I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter the both belong respectively to Tite Kubo and J.K. Rowling
Soul Reapers, spiritual guardians of the World of the Living. Their job is to maintain the balance between the myriad of good and evil souls that fill this world. A task that like his mother before him, Harry Potter has embraced as a Substitute Soul Reaper; a task that currently sees him battling a Hollow in the night sky, high above London.
The Hollow in question's appearance reminded Harry of a Hippogriff the only difference being its white skin, and characteristic mask, and Hollow hole located on the center of its body. Harry had been fighting Hollows for hours now. So unfortunately for the creature he was feeling rather impatient by that point.
As the Hollow charged the Substitute Soul Reaper, letting out a fearsome roar as it neared, Harry responded with a quick swing of his zanpakutÅ, releasing a wave of spirit energy finishing the beast in a single move.
Sheathing his sword, Harry was pleased to find that he couldn't pick up on any more Hollows prompting him to quickly return home. Upon his arrival he wasn't surprised to find Remus waiting for him in the living room.
"You know you don't have to wait up for me" said Harry.
"Well you don't have to leave your body lying around" Remus replied, pointing to the soulless form of the boy's human body, currently taking up space on the couch. "You could at least leave it in your room or have Mick look after it for you."
"Sorry" Harry smiled sheepishly, returning to his body. "I just don't like to use Mick if I don't have to." Wonder what that says if I've actually gotten used to seeing my own lifeless body.
"Yes, well at least try not to leave your body lying around. Neither Sirius or I like tripping over it." said the werewolf, thinking similar thoughts of the strange circumstances their lives now follow. "Anyway, why don't you try to get some sleep. They're expecting you at the Burrow tomorrow."
As Harry went to bed, he missed his godfather enter the living room after him, sharing a look of concern with Remus.
"So, did you ask him about it?" Sirius asked his old friend.
"No, I've given up by this point." Remus replied.
It's been months since Harry's battle with the Fullbringer Lorene and since then there's been an unprecedented rift between the boy and Dumbledore. But no matter how much Remus or Sirius asked, Harry refused to explain why. Though they suspected he'd told his friends neither of them wanted to go so far as to interrogate children, well more like Remus wouldn't let Sirius do it.
The next morning Harry came downstairs to find Remus and Hermione sitting at the kitchen table.
"Morning, Harry" Hermione greeted, smiling at her friend.
"Hey you're here early" said Harry, taking a seat at the table.
"My parents are going to a conference while we're at the Burrow. So Remus offered to have them drop me off."
"Plus it isn't that early" Remus smirked, pointing to the clock that read it was 2 in the afternoon.
"Guessing you had a late night" said Hermione, giggling at the shocked expression on Harry's face.
"Guess so" Harry said sheepishly, gladly accepting a plate of food from Remus. Turns out Harry wasn't the only one sleeping in as Sirius walked into the room doing a very good impression of a zombie.
"Morning pup" Sirius greeted sleepily, ruffling his godson's hair as he passed.
"Ok so, Harry was out late working. What's your excuse?" Remus questioned, smirking at his friend's behavior. Noticing the time, he then reminded Harry and Hermione that they were due to go to the Burrow. Unfortunately for Harry they were traveling by floo and of course he hadn't gotten any better since the summer before his second year, made evident as he had to pick himself up off the Burrow's kitchen floor.
"You must be Harry" a voice greeted, belonging to someone Harry recognized from a photo Ron had shown him, Bill Weasley. Looking around he noticed another redhead sitting at the table a slightly shorter, muscular man, that could only be Charlie Weasley.
Before giving further greetings, Bill quickly pulled Harry aside as the fireplace flared, accompanied by Hermione's arrival which much to Harry's annoyance was perfectly executed.
"Oh you're here" Mrs. Weasley smiled, entering the kitchen as if she somehow sensed their arrival. "Harry, Hermione why don't you two go on and take your things upstairs. Hermione you'll be rooming with Ginny and Harry you're with Ron.
Lugging their things upstairs Harry and Hermione reached the top just in time to catch Ron coming out of his room.
"Hey when did you guys get here?" Ron questioned, stepping aside to let Harry into his room while Hermione continued to Ginny's.
"Just got here" said Harry, dropping his bag by the camp bed. As he turned to leave Harry caught sight of a textbook on Ron's desk reminding him that he wasn't the only one changed by the Fullbringer event; Ron had used it as motivation to improve himself even if just a little.
With Harry's stuff now put away, the boys continued on to Ginny's room in search of the girls when a loud explosion rocked the house.
"What was that?!" Harry asked.
"The twins" said Ron, as his mother's voice started to ring from downstairs. He explained that Mrs. Weasley has been cleaning out the twins' room in search of the products for their new business venture Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "They've been working on joke stuff. You know, fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, never thought they'd been inventing stuff."
