Chapter 1: Un-Cursed

This is a non-canon Harry Potter and Katekyo Hitman Reborn story.

Disclaimer: I don't own either of them.

Un-Cursed

Artemis Black strolled alongside the serpent exhibit, unbothered by anyone, as she had cast a notice-me-not and people-repelling charm beforehand. Her ingrained habit of these spells was attributed to her new appearance since becoming the Master of Death. The likes of which had garnered her multiple unsavory ogling and advances from the male population. Not astounding when she easily outstripped a pure-blooded Veela.

She paused in her steps when she sensed an unfamiliar energy near her. Searching, she found the source to be a small baby dressed in a suit, a chameleon resting on the hem of his fedora.

He was adorable, she thought, with his tiny stature and dramatic curly sideburns.

There was something off about his aura though, besides the obvious possession of sun flames. An anomaly of itself since she was unaware that children that young were able to activate Dying Will flames, especially such strong ones. But then, she only knew the basic workings of the mafia, having dealt with Mafioso souls occasionally.

Looking deeper for the origin of her unease, she realized what the disturbance emanating from him was—a curse.

Shock and disbelief coursed through her followed by anger. Who could have been cruel enough to curse an innocent baby?

The Gryffindor witch knew she'd be unable to leave the defenseless infant impaired with the magic that tainted his, so without hesitation, she activated her usual glamor of a plain forgettable grey-eyed brunette, and strode towards him, weaving a privacy ward between them.

He noticed her coming, turning onyx eyes in her direction. She smiled disarmingly at the small boy.

"Hello, are you lost?" She kneeled to his height, aware that no parental figures were near him.

The toddler rewarded her with an innocent smile. Her instincts warned her that there was something wrong about the kid, but she dismissed it as an effect of his curse. Magic could be general about such things sometimes.

"Ciaossu. I am waiting for my dame student to crawl out of the lion cage."

Artemis blinked at his answer. Dame student? Lion cage? Was the boy playing a pretend game with his babysitter or something? Or was that some sort of code for kids these days?

Instead of voicing her confusion out loud, she said, "A lion cage, huh? Your student must be very brave. I hope he gets back to you safely."

The baby smirked at her—was she imagining it?—tipping his fedora in manner that reminded her of one of the older generations. A gentleman.

Perhaps he was mimicking a man he had seen do the same?

"Thank you for your concerns. I'm afraid I must be going now however. My dame student can't seem to do anything without me." He turned to walk off as a loud "Hieee" was heard from the direction of the Feline Pride exhibit.

Artemis was a bit startled. Were children suppose to be able to use that big of a vocabulary? Hell, when she was his age, she could barely string comprehensible sentences together let alone complete ones. And Dudley…Well, her cousin was an exception since he was a bit slow when it came to matters such as intelligence.

"Wait little one! Before you go, I want to show you a magic trick." The suit clad baby turned to stare curiously at her. She smiled gently at him, her hands reaching to close the distance he put between them, and outlining his small form. She amped her privacy wards and worked quickly, knowing that kids could get rather impatient when adults drawled things out too long (although this baby seemed different for a reason she couldn't quite place her finger on).

Her magic attacked the dirty stain in his aura with vicious vigor, eager to fulfill her wishes on erasing it from the toddler. Finally, when she had cut the last string attaching itself to the kid, there was a subtle shift in the air.

Before she even saw his small hand move, a gun was placed to her forehead. Her eyes widened.

Where the hell did that come from?!

An endless abyss of black bore into her, the threat in them visible. "What did you do to m—

Luckily for her, the unusual green gun was dropped out of his hand when his body began to glow white from the removal of the curse. Artemis could only breathe a sigh of relief as she scooted away from the gun wielding toddler. This confirmed her suspicions of him being a mafia baby. Though she wasn't sure how to take the fact that his parents had apparently taught him how to use a weapon; she supposed in his lifestyle, it would be considered a necessity to start from an early age.

She watched the glowing figure anxiously. What was happening? Was this normal? What curse had she dissolved anyway? All she knew was that it had been a very deeply embedded contamination that had no business clinging to a child. She had never even bothered to find out the specifics of its design, thinking that she needed all the time she could get before the kid wandered back to his guardian. Merlin, she hoped she hadn't made it worse. The witch cursed her rash nature.

