A/N: Okay, here it is, everyone. The final chapter before the train ride to Hogwarts. At long last, the school year is just about here. But before that, I just want to say that the majority of you said that Renji's birthday is in August and that is what I have written down as well. So, I'll just leave it as is. Plus I need someone's birthday held at the Leaky Cauldron. It will go with my idea for that chapter. Can you imagine the chaos Rangiku and Mrs. Weasley would cause by putting together a birthday party? I almost feel sorry for Renji. Almost. But because of that, this chapter might be a lot longer than all of the other chapters so far. Hope that doesn't bother anyone. Haha. Now, let's see what this chapter has to offer for you.

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Chapter Twelve: School Shopping Part 2

Harry sat with Ichigo in his room, curled in a ball on the small recliner the boy had somehow managed to fit into his room, his feet on the cushion and his knees pulled up to his chest. He had just finished telling Ichigo about Toshiro's odd behavior and how angry he seemed to be. "And I didn't say it at the time, but for some reason, the air in the room felt like it was going cold. Like when the windows are open during winter. I swear I half expected ice to start forming on the walls. It felt weird and really creepy but Toshiro didn't seem to notice. He was too mad, I guess. But what do you think it was that got him so mad? It was unnerving, to say the least."

Ichigo sat silently on his bed as he listened to Harry explain what had occurred down in the kitchen. He wasn't entirely sure what to say to him. He didn't know why Toshiro would be angry but he did understand that Toshiro's zanpaktou had to do with ice. Rukia had told him that Toshiro's zanpaktou took the form of an ice dragon and he had wings made of ice when in his bankai form. He also had the ability to half manipulate the weather, able to bring the temperature down below zero if he wanted to. But how was he supposed to explain something like that to Harry? He wasn't sure that sort of thing was normal for wizards anymore than it was for humans. "Why are you telling me?" he asked in a bored tone. "What do you want me to do about it?"

Harry paused and then shrugged. "I don't know. I probably could have told someone else but I don't know them enough. I did tell Rangiku that Toshiro was mad when she came out of her room and she told me to stay out of the kitchen. Then she went downstairs."

Ichigo shrugged and lay back against the wall at the head of his bed, folding his arms behind his head. "So then don't worry about it. Rangiku will take care of it. She usually does."

"Why is that?" Harry asked suddenly. "She hangs out with him a lot. And she shares his bathroom, she goes into his room whenever she wants, he lets her get away with a lot. Are they dating or something? It seems kind of odd, though, if they are. She's, like, twice his size and looks about three years older than him… why are you laughing?"

Ichigo placed his hands over his face as he laughed wildly. "Oh man, Toshiro and Rangiku. What a picture." Ichigo laughed again. "Wait 'til I tell Renji about that one. That's hilarious. But you know, Toshiro and Rangiku aren't that far apart in age, despite their size difference. Toshiro will be fourteen in December, I think Rangiku said. And Rangiku will be turning sixteen sometime before the year ends. I think it was in September or October, I forgot which. So they're only about two years apart." Actually, it's more like a few hundred years apart, but he doesn't need to know that. Ichigo thought to himself.

"They're in love!" Harry jumped at the loud voice coming from under Ichigo's bed. A few seconds later, a small, yellow stuffed lion crawled out and jumped onto one of the armrests of the recliner. "You can't fight the power of love, you know."

Harry stared at the talking toy! "Um, you're a stuffed animal. Aren't you?"

"Duh!" it said, crossing its stuffed arms over his chest. "I am more than just a stuffed animal, kid. I am the one, the only…"

"Damn it, Kon!" Ichigo suddenly shouted and grabbed the stuffed lion. He brought it up to his face and began shaking it violently. "What the hell's wrong with you? What part of 'stay out of sight' don't you understand?"

"But it's stuffy down there." Kon said as he struggled to free himself from Ichigo's grasp. "Besides, the kid doesn't look traumatized. He's fine."

Ichigo turned to Harry. "What are you thinking?" he asked carefully.

Harry shrugged. "That there is a stuffed animal, talking and moving and seemingly alive. Is it a spell or something?"

Ichigo hesitated and then nodded. "Uh, yeah. It's something like that. The thing is, it was a spell that went wrong. I had found out about a spell that brought inanimate objects to life but I wasn't paying attention when our teacher told us that it was too dangerous to do just yet. So I did the spell and this was the result." He held up the lion by an ear. "He's an idiot, a womanizer, and a pain in the ass. He talks too much and is always getting into trouble and then I end up having to clean up after him. Since it was my mistake, I have to keep an eye on him until we can figure out a way to change him back. And it's going to suck when we get to the school. He's going to be trying as hard as he can to sneak into the girls' dorms."

Harry's eyes widened. "The girls' dorms?"

"Hey, you can't stop love!" Kon shouted, finally getting free of Ichigo's grasp and landing on the ground. He stood up and climbed back up the recliner to stand on Harry's knees. "I do it for the art of it. Besides, you're too young to appreciate true romance. Just like Captain Hitsugaya and the lovely Rangiku – OW! What was that for?"

"You idiot!" Ichigo shouted, his fist raised above his head in preparation for hitting him on the head again. Instead he grabbed him and threw him against a wall. Then he pulled his ring off his finger and began shouting at Kon in Japanese. "What do you think you're doing? You can't call him by his title, remember? Here, he's just Toshiro. Just like Rangiku and Renji are just Rangiku and Renji, without the title of lieutenant!"

"Don't get mad at me! I forgot!" Kon shouted back after taking off the silver band around his tail. "I don't come out enough to remember. Besides, I doubt he even noticed. The kid doesn't look too bright."

"It doesn't matter. If you say things like that at the school, someone else will hear you and there's bound to be a few kids who aren't as dumb as him." Ichigo replied. "Just watch what you say or don't say anything at all. In fact, maybe you should do that." Then he picked Kon up and tossed him into the closet before slamming it shut and sitting back down while placing his ring back on his finger. "Now where were we?"

"Um, we were talking about Toshiro and Rangiku." Harry supplied helpfully. He glanced at the closet as Kon pounded on it, shouting to be let out.

Ichigo ignored the pounding and nodded. "Right. Well, like I said. Age isn't really a factor with them. You shouldn't let appearances decide everything for you, you know."

"Oh." Harry said. "But, so they're not dating then? Do they like each other? Is Kon right? Is that what it is?"

Ichigo started to shake his head, but stopped, an idea coming to light. Smirking, he got up and closed his bedroom door and locked it before coming to sit back on the edge of the bed, leaning towards Harry and placing his elbows on his knees. "Well, don't tell anyone I told you this." He said, making a show of looking around for unwanted listeners. Then he leaned closer and whispered. "But they actually do like each other. Rangiku really likes Toshiro, despite his age and height. And he really likes her, too. I mean, really; have you seen her? They both have a crush on each other and everyone knows it. They try not to act like it but everyone can see it. If you notice, Rangiku is usually the person Toshiro talks to about a lot of things, and vice versa. When Toshiro gets mad, like he was now, Rangiku is the person you should usually tell because she's the only person, that I know of, who can calm him down. Watch, I bet you he'll be a lot mellower after talking to her."

"So they like each other, but neither will admit it." Harry surmised.

Ichigo nodded. "Yep. But don't say anything to them, otherwise they'll get mad at both of us. Especially Toshiro. He's actually really shy and when he gets embarrassed, he shows it by getting mad. That's why he usually looks like he's irritated a lot. So try to keep it a little bit between us. It's a secret."

"Okay." Harry said with a nod of his own.

Suddenly there was a knock on Ichigo's door and Ichigo got up to open it. Toshiro stood on the other side, a slight frown on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. As soon as Ichigo saw him, he was barely able to contain the snicker that threatened to escape from his mouth. "Can I help you?" he asked cheekily.

Toshiro glared at him. "I need to speak with Harry." He said. He looked past Ichigo to where Harry sat on the recliner. "We need to talk."

"You're breaking up with him?" Ichigo asked.

Toshiro's eyes widened in surprise at the odd question and then narrowed when Ichigo snickered. "Don't be stupid, Kurosaki. I know you're not as dumb as you let on. I believe we've had this discussion before."

Ichigo smirked. "We may have. But you can't talk to him right now. We're busy. Talking about secrets." He said and then chuckled. Harry snorted and then coughed in an attempt to hide it.

Toshiro glared between the both of them. "What's gotten into you two? What are you hiding?"

"Nothing." Ichigo said tauntingly. "What makes you think we're hiding something? We don't have anything to confess about."

Harry coughed again and slid off the recliner. "I'll talk to you later, Ichigo." Harry said as he headed out the door.

"Hey, Harry." Ichigo called. Harry turned and Ichigo winked. "Remember, mum's the word. No spilling secrets."

Harry smirked. "Got it."

"What was that about?" Toshiro asked as he and Harry entered the room they shared. Toshiro closed his bedroom door and went to sit on the edge of his bed.

Harry shrugged and sat on his own bed. "Nothing really. Ichigo was just doing it to see if he could get you mad. Or, madder than you already are." He hesitated and then asked tentatively, "You're not still mad, are you?"

Toshiro shook his head. "No, I'm not. And that's what I wanted to talk about. I don't usually like to do this, but I am big enough to admit when I was wrong. And I was wrong in snapping at you for no reason on your part. I shouldn't have taken my irritation out on you, and for that I apologize."

Harry stared at him, eyes wide in surprise, and then flushed. "Oh, it's okay. I don't blame you or anything. I understand that you were mad about something and I just happened to show up at that moment. I understand wanting to take your anger out on the first thing you see and I'm not saying that it's okay or something. But I do forgive you. I'm not holding it against you or anything. I just wanted to know what it was that had gotten you so upset. The last time I saw you like that was the night you picked me up from Magnolia Crescent after the whole deal with Aunt Marge, and you were yelling at me for being a prat."

Toshiro looked at him in confusion. "A prat?"

