Edited again: 05/18/2015 - Fixed some grammar mistakes and fixed some formatting I didn't realize was lost when I transferred the file over.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own Bleach.

Zanpakuto speaking

Thinking

"Speaking"

Chapter 3: The Burrow

The ride was silent for the first few minutes, Toshiro staring out his window at the passing landscape, until Arthur spoke up.

"Dumbledore said you two came from Japan?"

Toshiro startled and turned, "That's right."

Arthur hummed thoughtfully, "You can barely tell from your accents. How'd you two come to speak English so well?"

Toshiro shrugged, "It was a requirement of sorts in our…" He frowned for a moment as he tried to come up with a word that wouldn't sound suspicious. Before the silence could stretch too long, Rukia jumped in.

"our community! There were a lot of foreigners coming through, and learning English both in and out of school made everything go along much more smoothly." Toshiro gave a sigh of relief and shot her an appreciative look, before returning his attention to Arthur.

He nodded understandingly, "What kind of place did you two live in?"
Toshiro rubbed his forehead, feeling slightly aggravated. He'd assumed that he and Rukia would have more time to come up with a plausible story before people would start asking questions. Apparently, he had been mistaken.

"We lived in a porting town," Rukia answered instead, "A small one. When I was younger, I lived on the streets. From what I know, Hitsugaya-san did too." Toshiro caught her giving him an uncertain look, and he nodded minutely. With a slight smile and more confidence, Rukia continued, "I-"

"What did you call him just now?" Arthur cut in, eyebrows furrowed in the front mirror.

Rukia blinked, "What did I call who, sir?"

"You said 'Hitsugaya-san'. What does that mean?"

Rukia coughed, "Ah, right. In Japan we have an honorifics system. I don't know Hitsugaya-san very well and we're about equals," Toshiro made a slightly disgruntled sound here, and Rukia shot an amused look in his direction, " so I put -san at the end of his last name. Had he been an upperclassman, I would put -sama at the end, and if he were a friend or a lowerclassman I might call him by -kun or without a suffix, and if he were a close friend I would call him by his first name."

Arthur looked a bit dazed, but nodded, "I… see. And what would you call me?"

Toshiro started speaking before Rukia could answer, "We'll be doing our best to follow the etiquette here. So we'll call you Mr. Weasley, if that's alright with you."

Mr. Weasley nodded, and the three fell back into silence.

"... you two don't talk much. Do you?"

Toshiro smirked, "You could say that."

"I hope you don't mind a lot of noise. My kids can get bloody loud sometimes."

Toshiro and Rukia exchanged looks, recalling their time Karakura town, "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

The car finally began descending as a large, misshapen house came into view.

"Here we are!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed, "Home sweet home!"

With a smoother landing than the one at Hogwarts, the car rumbled to a stop in front of the house. The doors swung open, and Toshiro and Rukia stepped out. Rukia looked up at the house in wonder for a moment.

How many people live here?

Mr. Weasley strode past the two, opening the door and ushering them inside. As he followed them, he shouted, "Molly, I'm home! And we have guests!"

A woman, with hair as brightly red as Mr. Weasley's, came out of a nearby door. She was plump and solidly built, wearing a flowered apron over a pale yellow and red accented dress. The end of a wand could be seen sticking out of the front pocket of the apron, and her mouth was pulled into a warm smile, "Arthur, you're back! What did Dumbledore want from you so suddenly?" She paused when she noticed Rukia and Toshiro standing a little awkwardly behind her husband.

"Oh, you little darlings!" Her smile widened and she rushed for them, beginning to fuss over them, much to their surprise.

Mr. Weasley chuckled, "You wouldn't mind a couple more mouths to feed, I hope?"

"Not a mite! I'll make sure these two'll feel right at home in the Burrow!" She hugged them tightly before letting go and standing back a bit to get a better look at them, "And what are your names, doves?"

Rukia snapped out of her surprised daze and answered first, "I'm Kuchiki Rukia- er- Rukia Kuchiki, sorry. I'm still trying to get accustomed to the customs here. I hope you don't mind." She rubbed her arm nervously, chuckling as she did so.

Toshiro tapped the back of her head as he stepped up behind her, sighing in exasperation. "You don't need to apologize so many times, Kuchiki. They'll understand."

Rukia's cheeks colored lightly, "I'm sorry I don't mean to I just-"

Toshiro ignored her and turned to Mrs. Weasley, "My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya. Thank you for letting us stay in your home."

