A/N:

Mother tongue isn't English. Inform me about any major mistakes if there is, what lazy bastard I am. As always I hope they wont distract your reading experience.

"Thoughts"

"Zangetsu"

"Hollow"

War after the war: Chapter 7

"Oi, King… Watch out." Ichigo twitched from surprise.

"What is it Shiro?"

"I think that there's someone behind you. It's that creepy woman with pink outfit."

Hollow sounded disgusted.

Ichigo turned around and blinked few times. Woman called Umbridge was standing behind him. There actually were only few inches between them.

"Oh! Hello?" Ichigo asked carefully.

Woman tilted her head: "Good day. Are you looking for something?"

Ichigo lifted his eyebrows. Then he noticed that he had his hand on the door knob next to him.

"Oh! Just looking around. I am new in here like you heard. Totally lost in this big castle…" Ichigo gave her an embarrassed smile.

Umbridge glanced at the door and Ichigo let go from the door knob.

"I see. Well, this is my office, so if you excuse me…" She walked even closer and Ichigo backed away. With one glance she disappeared through the door and closed it.

"What in the world…"

Shaking his head he started walking opposite way.

"King… What the hell is wrong with that woman? She's so creepy!"

"I don't know, Shiro, I seriously don't know…"

He continued walking around the hallways, checking rooms along the way. Some of them were normal classrooms, but then there were some storages with weird liquors in the bottles.

In the afternoon he got mail. Big gray owl fled from the window and dropped letter on his head.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, western hallway, Hogwarts."

They really know everything?

"I wish to see you today, when you have time. Please visit my office. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." Ichigo put the letter in his pocket.

"What's wrong this time?"

"Oh! I hope that it's something what involves fighting!"

"Hmm?" Ichigo lifted his eyebrows mentally.

"He's bored as hell." Zangetsu answered. He had lost his nerves many times with that over energetic Hollow.

"Oh… I guess that it would be good to spar once for a while."

Ichigo started searching the office. When he finally found the entrance, he saw Minerva.

"Oh hello Ichigo. I suppose that you are going to visit Headmaster as well?"

He nodded and smiled: "Yeah, he sent me a letter." While they were talking, stairs took them to the office's doors.

The doors opened and Ichigo stepped inside:

"You… Wanted to see me?" He glanced around and saw the paintings of the previous headmasters.

"Soul reaper, you see? Isn't it great?"
"What is he doing here?"

"I would never let a messenger of death to this school!"

All paintings were whispering something before Dumbledore quieted them down.

Dumbledore smiled and waved him to sit down. Ichigo took the chair and Minerva decided to stand.

"So what is it about?"

Dumbledore leaned to his hands and lifted his blue gaze to Ichigo: "Harry got detention today."

Ichigo lifted another eyebrow: "And?"

"The detention was given by professor Umbridge."

Ichigo blinked few times.

"And it lasts for one whole week."

Ichigo grimaced: "That nasty… old…" he muttered and stood up: "What did Harry exactly do then?"

"Well, you see…" Dumbledore stood up too: "He said that Voldemort has arisen. During Professor Umbridge's class." Ichigo still didn't get it.

"Eh, but he is, right? What's so big deal then?"

"Ministry doesn't want to believe that it has happened, too much trouble for them." Minerva sighed behind him.

The realization hit him: "Ahh… Right… That's why they sent that Umbridge woman here. Now all makes sense."

He scratched his chin and thought a while. Ministry really was that stupid? It reminded him someway about the Soul Society.

"She's not going to let Harry out of detentions easily, right?" Ichigo lifted his head and looked at Dumbledore: "He's screwed."

Old man nodded: "I was thinking exactly same thing. I am sure that she will use a bit… Shady ways to convince him to be silent."

"Aww shit. Where these all lunatics come from?" Ichigo rubbed his forehead.

Dumbledore chuckled. But then he got serious: "I wish you to look out for Harry. I know that we had decided you to do so before, but be even more careful now."

Then Dumbledore checked his weird watch which was full of planets: "Ah, I think that his first detention is starting now."

Ichigo nodded and took few steps to the doors.

"Where are you going?"

Ichigo stopped in his tracks. Then he turned around with narrowed eyes: "I make sure that witch will regret if she does something to Harry."

When Ichigo disappeared through the door, Minerva and Head master thought that they will never go against this man.

Harry had just realized that he was writing with his own blood.

"I must not tell lies. I must not tell lies." the blood flowed, but he decided not to show any signs of weaknesses.

Harry twitched from surprise when he heard a knock from the door. Umbridge lifted her gaze and went to the door.

Harry tried to leer to hallway. Who was it in this time of evening?

"Ah, Ichigo Kurosaki. What brings you here?" Umbridge asked with sweet voice. Harry stopped writing and looked at the door.

"I just came to stop by! I have some matters to discuss with you so would you mind to let me in?"

Pink lady just stood there few seconds before answering: "Okay. Potter! Take your stuff and leave. Your detention is over for today."

Harry packed quickly his stuff and passed Umbridge and Ichigo. The orange head looked worried.

He closed the door and went straight to the Gryffindor Tower. Along the way he got the feeling that Ichigo had done that on purpose. And he was grateful. Hand didn't bleed anymore, but there were thin lines of white on his arm.

Harry couldn't help but think that Ichigo had sacrificed himself for Harry.

"So… Tell me what you had in your mind." They sat in the horrible pink office. Ichigo almost puked when he saw all those cats and the pink walls.

"Right", he forced himself to watch straight to Umbridge's eyes: "I came here to discuss about the speech you kept yesterday."

