Hello, all! So, here's the next chapter. And things are starting to heat up!

As always, neither Arei nor I own either HP or Bleach.

So, not a new Chapter, but we discovered an error and had to fix it, so this is just a replacement...Sorry for any confusion.

Chapter 18

To say that Rukia was prophetic might be stretching things a bit; better to just say that she knew her fiancée very, very well, because at that moment, Ichigo Kurosaki was indeed ranting angrily at his father,

Winky and anyone else who wasn't able to make a hasty retreat to 'take care of some things'.

At one point Karin turned to Orihime as they stood side by side leaning against the wall with their arms crossed.

"He's loud enough to wake the dead," she said softly.

Orihime merely smiled faintly. She had been over studying with the twins when Ichigo had arrived and started his rant.

"You know, it's a good thing he's in his soul form," Yuzu said from her spot at the table. "Or the neighbors would have called the police by now because of the noise..."

The two at the wall made noises of agreement as they watched as the rant jumped suddenly to Isshin who had been trying to slink out of the room.

"And You!" Isshin froze with a squeak as Ichigo rounded on his father.

"I can't believe you're letting them go!" he raged, "You know what's going on! How dangerous it's going to be! How can you even be thinking of allowing this?! I thought you were going to be smarter about things now that Mom is making your medication again!?"

Isshin sighed and slumped as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Abject stupidity?" he hedged, slowly.

"No arguments there!" Ichigo snarled back, getting in his father's face and causing the older man to flinch back before moving to stalk around the room again. He halted and looked at Orihime with an almost panicked expression.

"They will try to use my sisters against me. To control me. Rukia can take care of herself – so can the others," he looked to his sisters with a worried frown. "It's only you two that I need to be concerned with. I wouldn't have to worry if the two of you would just agree to stay home!"

"Winky agrees with Master Ichigo," a timid voice said from behind Yuzu. The house elf had taken refuge behind her favorite Kurosaki as soon as Ichigo had barreled into the room in his raging state. "But Winky is just a house elf and must obey –"

Ichigo groaned suddenly and ran his hands over his face before turning to speak softly and gently to the distraught elf.

"Please, don't ever call yourself 'just a house-elf'. You're so much more than that," He said as his sisters hastened to reassure Winky, both girls patting her shoulders gently. Every so often the poor elf regressed to her old, fearful state and Ichigo knew that his being so angry was what had probably set her off this time.

"I'm going to be relying heavily on you if they insist on going through with this madness," Ichigo said as he took Winky's hand in his own.

Winky stared up at him, still trembling, and he saw her expression waver and tears form at the corners of her eyes. A moment later the fearful expression transformed into one of sheer determination as she straightened herself.

"Winky will not let Master Ichigo down," she said firmly.

Ichigo finally left the house, still in a bad mood but no longer in a rage as he had finally caved to his sister's choice, and flash-stepped to Urahara's. He stopped just inside the main room and raised a brow at the mess.

Kisuke, Toshiro and Uryu had reams of paper strewn all over the table, but they currently were not working on anything. Instead they were talking with the other group of people there – Chad, Mizuiro, Ambassador Watanabe and to Ichigo's surprise, Professor Snape.

"Fireworks over?" Uryu asked him soberly.

Most of the group had known about the twins' decision and guessed what their older brother's protective reaction would be.

Ichigo frowned, disgruntled, as he sat down by the others. "For now. They still insist on going."

"Your sisters?" Snape asked, a brow rising.

Ichigo nodded curtly.

"That is – a complication," Snape said with a frown as he thought about the possible repercussions.

"Tell me about it," Ichigo muttered.

"Well, I'm not going back," Mizuiro said with a slightly satisfied look. "The Ambassador is going to complete my training. I'm going to apprentice with him. The Head Captain thinks it's a good idea, too."

"Yea, Gramps told me," Ichigo nodded.

He was relieved actually; it was one less person for him to worry about if/when everything hit the fan.

"I am very concerned about this coming school year," Watanabe said with a frown. "Am I to understand from your conversation – your two sisters are insisting on accompanying you?"

Ichigo, Chad and Uryu nodded in response to the question.

"This is indeed most disturbing," Watanabe said as he tapped his chin. "Can your father not put a stop to this? They need his permission to attend, due to their age."

