing. Also, you can call me Harry if you want, you know?" The brunet let his gaze wander to his brother, who was still sleeping on the armchair. By now the lollypop had fallen from his slightly gaping mouth and was sticking to his coveralls. "I wouldn't be able to take my time anyway. Spanner would just sit there the whole time and Severus would disappear into his dark lair- sorry, I meant potion laboratory , of course. And I have to keep an eye on Shamal. He's got better at not harassing women, but I'm pretty sure he'd regress if I weren't there to… remind him of the consequences." With a smirk on his lips, Harry swung his legs over the edge of the bed and carefully got up.

Reborn watched as the brunet peeled the lolly off of Spanner and covered him with his blanket, before approaching the door.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking on everyone. I guess you didn't try to find out their current state?"

That was… true, actually. Harry apparently took his silence as the affirmation it was and stepped outside into the hallway, which was also lit by candles. Heaving a sigh, Reborn followed him.

The bones in Shacklebolt's arm had been vanished and were currently in the process of being regrown (that was in equal shares disturbing and interesting) and Weasley was already back on his feet. Only Snape was still unconscious, but the poison in his bloodstream had been neutralised and he'd most likely make a full recovery.

"Are there any more Flame active witches or wizards?" the hitman wondered as they returned to Potter's room, causing the wizard to frown at him.

"Not to my knowledge. Why? Wait-" Harry squinted suspiciously at him. "This isn't about adding to my Guardians again, right?"

"It has to be done," Reborn declared, returning the teen's glare with a steely gaze of his own until Harry huffed and dropped onto his bed.

"I almost had another one, you know? A few years back."

Oh? Were they finally getting somewhere?

"What happened?"

Falling silent for a few minutes, the brunet reclined on the mattress, staring at the ceiling like it held the answer to all of his problems. His gaze had turned wistful, maybe even pained, and suddenly Reborn wasn't all that sure if it had stayed at 'almost'.

"As you know, my grandpa was an inventor and did commissions for all kinds of people – rich civilians, mafia Famiglias, sometimes even for the government. One of his customers sometimes brought a child with her, a boy around my age. We used to play and talk while they were hashing out the details of their projects. We got on like a house on fire, pun not intended. It stayed like that for a few years, even after my Flames became active.

A year later he went Active, too, and it wasn't a huge surprise to us when we formed an instant connection. We were pretty happy about it, at the time, but… the next time the woman came she didn't bring him. Instead, a man was accompanying her. He looked at me, sneered and then proceeded to ignore me. From that day onwards the woman always came alone and no matter how often I asked her why or if I could visit, she always came up with one bullshit excuse or another."

Reborn really wished he was wearing his fedora for the sole purpose of tugging it towards his face and plunging his face into more shadows. Whatever he'd expected, this wasn't it. Someone had deliberately kept a fledging Guardian from their Sky, because, what? They'd thought the Sky wasn't worthy enough? Every Sky was worthy if the potential Guardian deemed them so. If someone had tried that shit with him, he'd have killed them on the spot, even as a kid.

Not all Skies and their respective Guardians harmonized, especially in cases where they'd been purposefully matched, akin to an arranged marriage for whatever reason (mostly political ones). Seldom did anyone try to separate a Guardian from their Sky, though, even if they were from another Famiglia or the odd civilian. Some hostile Famiglias had even buried the hatched throughout the years for that very reason.

"Who was it?" Reborn inquired, his voice clear but cold as ice.

Harry and the as-of-yet-unnamed boy hadn't seen each other for a few years, but he was sure that wouldn't pose a problem in terms of compatibility. The hitman would ensure that they'd meet again, even if he had to kidnap the boy or threaten a whole Famiglia into compliance. Additionally, Harry was now the future Vongola Decimo. Even an idiot had to see how beneficial a tie to the most powerful mafia Famiglias could be.

"Maybe…" Pot- Harry burrowed his visible hand in the sheet, even as he turned his back on Reborn and pulled the spare blanket over him. "Maybe I'll tell you when we've defeated V." If I'm still alive then. "You should get some sleep, too. Good night."

The hitman studied the brunet's covered back for a long moment, on the verge of pressing for more information. He knew he wouldn't get more out of the wizard, though; the teen was stubborn like that. But , Reborn thought as he silently left the room, Leon in hand, there was another person who could give him the information he needed. A certain blond who wanted the best for his brother. Getting an unwillingly estranged Guardian back certainly counted.