"Why of course, dearie. I couldn't just tell you to leave now, could I?" She smiled widely at the two before turning to her husband, " Why don't you show them around, Arthur? I'm nearly done with dinner."

Mrs. Weasley quickly left through one of the nearby archways, and Rukia and Toshiro followed Mr. Weasley up the stairs. Rukia could hear Sode no Shirayuki laughing lightly.

You're being a bit jumpier than normal, Rukia. Any particular reason?

I'm just not used to the language yet. She thought defensively, Captain Hitsugaya has had more practice than I have, with the Captains from all the realms having to meet periodically. All I have recently are a few conversations with my brother.

You're doing fine. I'm sure Hitsugaya understands, and this family doesn't seem to mind.

Rukia let out a deep breath and tried to relax, I guess...

Toshiro followed Mr. Weasley through an archway, Rukia following behind. Without warning, the white-haired captain heard a muffled yelp and felt hands push him forward. As he stumbled, he avoided Mr. Weasley's unassuming back and turned, a deep scowl on his face.

He saw Rukia sitting on the floor where he was previously standing, rubbing a scraped elbow and wincing as two identical red-heads stood where she had been. They stared at the two for a moment, and a wide grin split their faces.

"Well lookie here!" One said, soon followed by the other chiming in.

"We seem to have a couple of strange children invading our house!"

Toshiro grit his teeth, trying to remember that he and Rukia both looked even younger than normal and that he shouldn't get too angry at the remark. He closed his eyes, cleared his throat, and rolled his shoulders a bit to try and calm down.

… It wasn't working.

Toshiro opened his eyes again, glaring silent daggers at the twins. The two continued grinning, unphased, until Mrs. Weasley walked up the stairs behind them, a stern look on her face.

"Fred, George! Don't you dare harass our guests. They've had a hard enough day as it is!" She growled.

The twins leapt in surprise, yelping and turning around to greet their mother.

"Oh, good evening mother!" One called.

"Such a lovely dress you have on!" The other added.

Mrs. Weasley's expression didn't change, "I appreciate the compliment, but my statement still stands. These two are going to be first years at Hogwarts next year, and they've had a long journey. For goodness sakes, they've come from Japan!"

Fred and George glanced back at the two and grinned, "Foreigners, are they?"

Mr. Weasley walked up and frowned, having doubled back after finally realizing that his two charges hadn't been behind him. "Listen to your mother, boys."

"But Da'!" They protested.

"No." Mr. Weasley said sternly, "You will listen to your mother, or you can go to your room."

The twins sighed in defeat, "Fine. We'll leave them alone." Fred groused.

Mrs. Weasley made a satisfied, if slightly unconvinced, sound, "Good. Now run along, I'll call you all down when dinner's done."

As Mrs. Weasley went back down the stairs, the shinigami heard George mumble under his breath, "Once they're rested and fed, they'll be in better condition anyways."

Toshiro's head snapped towards the two, eyes narrowing darkly as the two whistled innocently. I don't like the sound of these two.

Hyorinmaru snorted Nor do I, but I doubt they're dangerous.

That doesn't mean we have nothing to worry about.

Point taken.

"Let's go you two," Mr. Weasley said, motioning to his two guests and giving a final warning look to his sons before walking further up the stairs.

Toshiro stayed back near Rukia and looked her over once for any injuries. Other than the scraped elbow he noticed before, she seemed fine. "What happened back there?"

Rukia jumped at the question, apparently still not used to Toshiro speaking directly to her, and then relaxed a little, though she still shifted nervously. "I overreacted is all. It won't happen again." She then glanced at him with wide eyes as a thought came to her suddenly, "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

Toshiro shook his head, "I'm fine. What about that?" He gestured to her elbow.

Rukia smiled thinly, "Just a scratch. Nothing you need to worry about." Her expression changed, and she opened her mouth as if to continue. In the end she just shook her head and continued walking.

"Well, here are your rooms," Mr. Weasley said as he motioned towards the two doors on either side of the hallway.

Toshiro smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Weasley. We appreciate you letting us stay here."

"Our pleasure. Now why don't we introduce you to the rest of the family?"

Rukia and Toshiro exchanged a weary look, but nodded their assent nonetheless.

"Wonderful!" Mr. Weasley went to the railing and cupped his hands, "Ginny, Percy, Ron! We have guests!"