"The idiot has yielded. I hold the floor by myself," Ichigo said with disgust, "well, almost. Winky doesn't want them to go, either. I suppose I could order to her to take them to Soul Society, but Yuzu and Karin would just order her to bring them right back. She'd be stuck in the middle, poor thing. I couldn't do that to her."

"Taffy maybe?" Urahara suggested. "It's my understanding you were the sole inheritor of your mother's estate – which included her. Of course, then you'd have dueling house elves."

Ichigo groaned and buried his face in his hands. Chad reached over to pat his back consolingly.

"Do they not understand what the coming year is likely to bring?" Snape surmised, arching his brow again. "Perhaps if I explained it to them? In detail?"

"I don't know if it would make an impression if Old Moldypants himself told them what he was planning with pie charts," Ichigo shook his head with a pained, yet rueful look. "Karin wants to help, plus she thinks she can protect herself – and she'll be in all of Toshiro's classes, so it's only going to be a few rare moments that she's actually on her own. She won't admit it, even to herself – but Toshiro is the second reason."

Toshiro was now sporting a furious, bright red blush on his cheeks and everyone else shared knowing, if weak, smiles at the humor of the situation.

"Yuzu... she's waited years to get to this point, sort of like Tatsuki, and now that she can see spirits and supernatural creatures, she's also determined to help. But, she also wants to be near Draco," Ichigo said.

He then shook his head ruefully as he thought of the blonde aristocrat's interest in his sister.

"Do neither of them realize that if the three of us are worrying about them, that it could seriously compromise our judgment and our ability to act?" Toshiro asked, glaring at his fellow captain despite the blush still staining his cheeks.

Ichigo shrugged. "I don't know if it's sunk in, honestly. I think all I can do is keep my fingers crossed and remain vigilant."

The group as a whole, including Ichigo, winced as the last word left his mouth. They settled into a pained silence at the thought of those who had been lost thus far in this second wizarding war. Watanabe suddenly cleared his throat, ending the despondent silence, and stood.

"I wish you luck, Captain," the Ambassador bowed low. "Mr. Kojima, if you are ready?"

"Ready sir," Mizuiro nodded and picked up his packs. "Good luck, all of you. I'll be in touch."

"Have fun," Chad said quietly.

Mizuiro waved once and then the two were gone, driving off in the ambassadors black car. Ichigo stared at the spot where they had stood for a long moment before he dropped down onto one of the pillows.

"So... I didn't expect to see you here," he said as he turned to face Snape. "What's up?"

"He was letting us know that he's been officially named Hogwart's new Headmaster," Kisuke said.

Ichigo's brows arched. "Really? Does Professor McGonagall know yet?"

"I have not yet spoken with her. I plan on doing so tomorrow. It has not been officially announced yet," one corner of his lip twitched into an almost smirk.

The friendly rivalry between the two heads of house had long been established, to the point that the two had been the only ones seriously vying for the Headmaster position. Even if it was necessary for Snape to take over in order to better protect the students, he could still indulge in a bit of playful one-up-man-ship for a few small occasions of much needed levity in otherwise tense times. Neither Ichigo nor his friends were willing to dampen the man's 'playful' mood.

"I also thought I would do some...'recruiting'," the man's smirk had not faded.

"'Recruiting'?" Ichigo parroted and then he noticed that Chad also had his bags packed. "I hope you have a convincing back story planned."

Snape nodded, satisfied. "Already have it worked out."

"I'll be helping the caretaker and doing security," Chad said.

"He'll be just another 'Squib vying for scraps of power'," Snape said with a faint sneer. "No one will pay him any mind."

Chad flashed Ichigo a small smile but the dark look in his eyes spoke volumes; the first punch had been thrown, it was time for a counterattack. His old buddy was usually very laid back but when you pissed him off you had best run for the hills. Ichigo nodded to himself as he thought of the placement of Chad in the school as an assistant caretaker. He'd be able to easily disable Filch if the caretaker decided to take part in any... 'activities'... and would be able to take on any wizards close quarters with his Brazo Derecha de Gigante (Right arm of the Giant) which could form a defensive shield that actually blocked most spells (While Urahara had worked with some of the Soul Society's wizards to test the shields blocking abilities against magic, they had not dared to try to confirm if it could block the killing curse since the shield was literally a part of Chad) and Brazo Izquierda del Diablo (Left arm of the Devil) which was his attacking arm.

