Last Time

Harry, though Refero's comments didn't really help his nerves, nodded as he stood up. "Well, I gotta go pack, now don't I?"

Hermione blinked, squealing as she jumped into his arms and gave him another hug when his words sunk in.

Now

"You two mind sharing? Every where else is full." Ginny asked, sliding the door to Harry and Hermione's apartment.

The raven haired boy opened one sleepy eye to look at her and her friend with a yawn, being careful not to wake Hermione who was cuddled up by his side. "Who's she?"

"Luna Lovegood," the blonde answered for herself. "Ravenclaw, 2nd year."

"Harry Potter," he nodded towards the open seats. "Sit wherever you want." He yawned.

"Hermione Potter," Hermione mumbled in her sleep, causing Harry to go red and Ginny to laugh.

"Granger, she means Hermione Granger."

"Sure." Ginny teased as she and her friend sat down.

"I'm just going to sleep now…" With that, Harry tucked his head against Hermione's and went back to sleep.

"Well, that's social of you." Ginny mumbled.

"Wake up, Potters." A light teasing voice said. "Or you'll be left on the train."

Harry grunted, snuggling closer to Hermione.

"Refero, you mind?" Ginny requested, knowing the spirit could here her even if Harry was asleep.

'Wake up, Harry.' Refero ordered, and Harry groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Yes, Ginny?" He asked, clearly annoyed at being woken up.

Ginny huffed, "Don't take that tone with me, and after I was kind enough to tell you the trains about to go back to Hogwarts, with you two still on it."

Harry sighed, "Sorry, Gin, just had a nice nap and you woke me up from it, I'll wake 'Mione up."

Nodding, she smiled mischievously. "You do that, bye, Potters." She laughed as she walked away.

'She's not going to let that drop…' Harry thought with a sigh.

'And neither will I or your sword, its WAY to damn amusing!' Refero laughed, the aforementioned sword making a grunt of agreement in the back ground but not commenting.

It was, as Harry already knew, hard to completely block out a voice inside your head, but he managed it as he gently shook Hermione. "Time to wake up, 'Mione, we have to get off the train before it leaves."

Hermione's chocolate brown eyes blinked owlishly as she woke up with a yawn. "Hn?"

Harry smiled, "Time to go."

Still blinking away her nap, Hermione noticed that Harry couldn't get up without her getting up first, so she stood and offered Harry a hand. "Time to meet the parents, heh?"

Harry groaned as he accepted the hand, "Every boyfriend's greatest fear."

Hermione giggled. "I'd be more worried about my brother and sister if I were you."

Harry pouted, "No fair, I didn't know I'd have to deal siblings too." He complained playfully as he stretched.

Hermione shrugged, "They never came up."

Harry reached up into the rack of both their heads t get his rough sack, there was no point bringing his entire trunk. "Have any warnings for me?" He asked as the started walking down the deserted train.

She tapped her chin in thought. "Well, they're twins, and five years older then us…"

He shivered, 'twins' was always a troublesome thing.

"Renee, my sister, is a flirt and tease, but she's very committed to her boyfriend. Will, my brother, is a weapon fanatic, mainly swords but he knows his guns, and a skilled martial artist."

Harry groaned. "Damn, I'm screwed."

Hermione smiled teasingly at her boyfriend. "Well, like I said, Will is a weapons fanatic; you could most likely get some points in his book if you show him your zanpakutō and your skill with it. As for Renee… well, you're cute."

"Very reassuring, 'Mione…" Harry grumbled as they stepped off the train and onto the deserted platform.

"Hermione!"

The girl blinked, looking at the direction of the voice and squealed, and took off running. "Will!"

Harry followed behind nervously, and easily pushed down the surge of jealousy he felt when she jumped into the man's arms; if he hadn't been family… well, it looks like he's the territorial type.

When Will put his little sister down, Harry suddenly felt very out of place.

Will and Hermione, now that he took the time to notice, were both well dressed. Hermione was wearing nice blue jeans and a nice plain black shirt. Will was dressed in dress khaki shorts and a muscle shirt that showed of his well built and maintained body.