After a short time, three children with the now expected red hair converged on their location. There were two boys, both easily and a little aggravatingly a few inches taller than either of the shinigami, and one girl who was thankfully around their height. When the younger of the two boys spotted them, he yelped, "D-Da'! What are they?"

Toshiro felt himself stiffen, thinking that the boy had somehow realized what they were, but soon discarded the thought and scowled, "Excuse me?" He knew that the temperature was dropping minutely, but couldn't bring himself to control it, "We're humans. As, I assume, are you."

The boy looked taken aback for a moment, and then embarrassed, "O-oh. I just thought- you look so-" He searched for words, "different." He finally let out, looking nervous, "I mean your hair is white and her eyes are purple."

Toshiro could feel the pressure in his head build, and he tried his best to swallow down his anger, "In case you're wondering, this is my natural hair colour. And I assure you we are both 100% human."

The boy nodded, still looking at the two of them nervously. "R-right. Sorry."

The girl came up, breaking the awkward silence, "Hello you two, I'm Ginny Weasley."

She held out her hand and both shinigami shook it momentarily, introducing themselves rather sedately. After a bit of prodding from his brother, the offending boy walked up to them with shoulders slumped, he didn't extend a hand to the two and continued eyeing them warily, "The name's Ronald- but call me Ron. Are you two going to Hogwarts next year?"

Rukia shook her head. From what Toshiro could tell, she had also been offended by Ron's earlier remark, enough so that she had schooled her expression into a familiar cold aloofness. "We're going this year, actually." The boy did nothing to redeem himself as he reacted to her statement with surprise, and possibly a bit of alarm.

"R-really!? You can't be eleven yet, could you?"

Though they had tried their best to control it up until now, both shinigami's spiritual pressure began to leak into the air, and the temperature began a slow decline as their expressions hardened.

Toshiro spoke through gritted teeth, "We can and we are. Is there something different about that too, Ron?"

The boy had the grace to know he had stepped too far and held up his hands placatingly, "N-n-n-not at all! I just thought you seemed a bit s-small for eleven. But I suppose that's probably completely n-normal where you come from and-"

He continued his rambling excuses and Toshiro felt himself grow more annoyed rather than less. The other Weasleys' expressions caught his eye though, and he realized that his and Rukia's spiritual pressure was growing too strong. He began focusing on holding it back again, and he cleared his throat to catch Rukia's attention. Within half a minute, the room was back to normal temperature and the next son began introducing himself.

"Percy Weasley, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Toshiro shook his hand, "Likewise."

After Percy and Rukia got acquainted, Mrs. Weasley's voice called from downstairs. "Dinner's ready! Everybody downstairs!"

Ron was the first down the stairs. Toshiro was unsure whether or not it was to get away from Rukia and himself, but decided in the end that he didn't particularly care. As the rest of them made their way to ground level, Toshiro found that he had in fact grown quite hungry over the course of the day.

I don't believe the Soul Gathering's ever included a meal. He smiled minutely, It'll be interesting to see how different the food is here.

Whatever he had expected, what he found was not it. There was a large array of food on the long table, where Ron and the twins from earlier were already seated. He failed to recognize most of the food, but a few dishes were familiar and caught his eye. The foremost was a large bowl of watermelon slices in the middle of the table. He stood, surprised, for a moment before a strangled laugh broke his stupor. He turned to find Rukia holding a hand in front of her mouth, obviously trying and failing to hold in her amusement. Toshiro felt blood rush to his cheeks and he scowled.

"What are you laughing at, Kuchiki?"

Rukia quickly regained control of herself, looking sheepish. "Sorry, Hitsugaya-san. I forgot myself for a moment." He didn't think she was sorry at all, but he let it go and turned back around.

"Just make sure you don't eat all of it." He heard her say, sounding smug. But he refused to let her see the flustered look on his face, and he 'calmly' walked to a pile of plates as she laughed lightly behind him.

Dinner turned out to be a confusing affair, the two had gotten as much food as they assumed was in their capability to eat, but Mrs. Weasley had insisted that they were altogether too skinny. She had then proceeded to pile their plates with more and more helpings of food.

Out of politeness, they had attempted to eat it all, and regretted it sorely by the end of the meal. Though they had wanted to talk about their cover story and other important matters before going to bed, neither felt up to the task and they had mutually agreed to push off the conversation for another day. The two then went into their respective rooms and collapsed into a bed, falling into a deep, food-induced, sleep.

A/N- Hope you enjoyed! Chapters four and five should be up by now.