Chapter Six

"Taaiiichoouuuu~!"

"Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya stared at his fukutaicho. So did every other male student in the Great Hall.

She grinned and all but bounced over to him. He felt his heart sink. She wouldn't… "Matsumoto, wha…"

She would, and did. Gathering up her taicho in her arms, she squished his face in her ample breasts. In the middle of the Great Hall. During dinner. "Taicho, I'm so happy to see you! How've you been? Do you like Hogwarts? What are the wizards like?" she asked in rapid Japanese.

The questions just kept on coming. Unfortunately, he couldn't answer any of them. He couldn't even breathe.

She finally let go, and he sucked in as much air as he could, face blue. "Ma… Matsumoto," he gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"Eh? So cold, taicho! I'm the representative, of course!"

Of course. He remembered now. He had sent in a report saying that their cell phones wouldn't work at the school, and therefore a representative needed to be sent to gather their reports and anything else that required communication with Soul Society.

"And who," a voice sneered, "is this? And speak in a language everyone can understand," the Hogwarts potions professor looked Matsumoto up and down, lip curling in distaste at her rather… revealing clothing.

Hitsugaya looked at Snape, smirking coldly. "That's none of your business. And if we wanted everyone to know what we were saying, sir, then we would."

Snape snarled. "As I am a teacher at this school, it is my business. I demand…"

"The Headmaster was already informed that she was coming; if you weren't that isn't my problem."

Snape's face colored unpleasantly. "Twenty points from Ravenclaw, Hitsugaya. You…"

Matsumoto pouted. "Don't be so mean, teacher-san!"

Dumbledore chose that moment to interrupt. "If you would please come to my office, Hitsugaya, Matsumoto," he said mildly, "we can discuss your stay here."

They left, leaving an unhappy potions professor and a dumbfounded student body behind.

When they got to the office Matsumoto turned to her superior officer. "Where are James-kun and Lily-chan?" she asked.

"The Great Hall, most likely," he replied, a tiny blush staining his cheeks. He still couldn't believe she had hugged him like that in front of everybody. He probably should be used to it by now.

"Ahh, taicho's so cute!" she squealed when she saw the blush.

"I am not cute!"

Dumbledore cleared his throat and the two shinigami whipped their heads around to stare at him. He smiled. "Now, Matsumoto-san, I know what you are here for, but if you would kindly tell me how long you are planning on staying…?"

"Oh, not too long," she waved her hand dismissively. "Just the night… long enough for everyone to finish their reports so I can take them back to Soul Society."

"Will you be joining us at the meeting?"

"Meeting?"

"The Order meeting," Hitsugaya replied. "The Order of the Phoenix is meeting tomorrow to discuss the attack that happened today at Diagon Alley. You might as well stay until then, Matsumoto, because none of us will be able to finish our reports until after the meeting."

"Oh. Sure, I'll come, but I was really hoping to go out with Renji and Kira tomorrow…"

Hitsugaya's eye twitched. "I'm sure that you'll have plenty of time for that," he said, voice slightly frosty, "after you finish your paperwork."

Matsumoto blinked. "Ah, taicho, speaking of paperwork…" she pulled an enormous stack of papers from seemingly out of nowhere. He'd really rather not know. "This is all of the paperwork you've missed!"

"That," he said, and the temperature dropped at least thirty degrees, "cannot possibly be all mine." He glanced at the top few pages. "Matsumoto," he growled. "What is your work doing here? Unfinished?"

"Ah ha ha," she laughed nervously, "well, you see… I couldn't finish it because I spilled ink all over and had to clean it up. I mean, you wouldn't want that kind of mess, would you? You'll do it for me, won't you taicho?" she asked, giving him a truly pitiful look.

He growled again.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Why don't you give Matsumoto-san a tour of the castle? I'll have a few house-elves send your things to your dorm," he gestured to the monstrous pile of paperwork and the pensieve he had left behind earlier.

"What a wonderful idea! Let's go, taicho!" Matsumoto exclaimed, dragging him out of the office.

Hitsugaya stalked down the corridors, giving clipped explanations of the areas they passed. Matsumoto pouted at him. "Taicho, don't be like that!"

"Then do your paperwork!"

"Aw, but taicho!"

Honestly! She was a full grown woman, why couldn't she just sit down and do her job? He had to remind himself, once again, that she really was a good fukutaicho and that, no, he shouldn't ask for a transfer.

A dog barked.

The two of them turned toward the source of the noise, spotting the big, bear-like form of one Sirius Black's animagus. Lily trailed behind, looking both amused and exasperated.

"Hello," she said tiredly. "Snuffles here needed to be taken on a walk." She eyed Black in annoyance. "He wouldn't let me get any rest until I did."

"Can't you train him out of that?" asked an uninformed Matsumoto curiously. "Like, use a spray bottle or something?"

Black whined. Hitsugaya smirked.

Black and Lily, having nothing better to do, decided to join the tour. Hitsugaya led them around for a while, eventually passing through the seventh floor corridor. "That's the tapestry of Barnabas the Bar…" he choked on the last word, sliding to the floor with a gasp.