So, Harry was understandably a little embarrassed that he himself was dressed in the only muggle clothes he had; Dudley's old faded and over sized blue jeans held on his skinny, though Refero was working on that part, body with an equally over sized belt and a, also over sized, brown shirt.

Will smiled at the younger boy's nervousness, "Well, you must be Harry," He held out a hand.

Harry looked at the man a little more closely, Will was built similarly Refero, solid but lithe, and was also about the same height as the hollow, causing him to stand well above Harry's head even with the boy's recent growth spurt. His brown hair was highlighted in blond, giving it a rather rustic appearance, but his eyes were cat's-eye green.

Will smiled when he noticed where Harry's eyes were looking. "Recessive gene, haven't popped up in the family for a couple generations." He explained away his drastic eye difference from his little sister. "You have a rather nice shade of green, yourself."

Harry smiled, he always liked when people complimented the only physical trait he had inherited from his mother, and took the man's hand. "Yours are a rather… inhuman shade, and I mean that as a compliment."

Will grinned, "And I take it as one." He gave Harry's hand a firm shake. "Now that the pleasantries are over..." Before Harry could blink, the rustic haired man was behind him and holding him a foot off the ground in a strangle hold. "You hurt my little sister, and I break your neck." Will said in a deathly calm voice.

'Yeah,' Refero said absently as Harry nodded hurriedly. 'That's how it went with Ichigo for Toshiro, only it involved a Bankai level fight before Ichigo managed to head lock him... Don't get me started on what happened when he had to tell Zaraki or even Shinji...'

"I have no intention of hurting 'Mione in any way, Sir." Harry said, ignoring the Hollow.

Will chuckled and released his hold, causing Harry to stumble as he fell a foot. "'Sir' is only for in classes or when I'm in my uniform, just call me Will any other time." He turned to his sister. "You let him call you 'Mione? Wow, you really do like this kid…" he teased

'He's good,' Harry thought as he watched the siblings bicker. 'There was no way I could have gotten out of that lock…'

'Yeah,' Refero agreed. 'He's definitely above your current level.'

"Where are mom and dad?" Harry blinked, pulling himself from his thoughts at the mention of the Granger parents.

Will grinned, "I'm driving."

Hermione mocked horror, "You, driving?"

Her brother pouted, "Sheesh, you make it sound like I'm a bad driver." He pointed at Harry. "You're front passenger, I don't want to look in my rear view and see you two making out."

Harry blushed, as did Hermione, but nodded.

Laughing, Will draped an arm over Harry's shoulders as the walked through the barrier into muggle King's Cross. "Don't blush easy, Renee's gonna make you blush a lot harder then I am, and I'm not even trying."

They walked in a comfortable silence through the parking lot before stopping next to a silver Mercedes. "Get in," Will said, pulling out his keys and unlocking the car.

Harry slid into the passenger seat after throwing his rough sack into the trunk, Hermione behind him, and Will started up the car. "So, tell me about yourself." Will started a conversation as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the empty road. "I mean, sure," he shot Hermione a teasing smirk in his rear view mirror. "Hermione's letters, mostly about you, are long and detailed, but I like getting my intel from the source, if possible."

Hermione blushed deeply when her brother mentioned her ongoing letters home about her crush.

After a full minute of silence, Will frowned. "Fine, I'll just do some… self investigation." He smirked as a semi, the only other car on the road, came into sight, heading the other direction. "Let's see how gutsy you are…"

Before Harry and Hermione had time to think on what Will said, the driver slid into the other lane, heading for a headlong collision with the semi. "With a little game of chicken…"

The semi honked loudly, but Will just sped up.

"Are you crazy?" Harry and Hermione yelled together.

"Yeah, ain't it great?" Will answered, laughing, as he swerved out of the way in the last second. The oldest teen looked at the younger male teen out of the corner of his eyes. "Well, I guess you pass."

'Hahahaha!' Refero laughed, 'I like him!'

'Of course you do,' Harry thought back, rolling his eyes. 'You're both nuts.'

Refero just laughed louder.