"A jerk, I guess." Harry clarified. "I was being ignorant and selfish that night. You know, with the whole parent thing? But that was the last time I saw you like that. So what was it about?"

Toshiro shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You don't need to worry about it."

"But you told Rangiku, right?" Harry asked innocently.

Toshiro nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Harry shrugged. "You seem to tell her a lot of things. I was just wondering."

Toshiro looked at him curiously but shrugged. "I guess. I've known her longer than the others. It just feels natural to tell her. I don't tell her everything, but I do tell her only what she needs to know. Nothing more."

"Oh." Was all Harry said. "By the way, speaking about the night I blew up my aunt, I have a question."

"You always have a question." Toshiro smirked.

Harry flushed. "Yeah, I know. Sorry. But what I was going to ask was that, when I first met you, I asked you about the man who had bought this house, right?" Toshiro nodded but didn't speak. Harry continued. "And you said he was your dad. Yet that night with Aunt Marge, you said that your parents were dead. Is he really your dad?"

Toshiro blinked, outwardly seeming thoughtful while inwardly scolding himself for the slip. Damn it, why didn't I think about that? Ukitake wasn't even supposed to be in this situation. I should have made sure to remember that detail better. What should I say? Finally, he decided on an explanation. "He is my father, in a way. He's not biological. Like I said, my parents died when I was young. Ukitake, that's his name, he sort of took me in; he raised me discreetly sometime afterwards. I lived with my grandmother for a few years but eventually she was too old and she died. And after she did, that was when Ukitake took me in. so, in a way, he is my father. Because he's the only father figure I really know." Talk about laying it on thick. He thought as he waited to see if Harry would buy his story. I hate sappy stories.

"Oh, I see. But is that why you called him by his name instead of dad or something?" Harry asked.

Toshiro nodded. "Yes. I've gotten used to calling him by his name, and he hasn't tried making me call him anything else."

Harry looked at him thoughtfully. That makes sense. I guess I can understand that. After all, I didn't have much of a mother figure until I met Mrs. Weasley. She's the closest thing I have to a mother figure and she hasn't tried making me call her mom. And I still haven't found a father figure. Wish I did though. "I get it. I know what that's like. It was years before I knew what a mother should act like. This whole time, I thought Aunt Petunia would be the only mother type of person I would ever have. I had no idea that there were mothers that were a lot kinder than her. One of my friends, his mother sort of adopted me into the family. She fusses over me a lot because of what she's learned of the way the Dursley's treat me. It's kind of awkward but it's nice, I guess."

"The Dursley's are idiots." Toshiro said, glad Harry accepted his explanation. Now I need to make sure I keep with that little detail.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I know. But right now, they're the only family I have, unfortunately."

On Sunday, everyone attempted to squeeze in a last minute practice before lunch as they began packing up their belongings and placing them in their trunks. Harry, whose belongings never actually left his trunk in the first place, offered to help the others pack but all of them had refused, claiming that they were used to doing it on their own. So Harry headed down the stairs and began pulling things out of the fridge, deciding that he could at least help with lunch while everyone packed. There wasn't much food left because no one wanted to go grocery shopping when they weren't planning on being here much longer anyways. Harry evaluated what was left in the fridge before deciding to go with something quick and easy and began grabbing ingredients he would need to make Onigiri.

After lunch, everyone finished up the last of their packing and placed out whatever they needed for the morning. Once they were finished, they contributed to a last dinner in the kitchen before settling around the table in the dining room. After several minutes of meaningless chatter, Toshiro cleared his throat, demanding silence. "We'll be getting up pretty early tomorrow." he began. "The spell on the house deactivates at exactly eleven o'clock in the morning. We must be gone before then. Ukitake will be here around ten o'clock to pick us up and take us to the Leaky Cauldron. Afterwards, he's going to return here and make sure we didn't leave anything behind and to make sure the spell deactivates properly. I want everyone up, dressed, and whatever else you need to do in the mornings, and be down here, packed and with your stuff, and be ready to leave at exactly ten o'clock. Once he's here, I don't want to hear anyone say they left something in their room. Be down here on time. That should give everyone enough time to shower without fussing. And I don't want to hear any arguing in the morning. I swear, if I do, whether or not everybody is awake, you will be sorry. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone nodded. "Good." He said. "If I have to, I'll decide the order in which everyone showers but I trust that by now, you can do it yourselves. Don't prove me wrong."

After dinner, Harry went back up to the room, after helping Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia with clearing the table and doing the dishes, and sat on his bed. He was leaving Privet Drive with Toshiro and the others tomorrow morning. Normally the idea of leaving Privet Drive would have him feeling as light as air but now, he wasn't sure he wanted the summer to end just yet. It had been the most fun and entertaining summer he had ever had, not only on Privet Drive, but at all. He had learned so much about his new friends and about their culture and the way they lived. He actually enjoyed learning how to make the different types of food they ate and teaching them the foods eaten here in England. He didn't mind doing the ordinary household chores, he liked helping everyone with breakfast, lunch and dinner, he enjoyed helping Rangiku with the beautiful garden they had created, and he even enjoyed the occasional sparing matches Ichigo and Renji had with him. He liked learning more hand to hand combat moves, moves he felt would be quite useful with Dudley in the future. He liked the feeling he got when he was finally able to break a board with his fist without screaming in pain, though he still was nowhere near Ichigo, Renji, Rangiku, Rukia, or even Toshiro's levels, who were all able to break the dining room table with no problems.

But what Harry felt he would miss the most was the feeling of having a family. If he had to imagine what a family would look like in their own home, this is how he would imagine them. Everyone working together during meals, helping each other, laughing together, arguing together, and just being a family. He knew none of them were related in any way and they probably lived completely different lives when they were in their own country, in their own homes, but during the entire time he had been living with them, he felt almost natural. He felt as though, if he were on his own, he would be able to get by just fine. But right now, the idea of summer break coming to an end was not as appealing as it had been the first two summers and Harry almost felt surprised by his sudden realization.

"When I get a family of my own, this is how I want them to act." He told himself.

"Talking to yourself is a sign of a nut." Rangiku said from the doorway. She laughed as Harry jumped, startled, and walked into the room to sit on Toshiro's bed, petting a sleeping Suna. "Where's Taicho?" she asked.

Harry pointed up at the ceiling. "Last I checked he was up on the roof. And I heard him muttering to himself about paperwork, I think."

"Paperwork? He's still doing it?" Rangiku said with a frown. "I would have thought he'd stop. Or at least finish by now." Rangiku stood up and walked between the beds to the window. "Taicho, come down!" she called into the night.

A minute later, Toshiro appeared on the windowsill, a small stack of paper held in one hand. "Stop calling me that." He snapped at Rangiku.

"Oh, relax." Rangiku said casually. She gestured to Harry and then looked back at Toshiro. "I already told him what it meant and that 'taicho' was a nickname I gave you because you act so much like a leader. There's no need to be shy."

Toshiro glared at her and then turned to Harry. "Do not start calling me that. Especially not at the school. People may not know what it means at first but it's not that hard to find out. The last thing I need is for people to start calling me 'captain'."

"Is that why Renji stopped when he started to call you captain at dinner that one time?" Harry asked. "Because you don't like it?"

Rangiku nodded before Toshiro could respond. "It is. The others got into the habit of calling him taicho or captain from spending so much time around us. Taicho doesn't really like it because he thinks we're teasing him."

"That's not it." Toshiro snapped.

"Then why?" Rangiku asked.

"Just because. I have my reasons." Toshiro replied.

Rangiku rolled her eyes. "Anyways, what's with the paperwork? Harry said you were working on it but I thought you finished?"

Toshiro nodded. "I did but Urahara sent an owl with more, so I gave it what I had completed and took the new ones. I'll be trading again once we get to Diagon Alley and I buy an owl to use."

"You'll need to look for one that flies long distances." Rangiku said.

Toshiro nodded. "I know. By the way," he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. "Urahara sent this to me."

Rangiku looked it over and frowned slightly. "Another one? And what about the others?"

"They'll be in it too." Toshiro answered.

"In what?" Harry asked.

Toshiro smirked and placed the pages in his bed side table and cast a spell over it to keep people out. Rangiku winked at him before heading out of the room, calling behind her. "You'll see."

The next morning was spent with everyone rushing to get ready while they made sure, for the umpteenth time, that they hadn't forgotten anything. Twice, Rangiku barged in on Harry; once while he was in the shower, she burst into the bathroom to grab a hair tie she left on the sink, and the second time, she had burst back into the bathroom just as Harry was putting on his pants, claiming that she had forgotten her tooth brush. After the second time, Harry quickly finished getting dressed and headed back into the bedroom to dump the rest of his things into his trunk and slam it shut.

"You finished?" Toshiro asked as he walked into the bedroom. He had gone downstairs before Harry had gotten into the shower to put his trunk by the stairs and go through the kitchen, dining room, living room, and back yard, making sure no one had left anything behind. "If you are, take your trunk downstairs and put it by the door. The sooner everyone is finished packing and ready to go, the sooner we can leave once Ukitake comes to get us."

Harry nodded and pulled on his socks and shoes before grabbing his trunk and dragging it out of the room and down the stairs to be set beside Toshiro's and one other trunk. The second trunk, a silver one with a black metal trim, Harry recognized as Ichigo's. Harry bent down close to examine the trunk, reading Ichigo's name in English and, he assumed, in Japanese. Then he bent closer and noticed the small picture etched into the metal beside the names; it was a picture of two swords, one long and thin and the other long and thick and looking a bit like a thick butcher knife, both crossed over each other in the shape of an X. Harry wondered, not for the first time, what the significance was for the picture. Earlier, he had seen Toshiro's trunk and had noticed the long jagged-looking dragon coiled around Toshiro's name. Harry stepped over and glanced down at Toshiro's trunk again, noticing the dragon etched into the metal.