"So we can't act as if we know you," Ichigo sighed softly as he worked through the potion master's machinations.

Chad nodded once in response. He would be there, but they could not act as if they knew each other.

"I'll be using my abuelo's name, Oscar Joaquin De la Rosa, while I'm there," he told them.

"Of course; yours is too Japanese sounding, it would be suspicious," Uryu nodded. "A Spanish name, while unusual, would not be immediately tied to us."

"We should leave," Snape said Chad suddenly. He looked at Ichigo as he and Chad stood to leave. "Do you need a port key back to the Leaky Cauldron?"

Ichigo grimaced. "It would be faster than a Gate, but I've kidoed the room so thoroughly to keep snoopers out of it that I don't think I could get in even with a port key, so I'll need to use the Gate. But thanks for offering."

Snape nodded and grabbed Chad's arm firmly. A moment later the two were gone in a near soundless Apparition. The group eyed the spot for a long moment before they all let out sighs of various levels of frustration.

"It will be nice to have Chad there this year at least," Uryu commented as he moved to sit next to Ichigo. "Will you be able to remember to call him by his grandfather's name?"

Ichigo snorted and flashed a smile at his friend. "Probably not. But my failure with names is so epically famous even at Hogwarts that no one will be surprised."

The other three chuckled at that and then Toshiro handed Ichigo a sheaf of papers. Ichigo took it with a blink and then raised a brow at the other Captain questioningly.

"This is what we have so far," came the cool response.

Ichigo flipped through the sheets closely before nodding and tucking them into his Shihakusho.

"Looks like I have my work cut out for me. I'll look through them and get back to you if I have any questions," He sighed.

"Something else is bothering you," Kisuke said knowingly. Ichigo grimaced. There wasn't much you could get past old Hat n' Clogs.

"We haven't found Mad Eye yet for one," he admitted. "Cedric hasn't gotten even a hint of a glimpse of him. Either the old coot doesn't have his memories or he's so deep in hiding due to being in unfamiliar territory that it might take Merlin himself to find him."

"Damn, that's not good. Moody is crazy but the man is rather brilliant when it comes to being an Auror," Toshiro shook his head. "Do you think he ended up in another part of the Rukon?"

"Looks that way," Ichigo admitted, "Probably the British-European Quarter. In which case, like I said, if he doesn't come looking for us we'll never find him. In fact, I finally gave Cedric the order to stop looking. We can't just keep wasting resources like that, not when..."

"When what?" Uryu asked at the suddenly pained look on Ichigo's face.

"James has lost his memories. And it looks like some other people have, too," Ichigo said solemnly. "Don't be surprised if Gramps calls you to ask for your help, Hat and Clogs. Unohana hasn't been able to find a source for the illness and Clown Face hasn't been able to find anything either."

"It's not normal memory loss from dying?" Urahara asked as he dropped his fan in surprise. Toshiro gaped at him. Why hadn't he been told? He knew the answer almost immediately as soon as he had the thought – Ichigo was in training to take over from Yamamoto, therefore was told things that Toshiro wasn't. He was telling them now so that Kisuke could start mulling things over if he gets the call to help.

Ichigo shook his head. "I didn't get that impression. In fact, it looks like something else – that could be reaching pandemic proportions if it hasn't already. I haven't been updated for a while now on the situation, good or bad."

"Perhaps no news is good news?" Urahara hedged slowly.

"I seriously doubt it," Ichigo replied.

#

Remus' visit had started off well enough for the most part. However, when he told the group that he would be joining in the fighting like Charlie and several others had done, specifically by joining the Trio in their mission to help, Harry had reacted with indignant rage.

An argument swelled at that point between the two and they shrugged off any attempt from the others as they tried to calm things down between the two. Remus's standpoint was that he needed to fight on the front-lines to keep his friends and family safe. Harry's was that Remus was needed by his wife and unborn child and to hell with fighting on the front-lines - he should be there to protect them, hide them, keep them safe by being with them. Remus wasn't listening to reason and was adamant that he should fight and an hour later those who could sense 'intent' suddenly felt the Reitsu around Harry run cold.

"Yeah?! Well," Harry took a breath and then hissed up at Remus' face in cold rage. "If you're going to be stupid about this then maybe Umbridge was right and you shouldn't have been allowed to breed in the first place!"