By the end of the hour long drive, Harry had joined Will in enjoying games of 'chicken'.

"Great," Hermione huffed from her place in the back seat as they pulled off the main road. "You've added to his adrenaline rush activities, Will, quidditch was bad enough..."

Harry grinned, "Don't worry, 'Mione, I'll stick to flying, that's what I'm best at after all."

Will laughed, "That's what you're best at?" He criticized playfully, "haven't you gotten injured every year since you started? And I count catching a Snitch by almost swallowing it as an injury since that can't have been pleasant."

Harry just whistled and switched topics. "Nice house," he said, looking at the house they pulled into the drive way of.

It was a nice basic house, two stories and, thanks to being in a more rural area then the Dursley's, slightly larger then Harry's relatives with a nice flower bed separating the porch from lawn.

"I've got some good news for you, Harry." Will said, getting out of the car after killing the engine. "Renee's out with Arashi-nii (Storm-bro), her boyfriend, at the moment so you won't have to deal with her for a while, and the folks are out getting dinner."

"Yay," Harry replied in a faux monotone, also getting out. "I'd rather just get it done and over with, I hate waiting for something bad to happen." Harry went to Hermione's door and opened it for her.

"Very gentlemanly of you, Harry," Hermione giggled as she stepped out of the car.

"I try," he replied, going around and getting his stuff out of the trunk.

"I somehow doubt Renee'll stop teasing you anytime soon…" Will replied humorously as he went inside the house, rolling his eyes at the both of them.

Laughing, they followed him inside.

'I was right when I thought the Grangers were well off,' Harry thought as he looked around.

The first floor was the basic kitchen/living room/one bathroom arrangement. The second was where the bedrooms were, seven, and a single bathroom.

They also have a basement, in which he was right now. The room's floor was half covered in mats, the mat side walls having racks of weapons on them, and a weight station was in one of the un-matted corners, with flags of various countries lining those walls.

'Very well off, indeed, some of those blades are live(meaning they can cut, if you don't know).'

Harry just nodded, not questioning how Refero could tell if a sword was live or not when it was sheathed and on a rack on the other side of the room.

"You use a katana, right?"

Harry blinked, looking at Will who was standing in front of one of the many weapon racks. "Yes, but how did you know?" 'And where did 'Mione go?'

'She went to the bathroom, pay attention to what's going on around you.' Harry's zanpakuto deadpanned.

Will shrugged, picking one of the katanas off the rack and tossing it to Harry. "I guessed judging by the calluses on your hands."

'That's almost as freaky good intuition as you being able to tell the swords were live, Refero.' Harry mentally grumbled as he caught the sword by its sheath, to use to having a sword flung at him to consider mentioning the 'safety' of such an act, and pulled out the blade an inch to look at the gleaming steel before sheathing it again.

'Told you he had live blades,' Refero jeered.

"Are you any good with it?" Will asked, pulling another one from the rack and slipping into his left hip belt loop.

Harry paused, getting Refero's opinion before speaking. "My teacher says I'm 'better then when I started, at least'."

Will chuckled, "Sounds like the Grand Master of my style…" He grinned. "Wanna have a quick spar?"

"Spar with live swords?"

"It doesn't matter if the sword can cut you if you dodge or block, if you do it correctly anyway."

Now it was Harry's turn to chuckle, "You'd get along with Refero, one of my teachers, just fine." Walking over to stand next to Will, Harry racked the katana.

"I don't suppose you'd have a problem with me using my own sword…?"

The rustic blond shook his head, "Not at all." He raised an eyebrow. "But I didn't see a sword in your stuff, and aren't you to young to do magic outside of school?"

Harry just smiled mischievously as he recalled a meeting he had had with his headmaster a couple weeks after Halloween.

-Flash back-

Dumbledore applauded, even some of the portraits joined in, gently as Harry sheathed his sword and collapsed into one of his office's plush chairs. "An excellent demonstration, Mr. Potter," The normal clutter of the office had been cleared out so that Harry could show Dumbledore his skill, as the old man had been curious to see some of the Katas Refero had taught the boy.

"Thank you, sir." The raven haired boy replied tiredly, having done all thirteen of the katas he knew.