"Yeah but mum went ballistic when they told her they were opening a joke shop" said Ginny, as she and Hermione joined the boys. "She was hoping they'd go to work at the ministry."
Walking back into the kitchen, they caught sight of Molly finishing reprimanding the twins over being more responsible with their experiments. Fred and George were quick to make a hasty retreat as their mother turned her attention to Harry and the others.
"Alright, Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables outside. Would you all please help set the tables" she asked, to which they quickly agreed.
They'd only gone a few paces when they heard a loud crashing noise coming from the other side of the house. The source was soon revealed to be Bill and Charlie, levitating two battered old tables high above the garden, bashing them into each other as Fred and George cheered from bellow. It was after a particularly loud bang that the last Weasley boy revealed himself, poking his head out of a window on the second floor.
"Will you keep it down!" Percy yelled.
"Sorry Perce" Bill grinned. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming?"
The recently graduated Percy had gone to work in the Ministry of Magic's Department of International Magical Cooperation. He was currently working on a report for them and if you were to ask his brothers, they'd tell you he was being very annoying about it.
"Very badly" he grumbled, slamming the window shut. Chuckling at their high-strung younger brother Bill and Charlie directed the tables safely to the ground, end to end, and before with a flick of his wand, Bill finished setting up with a conjured tablecloth.
That evening Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley clan were gathered around the tables enjoying Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking. It was certainly a welcomed break from Hollow hunting in London and Harry was basking in the peaceful atmosphere.
As the dinner progressed Harry heard Percy speaking with his father about his report, as well as the man who gave them their tickets to the Cup, Ludo Bagman, who worked for the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He also mentioned a missing ministry employee, Bertha Jorkins and a top-secret event that was supposed to take place after the World Cup. Ron had revealed that his brother had been trying to tempt them into asking about the project much to their annoyance.
Eventually it came time for everyone to head to bed as Mrs. Weasley reminded them that they'd be getting up early to get to the Cup.
"Sirius and Remus still asking about you and Dumbledore?" asked Ron, as he and Harry finished getting ready for bed.
"No I think they've given up for now" Harry sighed.
"Mental what Dumbledore did."
Harry couldn't agree more, he had trusted the headmaster, looked up to him like a grandfather figure. But he couldn't ignore what he now knew about the old man; allowing Snape, a supporter of Voldemort and the one responsible for the Dark Lord targeting his family, to walk free and then be twisted enough to have him teach the very children of his victims.
"You sure you don't want to tell them?" Ron questioned.
"Sirius just got out of Azkaban. I don't want him going back even for killing Snape" said Harry. "Let's just get some sleep."
An old man was preparing a pot of tea, whistling a tune as he worked. He sighed in frustration when he noticed a light on in a nearby manor.
"Bloody kids" the old man muttered angrily, grabbing an oil lamp from his counter as he passed.
He walked out of his home and marched towards the manor, his lamp lighting his path. The man didn't seem to notice the sinister chill in the air as he reached the old house. Finding the front door ajar, he searched the entryway but found no sign of life. He was about to turn and leave when he heard whispers from upstairs. As he reached the top of the stairs, he noticed one of the doors cracked open with light leaking into the dark hallway. Peering through the crack he found the peculiar scene of a rat like man kneeling before a cloaked figure sitting in a chair.
"Thank you master! Thank you master!" said the rat man, kneeling at the figure's feet.
"Silence, Wormtail!" the cloaked figure hissed. "I only freed you because you may yet prove useful."
"But Lord Voldemort" Pettigrew said timidly. "Can't you do it without the boy?"
"You dare question your Lord?!" Voldemort snapped.
"N-no, my Lord. I swear" Peter Pettigrew trembled under the wraith of his Dark Lord.
"Be thankful that you still have a purpose. Now it's time to deal with our guest."
The old man's eyes widened in shock as he realized the cloaked figure, Voldemort knew he was there. He barely had time to react as a green light shot him in the chest, sending him falling to the ground dead.
Harry woke up in shock, drenched in a cold sweat.
"Are you alright Harry?" Nakatsukasa asked, alerting her Soul Reaper that he was in fact inside his inner world.
"Yeah just a bad dream" he replied, not wanting to consider the idea that Pettigrew could in fact have escaped from Azkaban. By this point Harry knew full well that trying to hide from his zanpakutÅ was impossible so he was grateful when Nakatsukasa decided to drop the topic and allow him to return to his slumber, staying on guard should she need to pull him out of another nightmare.
But as she watched over the sleeping Harry, Nakatsukasa couldn't shake a foreboding feeling that something sinister was waiting over the horizon.
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