"Taicho?"

"Hitsugaya-kun?"

He ignored them, instead focusing on the whirlwind of images spinning through his mind. Edgecombe looked miserable with the word SNEAK written on her head. Chang's patronus formed a magnificent swan. They walked back and forth, crossing the space opposite the tapestry three times. Smith asked skeptically about Harry's ability to teach. Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad knew about them; they were trying hard to find where they were meeting. Granger and Weasley approached him about teaching Defense in place of an awful teacher. Dobby was telling him about the Come and Go Room. There was a large group, all meeting at the Hog's Head and signing a piece of parchment…

"Taicho!"

"Matsumoto?" he asked blearily, wincing at the all-too-familiar ache in his head. Black whined again, pawing at his robes. Hitsugaya absently patted him, and he snuggled closer, licking at his face.

"Taicho, what was that?" Matsumoto asked worriedly. Lily, off to the side, looked ready to draw her Zanpakuto. (1)

"Memories."

Matsumoto looked confused. Lily gave a soft 'Oh' of realization.

"Being around things Harry was familiar with is causing me to have flashbacks. A lot of the time I get more than one at once. The mind can only take so much, Matsumoto. It makes me feel weak."

"…Is there anything we can do about it?"

"Not as yet, no. Don't worry about it too much. It'll stop eventually."

She didn't look too sure, but she backed down anyway.

It was a long time before any of them fell asleep that night.

Classes passed by in a blur the next day, with Matsumoto watching him like a hawk. He would have told her to stop, but knew she was only worried. She'd never seen him like that before; not without having lost several liters of blood, at least.

Finally dinner came and went, and the shinigami, Granger, and Weasley all assembled in Dumbledore's office.

"We will all be assembling at the location of the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters, #12 Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore said, for Matsumoto's benefit. He was the secret keeper, after all.

Dumbledore placed what appeared to be a hula hoop on his desk, and gestured everyone to gather around. "This portkey will take us there."

Hitsugaya grimaced, but was too prideful to ask if he could use the floo instead (which, despite its tendency to spit him out rather violently, he still preferred over portkeys). He placed a hand on the hoop, Matsumoto copying him, as she really had no idea what a portkey was.

Boy was she in for a surprise.

"Taicho, are you all right?"

Hitsugaya groaned, getting up painfully from his place on the floor. He realized, much to his annoyance, that Matsumoto was still standing. What the hell? "Fine," he snarled.

Matsumoto sighed dramatically. "That wasn't very fun," she said to Dumbledore, who looked amused. "They almost popped out!" she added, pouting down at her chest.

Black, who had indeed come with them, choked.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

The group made their way to the kitchen, where a few of the Order members were already seated. They all found a place to sit or stand and chatted quietly while they waited for everyone else to arrive. When they did, Dumbledore stood from his place at the head of the table.

"As you all know," he began, "we are here to discuss what transpired at Diagon Alley only yesterday." He nodded at Tonks, who gave a detailed report of what she had seen, stopping when she reached the part where she sent her patronus to contact Dumbledore.

"We were badly outnumbered," she said. "We couldn't even scratch those hollow things! We were lucky you guys showed up when you did, or we'd have been as good as dead!"

"Those things," Hitsugaya said, "the dementors. What are they?"

"Dementors are the guardians of Azkaban, or the wizarding prison," Dumbledore explained. "They feed on emotions. But their most powerful and dangerous ability is what is known as the Dementor's Kiss. They literally consume the soul by pulling it out of the body, leaving a shell behind that inevitably dies soon after."

Hitsugaya frowned. "They sound disturbingly like Hollows," he murmured.

"As far as we know, they're not, but no one knows exactly what they are either, so it's open for interpretation."

"Wait, you mean you didn't know?" Tonks exclaimed. "But what about that giant patronus? That was yours, wasn't it?"

He shrugged. "I got lucky."

"Did anyone else notice that his patronus drove off both the dementors and the hollows?" James asked.

Lily nodded. "I think that's because hollows are essentially the same as dementors. They feed off souls to drive away the empty feeling, and are created from regret and negative emotion. The pure positive force of a patronus, particularly one that powerful, was simply too much for them."

"What I want to know," Hitsugaya asked, "is why they were there at all. The hollows didn't even bother the Death Eaters; they actually seemed to be helping them."

"If it helps," Ron said meekly, trying to avoid his mother's gaze, "the Death Eaters were all wearing some kind of necklace that kept the dementors away. Suppose it worked against hollows, too?"

"What did these necklaces look like, Ronald?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, they were made of crystal, or some kind of clear gemstone," he replied. "They glowed a silvery-white color, like a patronus."

Whispers immediately started up among the Order, all of them speculating about what the Dark Lord's new tool could be.

"Settle down, please," Dumbledore ordered, and everyone quieted.

"That's not enough, though," Hitsugaya said. "It doesn't matter if the Death Eaters somehow gained immunity to the hollows' attacks or not. The hollows were actively helping the Death Eaters. This suggests that Voldemort," he ignored the gasps and indignant cries at the name, "has some measure of control over the hollows. This should not be possible."