The headmaster raised an eyebrow as the sword in Harry's hand vanished. "Is that an attribute of the sword, or a personal trick of Refero?"

"Oh, this?" Harry asked, the sword rematerializing in hand. "It's an attribute of the sword himself."

"Your avatar is male, then?" Seeing the surprised look, Dumbledore chuckled. "Zangetsu-san gave me a brief summary of whom and what he is when he was here."

"Ah," Harry nodded, understanding. "Yes, it is male, though I'm yet to hear his name."

"Name?"

"It was a real brief summary, heh?" Harry asked, "Yes; name. Every zanpakuto has an avatar, a physical and sentient existence. Learning ones name allows its master to shikai, initial release, which unlocks a whole different level of power, and shape, of the sword."

"Initial release? Meaning there's at least one more?"

Harry nodded, "Bankai, full release; its far more powerful then shikai. Neither can be achieved without knowing the swords name."

Dumbledore nodded, cataloging the information away. "And the disappearing?"

The boy shrugged. "The way that it was explained to me was this; a zanpakuto is part of your soul, and thus will always come to you."

"That explains the reappearing part."

"When it disappears, its simply returning to my soul, as a zanpakuto is merely a piece of my soul given the form of a katana." He made the sword vanish as he spoke.

"Can you materialize it away from your body?"

Harry shook his head, "No, at least not at my level."

"Hn," Albus pulled his wand from his robes and pointed it at Harry, and cast some spell, Harry knew since he felt the magic surround him, silently. "A simple magic detection spell, Harry; the same one the ministry uses in fact." He explained. "Now, could you please summon and resummon the sword?"

Harry shrugged, doing as he was asked.

"Hm…" Dumbledore stood and walked over to one of his many trunks, mumbling to himself as he rummaged through the contents. "Soul magic is undetectable…" He stood, apparently having found what he was looking for, and walked back to his seat.

"This, Harry, is a piece of amzonite; do you know its properties?" The headmaster asked, setting a dark purple jewel roughly the size of a large marble.

"You have such a large piece...?" Harry asked, in shock, staring at the perhaps the largest single piece of the rarest and most treasured jewel in the wizarding world. "Amzonite... it's highly valued for its rarity, its beauty, and its ability to absorb magic."

Dumbledore chuckled, "It is one of the Dumbledore family's oldest treasures."

'With damn good reason, that things 3-4 times the size of most amzonite samples!' Harry thought.

Dumbledore nodded approvingly, "Yes, it is." He rolled the perfect sphere under his pointer finger. "I'd like you to cast one of your 'kidou' on this piece."

Harry nodded, raising his right hand to point at the glittering purple jewel. "Kidou #4, White Lightning." he commanded softly, sending a small bolt of energy at the amzonite chunk; the emerald reiatsu dissipating harmlessly.

'I guess it would make sense that a wizard would be a natural at kidou.' Refero said, noting the lack of an incantation.

Dumbledore grinned, a satisfied look Harry knew well from the Twins; the look of a troublemaker who had just found a loophole in the rules. "It seems, Harry, that your reiatsu aligned abilities are classified as 'soul magic'; a branch of magic that can only be traced by tracer spells cast with soul magic; and the Ministry doesn't have any such tracers." He slipped the amzonite into his robes, pulling out his wand and dispelled the tracing spells he had cast on Harry.

Hearing this, Harry mirrored the older man's grin.

-End flashback-

"This certain type of magic can't be traced, so the Ministry is none the wiser." Harry answered Will, summoning his sword to his left hand.

Will whistled, "Sweet." Falling into a ready stance, he unsheathed his own katana partially.

Harry unsheathed his own sword, tossing away its scabbard; his style didn't include a sheath.

They stood in suspended animation for a minute, human emerald green eyes being stared down by cats-eye green eyes, before Will leapt at Harry so fast he blurred.

Harry just barely got his sword up to block the attack in time. 'Damn, he's fast,' Harry thought, grinning slightly as he pushed Will away; beginning his attack series. A down slash followed by a straight thrust finished with a upper cut.

