AN: Thank You Everyone who has waited patiently for the newest chapter of Shadow's Embrace, I can't remember if I stated before but the chapters will be shorter, purely because I tend to write a lot shorter chapters, but hopefully this won't put too many people off! I hope you enjoy this next chapter, I've put a lot into it! Merry Christmas!
Once all the remaining Death Eaters had been defeated and captured, Ichigo and Ulquiorra left to find Harry. Eventually, they found him outside the base of the Astronomy Tower, gazing blankly at the corpse of one Albus Dumbledore. Knelt beside Harry and the corpse, was the Plus Soul of Dumbledore. Ichigo and Ulquiorra approached slowly, Ichigo filled with a sense of self-loathing that she had done nothing to stop it.
Dumbledore smiled at them as they came to a stop, and before either of the hybrids could say a word, simply said, "I wouldn't have wanted you to interfere, either of you. I am old, I am tired, and I was dying anyway from that cursed ring. It was my time." Ichigo and Ulquiorra nodded acceptingly, as Harry turned to face Dumbledore, gazing sadly at the soul.
"What now?" was all he asked. Dumbledore placed a transparent hand on Harry's shoulder and said "Now, you find the rest of the horcruxes, and you end Voldemort, once and for all. Work with Mr and Mrs Cifer, work with Mr Weasley and Miss Granger, so that we can be safe. I am so sorry to have left this burden upon you Harry."
Harry sighed and nodded, giving him a sad smile, "Yes sir. I'm still sorry I didn't do more, Professor." Dumbledore was already shaking his head before Harry had finished talking and replied "Harry, my dear boy, you did everything perfectly." Harry sniffed and bowed his head, as Dumbledore looked up to the silent hybrids.
"I assume you two will be able to send me to the English version of Soul Society, Avalon was it?" Ichigo nodded and pressed her charm to her chest, popping out her gigai, which Ulquiorra caught, and unsheathing Zangetsu. Dumbledore smiled at each of the seemingly young, or in one case actually young, people in front of him, and said "I believe in you all, and I am so proud of how far you've all come. If anyone can do this, it is you. This isn't goodbye, I'm sure one day we will all see each other again one day" before nodding at Ichigo, who smiled bitterly and raised Zangetsu, just before she touched his head with the pommel, said in time with Ulquiorra "Sayonara, Dumbledore-san. Thank you for everything."
Dumbledore smiled again and touched his head to the pommel, glowing for a moment before a Jigokuchō appeared, guiding Albus Dumbledore away from the Wizarding World, and onward to Avalon.
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Shortly after Dumbledore's final goodbye, a crowd of witches and wizards appeared, gasping and crying out at the sight of Dumbledore's broken body, with Harry still knelt beside him, and the two Japanese students stood behind him, holding hands and gazing at the sky. Unseen by the crows, Harry pulled the locket from Dumbledore's pocket, placing it in his own. Mcgongall stepped forward, and raised her wand to the sky, the other magicals following her, as they slowly erased the Dark Mark, which was still floating above them. Hundreds of pinpricks of light appeared, eradicating the evil sign in the sky.
The next couple of weeks passed in a blur, Ichigo nearly blowing up the common room when they discovered that the locket was a fake, only Ulquiorra able to calm her. Exactly 16 days after his death, Dumbledore's funeral was held. It was a relatively large ceremony, due to how popular and beloved Dumbledore was in the wizarding community. No one else other than Hermione, Harry, Ron and the hybrids noticed Urahara in attendance, his hat held in his hand to his chest, and his head bowed.
After the funeral was over, Harry stated his intention to go to Dumbledore's office, leaving Ichigo and Ulquiorra to talk to Urahara quietly, discussing what they should do next. "Harry has said he won't be attending Hogwarts next year, he wants to hunt the Horcruxes. Ron and Hermione have said they will go with him. Obviously Ulquiorra and I will be joining them." murmered Ichigo. Urahara nodded, and handed them a large sack. "This has an undetectable extension charm on it, it's filled with all sorts of things you will need. I suggest you all go immediately, as opposed to going home first, however I know you mentioned something about Harry's 17th birthday and some wedding?" he said. The hybrids nodded, and Ulquiorra explained "It is the wedding of one of the Weasley's, the eldest, and it's the day after Harry's birthday, when he will turn 17, allowing him to use magic undetected. Sirius-san has said that we, Harry, Ichigo-chan and I will be going to Grimmauld Place up until the day before Harry's birthday, when we will all relocate to the Weasley's." Urahara nodded along to the explanation, before saying goodbye and leaving in a Garganta that Ulquiorra made him.
