A/N: Um, I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I updated. Anyway, here's the new chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve

Hitsugaya glared down at the stack of papers he was sorting through, mind not really on the tedious paperwork Matsumoto had pawned off on him before she'd returned to Soul Society. How exactly did one go about breaking into a bank? Something like this would be better left to Soifon or the Onmitsukido. Hitsugaya didn't have the kind of experience needed for infiltration, from either of his lives.

He shifted on the old armchair in the Black library uncomfortably. Research wouldn't help him much here, and he already had Bill Weasley going over Gringott's layout and defenses.

Thick reiatsu seemed to wash over him, and he glanced up in surprise.

What the hell was he doing here?

The captain rose from his seat and headed toward the entrance, half irritated and half confused. Lily and James joined him in the front room.

"Who is that?" Lily asked, voice soft and eyes wide. James, beside her, was slightly pale. It took a moment for him to realize why, but he merely shook his head and opened the door. The reiatsu pulsed, and even that mild flare nearly sent the couple to their knees. Reiatsu over twice as strong as his own demanded their attention.

"Kurosaki, what the hell are you doing here?"

The redhead scowled. "Top brass heard you were having some trouble with the number of hollows," he said flatly. "They wanted someone familiar with the Wizarding World to come help. Had to be powerful enough to handle adjuchas too, which cuts out pretty much anything below… what, tenth seat? There aren't that many former wizards in the Gotei 13."

Wait, what? "That doesn't really explain why you're here, of all people."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Mom was a witch."

Since when? Hitsugaya almost felt cheated. Why hadn't Kurosaki told Seireitei?

Stupid question. If no one in the afterlife had done it before now, why should a living boy only loosely affiliated with them? "…don't you have school?" Or something. Seireitei tried pretty hard to let Kurosaki have as much of a normal life as possible, so he didn't really know what the boy had been up to since the fullbringer incident.

"Took the year off to save for college. I'll be applying this spring. Seireitei pays pretty well for these kinds of missions, don't they?" (1)

Not really. It was probably added compensation for prior services rendered, or some other bullshit excuse. The captains weren't exactly rich (barring Kuchiki, but Hitsugaya didn't think he counted), but they all wanted Kurosaki on their side. Not that they really thought he'd turn on them or anything, but it didn't exactly hurt to show some gratitude every once in a while.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Hitsugaya blinked. He'd almost forgotten James and Lily were there. The former wizard glanced between the captain and the redhead standing casually with them just off the property. "Who are you?"

The redhead blinked. "Kurosaki Ichigo. You're… James Potter, right? And you must be Lily."

They nodded, and Hitsugaya noted with no small amount of concern that James had a mildly star-struck look in his eyes. James had been a seated officer during the War, and all of the seated officers had been fully briefed, though the unranked didn't know anything more than passing details. He quite obviously knew that Kurosaki had been the one to kill Aizen. (2)

Great. If James went all fan-boy on him, he swore dire consequences.

Lily seemed to know what he was thinking, as she shot her husband an exasperated glance. James opened his mouth to speak, but Kurosaki had already turned his attention back to the captain. "You sent word last night about the attack on the ministry and the following meeting. You're not going to be able to take care of hollows while you're at the bank, and you're already having trouble with it while you're at school." He would know. "I can help with a few other things too, I'm sure." At least he knew better than to speak too freely in public… wait.

They'd gotten him briefed and here that quickly? They'd gotten him to agree to come here that quickly? There was no way… they must've been working on this for a while.

Hitsugaya sighed. "We shouldn't be discussing these things out here. Let's go inside."

Kurosaki's eyes narrowed. "Go where exactly?"

Crap. The Fidelius. He sighed again. "Wait here, I need to get Dumbledore."

He heard James excitedly start to ask the boy questions, and fleetingly caught the look of complete bewilderment on Kurosaki's face before he made it inside to use the floo. Hitsugaya smirked. Maybe he could just threaten to leave him alone with James whenever he called him 'Toshiro.'