James sighed. "Well I don't think we're going to figure that out right now," his eyes narrowed. "And there's something you all should know." He glared at Ron before turning to Mrs. Weasley.

"Molly, I know you, and you're a great mother, but your son is incredibly stupid."

Ron turned red at the insult, but didn't speak.

"What did he do?" she asked, hand on her hips. She pursed her lips. She couldn't wait until this meeting was over; she hadn't had a chance to tell Ron exactly what she thought about his stunt yesterday yet.

"He," James said angrily, "let Voldemort know that Harry is here."

There was stunned silence. Hitsugaya cursed. "He didn't say anything else, did he?"

James shook his head.

"Then we should be okay. While this does throw a wrench in things, the situation is still salvageable. He doesn't know that I'm a shinigami, which means that we can still surprise him a bit when the time comes."

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Does anyone else have anything to add about yesterday's attack?"

He was met with a general negative response.

"Then, Severus, what do you have to report?"

The potions master nodded and stood. "The Dark Lord is still gathering as many allies as possible. The attack at Diagon Alley yesterday was merely a show of power. He wants as many wizards and witches as possible to be terrified of him. He expects little resistance when he reaches his goal."

"What is the progress on recruitment?"

"He has made overtures to several vampire clans and werewolf packs. The vampires look ready to serve the Dark Lord, but the werewolves are unsure; both for the same reason. The vampires feel that they can end ministry prosecution by destroying it; the werewolves think that they will gain favor by being against the Dark Lord. Both, however, merely wish for an end to the ministry's prejudiced laws. If you wish to persuade the vampires against joining, I suggest you be cautious. At this point, they are more likely to kill the messenger."

Dumbledore sighed again. "Anything else?"

"Nothing of note."

"What of the ministry?"

Shacklebolt shook his head. "They're still as unreasonable as ever. The Death Eaters are hiding themselves really good, too; it's almost impossible to ferret them out. I'd suggest not looking for any help from the ministry any time soon."

There wasn't much else to be said.

"Then this meeting is adjourned."

Molly Weasley was beside herself with fury. "Ronald Bilius Weasley! How dare you? Going off on your own like that! I don't care what you thought you were doing, you ought to be ashamed of yourself! And what's this business with You-Know-Who knowing that Harry's here?"

Ron found his shoes incredibly fascinating. "We… I thought we could help."

"Look at me when you're talking to me! And some help you were, too! If you ever, ever do something like that again you'll be stuck degnoming the garden until you're eighty! And you!" she rounded on Hermione. "I thought you had more sense than that! What on earth would your parents think?"

Hermione looked down. "We're sorry, Mrs. Weasley," she said softly, lip quivering slightly.

Mrs. Weasley's eyes softened. "As well you should be," she sighed. "Come here, dears," she said, enveloping the two in a hug. She pulled away, clasping their shoulders.

"Now, don't you ever do something like that again! We were so worried, when we heard where you'd been! We thought you'd been injured, or worse!"

To Ron's horror, his mother looked like she was about to cry. He looked down again, feeling guilty. His mother was right. Every time he, Harry, and Hermione had an adventure, things had miraculously turned out to be okay, but this time he had screwed up. He had put his best mate's (no matter what he might think at the moment) life in even more danger.

He had never felt so sorry in his life.

Hitsugaya leaned casually against a wall, looking at Matsumoto.

"So what's the news from Soul Society?"

"Nothing much," she said. "It's still pretty quiet up there. Oh! Right, I forgot to tell you. Soutaicho-sama says that you've got permission to lift the limit should you feel you need to, since you've got no way to ask."

"Thanks," he paused before asking quietly, "What about Hinamori?"

Matsumoto looked down. "I'm sorry taicho. There's been no change."

He sighed. "Don't be. It wasn't your fault." He looked away.

"Taicho…"

"I'm heading back to Hogwarts. James, Lily!" he called. "I'm going back now, are you coming?"

Black glanced over. "I'll go later; tonight's the full moon. We'll be back tomorrow, right Jamie?"

James shook his head, causing Lupin and Black to look at him in surprise. "I'm sorry, you two. I haven't been able to change into Prongs using my reiryouku yet. Maybe next month?" he asked half-heartedly.

Black and Lupin exchanged glances. "That's okay, James. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Yeah…"

Lupin smiled tiredly. "Don't feel guilty. I'll be fine for another month. Just make sure to come next time!"

James nodded, before taking hold of Lily's arm. "Let's walk back, Lils. I'll apparate us to Hogsmead."

Lily giggled. "Alright. If you splinch us, I'll kill you."

James laughed nervously. "I won't."

Hitsugaya turned back to Matsumoto, handing her a stack of papers. "Here are the reports for the Soutaicho," he said. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," she sighed sadly, preparing to open a senkaimon. "Bye, taicho!"

(1) By now most of you should know that Lily has a healing type Zanpakuto, like Unohana and Hanatarou.