Everyone else in the room went dead silent, no longer trying to break up the argument. They watched as Remus' jaw clenched and his eyes flashed gold. The next thing they knew Harry was on the floor and the crack of a punch landing echoed through the room. Remus was gone seconds later and the group found themselves surprised that he hadn't slammed the door as he left.

"Well, that was interesting," Yoruichi said dryly as the three Soul Reapers watched Harry pick himself up off the floor.

"Harry, how could you?" Hermione wailed once the shock of what Harry had said wore off.

"Actually, it was easy," he admitted, still angry over the fact that Lupin had wanted to abandon Tonks and their baby to go with the Trio. He glared at Hermione when her face twisted into an expression of incredulous anger.

"Don't look at me like that! He had it coming. Parents," Harry drew his breath in, "parents shouldn't leave their kids unless – unless they have to. Mum and Dad went into hiding when they had me. They took every precaution they could to stay alive and keep me safe. Yeah, they still died 'cause of Wormtail, but they did everything right. Remus is trying to run off into danger! He's being an idiot!"

"You didn't have to be so cruel!" Hermione said softly as her anger at her friend dissipated.

"If he goes back to Tonks 'cause of it – then yes, I did," Harry said firmly.

"But if he thinks they're better off without him – he won't go back, will he? Even if you turn him down?" Ron pointed out.

"But maybe he'll actually think about what he's doing!" Harry argued back.

"Don't look at me," Rukia said as she held up her hands when Hermione and Ron turned to her. "I'm with Harry on this one. Of course, I have the rather unique perspective of having been abandoned by my sister when I was a baby."

"You – were?" Ron asked weakly as Hermione gasped. Harry's jaw dropped in shock. This was the last thing any of them had expected.

Rukia nodded and got a melancholy expression. "She regretted doing so and looked for me afterward, and my brother continued to do so even after she died. He finally found me a year after she passed. That's when he adopted me."

"I didn't realize you were adopted," Ron said with a blink.

"Byakuya is really her Brother-in-law so it was really more of a formal welcoming to the family if you will," Yoruichi explained.

"And on that note, I need to head back," Rukia said, hopping down off of the table where she'd been sitting. "Remember – keep in touch!"

"I need to get back to my squad soon, so I won't be staying much longer," Soifon added.

"And the school year will be starting soon, so I need to rejoin you and Ichigo," Yoruichi said to Rukia.

"We'll be checking up on you, don't worry," Rukia told the Trio, "and it will probably be people you know – Kira, Renji, Rangiku... maybe even Nel or Grimmjow."

"Ah..." Ron looked at her, wide-eyed. Nel was okay, but Grimmjow... scared the crap out of him just by being in the same building.

She chuckled at his expression as she left the room.

"They wouldn't really send Grimmjow, would they?" Ron asked unable to hide the note of fear in his voice.

"They'll send whoever is available," Soifon said mercilessly.

Ron gulped, which caused chuckles from the two Soul Reapers.

#

Ichigo was already in their room when Rukia returned and the pair shared notes as soon as she was back in her gigai.

"Can't the Ambassador refuse to renew their Visas?" she asked him after a few minutes of hugging for comfort.

"Yea, but why renew ours and not theirs at the same time? It doesn't help that the British Ministry of Magic is still telling the Japanese Ministry of Magic that 'everything is under control' despite the 'suspicious death' of Scrymonger. Everyone here knows that Moldymort is back but he's being clever in putting forward a puppet Minister and not taking over directly. Besides, you know they would never speak to me again if I went behind their backs like that," he grumbled.

Rukia sighed softly and ran her fingers soothingly through his hair. "What about Yamamoto? Or your mother?" she asked a moment later.

"I sent them both Hell Butterflies. I haven't heard back yet," Ichigo dropped back on the bed. "It's probably being debated 'in committee' and they'll come back with a final plan of action that may very well include having the girls go with us. This sucks."

Rukia curled up next to him, her fingers reaching out to finger a few of his orange locks. It always amazed her that his hair was so soft despite being so spikey at the top.

"It will work out," she told him gently. "You'll see."

He groaned. "That's not going to stop me from worrying."

"I know," she kissed his cheek. "I see there's a letter from Professor McGonagall on the table. What does it say?"

