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

Author's note: Here we go again :) I've hid some foreshadowing in this chapter and I'm looking forward to seeing who can spot the very subtle one. ;)

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

Rating: M

Warning: none

Two days after the Enzio fiasco, which, fortunately, were without any other catastrophes, Harry finally set foot on Mafia Island for the first time. The sandy shore with the occasional shade-giving palm tree and the sparkling ocean was already a sight to see, but the colourful theme park, spanning at least the front of the island, was nothing to scoff at either. Under different circumstances Harry might have liked to explore some of the rides. The roller coaster in particular looked thrilling.

What caught his attention the most, however, were the three ginormous helium-filled balloons floating above a luxurious-looking building, which bore a striking resemblance to a certain hitman's head. If those weren't a good enough clue for what was going on, the banners with 'Welcome Reborn!" attached to them settled any doubts. Or, well… there was also the reporters who'd tried and failed to interview the Sun Arcobaleno.

"So… you're a mafia celebrity," Harry concluded with a snort and a raised eyebrow directed at Reborn. The hitman had jumped on his shoulder after the (mafia?) press had wandered off. "Colour me surprised," The other brunet was, after all, the World's Strongest Hitman, capitals and all. "It's nice not to be the one in the spotlight, but that'll probably change once people find out I'm Vongola Decimo, won't it?"

Reborn smirked in reply. "Speaking of which, I've declared you our representative. It's your job to go to the information building and fill in the paperwork for our arrival."

"But doesn't he nee-" Shamal interrupted, going as far as dragging his gaze away from a scantily clad blonde, but didn't get to finish his sentence, because Reborn jumped on his shoulder and did something that Harry couldn't see but made Shamal wince.

Harry exchanged glances with his brother, who shrugged, and Severus, who looked grumpy in general, since he had to stay on a sunny island instead of brewing. He also side-eyed Dino, who was trying to keep a poker face, but was failing miserably. The concerned grimace was pretty obvious and reassured Harry greatly. Really.

"And where will I find you afterwards?" Harry inquired with a sigh.

"We will wait for you over there." Reborn pointed towards a building with several round tables in front of it. The sign attached to the front marked it as an ice cream parlour. All of the tables were currently occupied, but Harry had no doubt that his group would have conquered one of them by the time he returned.

"Alright then, I'll see you soon." Harry deliberately ignored Reborn's widening smirk as he set off towards the information building. Fortunately, the queue leading up to the service counter was short, so Harry only had to wait for a few minutes.

"Good morning, Sir. How may I help you?"

"Good morning. My name is Harry Potter, from the Vongola Family, and I'm here to register myself and my group."

"Do you have a referral letter or an invitation? If you don't, you will have to proceed with the mafia test."

Ah, so that's why Reborn had smirked at him like that. Harry had neither and the hitman wanted to see how he'd fare. The brunet idly wondered if Reborn expected him to fail or succeed. Now, what to do? If he had a reference, he'd have conjured a fake letter, but alas, he didn't. His only choice seemed to be the mafia test, but what, exactly, did that entail? Just as he was about to open his mouth and ask, an arm wrapped around Harry's shoulder. The brunet couldn't help flinching at the unexpected contact. Why hadn't he noticed someone coming this close to him?

"I vouch for him," the person declared as Harry turned to see who was overly touchy-feely with him. To his surprise, it was the bloke he'd rescued on the cruiser. With a wide grin splitting his face almost in two, the other teen handed a sheet of paper to the reception lady. After that he tugged a marshmallow, in the form of a bunny and attached to a stick, out of the pocket of his vest and began munching on it. It had already lost both ears and half an eye.

For a moment, the reception lady studied the sheet of paper, before she nodded.

"Everything seems to be in order. Welcome to Mafia Island, Gesso Seventh and Vongola Tenth." She wrote something on the computer in front of her and shortly thereafter laid two stacks of badges on lanyards and two brochures on the desk.

"Please give one each to the members of your party and carry them with you at all times. If you have any questions you can visit us here during office hours or call the service number in the brochure. I wish you a pleasant stay."

Harry took his part of the spoils with a thank you, before he turned to the teen who'd helped him out. He was grateful, of course, but also suspicious. The white-haired bloke had already known his name on the cruiser. Was he trying to win brownie points with the future Vongola head? Harry doubted the reason was gratitude. Or rather, not only gratitude.

"Thanks for that. I never caught your name. Mine's Harry, but I guess you already know that."

"The name's Byakuran Gesso," The teen revealed with a grin as he pulled another marshmallow animal, this time a unicorn, out of his vest. He offered the still plastic foil wrapped sweet to Harry, who accepted it with a bemused smile. "And I've decided we're going to be friends."