Umbridge's eyebrows almost disappeared under her hair when she heard that. And there was dangerous shine in her eyes.

"What about it?" It was obvious that she didn't approve any kind of criticism.

Ichigo took better sitting position:

"I think that it was… interesting. I liked it." he narrowed his eyes and smiled. Umbridge looked surprised and Ichigo heard his hollow snickering on the back.

"You… Liked it? What part exactly?" It was the first time that she had heard something like that.

Ichigo just chuckled: "The ministry is going to get involved with Hogwarts."

"Well", he continued before she got time to say anything: "I think that it's a good thing."

After a while he got out from that pink hideous office.

Umbridge even waved at him when he walked off. It had taken time, but he had managed to get that woman's trust. Now she believed that Ichigo was in their team. That Ichigo would go along with the Ministry.

Ichigo sighed.

"What I was going to do next?"

"Go to find few specific people, perhaps?" Zangetsu helped.

"Ah, right. I wonder that where I should start?"

"There's that Wizard's village nearby. I think that it's the wisest place to begin?"

Both Ichigo and Zangetsu fell silent. Ichigo turned mentally to look at Shiro with zangetsu.

"What? Sometimes I have good ideas too!"

Ichigo snorted and decided to leave immediately. Night was always the best time to find one kind of people.

"Hogsmeade?" Ichigo said out loud when they reached the village. He had left the castle with a senkaimon so he wouldn't be caught.

Now he stood in the front of old sign with rusty letters thinking that where it would be best to start searching.

"Check out some inns. They are probably crowded in this time."

Ichigo nodded, pulled hood to cover his orange hair and hurried in the nearest pub. "Three broomsticks" was spelled above the door. Ichigo could tell even from the outside that place was full. He could hear some music and people singing and dancing inside.

When Ichigo opened the door, he blinked few times. Scenery was like from the Middle-Ages.

He decided not to try finding anyone from there. It was way too crowded, noisy and popular place. The people he was looking for wouldn't spend much time in there. Or so you could imagine. He closed the door and noticed a wizard sitting outside the pub, smoking a pipe.

"Oh, excuse me." Ichigo tilted his head and poked the man. He was an old wizard with gray beard. But his eyes were sharp.

"Hmm?" he turned to Ichigo to see him better.

"I was thinking that is here any pub which would be quieter. I already checked Three Broomsticks, but… You see…" he pointed at the window of the pub. You still could hear the music and yelling.

"So you prefer silence like me? Well there's one…" he pointed at the dark alley with his pipe: "But I wouldn't take any drinks if you don't have own glass with you."

"Oh! Thank you so much…" Ichigo nodded and walked to the alley, wondering what old man had meant.

First he thought that man had cheated him. The alley was empty. But then he noticed old sign with a pig in it: "Hog's head".

Ichigo glanced around few times. When he had made sure that there wasn't anything else, he decided to go in.

Place really was a pub. It was totally different compared to Three Broomsticks though. There was only few candles bringing light and few tables were in shadows. He didn't see, but sensed that there sat some people in those tables too.

Ichigo walked closer the bar disk. He realized what old man implied before. The glass what bartender "cleaned" was full of mucus. It didn't help that he rubbed it with dry, dusty rag.

"What would you like to take?" bartender asked.

Ichigo swallowed: "I'm fine like this, thanks!" he smiled and turned to look at the other customers.

He was sure that only few of them were humans. Ichigo walked to one table, noticing that some glowing eyes watched him from the shadows. He knew that vampires and other creatures existed in the Wizarding World, but he never had seen them.

If he couldn't find anyone from here, he didn't know that what place would be better.

Ichigo relaxed and sharped his senses so he could hear conversations from the other tables.

"What do you think? It's almost real… Only few galleons!"

"Are you sure? I didn't think that they existed so nearby!"

"Where could we find some good piece of meat…"

Ichigo lifted his other eyebrow.

"I don't know… It depends that what's the payment. There will be extra from the brains…"

"You felt that too? My arm is burning. But I'm not sure that he is calling us…"

Ichigo snapped his eyes open. That's it! He narrowed his eyes and glanced over the room. In the last corner sat two men, dressed pretty much like Ichigo. Black robes and hoods covering their faces.

"And now, how am I going to approach them? I'm sure that I just can't go to sit there and say that I overheard your conversation…"

"That's a problem indeed…"

"Spill something on them. I'm sure that they won't start fight here, so they take you to outside. There you can do your tricks." his Hollow suggested.

"Why you don't offer your ideas more often? That was actyally a good one." Ichigo snorted and Zangetsu agreed with him.

Ichigo ordered some liquor in the mucus glass. He took the glass carefully, not wanting to touch that suspicious white slime.

He walked to the other side of the bar and "accidentally" tripped over. Liquor and the mucus covered two guys before they could react.

"HEY! WATCH YOUR STEPS!" another one roared angrily. Bartender and the other customers flinched, not paying attention. Even they were afraid of these people.

"Oh, I was just going to say sorry, but that mucus actually fits you." Ichigo spat.

"What did you say?" another one stood up. He was much taller than Ichigo and much more muscular.

"Want a fight? Come on, it's just mucus. I'm sure that you wouldn't be any cleaner even without it."

"YOU BRAT! Come! Follow us! I am not going to listen that anymore! And try to run away and we will kill you!"

Ichigo was dragged outside, in the empty alley and they threw him against the wall.

"What are you going to do with him, Travers?" muscular guy asked.

"I don't know… Yet. But I tell you", he grasped Ichigo's collar and lifted him against the wall: "That you are not going to get out of this alive."

Hope you enjoyed.