She was broken out of her guilt-induced thoughts when the small prone figure laid helplessly on the floor began to grow.

What the…?

When the light vanished, a grown adult man had replaced the infant from before.

Artemis's jaw dropped. Who—

Then suddenly it clicked.

Sun flames. Curly sideburns and fedora. Overdeveloped vocabulary. Cursed infant.

Merlin's beard, she had just inadvertently un-cursed the sun acrobaleno.

Vongola's top assassin, The World's Greatest Hitman, tutor to the Vongola and Chiavarone decimo's, feared for his ruthless and sadistic nature—the Reborn.

Needless to say, Artemis high tailed it out of there while the infamous hitman in question was still unconscious, unknowingly leaving the privacy ward in place.

Thank Circe she had worn a glamor before approaching him.

~O~

Reborn locked eyes with the woman advancing towards him, vaguely aware in the back of his mind that nobody seemed to be looking at them. This wasn't odd, he supposed, but he had been receiving a few stares for being alone (a common occurrence since being reduced to an infant).

Still, shouldn't people be concerned that a stranger was approaching him; a seemingly innocent baby? The hitman guessed that they thought her to be his mother or some sort of relative...even if they looked nothing alike.

The woman—a grey-eyed brunette—kneeled to level with him. He supposed she wasn't too terrible to look at. Not beautiful, but certainly not ugly either. In all honesty, she was the type you see every day in the streets, but never really took notice of. Bland. Uninteresting. Normal.

Then she asked the question that irritated him the most, "Hello, are you lost?"

Ah, the Good Samaritan type. He really hated those.

Letting none of his annoyance show, he offered her an innocent smile. It wasn't her fault she was unaware of his true mental age.

"Ciaossu. I am waiting for my dame student to crawl out of the lion cage."

He relished the confusion in her eyes a little.

Then she opened her mouth to speak again. "A lion cage, huh? Your student must be very brave. I hope he gets back to you safely."

Reborn noticed the amusement evident in her eyes. She was humoring him.

All too used to such circumstances, he smirked nonplussed, and tipped his fedora at her.

"Thank you for your concerns. I'm afraid I must be going now however. My dame student can't seem to do anything without me."

He heard Tsuna's embarrassingly loud "Hieee" from where he was standing—about 20 yards from the feline exhibit. His dame student really was useless, wasn't he?

The woman's next words stopped him momentarily.

"Wait little one! Before you go, I want to show you a magic trick."

He turned to stare curiously at her. Her expression was warm, but her eyes held the barest hints of panic and desperation. The hitman decided that Dame-Tsuna could wait awhile. Far be it from him to deny a lady such a simple request.

She reached for him, her hands gliding around his body. Reborn was confused. He had never seen or heard of a "magic trick" starting off in such a way. Tensing slightly at the closeness, his hands twitched to not react. It wouldn't do for him to accidentally harm a civilian.

Because that was what she was. A civilian.

The actions of approaching and almost touching him would have been highly suspicious had he not cast a quick evaluation the moment she had neared him, and discovered no weapons or poisons on her person.

She wasn't an assassin or a hitwoman, so he couldn't kill her. Her intentions, as far as he observed, weren't malicious in nature either. He wouldn't toy or bully her like he did his students and comrades. She was an innocent.

...Or so he thought.

Reborn felt a miniscule shift in the air (he was so familiar with dangerous settings in his line of work that noticing any changes in the atmosphere had become a habit by now), and within a split second, Leon was automatically pressed against the woman's forehead.

The tiny hitman held her at gun-point.

Ignoring the widening of her eyes, he glared, and demanded, "What did you do to m—

The sun acrobaleno's words were cut off as pain overtook him, Leon relinquished from his grip as he fell unconscious.

It was quick. Reborn didn't even have time to think as blackness engulfed his vision.

Authors Note:

On the end of Artemis/Harry's Point of view, I start off with, "Thank Circe..." For those of you who don't know, Circe was a Greek sorceress who turned men into animals and banished them to an isolated island. I've noticed some wizards and witches using her name in their swearing (though not as frequently as Merlin, Morgana, and Mordred).

This piece was inspired by "Bambino" from Emisck. You should all read it: it's a hell of a lot better than mine (though I'm not sure if it has pairings).

Any comments or criticism will be appreciated. Also, did I display Harry's and Reborn's characters all right?

Yes, it will be continued.