Harry frowned at him.

"Just beca-"

"Because you're interesting , like I said. Your rescue stunt for starters is something not many in the mafia would've done and I'm looking forward to seeing how you'll fare as Vongola Decimo. For now I have other things to do, though, so see you later!" With those parting words and waving good-bye, the white-haired teen wandered off.

Shaking his head about the weird encounter he'd just had, Harry turned to leave the building himself. On his way towards the exit, however, the souvenir shop caught his attention. It was like nothing he'd ever seen. In the display window alone was a curious mix of typical tourist paraphernalia like postcards and swim suits, weapons and souvenirs in the shape of weapons. Lighters in the form of a Glock and grenade beach balls were some of the harmless examples.

Harry lost the fight against his curiosity and stepped inside. He browsed through the normal looking souvenirs and selected a few for his friends at home, like several different graphic tee-shirts and a book on the history of Mafia Island. Technically none of them were supposed to know about the mafia, but then again Harry had never been a stickler for rules.

He turned towards the cashier desk, completely ignoring the other side of the store, which harboured the real weapon side of things, but stopped after a few steps.

Reborn had talked about mafia training and finding Guardians back when he'd 'suggested' the trip to Mafia Island, but he hadn't mentioned anything about honing his fighting skills in particular. Harry knew he'd do so sooner rather than later and, to be honest, it made sense. As a Don he'd have enemies and he wouldn't be able to fight all of them with magic or turn everyone into charcoal.

Shamal had his mosquitos and scalpels. Sometimes he used guns, as well. Spanner wasn't a frontline fighter, but had technology on his side to fight for him. And Severus… he'd come up with something sooner or later, too. Even Blaise wasn't too bad at fencing. Harry wasn't interested in swords - the short stint with Gryffindor's sword had been enough for him. Guns weren't all that bad, but didn't hold his interest either.

The brunet walked through the aisles of sais, spears and various other weapons, but looked at little capsules made out of metal. The sign declared them as extendable staffs, which were available in different versions, meaning they could conduct different types of Flames. None were available for Sky Flames, though. Harry carefully set down the other things he'd picked out and grabbed one of the Storm ones.

Now, how to open this thing? It had a kind of knob on one side and a pin on the other. Was he supposed to pull out the pin to make this work? The brunet studied the three-panelled instruction graphic on the cabinet, then eagerly pushed the knob, which was actually a button, and let go of the object completely. It extended in a split-second, but Harry's quick reflexes helped the wizard to grab the weapon before it could go anywhere near the floor.

This thing was wicked .

Valentina, a member of Aria's Famiglia, had used a staff like this, before she'd died during a mission. She'd even let Harry try it out and shown him some moves. Harry barely knew the basics, but he remembered how much fun it had been. Her staff had been a lot sturdier than the one he held in his hand now, though.

Harry contemplated it for a short moment, before he decided to buy it. He'd just give it to Spanner later and ask him to make him a better one. One that was actually capable of conducting Sky Flames.

Ten minutes later the brunet stepped out of the information building. He was happy with his purchases, but this place was ridiculous. The cashier had actually given him a total of more than a thousand Euros. After some quite fierce haggling he'd paid a much more reasonable price.

Harry saw his companions as soon as he rounded the corner. As expected, they were sitting at one of the ice cream parlour tables and were in the middle of a heated discussion, which promptly stopped when they spotted the brunet. Yeah, that wasn't suspicious at all. You'd think a group consisting of mostly spies and hitmen would be more subtle. Harry also wondered where Dino had disappeared to. Shouldn't the blond have registered his group, too?

"You took quite a while," Reborn criticised, but the satisfied gleam in his dark eyes contradicted his sharp tone somewhat.

Harry dropped the badges on the table and sat down on the last empty seat.

"Did some shopping in the souvenir shop. I had no doubt you'd be able to keep yourself busy for a little while longer." He raised his brows. "Looked like I was right, when I arrived."

"So, which test did you get?" Shamal asked, completely ignoring Harry's implied question. He did, however, sound genuinely interested.

"Test? What test?" Is that what would've happened if Byakuran hadn't helped him out?

"He got a recommendation," Reborn revealed to everyone's surprise.

"From whom? And how would you know? You've been sitting here the whole time Harry was gone," Severus interjected suspiciously. His light frown turned into a full-fledged scowl, when Reborn's only response was a smirk.

"He's right. The white-haired bloke from the ship helped me out. Apparently he's the next head of the Gessos." And an... interesting person, as well.

"Maybe they're trying to cosy up with the Vongola. At the moment, both Famiglias pretty much ignore each other," Shamal mused.