"More headaches. Because Ron and Hermione are not returning to Hogwarts, she's making me Gryffindor Prefect."

"She's... what? Why?" Rukia asked, baffled. "Why not Neville? Or Seamus?"

"She cited my leadership qualities. And my instinct to protect everyone," Ichigo said as he grabbed the letter in question and handed it to Rukia for her perusal. "She needs someone who will watch over the younger Gryffindors – who will be the most likely targets of the new DADA and Muggle Studies Professors."

"Who will almost definitely be Death Eaters," Rukia said with a grimace.

"Exactly."

"So you're replacing Ron – who's replacing Hermione?"

"Parvati Patil," He paused thoughtfully. "I think she wanted to pick Tatsuki, but opted for a long-time Gryffindor for the girls since she'd already chosen me. She didn't want to show favoritism."

Rukia nodded. "So what else? And there is something else."

"Snape's the new Head Master," Ichigo said blandly.

"He's... is that going to be a good thing or bad thing?" Rukia asked as she set the letter back on the table.

"Good in that he can keep an eye on things, bad in that he'll have to be very careful with how he plays things," Ichigo grimaced and shook his head. "One wrong move and his cover risks being blown. He can't help protect anyone without a good reason and he can only pull the 'don't hurt the pure-bloods' card for the pure-bloods. In the case of those whom we proved had squib ancestry, that's going to be a defense that may or may not work depending on the family ties we found."

"That might help some first years but..." Rukia flinched a bit at the thought of all those who would be targeted.

"Snape's got a plan for that though; 'Don't scare off potential heirs to Houses that have long lain fallow and unclaimed,'" Ichigo smirked. "Because of our findings there are actually a few people in various years that stand to inherit as the families in question hadn't really had anyone who would inherit, and this is confirmed by the Goblins no less, thousands of galleons."

"Ahh, I see. Voldemort would want the money and wouldn't be able to get to it until those students reach their majority and officially move to take over the vaults," Rukia nodded slowly and then sighed. "But that does nothing to help those descended from squibs that had no holdings."

"Right and I think that's the point of making me Prefect – to act as a Shield for not just Gryffindor but for all of the students who come to the school. Muggleborns are being warned away from announcing themselves or being outright hidden by the Order and Soifon, so it's the half-bloods and those on the side of the Order that will most likely be taking the brunt of everything bad that will be going down."

"And? What else has you upset?"

Ichigo groaned. "No Mizuiro this year. I told you that..." she nodded. "Chad will be there this year, but he'll be using his abuelo's name, if I can even remember it..."

Rukia smacked him lightly with a teasing smile. "Baka."

"But you love me anyway."

#

Things settled down as the days passed and the group started to focus on either gathering up what supplies they could, read up on what they might need in the way of spells or ended up keeping an eye on those who were sent to watch their general location. Every time they looked out the window to check, there was a group of roughly three to four people standing across the street, staring at the space where #11 and #13 Grimmauld Place joined. The group changed often, every hour on the hour, and they were all oddly dressed. Or rather, they were oddly dressed for Muggles.

Their enemies' vigil didn't earn them any success however, as Yoruichi was able to open a Gate right inside the house that allowed them to leave the building safely without the risk of being caught like they would if they had stepped outside. Harry repeatedly found himself grateful for that as, even with the ability to leave in relative safety, he was starting to understand how Sirius must have felt when he was relegated to the house. In the last few days of the last week in August, when students were heading out to shop for school supplies, there was an increase in the watchers outside the house... groups of anywhere from five up to ten poorly dressed witches and wizards milled about and were ignored by muggles.

The four inside just shared a look and shook their heads in exasperation. Did the Death Eaters really think the Trio would try to return to Hogwarts for the next school year? Seriously? "Barking mad," was how Ron described them at one point.

The Trio wasn't all that happy despite the fact that they had set up many different contingencies meant to keep them safe. Yoruichi would be leaving them soon to return to Hogwarts with the others and they'd be on their own. They were nervous about not having the strong back up they had gotten used to but they knew that they could not stay in the old home forever; they needed to go look for the Horcruxes. Harry did not, however, want to wander aimlessly around the countryside hoping to just trip over one of them... so they poured over books and more books, looking for ideas.