"What are you doing?" Harry whirled around to see Rukia descending the stairs, her trunk in tow. She wore a soft purple shin-length skirt and a white shirt under a soft purple sweater. He noticed an odd floral symbol over her left breast as she walked past him to set her trunk against the wall and Harry saw an odd symbol, a word in Japanese he assumed, on the back of the sweater in the center of a circle, and he realized that it was the same as the picture he had seen on all of them the first day they had arrived on Privet Drive.

Realizing that she was expecting an answer, he mentally shook himself, clearing his head. "I was just looking at the trunks. I've never seen trunks like these before. They're not made from anything I've ever seen and there are pictures etched on each one. I was just wondering what the pictures mean."

Rukia shrugged. "Everyone has something symbolic that represents them. Toshiro has a dragon because that's what he likes. Ichigo has swords because that's what he likes. And so on and so on. As for the trunks themselves, they weren't made here in England. They were made in Japan by one of the other teachers."

"Oh, I see." Harry said. "What's yours?"

Rukia's expression brightened and she pointed down at her trunk. "Chappy!" she exclaimed excitedly. Harry walked over to her and glanced down at her trunk. Her name was written in English and Japanese and beside it was the head of a cartoon-looking rabbit, looking up out of the metal with big round eyes and long ears.

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked up at her. "Chappy? What's a Chappy?"

"Only the best bunny in the world." She said. She pulled out a small notebook from the pocket of her sweater and quickly scribbled on one of the pages before turning it around and showing it to him. On the page was a cartoonized picture of a rabbit, with long white ears and big round eyes, and standing in the middle of the page on its hind legs. "This is Chappy."

"Chappy's stupid." Ichigo mumbled as he descended the stairs.

Rukia glared at him. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing." Ichigo said, placing his trunk down beside Harry's. He leaned down and whispered into Harry's ear as Rukia turned to place her notebook back into her pocket. "Don't ask about that stupid rabbit, or else she'll never shut up."

"Got it." Harry whispered back. He stared at Ichigo's clothing as Ichigo straightened up and began speaking to Rukia. He was wearing a black sweater with a gray hood and black hood strings. He noticed that there didn't seem to be any floral symbols anywhere on his sweater, his red t-shirt, or on his black jeans, nor was there any symbol with a circle like Rukia's. Instead, there was a strangely squared four-pronged spiral sewn over both pockets of his sweater, as well as a larger squared spiral across the back.

"What are you staring at?" Ichigo asked suspiciously.

Harry shook his head. "Nothing. I was just noticing the symbol on your pockets and on the back of your sweater. It's different from Rukia's and it's different from everyone else's that I saw when you guys first got here."

Ichigo looked down at the symbol on his pockets and then at the symbol on the front of Rukia's sweater, as if seeing them for the first time. "Oh. Yeah, I like to be unique." Ichigo said with a shrug. Rukia rolled her eyes but decided not to comment.

"How much longer do we have before Ukitake gets here?" Renji asked as he headed down the stairs towards them, his trunk slung over his shoulder. He set it down beside Harry's and Harry was able to see the picture etched onto the metal. He was a bit surprised to see that Renji had, not one, but two pictures on his trunk. Beside his name in English, there was a picture of a gorilla standing on all fours with a scowl on its face and beside his name in Japanese, there was a picture of a fierce-looking coiled snake, it's tongue sticking out of its mouth as if to taste the lines that made up Renji's name.

"He should be here in another ten minutes." Harry heard Ichigo reply to Renji, though his voice sounded far away, as Harry stared at the picture of the snake, which seemed to be staring right back at him with its one visible eye, watching him.

"What are you doing?" asked a voice beside him. Harry barely registered the voice as belonging to Rangiku as his imagination began running away with him, making him imagine that the snake had blinked at him. But it's a picture. He told himself. Pictures don't blink. At least not this one. "Harry? What's wrong?" Rangiku asked.

"Nothing." Harry replied, not taking his eyes off of the snake. He didn't notice Toshiro pausing half way down the stairs, or Rangiku taking a step away from him, or that everyone seemed to tense and instinctively reach to their side in an attempt to grab their sword. Nor did he realize that he had answered Rangiku, not with words, but with a menacing hiss. He did, however, notice Ichigo's shout.

"What the hell was that?"

Harry finally tore his eyes away from the trunk and looked up at the others, blinking several times in an attempt to clear the lingering image of the snake from his sight. He took in the hostile looks from the others and took an instinctive step back, nearly tripping over his own trunk. "What? What's wrong?"

No one answered for a moment before Toshiro continued descending the stairs and stopped before him, scrutinizing him carefully, his hand in his pocket, no doubt clutching the only other weapon he had at the moment. "Harry, why did you do that?" he asked, his voice layered with cautious hostility.

"Do what?" Harry asked in confusion. He noticed that the others seemed to resemble a snake a bit; all of them were staring at him with a look of apprehension, as if waiting to spring at the first hint of danger. "What did I do?"

"Rangiku asked you what was wrong because you looked almost hypnotized. And you hissed at her, almost threateningly. Why?" Toshiro explained.

Harry's eyes widened in horror as he suddenly realized what had happened. Then he sighed and sank down onto his trunk, his hands covering his face as he shook his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I couldn't help it. I didn't even notice I was doing it."

"Doing what?" Toshiro asked.

Harry sighed again. This wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want them to find out about this. The last thing he wanted was for his new friends to suddenly decide to abandon him because they found something that associated him with Voldemort. But wait. They haven't even said anything about Voldemort. Harry thought. They're wizards, even if they're Japanese, and yet they didn't react the same way everyone else does when they hear my name. Nor did they mention Voldemort. Why not? Not that I'm complaining but it is an unusual reaction. Do they even know about Voldemort in Japan? Maybe I'm not famous over there. Maybe they won't treat me like everyone else.

"Harry?" Toshiro asked.

Harry looked up. They were all staring at him, though he was glad that a lot of the hostility had been replaced with curious apprehension and caution. If I tell them, will they start treating me the same as everyone else? No, they don't seem like the types to hero-worship much, and I doubt they would about a villain that has nothing to do with them. Making up his mind, Harry decided to tell them the truth. But where should he start?

"Okay, first, do you know who Voldemort is?" Harry, who had been expecting a slight cringe or violent flinch at the name, was a little pleased when they merely shook their heads, though, secretly, they were hoping that by feining ignorance about Voldemort and Harry's history with him, they would be able to learn something new that could help with their investigation. "Okay, well he's this evil wizard that killed hundreds of witches and wizards years ago. He was the one who had killed my parents when I was a year old. He also tried to kill me, but I don't know why. But for some reason, he wasn't able to kill me, and, again, I don't know why. After he failed to kill me, he disappeared and no one has heard from him since. This was about thirteen years ago. However, I came face to face with him two years ago, during my first year at Hogwarts. He was using a teacher, Professor Quirrel, to get something called the Philosopher's Stone. This stone made whoever owned it immortal. And Voldemort was trying to steal it from the school, where it was being hidden. With the help of my best friends, I managed to stop him. The stone was destroyed but then he got away; Professor Quirrel died later, after Voldemort abandoned him."

Harry paused to take a breath before continuing. He didn't want to stop to answer questions until he was completely finished. He didn't think he would be able to start again if he stopped. "Then last year, I ended up encountering a kind of diary or journal with some kind of memory or something of him during his time at Hogwarts. He possessed the mind of my best friend's little sister and made her write messages on the walls saying that something called the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. It hadn't been opened in fifty years and the last time it did, a muggle born died." He paused again. "You do know what a muggle born is, right?"

"Someone who was born from a muggle?" Ichigo guessed.

Harry nodded. "Yes. Muggle borns are looked down on because they're not, what most call, pure bloods. They either had a mother or father or both as muggles and that made them less than the pure bloods. But that's not true. My other best friend is muggle born and she's one of the cleverest witches in our year." Harry said firmly and gave them a look, as if to dare them to say otherwise. "But one of the creators of the school, Salazar Slytherin, hated muggle borns and wanted the school to be all pure bloods. The Heir of Slytherin, as he was called, attacked muggle borns with a giant monster of a snake called a Basilisk. It's a giant poisonous snake that can kill just by looking directly into the eye of its victim. But last year, instead of attacking muggle borns, it used my friend's sister to lure me into the chamber to kill me. During that time, I learned that I have the ability to talk to snakes. Its called Persaltongue and its what represents Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort. For the longest time, everyone thought I was the Heir of Slytherin because of it. But I'm not, nor have I ever been. I didn't even know I spoke a different language at all. To everyone else, it sounds like hissing but to me, every time I look at a snake and I try hard enough, I can speak it but it sounds normal to me. Sometimes it happens without my trying. But I didn't mean anything by it."

"So snakes represent this Slytherin guy?" Renji asked skeptically. He glanced down at his trunk and scowled back at Harry. "Well, so what? I like snakes, but that doesn't mean I support this Slytherin guy. I could care less about muggle borns or pure bloods. What the heck is up with this country and being prejudice? First it was your uncle and now the whole school?" He made a show of crossing his arms over his chest and turning to Toshiro. "Do we have to go to this school? I had enough prejudice bastards breathing down my neck at home. I don't need it here."

"Neither do I." Ichigo said, playing along. "I mean it; I'm not going to play nice if they start bagging on me about my parents. Who the hell cares if they were wizards or not? It won't stop me from kicking their asses if they mess with me."

"I won't stand for it either." Rangiku declared, placing her hands on her hips and pouting down at Toshiro. "I'm not dealing with that again. I've put up with it at home because I had to. But I won't do that here, I'm telling you right now."

"Why are the English so mean?" Rukia asked, making a show of burying her face in her hands.

