Hey there, sorry for the delay.

It's not that I haven't been writing... it's just been hard for me to sit at the computer and type my handwritten notes into the pc and get them loaded. For some reason it hasn't been comfortable sitting here, and I don't know if it's the desk or the chair that is at fault. I have also realized that my writing style is not conducive to serial writing. I need to have the thing nearly completely finished before posting, because I'm constantly going back and editing earlier chapters, sometimes as far back as Chapter 1. I've already come up with some plot lines that I need to insert, so don't expect another chapter for a while. I'm not giving up on this - it's just going to be awhile before I can get another chapter up.

I'm also still looking for guest submissions for the Bleachy the Bard shorts, if anyone is interested in writing anything. (hint, hint!)

As always, I do not own HP or Bleach.

Chapter 6

Ichigo and Grimmjow led the Death Eaters on a long, merry chase, all the way through the countryside, and into the city of London itself.

"Ichigo!" Rukia protested from where she perched on his back, much like she had when they had first met and he had borrowed her powers. His speed was such that even with the Firebolt, she could not have kept up, and at times even Grimmjow was having difficulty.

Voldemort was most persistent, Ichigo thought with a fierce scowl. Of course, he mused as he dodged another curse, nearly having your head removed by a Japanese sword would irritate most people, let alone insane sociopaths with delusions of immortality.

"Hold on tight!" he instructed Rukia, and then he braked suddenly and did a reverse back flip, which somersaulted him over Moldy and put Ichigo into position behind him. He lashed out with Zangetsu, and would have cut Voldemort in half had he not Apparated out.

He did not return.

Smirking, Ichigo flash stepped to Grimmjow's side. "Now!" he ordered. Grimmjow gave him a gleeful grin in return, as if he had been waiting for that command. What, Rukia worried, had this pair cooked up between them?

With a snap, Grimmjow opened up a Garganta, and they stepped into it, intentionally slowing their speed nearly to a crawl. A dozen Death Eaters flew in after them. Once they were all inside, Grimmjow, with an evil leer, shut the entrance behind them.

"Suckers!" he called out, "Enjoy eternity in nothingness!"

"Wait – what?" one of them gasped, looking around and seeing nothing but blackness, and no visible exits.

"Unless you know how to open this place up – or to form a path under your feet," Ichigo swung Zangetsu down at the reishi path, slicing it off and shattering the path that had been behind them, "You can't blast a way out of here," he continued, leaving them just enough to support them, "You have to think your way out." One of them shot a curse at Ichigo, who deflected it away… and it vanished into the void, proving his point. "Like I said – I hope you're smart enough to figure out how to get out of here, or like my friend said, you're stuck in here – in that exact spot – for eternity."

Grimmjow was already opening an exit, so Ichigo joined him. One of the Death Eaters shot off another panicked curse at them, which he deflected down at the remaining remnants of the pathway, shattering it. That left only the small patch under them remaining.

"Ichigo…" Rukia whispered in her fiancé's ear; he glanced at her, briefly.

"There's a way out. Grimmjow, Uryu and I found it accidentally," he whispered back to her. "They've just got to stop being stupid and start thinking for a change. If they don't – well, I'm done playing nice with these assholes."

She tightened her grip on him, and placed a kiss on the side of his neck. Knowing Ichigo as well as she did, she knew he felt Mad Eye's death very personally. Rukia lay her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

They had come under attack within minutes of leaving the ground; the fight had been fast and furious for some minutes, with Rukia constantly reminding herself to act like Harry – she used his "signature" spell, Expelliarmus, almost exclusively, while Ichigo stuck to her like glue, watching her back and being a general nuisance.

Having flown with Harry for an entire season in Quidditch, Rukia was more than familiar with how he flew, and she was able to do a credible imitation of their friend. With Ichigo sticking to her side as a shield, and Grimmjow and Mad Eye also giving a good accounting of themselves, they were almost home free. Mad Eye's plan had almost worked – power their way through and cause the Death Eaters to chase after them.

And then he showed up.

Voldemort.

His first killing curse had impacted spectacularly with a Getsuga Tensho, causing a Northern Lights-type effect across the skies of Little Whinging.

Ichigo at first was the prime target; Voldemort ignored Rukia and concentrated on her fiancé, and she knew why: he believed that if he took down Ichigo, he could take down 'Harry' while his Death Eaters handled Mad Eye and Grimmjow.

The Fifth Squad Captain proved to be a bit of a handful, however, so in a fit of fury, the so-called "Dark Lord" turned and shot a curse directly at Mad Eye, hitting him in the face and killing him instantly.