Will dodged each attack gracefully, purposefully letting the blade always be an inch from him during all of the attacks, and slipped his own katana under Harry's after the upper cut to send the boy off balance.

Now it was Harry's turn to narrowly dodge the sharp blade of his spar opponent.

It went on like that for awhile, back and forth, neither noticing their small audience.

Hermione watched quietly from the sidelines as the two danced around each other, confident in their ability to not get hurt.

"Well, you did catch yourself a cute one, didn't you, sis?"

Hermione blinked, turning to look at her idol, "Back from your date already, Renee?"

Hermione's older sister smiled down at her. "Arashi (Storm) and I just had to be here to see you on your first day back, sis."

'Still as gorgeous as normal,' Hermione noted as she looked at her older sister.

Renee was Hermione's goal; she was daring, intelligent and smart. She had perfect hourglass figure, working out just enough to stay fit so there wasn't a drop of fat, her straight brown hair had natural light red highlights, her eyes a slightly more human shade of green then her twins. Like her brother, she was dressed in nice but simple clothes; a tight blue tank top and a black thigh length skirt, with fishnet stockings and undershirt. She looked great, and kept a solid 3.0 gpa (1).

"We just had to meet this boy your so infatuated with, after all." Renee looked to the spar. "Looks like he'll get along with Will just fine; and Arashi too for that matter."

Hemione blinked as she looked around. "Where is Arashi-nii (Storm-bro) anyway?" The man knew the Granger parents had no problem with him being at their house, even if they were gone at the time, so she doubted he had left without saying hi.

Renee chuckled at her sister, pointing at the spar. "He's right there, sis."

Finally turning her attention back to Harry and Will, Hermione saw Arashi walking towards the play fight; a wooden bo-staff in hand. "So he is…"

Harry was focused completely on Will, so he just barely managed to dodge a mahogany staff.

"So, you're Harry Potter, heh?" The stranger, to Harry, asked.

For the first time since the spar started, Harry took his eyes off Will, and looked at the new guy.

"Arashi-nii…" Will muttered in the back ground, giving Harry a name for the new face.

Arashi, a man of average height, had golden one and a half inch spiked hair, wore dark sunglasses, leather biker pants and a loose wife beater.

But what really stuck out to Harry was that the man wasn't built like any of the other fighters Harry had met so far, he was more muscular.

'He's not a swordsman,' Refero stated. "'Rather, he's an open hand fighter, but his weapon of choice is bo-staff… he's most likely also proficient with other weapons.'

Harry shook his head; how Refero could tell so much about a person from a single glance would always be beyond him.

'No it won't,' The Hollow disagreed. 'It's called experience, and instinct; you'll be able to tell so much about someone yourself, one day.'

Will's voice broke Harry away from Refero, "On three."

The-Boy-Who-Lived didn't need to ask what the older boy meant. "Three!" They said together, skipping one and two, and charged at Arashi together.

'What the hell just happened?' Harry thought as he looked up at the ceiling; spread eagle on his back with his sword lying a few feet away from him; Will was in the same predicament only a few yards off.

Arashi stood above them both, staff carelessly hanging off one shoulder, with sharp toothed grin. "You both need more practice."

'I believe the term is 'you just got owned'.' Refero stated blandly.

Harry groaned, "Shut up, Refero." He said, not realizing he was speaking out loud.

'You were defeated easily.' The nameless zanpakuto deadpanned.

"Since when do you side with him?" Harry asked with another groan.

'When we agree,' the sword's deadpan tone just made Harry groan more.

(A/N)Yo! this is the first half of the winter break chapter, but i wasn't going to post anything for a LONG time if i posted the whole thing(the other half is likely another 4k words...)and my computer privileges are going to revoked for awhile...(damn grades)so i decided to cut of this chapter half way and post it.

(1)-I don't know how grades in muggle schools work over there, so im using the American grading system…

Laters

ps-NatSD's next chap is half way done, but like I said; my computers getting taken away for awhile so…

pps-all bow to Kenpachi, king of the kill. he will KILL Noitora like the pin sexist bitch he is!