The hybrids left to go find the Golden Trio, finally finding them sat outside Dumbledore's office, sitting in silence with Harry sat in the middle. They explained what they were going to be doing, and the 3 humans nodded silently, before allowing the hybrids to drag them back to the Common room to pack, ready to leave the next day.
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The compartment on the Hogwarts Express was filled with a heavy, depressive silence that morning. The Golden Trio were huddled together in one part of the compartment, Ichigo and Ulquiorra opposite, curled together. Beside the hybrids were Neville, Luna and Ginny was beside Hermione on the opposite side. No one was looking at each other, all doing something to distract themselves. Eventually all the others but Ichigo and Ulquiorra fell asleep, leaving the hybrids to finally talk properly. "Should we bring in Grimmjow and Nel?" asked Ichigo. Ulquiorra thought about it for a moment, before replying "Maybe...there's a chance Grimmjow won't like camping out again, I'm fairly sure he got enough of that in Hueco Mundo..however I believe it would be beneficial if there were more of us on the hunt...we could all fan out and use our Pesquisa, potentially finding the horcruxes easier. And I believe they'd like the chance to get away from Soul Society for a bit. Seeing as we'll be alone with Harry, Ron and Hermione, we could spend the whole time in our Soul Form, they'll be able to see us, and if we have to search for food, they'll only need it for themselves, if we get reishi filled food for us and the other two." Ichigo hummed in agreement. "Seeing as reishi food doesn't go off, we could send a Jigokuchō to Soul Society, get a month's supply of food to last us, and send one whenever we run out." Ulquiorra nodded in agreement. Plan set, they talked about other things here and there for the rest of the journey, before waking the others when they reached London. The two Weasley's, Harry and Hermione and the two hybrids waved goodbye to Luna and Neville, before they split, Hermione, Ron and Ginny going with Mrs Weasley, and Harry, Ichigo and Ulquiorra going with Sirius and Remus, back to Grimmauld Place.
The month or so they spent there was relatively uneventful, a somber mood nearly always present, though they all pushed through it, Harry enjoying the fact that he no longer lived with the Dursleys, and being very happy to be living with his family, Sirius feeling the same. Finally, the time for Harry's birthday arrived. Sirius was talking about how it would be difficult to get there, what with all the wards and protections placed around the Burrow, before Ichigo rolled her eyes and opened a Garganta. Sirius, Remus and Harry eyed it cautiously. "Er, can we even travel through that?" Sirius asked. Ichigo rolled her eyes again. "If you couldn't, I wouldn't have made it, Sirius-san." Sirius made an O face of surprise, before the group made its way through the black rip. Emerging in the yard of the Burrow, Ichigo snapped her fingers, closing the Garganta. They walked to the door of the Burrow and knocked. "Who is it?" asked Mrs Weasley's muffled voice. "Sirius, Remus, Harry, Ichigo and Ulquiorra" replied Sirius. Mrs Weasley's voice came through the door again "What did Arthur call Ichigo when he saw her at St Mungos?" Ichigo stepped forward and replied "Miss Guardian, because I disguised myself slightly."
The door opened, allowing the group to enter, which they did quickly. Mrs Weasley shut the door behind them and locked it, before offering each a hug. When she got to Harry, she squeezed him tightly and cried "Happy 17th Harry dear!" He smiled and thanked her, and they were led to the living room, where the rest of the Weasley's, as well as Fleur and Hermione were gathered, a small mountain of presents behind them. "Happy Birthday Harry!" the group called, beaming at the young man. Ichigo grinned and waved, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder as she passed, placing another, relatively large package with the rest, as well as two slightly smaller ones, throwing a wink at the birthday boy before everyone found their seats.