As Rukia screamed in denial, Ichigo launched a devastating attack at the same time Grimmjow shot off a Gran Ray Cero; the combination of the attacks caused the Death Eaters to scatter, and Voldemort to Apparate away.

Ichigo had then turned to Rukia, aimed his wand at the Firebolt...and turned it into a box of matches. Before Rukia had fallen even fifty through the sky, she had been snatched up by Ichigo and flung on his back, and ordered to hold on. The box of matches she shoved deep into a pocket.

They had started to race for The Burrow, when Rukia detected Voldemort's reiatsu – in Renji's location.

Ron. Tonks.

Shit.

Ichigo had hollered for Grimmjow, done an about-face, and honed in on Renji. "Hold on tight," he warned Rukia as he stepped out, leaving Grimmjow struggling to keep up.

Yoruichi and Momo were there already, helping out, and Voldemort was so intent on trying to gain control of what appeared (to him) to be a re-animated basilisk skeleton that he didn't see Ichigo until it was almost too late and Zangetsu was at his throat.

He had almost had him; he had been so, so close…killing Voldemort's current body would have given Harry a great deal of leisure time in hunting down the rest of the Horcruxes, and given him some breathing room…

"Let's go Captain," Rukia said softly in his ear, as he stepped out of the Garganta behind Grimmjow, who shut it with a snap behind them.

#

"A Garganta!"" Nel suddenly called out, which brought all of the Soul Reapers running to the front.

"What?" Arthur stared at the sky, where they were all looking, and it seemed to be – warping.

"Hollows," Harry whispered, remembering the time they had nearly been attacked in Japan.

"This is not what we need right now," Momo gave voice to what everyone was thinking as the night sky opened.

"Wait!" Nel said, dropping her hand off of her zanpakuto, to meet Grimmjow as he stepped out of the Garganta, followed by Ichigo and Rukia. He barely had time to close the Garganta before she had barreled into him. Ichigo gave the pair an amused look, and then stepped down to the ground, where he stooped briefly to allow Rukia to get off his back.

The group reached them, and Rukia silently handed Harry his Firebolt, which Ichigo had turned back before they had exited the Garganta. Harry's old clothes were hanging off her now, and she looked more like an orphan waif than he did while wearing them.

"Did you and Grimmjow see where Mad Eye fell?" Kingsley asked him. Ichigo glanced back at Grimmjow, who nodded.

"Yes," Ichigo said solemnly.

"We should go now then…"

"No need," Soifon said. She had been speaking with one of her men, and now she rejoined them. "My men have been cleaning up after us. Please, follow me."

They followed the Commander of the Stealth Squad around the house, to find the group of solemn ninja-like men and women waiting. Lined up in neat rows were the Death Eaters that had been killed in the fight. Off by himself as if he would be sullied by their presence, was a blanket covered body. A pile of shattered and broken brooms and wands were piled tidily elsewhere.

"Thank you," Remus bowed to Soifon and the Stealth Force. "This means a great deal to us." Soifon simply nodded back.

"And thank you all, for your help tonight. We could not have done it without you," Molly said to them.

"It was no problem at all, Mrs. Weasley," Ukitake smiled gently at her. "We were happy to assist."

"You'll be coming back for the wedding, right?" Bill turned to Ichigo, who nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it," he said.

The Japanese and Soul Reapers were already grouping together to leave, and Ichigo lagged behind, wanting to speak with Harry but not having an opportunity to.

"Oy, Kurosaki!" Grimmjow called over to him. Ichigo looked at him, mildly irritated.

"You listen here – I'm in. So next time you need someone to kick those bastards' butts, gimme a call." Grimmjow was scowling, and his eyes had flickered over towards Mad Eye. Ichigo nodded, understanding. It was a point of honor for the former Espada: they had killed someone under his protection, and he wanted payback.

Ichigo felt the same way.

He felt Rukia slip her hand into his, and squeeze.

Yes, he thought as he followed the others back through the gate, payback will definitely be a bitch.

#

Harry watched them leave, and then wandered back inside to where Orihime was finishing up with George. Fred was groaning at something.

"A whole world of ear-related humor, and you come up with 'Holey?'" he was saying, shaking his head.

Tatsuki looked over at Harry.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

"I can't stay here."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I knew this was coming." She looked at Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, who had followed him. "Didn't I tell you?"

"You did," Ron nodded.