A few hours later, after introductions had been made and Kurosaki had settled into a room, Hitsugaya felt the substitute's presence approaching the library, where the captain had taken to spending his free time. Someone really should teach Kurosaki how to hide it; Lily and James, despite their approval of the boy, were still doubtlessly unnerved by the hollow taint. Although the Vizards had been accepted back into their former divisions (at least the available ones), neither James nor Lily really had any reason to interact with them, and couldn't possibly be used to such a presence.

"Toshiro?"

Hitsugaya's eyebrow twitched. "What is it, Kurosaki? And that's Hitsugaya-taicho to you."

Kurosaki ignored that. "You don't really like James and Lily much, do you?"

Oh no. This was not going to turn into another one of his crusades. Bad enough that he knew about Kusaka; Hitsugaya really did not want Kurosaki to involve himself in this, too. "Is that what they told you?" he asked mildly, inserting just enough ice into the question to serve as a warning. Predictably, that was ignored as well.

"No, they didn't. But it's not hard to read between the lines."

"I thought James was more interested in you," he deflected. He should have known better, really.

Kurosaki snorted. "Don't be stupid, Toshiro. Yeah, he was curious. But you know what? After he got a couple questions in, all he asked about was you." He paused, fiddling with one of the musty tomes as he hovered by a shelf. "He shouldn't be asking me."

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed. "You're right. He shouldn't."

Kurosaki sent him a sharp look. "That's not what I meant and you know it. He should be able to talk to you. Hell, he should already know. I can't believe I had to tell them your favorite food was amanatto, you little liar." (3)

"Why?" he cut the substitute off (and how the hell did he know that in the first place?). "They don't need to know me, Kurosaki. They're not my parents."

"Is that what's been bothering you? Toshiro, have they acted like parents in the least? I've barely seen them with you but they definitely weren't treating you like a kid."

His hands clenched and he opened his mouth, but Kurosaki interrupted him before he could start. "I don't care if they're your parents or whatever, that's not my problem. But Toshiro, they are family, whether you like it or not. You shouldn't take that for granted, especially since…" he cut himself off this time and shook his head. Hinamori's condition went unsaid.

"Just think about it, okay? I get that it might not be a good time and all, with everyone so busy with the mission. But Lily-san almost died yesterday." It was hard to miss the flash of pain cross his face, and Hitsugaya was forcibly reminded that Kurosaki had also lost his mother. The redhead slid the book back into its place and left the room without another word.

Hitsugaya remained frozen in his seat, unable to come up with a convincing argument without sounding like a complete bastard. Even to himself.

Hyorinmaru rumbled comfortingly in his mind, but Hitsugaya knew without asking that the dragon agreed.

By the time the next meeting rolled around, Kurosaki had slid into the normal rhythms of the household, talking easily with the members that drifted through. His relaxed and informal demeanor seemed to have surprised them – they were used to Hitsugaya's aloof professionalism, and Lily and James had been a part of the Order once, so their easy familiarity didn't really count.

Hitsugaya didn't pay it much mind. He'd steered clear of all three of them since his last conversation with the substitute, talking to them only when necessary.

He barely had to glance at Kurosaki to know he was disappointed in him. And why the hell did he even care? It wasn't like the boy had any authority over him.

But it was hard. Every officer in Seireitei respected Kurosaki, if not grudgingly in some cases. Knowing that the man who saved them all found fault in him hurt, no matter what he tried to tell himself.

Hitsugaya sighed, frustrated. It wasn't like Kurosaki was a saint. He had plenty of faults himself. But the way he'd said it…

"You shouldn't take that for granted… Lily-san almost died yesterday."

Damn him to Hell.

Dumbledore smiled as he entered the kitchen, his arrival signaling the start of the meeting. It would be the last one for a while most likely; it was already the start of the New Year, and the Potters and students would be heading back to Hogwarts in a few days.

"I take it you have all been following the news?"

Hitsugaya barely resisted the urge to groan. The Daily Prophet had headlined the attack on the ministry, of course… but they had also added that several ghosts had been seen aiding the fight. Including two that looked suspiciously like a pair of dead martyrs, meaning James and Lily had been seen in detail.