"Or they're planning something more nefarious, which brings me to the next activity for today," Reborn declared. At once the mood at the table turned icy and the expressions stormy. Neither Harry's Guardians nor Blaise interjected though, so whatever the Arcobaleno had planned, they weren't happy about it, but reluctantly agreed. Harry barely refrained from fidgeting on his chair, he did, however, frown at Reborn.

"I've arranged a Meet-Up for this afternoon at two," Reborn said.

Harry's frown got deeper.

"A meet-up? For who? Wait-" Harry groaned as the penny dropped.

"It's something Mafia Island offers, because this is neutral ground. Skies who're looking for Guardians can give them specifications, like what Flame types they're looking for and they send invitations to the relevant Famiglias. Then it's kind of like speed-dating. You sit at a table and all interested Flame users who followed the invitation have a set amount of time to spark your interest," Shamal explained with a grimace. "Considering you're the next Vongola head, there will be a crowd for sure."

"And why would you think I'd participate in this bullshite?" Harry growled at Reborn. "I told you repeatedly that I won't chose Guardians based on political reasons."

"I'm not asking you to choose one of them. I want you to meet and talk to them. If you don't click with any of them, then so be it, but I want you to take it seriously," Reborn countered calmly and tucked an envelope out of his suit. "To sweeten the deal, I have this."

"And what is this?" Harry curled his fingers tightly around the armrest of his chair to keep them from squeezing the Arcobaleno's neck.

"Information," the hitman revealed, while opening the envelope and pulling something out of it. "About someone you know."

With a pounding heart, Harry stared at the familiar dolphin keychain in disbelief.

Harry couldn't believe he was sitting here.

That manipulative little shite... How dare he use bribery and emotional manipulation to get Harry to agree to this hare-brained plan!? Harry couldn't have refused if his life had depended on it, not if it concerned-

The brunet clenched his hands and took a deep breath.

The Meet-Up was almost as bad as he'd expected, even though he was trying to keep an open mind. There we're basically four categories of people coming into the room:

The arrogant and slimy type akin to Draco Malfoy, who evoked the urge to strangle them in Harry.

Those who were boring him to death – by lacking character completely or by rattling down facts about themselves.

Then there was the sort who tried to either seduce him or force him into harmony within minutes. Those, especially the latter category, had been escorted out by one of his Guardians or one of Dino's men, who were helping out with the security. Surprisingly, nobody had tried to kill him so far.

The absolute minority were the genuinely interesting people.

Cael, a stern-looking Sun of about thirty and part of the American branch of the Agosti Family, was one of them. He had interesting stories to tell and had come across as (How would Spanner put it, with one of his memes?) "Someone who looks like they can kill you, but is actually a cinnamon roll" (who could still kill you).

Another example was the bubbly Giulia, a Storm who reminded him of a less clumsy Tonks.

Harry wasn't sure about making any of them his Guardian, but it would still be nice to stay in contact with them.

"Announcing Luca Orsini from the Uberti Family. Sun Flame."

Harry uttered a sigh as yet another person entered the room. This one was tall but lanky, with a dark-blond sidecut and a friendly smile tugging on his lips. Contrary to most of the other attendees, he was dressed very casually, in a leather jacket, jeans and matching studded gloves.

"Hello, nice to meet you," Luca said as he grabbed Harry's hand for an enthusiastic handshake. It felt like Sun Flames were brushing over the brunet's skin, but the feeling was gone too quick to be sure. The blond wouldn't be the first to check their Flame compatibility anyway and definitely not the most obtrusive. "I'm Luca."

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Harry Potter. Please, take a seat. What made you decide to come here?"

"My boss primarily," Luca snorted and Harry emitted a surprised laugh. It was actually refreshing that the man was so blunt. "But then I saw you handle the situation with the giant turtle on that cruiser and wanted to meet you regardless of my obligations."

The rest of their ten-minute-long conversation was just as entertaining, though something was niggling at the back of Harry's mind. The brunet couldn't quite put his finger on it and Luca left without any incidents, but his intuition was seldom (never, actually) wrong. Something was up with that bloke.

Two hours later Harry let his forehead hit the tabletop.

" Enooough! If I see another person trying to talk my ear off about their oh-so-great accomplishments, I'll snap."

"You lasted longer than I expected," Reborn admitted with an amused grin. "One more and we'll call it a day. I think you'll like this one." He nodded towards the young woman next to the door, who whispered something into her headset.

"Announcing Basil della Casa Grande. Rain Flame."

Harry's heart stopped.

Fun fact, apparently in 1862 in Bologna wet nurses were encouraged to give foundlings surnames based on nature (like minerals, vegetables and animals). Casa Grande is apparently another surname often given to foundlings.