"Wait, not everyone is like that." Harry said quickly. He didn't want to give them the wrong impression of Hogwarts. He liked Hogwarts and he knew that there were plenty of people there who didn't care about blood. "There are plenty who get along just fine with each other. Both of my parents were a witch and wizard and dozens of my other friends are both muggle borns and pure bloods and they associate with each other just fine. It's mostly just Slytherin. There's even a half giant at the school. And he's great. He's nice and friendly and everyone likes him; except the Slytherins but they only like each other anyway."

Rukia removed her hands from her face and smiled brightly, all earlier sorrow non-existent. "Oh, okay then."

"We don't have a choice either way." Toshiro said. "We'll just have to do our best to ignore it." He eyed the others as he put emphasis on the last two words.

Just then a knock was heard from the front door, making Harry jump slightly, though the others seemed unfazed. Toshiro walked passed Harry and opened the door. The white-haired man Harry had seen before stood on the other side, a friendly smile spread across his kind face. He was tall, though not as tall as the scary man had been, and wore a white jacket, similar to Toshiro's, though the floral symbol on the front and the circle symbol on the back were the same as Rukia's.

"Well, I guess it's safe to say that you're all ready to go?" he asked, eyeing the trunks piled in front of the door in amusement.

Toshiro nodded. "Just about."

"Then let's get these in the truck, shall we?" he stepped aside to allow Ichigo and Renji to lead the way out of the house with their trunks, before following behind Toshiro and Harry, who brought up the rear. "And you must be Harry Potter." He said as he fell into step between the two. "It is nice to finally meet you in person."

Harry stopped beside the large black truck, careful to avoid being seen by the Dursleys, should they happen to peek out of their windows at the truck. He set his trunk down and shook Ukitake's pale hand. "It's nice to meet you too. Toshiro's hasn't really said much about you but at least I get to meet his dad in person."

Ukitake's expression brightened at the mention of being Toshiro's father and decided to play along. "Oh, yes. It is nice. Toshiro has been such a good son and I am proud to call him so."

Toshiro cleared his throat. "Ukitake, I need to speak with you."

"Of course." Ukitake followed Toshiro a little ways away from the truck to stand almost in front of the living room window. "Father?" he asked in amusement.

Toshiro scowled and quickly explained the situation. After he was done, he glanced back towards Harry, who was helping hoist the trunks into the truck bed. "I hadn't thought of a story for you so I just went along with his idea at the time. I was planning on telling you before you got here but it's difficult getting letters sent to Japan."

"I understand." Ukitake said. "Don't worry; I'll stick with the story. Anything else?"

Toshiro nodded. "Yes, we learned some new information about him, which I will put in my report later, but we just had a situation where we instinctively reached for our zanpaktou's before remembering that they were in our trunks. Isn't there any way to fix that? I don't like not having Hyorinmaru at my side."

"Oh, yes. I know what you mean." Ukitake said with a frown. "That would feel extremely uncomfortable to all of you, I'm sure. I'll talk to Kurotsuchi and see what he can do, and get back to you before you leave for the train. It might not be a good idea to keep your zanpaktou in the dimensional pocket of your trunks for the whole year. Will you guys be alright until then?"

Toshiro nodded. "Yes, we'll manage. And if there's nothing he can do, we'll figure something out."

The two of them nodded and headed back to the rest of their group. "Right, now that we're all packed and ready to go, shall we?" Ukitake asked.

Everyone nodded and began piling into the back seat of the truck, with Toshiro and Rangiku sliding into the front beside Ukitake. As Ukitake pulled away from the house, Harry, who was sitting in the middle with Rukia, peered around Ichigo to gaze at the place that he had spent the better part of his summer vacation in, wondering if he would ever have another summer like this, and wondering if the rest of the year would be just as eventful. A small sinking filling filled his belly as he turned in his seat and watched the house disappear from his view in the rear window.

The group arrived at the Leaky Cauldron twenty minutes later, though Harry suspected that they would have gotten there much earlier if Ukitake hadn't purposely decided to turn onto every street with bumper to bumper traffic, enjoying the lovely British scenery, as he claimed. Harry hadn't really minded, one way or another, as he had felt that the moment they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, summer vacation would officially be coming to an end, what with only two weeks left until September 1st.

"Well, I guess this might be the final time I see you guys until the end of the year." Ukitake said as he helped everyone get their stuff out of the back of the truck before smiling and shaking each hand in turn. Then he turned to face the group at large. "Take care, all of you. And behave." Rangiku grinned as he eyed her warningly, before scanning the rest of the group. Then he grinned. "Have fun! And keep me posted."

Toshiro and the others watched him climb into the truck and drive away before Toshiro led them into the Leaky Cauldron. Tom, the innkeeper, looked up briefly as he placed a mug of some smoky substance in front of a tall, gangly witch in a red robe and orange shawl. Then he headed over to them. "Your rooms are ready for you when you are." He beckoned them with a long finger as he headed up the stairs. He led them down a hall before stopping in front of a door with a brass number nine near the top. "Here we are. Your rooms are nine, ten and eleven. I believe it is safe to assume that you will be doubling?"

Toshiro nodded. "Yes, we will. I believe we can manage from here. Thank you for your kindness." Toshiro and the other shinigami gave Tom a slight half-bow, to which Tom flushed and waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh no, no. It's quite alright." He said hastily. "There's no need to be so formal."

Toshiro watched as Tom made his way back down the hall and started descending the stairs before turning and facing the others. "Room nine will be shared by Ichigo and Renji; ten will be shared by Rangiku and Rukia; and eleven will be shared by Harry and me. Do not cause trouble during our stay. That goes double for you three." He glared at Ichigo and Renji before his eyes lingered on Rangiku. "Otherwise, you shall meet your consequences when we get home."

Harry smirked inwardly, still not used to seeing the others listen so readily to someone half their size. Except for Rukia, who was only taller than him by a few inches it seemed. Then he followed Toshiro towards the door with the brass number eleven and entered the room. Toshiro took the bed closest to the window and placed his trunk at the foot before glancing up as Renji and Ichigo entered the room.

"Why do I have to share with him?" they asked simultaneously.

Toshiro glared. "Because I'm not putting up with either of you deranged monkeys. I'm used to sharing rooms with Rangiku but I didn't feel that it would be fair to Rukia or Harry if I made them bunk with either of you. So you're stuck together." Then he smirked mischievously. "But if it really bothers you that much, I'm sure I can arrange a suitable sleeping space for one of you. All you need to do is ask."

Ichigo and Renji scowled. "No, thanks." Renji muttered. Then he and Ichigo slouched out of the room as Rangiku rushed in.

"Taicho, have you seen these rooms?" she said as she scanned his and Harry's room with distaste. "It's hideous. Almost as much as that dreadful house we lived in before. What is wrong with these people? Are they really that blind?"

Toshiro sighed exasperatedly. "Try not to insult anyone, Matsumoto." He said in monotone. "You'll only be here for two and a half weeks. Get over it. And don't do anything to the furniture or the décor without consulting me or the innkeeper."

Rangiku pouted. "But taicho-"

"No, buts." Toshiro said in a tone that forbad argument. Rangiku's pout deepened but she reluctantly headed back to her room. Toshiro rolled his eyes and looked at Harry. "Trust me; not much is going to change in regards to commotion just because we moved from one living space to another."

Harry smirked. "Right. By the way, when did you purchase these rooms? Was it when you came here the first time?"

Toshiro shook his head. "No, I left once during the summer, remember? This is where I went."

"Oh. I see."

After everyone had gotten settled into their new rooms, albeit with heavy arguing from Renji and Ichigo's room, the five Soul Reapers and Harry headed down to the main room of the Leaky Cauldron and made their may out the back door to the entrance to Diagon Alley. Once the gate was open and they stepped in, Harry turned to the others.

"You guys have already gotten your school supplies, right? Well, I guess I better go do that then." Harry said. "Do you guys want to meet anywhere later?"

"Actually, we need to get some more supplies ourselves." Renji said as he leaned against the wall of the closest shop and crossed his arms over his chest.

Toshiro nodded. "Yes, we need to get potions ingredients, as well as ink and parchment, cauldrons, scales, and other such things needed for the school year. All we got that other day was our wands and textbooks."

"We also need robes and the rest of the school's uniform." Rukia said.

"Ew, I am not looking forward to wearing those hideous robes. If they're anything like what everyone else here in Diagon Alley are wearing, then this year is going to suck big time." Rangiku frowned and then perked up. "But maybe I can fix that. Oh, yes, I can see it now…"

"Matsumoto." Toshiro warned half-heartedly, not really caring too much on the subject. "Don't do anything too extravagant. This isn't a fashion show; it's a school. I believe they focus more on what they can do, rather than what they wear. I repeat: don't insult or offend anybody during our stay."

"Yes, yes. Of course." Rangiku said, waving her hand dismissively. "Now, the first thing I would do, would be…"

Toshiro sighed and turned to the rest of the group. "Okay, well the first things we should get are our potions equipment and ingredients. That way we can work on the potions we need to practice making."

"Wait, don't you already have stuff for potions?" Harry asked. "Didn't you have Potions classes in any of your other schools or wherever you were before?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Nah, we learned something similar, but not the same as how it shows in the textbook. Our potions stuff was a lot more technical."

"Besides, technically, Potions was considered a science where we were from." Renji put in. "There was a specific group of students who worked that department, so Potions wasn't really mandatory. It was optional, I guess you can say."

"I wish it was optional for us." Harry muttered bitterly. "Our Potions professor is a real prat."

"Prat?" Ichigo asked in confusion. He shared an equally confused look with Renji and Rukia. Rangiku continued to ignore them, muttering to herself about how she was going to improve the school uniforms for them. Ichigo turned back to Harry. "Does that mean like 'prick' and 'brat' together or something?" Renji snickered.

"Um, I guess it can." Harry said. He still wasn't quite yet used to Ichigo and the others speaking so freely with crude words. If Aunt Petunia, or even Mrs. Weasley, heard him speak like that, Aunt Petunia would probably shove a bar of soap into his mouth, and he was afraid to think what Mrs. Weasley would do. Ron would probably burst out laughing and he had a feeling Hermione would click her tongue at him disapprovingly.