The rest of the morning was filled with present opening, Harry beaming at everyone, before he got to the last three presents, which were the ones Ichigo had put down. He opened one of the smaller ones first, the tag reading that it was from Remus. He opened it carefully, and revealed a book on Animagi. He cheered and thanked Remus, who grinned. The next gift was from Sirius, and was the smallest of all the presents. Opening it, he found an ornate gold watch, with veins and thorns etched into the surface. The back of the watch was inscribed "J.F.P" his eyes filled with tears as Sirius came to stand beside him, carefully lifting the watch out of the box, and placing it on Harry's wrist. He crouched beside his godson, placing an arm around him. "This was your fathers. In the wizarding world, it's a tradition that when the first born turns 17, they are given a gold watch from their parents. James once mentioned to me after you were born he wanted you to have his. So, here it is" Harry sniffed and hugged Sirius tight for a long moment, before pulling away and wiping his eyes, shooing Sirius back to his seat.
He picked up the quite large last present, the label reading that it was from the two hybrids, and opened it very carefully. He gasped loudly when he opened the large ornate box inside, revealing two beautiful and elegant wakizashis. Ichigo grinned her wild grin and said "Obviously we're going to show you how to use them, but just like we think you'd be able to take down an enemy if you lose your wand, this will give you an even higher advantage" Mrs Weasley started to fuss slightly before Ichigo cleared her throat "Please remember that Ulquiorra and I know how to work with our blades, and we will teach Harry how to without hurting himself. He'll also be learning with wooden blades first." Mrs Weasley went to continue fussing but Mr Wealsey shook his head and spoke to her quietly.
Ignoring this, Harry carefully picked up one of the blades, examining it closely, and checking the weight, finding it not too heavy for him. He beamed at the hybrids and thanked them, before the group left to go outside, where they helped set up some tables, the hybrids helping Mrs Weasley in the kitchen. Lunch was a loud affair, everyone talking and laughing amongst themselves. The afternoon was spent quietly reading or talking, still outside, before dinner rolled around, all of Harry's favourite meals. For pudding, Ichigo and Mrs Weasley produced a beautiful three tier cake, all Quidditch themed. Making this cake with Mrs Weasley had caused Ichigo's eye to twitch, but she kept quiet because she knew her cousin would love it- which he did. Each tier was a different flavour, the biggest being chocolate, the middle being a Victoria sponge and the top tier being caramel.
The evening passed with everyone beginning to set up for the wedding the next day, more tables added to the ones already set out, and a marque setup over everything. That night, Fleur was given Percy's room, who shared with Bill, Charlie was moved into the twins room, Hermione and Ginny shared, Ron and Harry shared and the hybrids once again had the attic to themselves, the Ghoul once more cowering in the bathroom.
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The next morning everyone was up early, finishing setting up, cooking for the wedding, getting dressed, before Ron, Harry and the twins headed out to start helping the guests. Ichigo and Ulquiorra decided to wear their kimonos from Slughorn's party, Hermione wore a pretty red number. The ceremony was a beautiful affair, and everything was going well, until the evening meal and dance. A Patronus appeared amongst them all, and Kingsley's voice announced "The Ministry of Magic has fallen, The Minister is dead… they are coming...they are coming." Screams erupted as the guests scrambled to escape, Ichigo and Ulquiorra pressed their charms to their chest, Ulquiorra took their gigais and sonidoed away, leaving the gigais in the attic with a kido barrier placed on them to make them invisible, and grabbed the sack that Urahara had given them, sonidoing back to the marque. He took only 5 seconds to do all this, and as he appeared once more at Ichigo's side, Death Eaters started appearing. Ichigo shunpoed to Harry, Ron and Hermione, grabbing them as Ulquiorra joined them, grabbing Ron and Hermione, one under each arm, his arms around their shoulders, handing the sack to Ichigo who had Harry under one of her arms, and they sonidoed/shunpoed away, far enough from the house that they could open a Garganta, the shunpoe making it look like the three teens had apparated.
The Garganta Ulquiorra opened dropped them on the cliff near the cave that he, Dumbledore and Harry had visited, before the two hybrids started sonidoing, managing to find a forest about 20 miles from the cave. It was a large forest, about 30 miles of it, allowing them plenty of places to hide. Once they arrived, they found a clearing and finally set the teens down, who all collapsed to their knees heaving at the speed. "Sorry about that, we had to get away quickly. This place should do for now, we'll move around every so often, we shouldn't stay in one place too long. Hermione, do you have the boys stuff?" said Ichigo. Once she had regained her breathing, Hermione nodded, holding up her beaded bag and extracting a tent, Harry's backpack, and 3 large trunks, which were the teens. Hermione and Ichigo had made sure to pack plenty of clothes for the teens the night before, and placed everything in the bag.