On the day the Hogwarts Express would be leaving, the Trio came downstairs to find a stranger sitting in one of the sitting room chairs, sipping on a cup of tea and reading the paper.

Well, he wasn't really a stranger; they had seen him before, at Dumbledore's funeral, standing with Kira – and Hermione had actually met him.

"Captain Ichimaru!" she exclaimed, startled.

"Good morning, Miss Granger," Gin said, "Yoruichi had to join Ichigo, and Soifon went to check on something. They didn't want you left alone, so I volunteered to keep an eye on you."

They all felt a pang of loss at that; they had become used to Yoruichi's presence and even Soifon's, although the latter had been in and out of the house a lot and rarely stayed for simple chit-chat.

"They must be at the train station by now," Ron said quietly.

Gin nodded. "Ichigo wanted to go early to secure what he could. I understand Professor McGonagall name him Prefect in your place so he has a reason to arrive ahead of others," He put the cup down and his trademark grin faded. "I believe her reason was the protection of Gryffindor students against what was sure to be relentless torment, persecution and potential torture."

"Of course she did that. He's likely the only one who could stand up and get away with any kind of defiance without 'going missing' or 'running away' or something else equally stupid as they hide the body," Harry said.

He agreed with the Third Squad Captain as to the Professor's intent and knew as well the kinds of things she and the others would be struggling to prevent anything from happening to the students. A dark mood settled over the room as the full implications of the evil actions that would be allowed in Hogwarts settled and solidified in their minds as more than mere possibility and coalesced as likely reality.

"Where did Soifon go?" Hermione asked suddenly, breaking the dark tension that had been growing.

"Azkaban," was the grim reply.

"Azkaban!?" the Trio shouted in unison.

Gin nodded and the faintest hint of his previous smile flickered at their echoed shout. "There is only one person the Death Eaters can get their hands on that can access this building. And that person is currently locked up in Azkaban. All they need to do is force that person to hrm, you called it 'side-alonging?'"

All three froze at this and they stared at him in stunned silence for a moment. Each knew that he meant side along Apparition but...

"Wha-?" Ron squeaked.

"But-" Harry cut himself off and frowned thoughtfully

"Who-" Hermione's brow furrowed as she struggled to think about both the limited of the Fidelius Charm and who in the Order would be locked away in Azkaban.

"Of course!" Harry exclaimed, slapping the side of his head as he remembered just who Gin meant. "Dung!"

"Oh, my God," Ron whispered as Hermione gasped.

Gin smiled at them, a smile filled with dark satisfaction that they were able to figure it out so quickly and they all found his smile to be just a bit creepy. He really did like the group though and not just because they were helping Ichigo learn what he needed in order to put Aizen in his place once and for all.

"That's why Yoruichi and Soifon had you packing to run at a moment's notice. Soifon has been checking on him, and up until now, the 'Death Eaters'," they could hear the scorn in Gin's voice quite clearly, "appear to have forgotten him. But we got word from Draco two days ago that someone remembered about him..."

Hermione turned at that point, understanding that they might have to leave soon and ran back upstairs to see if anything had been forgotten. Ron started scouring around the lower floors to make sure all the books that they had been reading were gathered and any written work was prepped to be shoved into the pack Hermione had, while Harry called out for the last resident of the household, "Kreacher!"

The house elf showed up immediately and Harry couldn't help but be amazed once again at the change in the older house elf. He was now wearing a clean snowy white towel with the Black crest upon one corner and, though smaller, the Potter crest had been hand stitched in detail below it, an action that touched Harry deeply. His ear hair was as clean and fluffy as cotton and he no longer looked like he'd been rolling in dust and muck, but clean and presentable. The locket bounced on his chest, worn proudly in memory of his Master Regulus. He was a completely different elf.

"Master called Kreacher?"

"Listen, Kreacher... if something happens and we have to leave suddenly – I want you to go hide in the Hogwarts kitchens."

"Master?" Kreacher blinked at Harry in confusion.

"I want you to be safe, Kreacher," Harry stressed.

Kreacher appeared as if he was about to cry about the fact that his master cared about his safety, but there was a frown on the old elf's lips. "Master does not want Kreacher's help?"

"I'm not sure you can help us, Kreacher," Harry said, "but if there is something you can do for us later, I'll be sure to call for you."