"I take it this Potions professor is your all-time favorite teacher ever?" Renji asked innocently with a smirk.

Harry frowned. "Hardly. He's the worst. Everyone hates him and he hates everyone except his own Slytherin students. He's head of their house, you know. He's extremely unfair and is always looking for an excuse to give everyone more homework and take points from us. Especially Gryffindors."

"Points?" Rukia asked. "What points?"

"During the school year, each house, there are four, we compete with the others for house points." Harry explained. "We get points for answering questions correctly in class, doing good things for our house, stuff like that. At the same time, we lose points for getting in trouble, getting detentions, things like that. Then, at the end of the year, all of the points earned get totaled up and the house with the most points wins the house cup and bragging rights."

"That's it?" Ichigo asked with a scowl. "We don't get any cash or anything? That's a rip off."

"How many times do I need to tell you guys not to insult or offend anyone?" Toshiro grumbled. "Don't talk like that while we're there. They obviously take pride it trivial stuff like that, so try not to comment."

"Trivial?" Harry asked. "It may not seem like much to you guys, but to us it's kind of a big deal. Especially since the Slytherins are always holding it against us when we lose. They had the house cup several years in a row and never let us live it down."

"So it's more about pride than anything else." Ichigo surmised.

Harry shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Pride is kind of a big thing for us."

"Regardless, we need to get going." Toshiro said. "Since the Cauldron Shop and the Apothecary are right here, we'll go here first. I'm assuming you need to go to the bank, Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I'm running pretty low."

"Where do you need to go? Besides the book store for your new books for the year." Toshiro asked.

Harry tapped his finger against his chin in thought. "I need to go to Madam Malkin's to get my robes resized. And I need to visit the Apothecary also, to replenish my potions ingredients. And I need to get more quills and ink."

"Do you have enough for your potions supplies right now?" Toshiro asked.

Harry nodded. "I should have enough for that at least. And maybe have a few Nuts and Sickles and maybe a Galleon left."

Toshiro nodded. "Alright, well then why don't you go into the Apothecary and we'll get our cauldrons and meet you in there? Or you can come with us into the Cauldron Shop and then we can all go into the Apothecary. Then after that, we'll head to the bank, you go in and get what you need and we'll meet you in the robe shop. I'd assume it would take more time to make our robes than it would to resize yours, so we should be in there for a while. And we'll work our way back from there. We need to get quills and ink as well. And we'll go from there."

Everyone nodded and they all headed into the Cauldron Shop, where the shinigami each paid for a cauldron and a set of scales and potions making tools. Then they all headed out and across the street to the Apothecary. There, they purchased all of the ingredients needed for basic potions making, as well as Toshiro buying an odd assortment of other strange ingredients, which he made no comment about to the others.

"Alright, let's get to the bank and robe shop." Toshiro said as they all reassembled out on the street once more.

"Is it just me or are there a lot of people staring at you guys?" Harry asked as they headed down the street to the large white marble building housing the vaults of each wizard or witch.

Ichigo glared at a group of passing witches as they ogled at them. They quickly scurried past, muttering to each other about shady people. "They've been doing it since we got here. They did it the first time we got here, too." He said. "Like they don't have anything better to do."

"Well, maybe it's your guys' appearances." Harry suggested.

"What's wrong with the way we look?" Rangiku demanded. "Are you saying they don't approve of the way we dress or something? I'll have you know that I made these outfits myself."

"It's not that." Harry said hastily. "It's just that, well, have any of you guys looked in a full-length mirror lately? Ichigo constantly looks like he's in a bad mood, Renji has his exotic tattoos, which especially isn't common on someone who should be a student at Hogwarts, Toshiro looks really young but still looks too serious for his appearance, plus his white hair is unusual, and I don't even have to explain about Rangiku. Rukia is probably the only one who looks even remotely like a possible student, although she kind of looks more like a first year than a third year. No offense, but you guys stick out like a living person in a room full of ghosts."

"Well, that's nice." Ichigo said with a scowl. "Well, we knew before we got here that we were going to stick out quite a bit. I mean, we're from a completely different country. There's bound to be a few rude people rubbernecking. I just didn't think there were so many rude people staring!" Ichigo snapped the last few words at a passing couple, who were openly staring at the group before flushing and scurrying past with quick apologies.

"Kurosaki." Toshiro muttered warningly, but with the tone that said clearly that he didn't care much. He sent an icy glare at a witch up the street, who eyed his group with suspicious interest from the entrance of another alley, whose sign stated that it was Knockturn Alley. She shrank back into the shadow of the building beside her as the surrounding temperature plummeted several degrees. "Try not to anger anyone. There seems to be quite a few shady characters around this part of the alley."

Harry looked in the direction he was looking. "Oh, that's Knockturn Alley. Pretty much all bad witches and wizards would be seen there. They have a lot of shops with dark artifacts and stuff. Not the best place to be."

"So, evil witches and wizards go there?" Toshiro asked, eyeing the alley with new suspicion, mimicked by the other shinigami.

"Well, we call them evil. But I guess we can't really say that." Harry said. "But yeah, pretty much. Well, here's Gringotts."

Toshiro turned his gaze to the outer double doors of the bank. "What's the explanation for the goblins?"

"They're creepy and all, but they're pretty good to have running the bank." Harry said. "The vaults have a lot of spells on them, and I know that anyone other than a Gringotts goblin who tries to get into one of the vaults would get sucked in until the goblins felt like checking on them. But they're pretty loyal, from what I've heard. Really cautious and protective of their vaults. I don't really know much more about them than that."

"Hmm." Toshiro shrugged and turned to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. "We'll meet you in there when you're finished."

Harry nodded and headed into the bank as Toshiro and the others went into the robe shop. He walked up to an available goblin and told him he wanted to remove some money from his vault.

"Do you have your key, Mr. Potter?" the Goblin asked. Harry pulled his key from his pocket and handed it to the goblin. "Follow me."

Harry followed the goblin through a door and into one of the many carts used to get around in the tunnels. Harry and the goblin whizzed passed several other vaults, zooming left and right and down and up, until finally they stopped beside Harry's vault. Harry and the goblin climbed out of the cart, and after the goblin unlocked the door, Harry went in and grabbed a few handfuls of each type of coin before heading back into the cart with the goblin to endure the wild ride back to the surface.

Back on the street, Harry placed his money bag into his pocket and headed down to the robe shop. He stopped outside the shop just as someone tapped him on the shoulder. Harry jumped and spun around to come face to face with the last person he expected to see. Standing behind him was none other than Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself. Harry remembered him from last year, when he had taken Hagrid to Azkaban as a suspect of opening the Chamber of Secrets, which he was framed for years ago. Unfortunately, Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, were hidden under the invisibility cloak in Hagrid's cabin at the time.

"Harry, my boy. Oh, I've finally found you." Fudge pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and removed his bowler hat and wiped the sweat from his brow in relief before putting it back on. "Oh, thank goodness. We've been looking everywhere for you since you left your aunt and uncle's house."

Harry looked at him in confusion before he understood what Mr. Fudge was talking about. He had completely forgotten the reason he had left his aunt and uncle in the first place. He blew up Aunt Marge! There was only one reason he could think of for why Mr. Fudge himself would be looking for him. Was he going to take Harry to Azkaban? What was the penalty for blowing up a relative? Not only that, but he used magic outside of school and he's underage. He was going to be expelled. Would he ever see Ron and Hermione again?

"Cornelius Fudge here. Pleasure to meet you, my boy. But where have you been? Never mind, never mind, that's not important right now." Fudge patted Harry on the shoulder. "How are you doing? You're well, I hope? Now, first thing's first. We should get you a room at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Wait!" Harry said hastily. "I already have a room. I'm fine."

"Have you?" Fudge looked slightly bewildered and then narrowed his eyes at him. "Where on earth have you been, I wonder. You left your aunt and uncle's house and after about twenty minutes, you suddenly went off the grid. We couldn't find you anywhere. Where were you?"

"I-" Harry started.

"No matter." Fudge interrupted. "The important thing is that you're here now and you're safe. Now, I must tell you Harry, to stay here. Stay in Diagon Alley, Harry. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, but why?" Harry asked in confusion. Wasn't he going to be arrested? Wasn't he going to be expelled? What was going on?

"So we can keep an eye on you, of course." Fudge said simply. "Can't have you getting lost again, now. Just don't stray into Muggle London, eh? That's the ticket. Now-"

"Hang on." Harry said. "Aren't I in trouble? Aren't I going to be expelled or something?"

"What?" Fudge asked in surprise. He didn't know why but to Harry, Fudge seemed a bit flustered and he definitely wasn't making eye contact. "That's preposterous. Why would you be expelled?"

"Because I did underage magic." Harry said. "I blew up my aunt. I got a letter last year because a house elf used magic in my aunt's kitchen in front of muggles. It said that if I did any magic again, I would get expelled. Aren't you going to expel me or throw me in Azkaban or something?"

"Oh, Harry." Fudge chuckled nervously. "We don't throw people in prison for blowing up their aunts. Surely you don't want to be expelled? It was an accident, easily reversed. We were able to deflate dear Margaret Dursley and erased the incident from her memory. Unfortunately your aunt and uncle remember everything and although they are very displeased with you, they agreed to take you back next summer on the deal that you remain at school during all other holidays."

"I always do." Harry muttered. "And I don't mind staying in Diagon Alley until the end of summer. I have no reason to go into Muggle London, seeing as how I don't have any muggle money."

"That's the spirit." Fudge said with obvious relief. "Now, I best be going. Much to do, you know."

"Wait, Mr. Fudge." Harry said as Fudge turned to head back to the Leaky Cauldron. "Um, my uncle forgot to sign my permission slip for the Hogsmeade trip that all third years are finally able to go to. So, I was wondering, since you're the minister and all, if you could sign it."