Ichigo and the two teen boys started setting up their tent, Hermione was busy creating wards around them. Ulquiorra had summoned a Jigokuchō was currently talking into it. About 5 minutes after the butterfly had left, a Garganta appeared, and out stepped Grimmjow and Nel in their soul forms. "Hi guys!" exclaimed Nel excitedly, rushing to give Ichigo and Ulquiorra hugs. Grimmjow grinned his shark grin, clapping Ulquiorra on the back of shoulder and smirking at Ichigo.
Once they were all inside the tent, they discovered that there were 5 beds, 3 singles and 2 doubles. Grimmjow cheered and grabbed one of the doubles, the one closest to the fire. Ichigo set down the sack on the other double, and allowed the three teens to choose their own beds. Grimmjow held up a sack he had bought with him, which contained a months supply of reishi food for all the hybrids to share, while Ichigo opened the sack, discovering a very large multitude of cans, packs of pasta and many other non-perishables. She smiled and mentally thanked Urahara, emptying the sack into the kitchen, putting everything away. There was enough food for the three teens to live off comfortably for at least 6 months. "Well that sorts the food problems" she grinned as she put things away. The teens smiled gratefully. That night, they all worked out a plan. They would stay at this location for 2 weeks, allowing them to make plans for where to go, before they started searching. This also allowed time for the teens to get used to camping out, and the hybrids to get back into the groove, each of the hybrids secretly glad they had shelter and beds this time.
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The two weeks passed peacefully, everyone settling into their roles. It had been quickly decided, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra would take turns each night alternating taking watch, whereas Nel, Hermione and Ichigo took over the kitchen, one cooking, one washing, one drying, each switching round in a rota. Harry and Ron were the ones making plans and lists of what they already knew, potential locations and other such things. Ichigo and Ulquiorra had also started teaching all three hand to hand combat, telling them that this time they had no choice but to learn, because this could and would save their lives. Ichigo also taught Harry how to use his blades safely, first using things similar to wooden bokken that she had made. He was still learning, not quite used to dual-wielding anything.
About two days in to their hunt, Ulquiorra had decided to start scouting the Ministry, incase there was anything that could help them, and a week and a half later, he finally had a breakthrough. He had spotted Umbitch-teme inside the Ministry, wearing a locket, identical to the fake they had back at camp. He got right up to her, disgusted at having to be so close, but thankfully she was sat down so he was able to use his pesquisa, and confirmed it to be the real locket. As they were in her office, and no one was around, he carefully gave her a blow to the back of the neck, knocking her out. He took the locket and had brought it back to camp.
Ichigo cheered her boyfriend, but also scolded him for going alone. The hybrids took the locket outside into the clearing, instructing the teens to stay in the tent, before Ichigo pressed Zangetsu's pommel to the locket. Nothing happened. She scowled fiercely. "Maybe try getting Harry to talk to it, he can talk to snakes like Voldemort, perhaps that's needed?" spoke Zangetsu in her mind. She hummed and called to Harry, who came out, confused. "Try telling it to open in Parseltongue, don't worry, we won't let you get hurt" she said softly. Harry let out a deep breath, before hissing at the locket. At once it burst open, but nothing came out. Ichigo quickly sent Harry back to the tent, and once again Ichigo hefted Zangetsu, pressing his pommel to the locket. Immediately, one of the creatures like before emerged, however the instant it was out, it evolved into a Hollow. Ichigo growled and the hybrids all attacked. This time, the Hollow that was once Voldemort's soul was oddly Crab-like, with large, menacing pincers.
Grimmjow shouted excitedly as he fought, finally managing to slice off the left pincer. Nel was taking out its legs, and Ulquiorra got the other pincer, allowing Ichigo to slice down and bisect the Hollow. The hybrids all leapt back as once more, the Gates of Hell materialised, two large greyish hands taking the Hollows halves into Hell, before the gates closed and it shattered. The hybrids returned to the tent, cheering at the fact they got another Horcrux.