"He can let Ichigo know what's going on since he's there at the school," Gin suggested. "He'll know if there's something that can be done to help you."

"Good idea," Harry nodded.

"Ichigo?" Kreacher asked questioningly.

"My friend – Winky's master."

Kreacher's eyes widened and his arm twitched as if it was going to reach for his head – where Winky had constantly bashed it with her frying pan previously. It was obvious that Kreacher... had a healthy respect... for the female elf in question.

"If – master insists..."

"Tell Dobby what happened instead, he'll relay it all to Ichigo," Harry suggested, and Kreacher immediately relaxed.

Dobby had only wrestled with Kreacher, not hit him over the head with a frying pan repeatedly.

Hermione returned moments after Kreacher had left to the kitchens to gather a few things with her bag in her right hand and also carrying a mid-sized, and wrapped up, portrait in the other. Ron trailed behind her, looking puzzled as he eyed the portrait.

"What's that?" Harry asked eyeing the wrapped portrait warily.

"Phineas Nigellus," she replied.

"Huh?" Ron asked in confusion.

"Ah," Harry said simply as he responded, knowing what she was talking about.

Gin just appeared bemused by the exchange. Really these children could be a breath of fresh air with their antics.

The painted image of Phineas Nigellus Black was able to flit between his portrait here and the one in the Head Master's office. The office where Snape was now ensconced. The image of Black should inform them willingly of what was going on... regardless of his being a Slytherin or not. If he was interested in helping that is. He was notorious for pretending to be asleep when someone needed a question answered. And if he wasn't willing to answer anything – then all he would see was the inside of Hermione's handbag.

"Good thinking," Ron complemented her once the other two explained the situation.

They watched as she managed to force the painting into her bag.

Gin stood suddenly as they were congratulating her on managing to get the wide frame into the narrow opening of the bag and the movement caught their attention.

"Soifon's back," he said in response to their questioning look.

They all turned to look at her when she strode into the room, her face grimmer than they'd ever seen it.

"Not good news, I take it?" Gin asked her. She shook her head.

"He was already gone when I got there. I tried to track him, but..." Soifon sighed. "We haven't figured that part out, yet."

"So they're coming here, then."

"That would be my guess. Probably soon," Soifon nodded and looked at the Trio. "We should move you as soon as possible; any ideas where you want to go?"

Now that he was faced with the question, Harry wasn't sure what to say. There were a few places he wanted to go: he just didn't know where to go first...

They all jumped when the front door exploded inward without warning.

"Get out of here! Go now!" Gin ordered, drawing his Zanpakuto and striding forward to meet the attack, Soifon one step behind him.

The Trio stared as nearly a dozen Death Eaters (a dozen? Really?) poured into the house. The two Soul Reapers showed once again just what they could do as they blurred into action, moving faster with flash step than even the Death Eaters could with Apparition.

One managed to slip past them however, sheer numbers giving them the opening they needed and Harry turned to Hermione.

"Come on!" he seized her hand and dragged her over to Ron.

They raced into the kitchen, needing a few spare seconds to Apparate... he knew the Death Eater was behind them, that it was Yaxley, he recognized the man's face... Kreacher was suddenly tossing pots and pans at him, trying to stall him to give his master and his friends time to get away...

He burst out the kitchens back door, nearly tripping over Dung's lifeless body. He heard Hermione scream, and then she yanked at them, turning on the spot; there was a flash of purple and a yanking sensation, similar to but more painful than a port key and everything went black.

Author's Notes:

Information on Chad's grandfather: bleach . wikia wiki / Oscar_Joaqu%C3%ADn_de_la_Rosa

Brazo Derecha de Gigante (Right arm of the Giant) and Brazo Izquierda del Diablo (Left arm of the Devil) are both described in the section on Chad's powers: bleach . wikia wiki / Yasutora_Sado

For more information on Shinigami uniforms see here: bleach . wikia wiki / Shihakush%C5%8D # Uniforms

The Fidelius Charm is an extremely difficult, multifaceted and potent charm that can be used to conceal a secret inside an individual's soul; the witch or wizard who houses the secret is known as the Secret Keeper. A dwelling whose location has been protected by this spell is then invisible, intangible, unplottable, and soundproof. This is an extremely old spell, one of the most ancient of all. harrypotter . wikia wiki / Fidelius _ Charm