"Oh no, no." Fudge said hastily, his nervousness returning. "Seeing as how I am neither your parent nor legal guardian, I'm afraid I can't."

"But, you're the minister." Harry said pleadingly. "Can't you do anything."

"Afraid not." Fudge said. "No, I'm afraid I can't. In fact, I believe it would be best if you didn't go to Hogsmeade this year. Yes, that would be best. Well, have a good day, Harry. Enjoy the rest of your summer." And with that, he turned and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry watched him go with a frown. What was that about? Why would he say that it would be better if Harry didn't go to Hogsmeade this year? And why was he so nervous? Harry shook his head and decided to push the subject to the back of his mind for later and instead headed into Madam Malkin's robe shop.

"Who was that?" Toshiro asked as Harry stepped up beside him, watching as several witches pinned up everyone's robes to their appropriate lengths. Toshiro cocked his head towards the large window at the front of the shop. "That man in the bowler hat. Who was he?"

Harry shrugged. "He's the Minister of Magic. His name's Cornelius Fudge. He was looking for me. I thought he was going to expel me or throw me in Azkaban or something."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow and waited for the witch to start resizing Harry's robes before speaking again. "Why would he do that?"

"Because I broke the rules." Harry said. "I used underage magic in front of my aunt and uncle, who you know are muggles. That's illegal and so is doing magic while underage outside of school. A house elf used magic in my aunt's kitchen last summer and made a pudding crash all over the place and I got in trouble. I got a letter saying that they detected magic use at my place of residence and in front of muggles. They said that if they detected magic being used again, they would expel me. That's what I thought Fudge was going to do. But he didn't." Harry paused, his eyes narrowing in bewilderment. "In fact, I couldn't help feeling like he wanted me to stay at school. Like he needed me to stay there. He told me not to leave Diagon Alley or wander into muggle London. He said he wanted to keep an eye on me and keep me safe. But safe from what?"

Toshiro narrowed his eyes in thought but otherwise didn't comment. What could be the reason for acting that way? What were they trying to protect Harry from? Could it be from Voldemort? Or Sirius Black? Or the Dementors? All three? It couldn't be because of Voldemort. According to their sources and from what they heard throughout Diagon Alley the last time they were here, everyone was still convinced that Voldemort was truly dead. Why would they need to protect Harry, or anyone else for that matter, from something that was supposed to be dead?

It couldn't be the Dementors, could it? No, it couldn't. The Dementors were supposed to be being sent to Hogwarts to protect the students. Toshiro didn't trust anything that could suck out a soul, but these wizards obviously did. Why would they want to protect anyone from something they wished to use as protection themselves? That didn't make sense at all.

What about Sirius Black? Sirius Black is currently on the loose. He's an escaped convict, he was said to be dangerous and he was apparently a high supporter of Voldemort. Of course they would want to protect everyone from him. But why Harry in particular? Rumor had it that Sirius Black wanted to raise Voldemort from the dead. Could they suspect the same thing the shinigami suspected? Do they think that Black would want to kill Harry to either avenge Voldemort or use him somehow to bring him back using some dark spell? Or was there some other purpose?

"That's it for you, dear." The witch in front of Toshiro said as she straightened up. Toshiro hopped down from the stool he had been standing on and followed the witch to the counter at the front of the shop. She ducked behind a curtain and came back with a bundle of robes and Toshiro's day uniform. "There you are."

Toshiro took his school clothes from the witch and paid for them before thanking her with a small formal bow, causing the woman to flush with embarrassment from being bowed to, and headed out of the shop to wait for the others. Several minutes later, the rest of the group assembled outside the robes shop and made their way to the book store.

"Harry, we've already got our books and going in there for no reason would be a waste of time." Toshiro said. "Therefore, you go in and get your books and we will meet you next door in the stationary shop."

Harry nodded. "Alright. I'll meet you there then."

Several minutes later, Harry emerged from the book store with more than Fudge to worry about. The dog he had seen the day he left his aunt and uncle's. He had seen its picture on a book in the shop and the shop keeper had told him that seeing it was a bad omen. Is that what Harry had seen? Had he seen a dark omen? If so, what did it mean? What was going to happen? Harry shook his head with a frown. No, that was ridiculous. It was just a dog, nothing more. No need to get himself jumpy over something that could easily be explained away. With that thought, Harry entered the stationary shop and joined the others, forcing himself to forget about the dog and enjoy himself. It was still summer after all.

The rest of the week passed with relative ease. The shinigami became regular visitors of almost every shop in Diagon Alley, after Toshiro specifically ordered everyone to stay away from Knockturn Alley, and the other regulars and permanent residents soon became used to seeing the unusual teens out and about. Toshiro was please to find that now that Harry was back in the wizarding world, he no longer followed him around wherever he went. He seemed to gain back his own independence and for that, Toshiro was glad. He didn't mind the kid, but having a freely-walking, talking, and over-curious shadow was running his patience thin. He had felt a bit irritated when Renji had told him the other day that he thought Harry was like a lost baby chick, bent on sticking close to its mother. But once his back was free from Harry's constant presence, Toshiro couldn't help thinking that Renji had been right on track.

Eventually, Toshiro and the others began meeting other younger people, whom he figured must be students. He was surprised to find that he got along quite well with a boy he met in the stationary shop a week before the train to Hogwarts. He was with, whom Toshiro figured was, his grandmother, and she was scolding him for losing the list of his new books. Toshiro turned from the shelf of sky-blue feathered quills to the tearful boy and his stern voiced grandmother. Toshiro spotted a familiar looking piece of parchment, slightly crumpled, lying under a nearby shelf. He walked over and picked it up, smoothing it out to find that, as he had suspected, it was a list of third year textbooks. Toshiro headed back to the pair and tapped the boy on the shoulder.

"Is this what you were looking for?" Toshiro asked, holding the sheet out to him.

A look of immense relief flooded the slightly round-faced boy as he took the list from Toshiro. "T-thank you. Th-thank you so much." He stuttered.

"Thank you, young man." The boy's grandmother said as she took his hand in hers. "Neville is such a forgetful boy; he'd lose his head if it wasn't stuck on his neck. Neville, give me the list. I'll go get your books while you stock up on quills, ink and parchment. Don't forget the ink like you did last time. It's fine that you remembered the quills and parchment but you can't very well write without ink, now can you?"

Neville flushed as his grandmother tsked and headed out of the shop to the book shop next store. Then he turned back to Toshiro. "Sorry. Gran always gets upset with me when it comes to this sort of thing. I can't help when I forget things. I guess I just get so flustered that I forget what I'm doing or I'll accidently leave something behind or something. The only things I seem to have I good memory for are plants. I'm really good in Herbology but not much else. I'm sorry, I'm rambling on and I don't even know your name. I guess you already know that I'm Neville; Neville Longbottom. What's yours?"

Toshiro shook Neville's offered hand. "Toshiro Hitsugaya. I know it's different and possibly difficult to pronounce. Just call me Toshiro. It's pronounced toe-sheer-row. Toshiro."

"Toshiro." Neville said. "I think I can remember it. It'll probably take me some time to remember, though. Sorry."

Toshiro thought for a moment before asking. "You said you were good in Herbology, right?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah, I can remember plant names and their properties. And I can usually identify plants based on description or appearance. Why?"

"Well, what if you pretended that my name was the name of a plant." Toshiro suggested. "Since you remember plant names so well, if you think of my name as a plant's name, you should be able to remember it pretty well, wouldn't you?"

Neville's eyes widened in surprise at the odd suggestion but as he thought about it, he realized that it didn't sound like such a bad idea. "Yeah, I think I can do that. You're a new student at Hogwarts, aren't you?"

Toshiro nodded. "Yes, I'll be attending as a third year. I know I'm small, but I really am thirteen. I will actually be turning fourteen sometime in December. My companions and I are study abroad students from Japan and we're here to study English magic at Hogwarts before moving on to another town or country."

"Wow. That's pretty cool." Neville stared at Toshiro for another moment in fascination before realizing what he was doing. Flushing, he turned and began picking out bottles of ink before moving on to the quills. "So, where have you been so far?"

"China, different parts of Russia, Poland, Germany, Mongolia, India, and several other European countries." Toshiro answered, listing the countries they could have visited between Japan and Great Britain. "We might be going to Egypt after this, we're not entirely sure yet."

"That's amazing." Neville said as they made their way to the parchment. "I bet you know loads of different languages and spells, huh? Did you learn about any different plants in those countries?"

"A few." Toshiro answered. He did know a few special plants but most were in Japan and half were in Soul Society. "Most of the plants I know are from Japan but we didn't really have Herbology there. We just learned as we went, really."

"Oh, that's kind of neat." Neville said. He led the way to the register and paid for his items before they both made their way to the shop's door. "So your classes were mostly practical lessons, right?"

"Yes, I guess you could say that." Toshiro said. He was inwardly glad Neville wasn't as nosy and over-curious as a green-eyed, scar-bearing someone he could mention. They exited the shop and headed over to wait outside the book store for Neville's grandmother.

"Well, when we get to school, or I see you on the train, ask me for your name, and I'll see if I can remember it." Neville said.

"If that trick works for you and you remember my name, then you'll have to use it for the others in my group." Toshiro warned. "They all have foreign names like mine. I won't tell you their names now, just in case it confuses you, but I'll introduce you after we test out that trick."

Neville nodded as his grandmother emerged from the shop and headed in their direction. "I'll try to remember. Do you know what house you'll be in?"

Toshiro shook his head. "No, I believe we'll be 'sorted', whatever that means."

"It just means you'll be placed into whichever house fits you." Neville explained. He waved to Toshiro as he began following his grandmother down the street. "See you later, Toshiro. Hope you get placed in Gryffindor."

