Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.
Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…
AN: It may seem farfetched with how quickly the relationship/trust develops between Ichigo and Harry but my thinking on it was that they had gone so long without meeting someone that could understand what they were going through that they have created an instant connection.
Chapter 5:
Ichigo stared at the swirling basin incredulously. How the hell could tbis freaky bowl thing help her prove she wasn't lying? Dumbledore's calm voice pulled her out of her reverie.
"Miss Kurosaki, this is what we call a pensive. It transports as many people as you wish into a memory to view it much as a ghost views life. We can see, hear and experience the environment just as you have, albeit from an outside perspective. This is accomplished by adding memories pulled directly from you and placed into the liquid. This does not mean you lose or alter the memory in any way, rather it creates a sort of copy. Unfortunately you will be experiencing every memory at an extremely rapid pace, and if these memories are as traumatic as they sound, this will be extremely uncomfortable. Do you still wish to continue?"
Ichigo shot him an exasperated look, "as if you even have to ask that again old man, my answer hasn't changed." She then watched as he pulled his wand up to her temple and asked that she concentrate on the memories she wanted to be seen before the flashbacks began.
*FLASHBACKS*
She was nine and felt something warm saturating her shirt, and a comfortable weight pressing her into the earth. She opened her eyes and let out an earth shattering scream as she was confronted with the dead body of her mother….
She felt every agonizing inch as the Soul Reaper's katana slid into her heart before there was an explosion of light and a sensation of pure power….
She remembered the burning in her chest followed by nothingness when Ulquiorra killed her, and finally she recalled the sensation of Szayel cutting open her skull and rooting around in her brain while she was cognizant of everything going on around her.
*END OF FLASHBACKS*
Harry could see the changes in her expressions and placed an arm around her shoulder in a show of support. He amazed himself with how much he had grown attached to the orange-headed spitfire in such a short amount of time. He attributed it to how similar they were, and not the attraction that he refused to agknowledge as of yet. He was startled by her suddenly gasping as she awoke, and slowly helped her sit up. Ichigo quickly thanked Harry (studiously ignoring the blush on her cheeks), and turned to examine the long silvery strand attached to the Headmaster's wand.
Perhaps she was a still a bit disoriented because she blurted out the first thing that came to mind…"Holy shit! Who knew memories looked like old people hair!" Everyone in the room gave her weird looks, while some (Fred, George, Harry, and Sirius) were doing there best to not burst out laughing. Dumbledore himself seemed amused. "Be that as it may," he replied, "it is now time to view the memories…do you wish to accompany us?"
Ichigo frowned, "No, seeing them once was enough, but I should warn you that they are extremely violent and not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach." It was a testimony to how much certain individuals believed her when even Ginny was allowed to watch.
When Harry made no effort to move, Ron ambled over and said "Hey mate! You got to come see this too, or are you just making sure she doesn't escape when everyone else is using the pensive"
Harry, not at all amused with his friends antics as of late, merely replied that he already trusted her and as such had no need to view the memories. Ichigo quickly told harry that she wanted him to see them, and ushered him off to the pensive. She displayed no outward surprise when they all disappeared after poking that silvery mist (she figured if they had talking paintings and transporting boots (AN: the portkey), than people magically disappearing into fancy mist filled birdbaths wasn't out of the realm of possibility).
Just as she was contemplating venturing to the living room for a book to keep herself occupied, everyone returned. Nearly everyone was pale and shakey, a few even rushed to find buckets or vanishing there sick from the floor when they didn't find one in time. Harry had just managed to avoid being sick, but still looked very disturbed. When he caught sight of Ichigo, he rushed over and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear, "This isn't pity….this is support", before pulling away.
Seeing that no one was in any state to take the lead, Ichigo cleared her throat to get there attention before saying, "Now that you know I was telling the truth, where do you want to go from here?"
This seemed to pull Snape out of his stupor. "In your memories, the leader of the traitors is referred to as Aizen, correct?"
Ichigo nodded an affirmative, allowing Snape to continue. "What was his first name?" Ichigo looked him in the eyes, sensing she was about to get some really bad news, "Souske."
Snape immediately dropped heavily into the closest chair and cradled his head in his hands before doing something almost as un-snapelike as smiling….he swore. "Shit"
"What's the matter Severus?", questioned Dumbledore, trepidation in his voice.
"During the last death eater meeting, the Dark Lord was acting exceptiononally…..giddy. Naturally, being the nosy sort, Lucius asked him what the good news was, and he told us that he had a powerful new ally that would turn the tide of the war in there favor."
"What was the name of this ally?", the headmaster asked breathlessly.
"Souske Aizen"