Harry groaned, his scar was prickling, which hadn't happened in more than a year. "Because you're all in danger! I don't want to risk –"

"Don't be daft Harry," Ron said, "The whole point of tonight was to get you here safe and sound. Bill and Fleur are getting married here and not in France, and Mum's arranged everything so we can all be together."

Ron was only making him feel worse, not better.

"But if Moldy finds out I'm here…"

"Why would he? There's a dozen places you could be right now," Hermione argued.

"I'm not worried about me!"

"We know that," Fred stepped in, "You never are. But it would make tonight's little exercise rather pointless, don't you think?"

"After everything we went through to get you here?" Ginny gave him a hurt look.

"Yeah, what about my bleeding ear?" George said, sitting up with Orihime's assistance. He looked as good as new, something that always amazed him. Orihime's power was - astounding.

Harry groaned; he felt beleaguered and blackmailed, and he wondered if they thought he was unaware of what they had done for him. But it was for precisely that reason he wanted to leave before anyone else had to suffer on his behalf! There was a long and awkward silence as they all stared him down, and he found himself squirming.

"Do we have to get Ichigo back here to beat some sense into you?" Tatsuki finally asked.

"Call him," Fred nodded.

"But –"

Tatsuki already had her phone out and was dialing; Ron and Hermione were both smirking, and Harry cringed when Tatsuki started talking.

"Hey – no, just someone being an idiot," she said, giving him an evil look, and then she smiled and held out the phone, which he reluctantly took. Some day he would like to know how all of their electronics managed to work in the magical environment, while no one else's did.

"All right, what stupid thought did you get stuck in your head this time?" Ichigo sounded tired, and Harry felt guilty at bothering him with this. He probably hadn't even gotten home yet. Based on the slight echo, he might still be inside the - what had they called it? Dangai?

"It's not a stupid thought –"

"Harry, if Tatsuki thinks you're being an idiot then you're being an idiot. Now spill it."

"I don't want anyone else to get hurt on my behalf. Too many people have already –"

"Harry, do you know how many people died the first time? Over three hundred. What you are seeing now is the tip of the iceberg - the opening shots in what could be a bloody war. A lot more people are going to die," Ichigo said bluntly, even cruelly, "Some you will know, some you will never have heard of, some you will never hear of. That's what people like him do – they kill, wantonly, casually, and often cruelly. Besides, you still have the Trace on you – you're as helpless as a newborn babe out there by yourself."

"But…" Harry stammered, several images running through his head: Sirius falling through the veil; Ichigo nearly dying; Professor Dumbledore toppling from the Tower; Arthur Weasley being attacked by the snake; Cedric enveloped in green light; Mad Eye lying dead on the ground, covered by a sheet. Too many people…

"Harry, if you don't stay put I'm sending Grimmjow back to sit on you." There was no humor in Ichigo's voice when he said this, so Harry could tell he meant it and was not kidding.

"Fine," Harry muttered, handing the phone back to Tatsuki. His scar was doing more than prickle now – it was on fire.

He was angry. He was hurt. That – brat – had nearly taken his head off, had snuck up on him, and he wanted to hurt something in return.

And there he was, a captive patsy… the white hand raised its wand, there was a surge of vicious anger from Voldemort, and a frail old man on the floor writhed with pain…

"Harry –"

"Harry!"

Harry stood, shaking, not knowing how he'd gotten out to the garden, clutching onto the gate like a lifeline. Ron and Hermione stood on one side, Ginny and Tatsuki on the other. Tatsuki was trying to pry his hands from the gate. He stared at them, his heart racing, his scar still tingling.

"Harry, come back inside," Hermione said quietly. "You aren't still thinking of leaving?"

"You have to stay," Ron said.

"Are you all right?" Ginny asked him, "You look awful!"

"Well," Harry replied, his voice shaky, "I probably look better than Ollivander!" He told them what he saw; Ginny and Ron look appalled, Tatsuki thoughtful, but Hermione was terrified.

"It was supposed to have stopped! Your scar – it wasn't – you – practice –" she gripped his arm. "Harry, he's taking over the Ministry and the newspapers and half the wizarding world! You can't let him in your mind, too!"

"I can't keep him out, Hermione!" Harry shot back, shaking her off, "I practice, but I still can't keep him out!" Harry pulled away from them and stormed back into the house, leaving the four standing there, stunned.

Then, as one, they all looked at Tatsuki, who sighed. "Ichigo is going to love this," she muttered, pulling her phone out again for the second time in less than fifteen minutes. He might just follow through on his threat to have Grimmjow babysit Harry.

What a disaster that would be.