The next day was almost as eventful for Toshiro as the day before. Toshiro had decided to head into Flourish & Blott's to get the textbooks he would need for his Muggle Studies class and his Ancient Runes class. As he wandered down the isles, he rounded a shelf and found himself in front of a girl sitting cross-legged on the floor with a book in front of her face, blocking it from view. Her scraggly waist-length dirty blond hair hung around the sides of her head like a veil and when Toshiro looked closer, he noticed that the book was upside down.

"Hello." Said a voice from behind the book. Slowly the book lowered to reveal a wide-eyed, dreamy looking face staring up at him in open curiosity. "I like your hair."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow. "Thanks." He muttered. "Why are you reading that book upside down?"

"Because I can get more out of it." She said simply. "Why are you just standing there? I would assume you're looking for a book, seeing as how you're in a book store. Or are you looking for something else?"

Toshiro shook his head. "No, I'm looking for a couple of books but I wanted to wander around first and see if I can find anything else worth reading. Who are you?"

"I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood. And you?" She looked up at him expectantly with a dreamy expression, which he figured must be a permanent feature to her face.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya." He said, inwardly wincing at the thought of having to explain, yet again, how to pronounce his name. He was surprised, however, when she said his name properly the first time.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya. Your name is unusual but I bet where you're from, it would be considered normal." She said. "But here, it's unusual and unusual names are much more appealing than common ones."

"Right." Toshiro said while resisting the urge to roll his eyes. This girl was very strange but pretty straight forward, which Toshiro felt was a plus in any person. No riddles, half truths, or beating around the bush.

"Which books are you looking for?" she asked as she stood up with the book in one hand and a magazine in the other. "Maybe I can help. The memagords usually wander around playing with peoples memories. That's why people sometimes all of a sudden forget what they're doing. And the bimagords, which are the memagords' cousins, they try to hide what you're looking for. They're all quite mischievous."

The what and the what? Toshiro thought perplexed. He decided to ignore it and instead answered her question. "I'm looking for Ancient Runes Made Easy, Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles, and a few rune dictionaries should help as well. I found those already but I need to find the rest at some point."

"I know where they are." Luna said dreamily. She pointed to the shelf in front of her. "On the other side of this shelf is the Muggle Studies types of books. And if you go down to the second shelf at the end of the next row, you'll find the Runes books." She pointed to the right.

Toshiro nodded to her. "Thanks." He headed around the shelf and soon found the book he needed. As he headed towards the shelf with the Runes books, he suddenly felt as though he were being followed. Turning to view over his shoulder, he noticed Luna following him. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, no. But thank you." She said softly as she continued to follow him, her wide eyes pinned on him unblinkingly.

"Why are you following me?" he demanded irritably.

"In case a memagord gets you. Or in case a bimagord tries to keep you from finding what you're looking for." She answered sincerely. "You can never be too careful when either of them are on the loose. And even more when they're together."

This time Toshiro turned away from her to roll his eyes. For some reason, he had a feeling that these memagords and bimagords didn't really exist. He quickly searched the shelf, ignoring Luna as she swatted at the empty air next to a row of books, and quickly found what he was looking for. Taking the two books, he headed back through the isles until he reached the counter at the back of the shop. "I'm ready now." He told the shop keeper.

The shop keeper nodded and pulled a small stack of slightly thicker books forward, the top one reading Runes and Their Meanings, and stuffed them, and his other textbooks, into a bag before handing it to him. "That'll be fifteen Sickles and four Knuts." He said.

Toshiro paid for his books, noticing that Luna was still behind him, and headed out of the shop, Luna close behind. Once outside, Toshiro sighed and turned to face Luna, who was nowhere in sight. Frowning, Toshiro looked this way and that before turning back around to find himself face to face Luna, her dreamy gaze making her seem not all there. "Are you going to keep following me?" he demanded.

Luna shook her head slowly, blinking almost owlishly. "No. I just wanted to make sure there were no lingering effects. They can be quite tricky you know. You seem to be fine. Are you going to be attending Hogwarts?"

Toshiro blinked at the sudden subject change but quickly recovered and nodded his head. "Yes, I am. And so is my entire group. We'll only be here for the year and then we'll head somewhere else."

"That's quite fascinating." She said dreamily. "I suppose you don't know what house you'll be in yet, do you? That's alright. I'm sure that whatever house you're in, you'll suit it best. You seem intelligent enough to be in Ravenclaw like me, but it's possible you'll be in Gryffindor. I doubt you'll be in Hufflepuff, unless the Kinchews try to trick the hat again. And Slytherin would suit you just fine if you're hiding a dark, sinister shadow in your self. But wherever you go, at least you'll be there and that's what matters." And with that, she turned on her heels and walked away with such a dazed look on her face that Toshiro expected that she may not even notice where she's going.

Toshiro shook his head, not even bothering to try to figure out the last part she said, and instead headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. So far, several of the other students he's met so far have either been utterly annoying, dimwitted, fair enough like Neville Longbottom, or plain strange like Luna Lovegood. And Toshiro was sure he hadn't even met half of the school yet. If this was how all of the students were going to be, then Toshiro felt that he and the rest of the shinigami had their work cut out for them.

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, except for Rangiku putting her finishing touches on their robes and day clothes before giving them back to their respectful owners. Toshiro had to admit that she didn't do that bad of a job as he examined his outer cloak two days before September 1st. The trim was outlined in a soft blue with his Division's symbol and number on the back in white. His robes also had the same symbol and numbering on the back, as well as a repeated pattern of the number and symbol spread all along his plain white scarf, which Harry told him would change to match his house colors.

"Wow, this is kind of neat." Harry said, pausing in his task of clearing his things off of his bed and onto the floor as he prepared for bed. He held up his cloak for Toshiro to see. Across the back, outlined in white, was the head of a lion, its mouth open in mid-roar, the entire head popping out against the black of the cloak. Several white lightening bolts surrounded the head in different sizes. "And look at this." He tossed his cloak onto the open lid of his trunk and pulled out his robe. A single large, white lightening bolt stood in the center of the back with smaller bolts surrounding it, all of them at such an angle that it made the bolts look as if they were all falling from the sky.

"That's nice." Toshiro said with a nod. He glanced down at the mess that defined Harry's side of the room and frowned. "How could one person make such a mess?" he asked.

Harry glanced down at his floor and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Force of habit."

Toshiro's frown deepened. "Is this how all of the students keep their rooms?" he asked.

"I don't know about the other houses or anything, but it's kind of like this in ours." Harry said with a grin. "Oh, and we don't have individual rooms. We share dorms. The Gryffindors in our year all share one dorm; about five to a dorm. But if any of you guys get placed in our dorm, they'll probably spread us out a bit more to make room. Most likely, they'll use magic to make room."

"Hmm." Toshiro mumbled. "Well we need to get everything in our trunks eventually. The sooner we get everything packed, the less packing we'll have to do when the time comes for us to head out."

"I'll do it tomorrow." Harry said as he got into bed. "We've still got one more whole day left before the first. It's not until the day after tomorrow."

"Still." Toshiro muttered before turning out the light. "It's best to always be prepared."

The next morning, the shinigami spread out around Diagon Alley as usual, except for Rangiku. Instead of heading out with the others, she wandered around the inside of the Leaky Cauldron, muttering to herself. As she wandered down to the main sitting and eating area, she spotted a group of people walking through the front door, all of them obviously related, judging by the similarities in appearance. The group was made of one boy, possibly sixteen years old, two younger twin boys, about fifteen, another younger boy, around Harry's age of thirteen, and a single girl, around the age of twelve, all with flaming red hair and various amounts of freckles. The two adults, obviously the parents, also had red hair and the mother seemed to be ushering them all into the Leaky Cauldron as orderly as possible. Behind the group, a single bushy brown haired girl, also Harry's age, ambled in with two nervous looking adults, whom Rangiku figured were her parents.

Rangiku watched as the brown haired girl turned to her parents and kissed them goodbye before she turned and followed the red headed group up the stairs, all of the children dragging trunks. Rangiku smiled as they passed her at the bottom of the stairs, inwardly smirking at the looks she got from every male of the group. Once they passed, she continued her observations of the inside of the dining area. Finally, she nodded to herself and headed back up to her room.

Once in her room, she grabbed a sheet of parchment, plopped onto her stomach on her bed and began doodling a simple sketch of the rooms. She could hear the voices of the group she had seen earlier but to ignore them as she sketched across the page for several long minutes before smiling at the page, admiring her handiwork so far, and jumped up from her bed. Clutching the sheet of parchment, she headed out of the room and back into the hall, searching around in such a way that made her look almost lost.

"Do you need help with anything, Deary?" a woman's voice asked from behind her.

Rangiku turned to find the plump woman she had seen with the group of red heads standing behind her, wearing a kind looking, motherly smile. Rangiku smiled back. "Oh, I don't know. I'm trying to find a place that could accommodate a large group of people for a birthday party." She said. "So that I can decide how to decorate."

The woman's face brightened. "Oh, how nice. Who's it for? A friend? Or a child? Would you like some help? I have a bit of experience with birthday parties, what with seven children and all. Would you like the help?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful." Rangiku said kindly. "The first thing I need is a place to set it up. I'm Rangiku, by the way. Rangiku Matsumoto. And you are?"

"Ah, Molly Weasley, but you can call me either Molly or Mrs. Weasley." She said. She looked a bit puzzled as she politely asked, "How do you pronounce your name? I'm afraid I'm not very good with foreign names."

Rangiku. It's pronounced Ran-gee-coo." Rangiku said patiently. Toshiro had told them several times that it would take time for everyone to get used to their names.

"I see. Rangiku." Mrs. Weasley said. "I'll have to remember that. Now let's see, there's a room we could use but we'll need to make sure it's available. I'll go check with Tom. I'll be right back."

Rangiku waited a few moments until Mrs. Weasley returned with a smile on her face. "We're in luck, it's still available." Mrs. Weasley led Rangiku to a door off to the side a ways and into a large room with a long rectangular table, large enough to seat at least twenty people comfortably.

"This is perfect." Rangiku said happily. She turned to Mrs. Weasley. "Since you're helping me so much, and since there's plenty of room, would you and your family like to join us?"

"Oh, no. I couldn't impose." Mrs. Weasley said with a small laugh.

"Please, I insist." Rangiku said. "Besides, it'll be more fun with more people. You don't have to know anyone. And technically, you know my name and I know yours, so in a way, you know me and I'm going to be there, so you'll know someone. Plus, a party isn't a party without people."

"Well, if you insist." Mrs. Weasley said. Then she cleared her throat and faced the room. "Now let's get to work, shall we?"

Several hours later, Harry headed back to the Leaky Cauldron with Ron and Hermione and her new large ginger cat Crookshanks. He was eager to get back and introduce his best friends to Toshiro and the others. He wasn't sure how they would react and he was sure Hermione at least would be shooting off questions a mile a minute. He'd have to warn Toshiro about that ahead of time. If Toshiro hated when I asked questions, he's going to love Hermione. Harry thought with a smirk. Harry led them up the stairs and into his and Toshiro's room, noticing Suna curled up in a ball on Toshiro's pillow.

"Harry, I'm assuming this side is yours." Hermione said as she pointed to the messy side of the room.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, this is my side. I know it's a mess; Toshiro has already complained to me about it. I'll clean it when I pack my stuff tonight."

"It would be a lot easier and much less hassle if you just kept it clean in the first place." Said an icy voice from behind them. The three jumped and whirled around, Ron with a startled yelp, to find Toshiro standing in the doorway, a scowl on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. "It would save us both a lot of trouble."

"Right, sorry." Harry said, noticing the irritation in his roommate's voice and expression as he entered his room and pulled his trunk onto his bed and began leafing through the contents. "Is something wrong?"

Toshiro's scowl deepened as he paused and glanced up at Harry. "Yes. Very much so. Rangiku has decided to take it upon herself to throw a party for Renji's birthday. Not only that, but she's invited a large load of people to attend, people none of us even know." He took a closer look at Ron and scowled again. "People with your appearance. I assume they're related to you. The woman's name is Molly Weasley and she's been helping with the party setup."

Ron flushed. "That would be my mum. When it comes to kids and birthday parties, she's practically unstoppable." He said apologetically.

"Well, regardless, I told her not to cause trouble." Toshiro said as he continued searching through his trunk until he pulled out a button down ice blue silk shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. Then he placed them on his night stand and began placing everything else neatly into his trunk. "If I were you, I'd get out whatever you're going to wear tomorrow and place them somewhere and pack now. You're going to be pretty tired tonight after this party and it'll be pretty hectic in the morning. Although I doubt you'll listen to me. And who are you two?"

Hermione stepped forward. "I'm Hermione Granger and this is Ron Weasley. Are you really a study abroad student attending Hogwarts for the first time? Do you know loads of spells and languages and magical cursed places and ancient runes and artifacts? Could you teach me? Who taught you?"

Toshiro stared at her for a moment before turning to Harry with a frown. "And I thought you asked a lot of questions."

Harry and Ron laughed as Hermione flushed. "I'm sorry." She said. "I tend to get a bit carried away sometimes. But I would like to know about the things you learned on your travels. What's your name?"

Toshiro sighed. "My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, but just call me Toshiro. It's pronounced Toe-sheer-row and no, you can't shorten it to anything else. That is my name, so stick with it. Now hurry up and get ready for dinner."

As Hermione and Ron turned to head out of the room, Crookshanks leaped out of Hermione's arms and onto Toshiro's bed, sauntering over to a blue Suna. Suna picked her head up from her paws and looked at Crookshanks with narrowed eyes. Seemingly finding him uninteresting, Suna gave a small yawn and placed her head back on her paws. Crookshanks pawed her fur affectionately, causing Suna to pick her head back up and give him a low growl deep within her throat, her fur slowly turning from pink to red.

Toshiro turned to Hermione. "If I were you, I'd get your cat away from mine before she scratches the hell out of him. And if he impregnates her while we're at the school, I'll disembowel him."

Hermione eep'd and quickly plucked Crookshanks from the bed and scurried out of the room, Ron laughing uproariously as he followed her. Harry watched them go with a raised eyebrow before turning back to Toshiro. "I thought you said not to insult anyone."

Toshiro shrugged, watching as Suna turned back to the soft blue he had become used to. "I said 'try'. I tried. Couldn't do it."

Harry smirked and began clearing up some of his mess, placing all of his clothes into his trunk instead of on the floor, and began placing his textbooks on top of them. "I wonder which house you'll all be in. You might be separated into different houses but I don't think any of you will end up in Slytherin. I'd be surprised, though, if one of you were."

Toshiro shrugged and headed out the door, Harry following behind. "I don't see how it would matter much, but we won't know until the time comes. For now, don't worry about it."

Toshiro and Harry entered the room full of people, several of them red heads, not including Renji and Ichigo, both of whom were not present. Harry wandered over to the Weasleys as Toshiro approached Rangiku and Rukia at the other end of the table. "Did you really have to go this far?" he asked Rangiku.

She laughed. "Of course. You can't have a birthday without a party. Speaking of which, where is the birthday boy?"

"Ichigo went to go get him." Rukia said with a smirk.

At that moment, the door opened again to admit Renji and Ichigo. Renji took one look into the room, took in the decorations, and turned to Rangiku with a face almost as red as his hair. "Damn it, Rangiku!" he shouted. "I told you no party!"

Rangiku laughed. "Too bad, you're here. Now you have to endure it. Besides, it was either do it here and now, do it tomorrow on the train, or wait until Saturday and do it at the school. And you know I can create a party out of any situation. Now let's just enjoy a nice dinner and a wild party."

"Not too wild, Matsumoto." Toshiro grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose, the feelings of a migraine slowly threatening to make itself known.

"Don't worry, taicho." Rangiku said lightly. "It will be nice and civil."

Several minutes later, the party was in full swing. The shinigami seemed to get along well enough with the Weasleys. At the beginning of the party, the shinigami sat at one end of the table and the Weasleys at the other. Yet, by the end of the night, seating arrangements had been swapped so that Ginny and the Weasley twins found themselves with Renji and Ichigo, discussing different prank ideas for the school year; Rangiku found herself conversing with Mrs. Weasley about the successful party and Rangiku's hand made clothing the shinigami wore; Rukia found herself deep in a conversation with Percy about what they'll learn once they get to the school; and Toshiro found himself in a conversation with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley, discussing the situation with the Dementors at the school and the surprising news that the ministry was sending company cars to pick up the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione and take them to the train station.

Harry turned to Toshiro and then back to Mr. Weasley. "But what about Toshiro and the others?"

"It's fine Harry." Toshiro said before a nervous looking Mr. Weasley could speak. "We already have transportation plans."

"The truck?" Harry asked curiously.

Toshiro nodded. "Ukitake is going to be picking us up tomorrow morning at exactly ten o'clock, like before. He'll drop us off at the train station. You should probably go with your friends."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked uncertainly. "I could go with you guys. We're a pretty big group and all. And I already know I'll fit with you guys in the truck."

"Uh, Harry. You should probably go with us." Mr. Weasley interjected hastily.

Harry looked back and forth between Toshiro and Mr. Weasley before looking back at Toshiro. "If you're sure."

"I am." Toshiro said with a final nod.

Finally, over an hour later, the party came to an end and everyone slowly began making their way up the stairs and to their rooms, Mrs. Weasley calling behind them to make sure to pack before bed, as there won't be enough time in the morning. Toshiro made his way upstairs and into his room, Harry behind him, and placed his trunk beside the door. He turned to Harry. "Once you're packed, put your trunk by the door like before. You want me to wake you or can you manage that on your own?"

"I can manage, thanks." Harry said with a scowl.

Toshiro smirked. "We'll see."

Harry scowled deeper and started to respond before pausing at the sounds of shouting in the room next to theirs, the room Ron and Percy shared. Toshiro rolled his eyes. "They're your friends. Shut them up." Harry rolled his own eyes and headed out of the room. Toshiro waited for him to leave before sighing and changing into his sleep clothes. Then he got into bed, shut off the light and lay silently in the dark, waiting for silence to fall upon the surrounding rooms and sleep to take him. Several minutes later, Harry crept back into the room and quietly made his way to his bed. Toshiro listened as Harry silently changed into his pajamas before sighing and getting into bed. Just before sleep swept over Toshiro, Harry spoke.

"I am not going to be murdered." He told the night firmly.

"That's the spirit, Deary." Said the sleepy voice that belonged to their bedroom mirror.

A/N: Hooray, you've reached the end of the chapter! Told you it was a long one. A real monster of a chapter, ne? Just think of it as a bit of an apology for taking so long to post. I can't promise to get the others up quickly but I can promise to get them up. I won't abandon you guys in the middle of the story. That would be mean. I've just had so many things going on. Including several other story ideas for a bunch of other topics have popped into my head and I've been busy writing out a rough description of what I want to do with it before I forget it. You know what I mean? So after this story, I have over a dozen others on standby. Joy.

Now, I know that I first put this story as an Ichigo based story but I too have realized that I've been putting more of Toshiro in than Ichigo. So instead, I've changed it to a Toshiro based story, but I will definitely be putting more of Ichigo than the others, besides Toshiro. Hope that's okay with everyone, and if not, sorry but I've already made the change. And yes, I know that Luna isn't introduced until the fifth book but like I've said before, this is my story and I want her in here with Neville and Toshiro. I want to put a bit of a background piece of them hanging out together at the school like in the books. I think in the books it was mentioned that Neville hung out with her a bit before the fifth book. Hope you enjoy it anyways. Don't forget to review and let me know what you think.