He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. But still, it complicated things, and Soul Society couldn't just go and modify every witch or wizard's memory if they really caught wind of the afterlife interfering with the living. If they were lucky, this would all be passed off as impossible rumors or the Wizarding World would be too worried about the living to care. Their minister had just been murdered, after all, and their ministry nearly destroyed. They were in a panic.

And what of Voldemort? If he believed that the Potters were all back to haunt him the situation could become really problematic, really quickly.

The discussion went in that vein for a few minutes, with Dumbledore adding that the new minister would likely be Rufus Scrimgeour. They all hoped so anyway, as most of the other candidates were purebloods like Lucius Malfoy, and probably neck deep in Voldemort's camp.

Finally they got to the part they'd all been planning dubiously for over the last few days. Bill Weasley laid out a set of rough, hand drawn schematics.

"Lestrange's vault is in the high-security section of Gringotts." His face scrunched up in slight distaste, as though he didn't really want to continue. "What that means is it's got a dragon guarding it."

A dragon? Hyorinmaru stirred in interest. There were really dragons here? Hitsugaya hadn't so much as picked up a Magical Creatures book. He'd been too busy with other things, and never really participated in much conversation with his housemates, so he hadn't known.

He noticed vaguely that he was the only one even remotely excited at the prospect, and forcefully stamped the emotion down. It really wasn't a good thing.

Bill outlined the various wards protecting the high-security vaults, including a particularly strange ward that duplicated items touched without permission by the owner or the goblins. But basically it all boiled down to one thing.

"We need either Bellatrix Lestrange herself, or the help of a goblin to pull it off," Hitsugaya stated plainly.

"So we've got three options then. We break into Gringotts on our own, we secure the aid of the goblins, or we kidnap Bellatrix Lestrange," Tonks' voice was thick with disbelief, and the uneasy mutters that accompanied her statement proved that the rest of the Order was in agreement.

"Dear old cousin Bella would probably be our best bet," Black admitted sourly.

Moody snorted. "So we capture a mad, violent witch hell bent on killing us all and interrogate her or force her to empty her vault for us?"

"Better than asking the goblins. They won't do a damn thing and you know it. Neutrality and money are the only things they really have, and if they help us they're pissing off a whole lot of purebloods. That would kill what little standing in our society they've got, and the last thing we need right now is another goblin war on our hands," James added.

Especially since the goblins had so much grip on the economy. That would be a nightmare. Which brought up another point.

"If we can use Lestrange, then the Order will be at minimal risk. We can't show any affiliation with an organization, or that could spark a war too. We cannot fight a war on two fronts. Either we use Lestrange, or only one of us goes in as an independent thief–"

"We could implicate a Death Eater–"

"A Death Eater breaking into a known Death Eater's vault? The goblins are not that stupid."

Hitsugaya decided it was time to stop the argument from escalating any further. "Unfortunately, Black is correct. Lestrange is our safest option." Which wasn't comforting. Despite, or perhaps because of, her madness, she was an extremely talented witch. "We need to plan her capture. Snape," he added, knowing the man had to listen to him at the meetings at least, "is there any feasible way to ambush her?"

The potions professor's lip curled in distaste, but he answered anyway. "She makes infrequent stops at Diagon Alley to withdraw funds from Gringotts. But she is a wanted criminal. Lestrange rarely leaves the Dark Lord's side otherwise."

"Will you be able to find out when ahead of time?"

"If I am lucky," Snape murmured silkily.

"Even if we do catch her, we can't bring her here," Moody growled.

"This is your only safe-house?" Kurosaki asked in surprise.

"And here I thought you'd been fully briefed," Hitsugaya sniped, pausing when everyone turned to him in bemusement. "The Shrieking Shack," he spat out, embarrassed. Damn the substitute anyway. He could practically feel Dumbledore's eyes twinkling in amusement.

"The Shack? That's not a bad idea," Black muttered.

"You want to bring a known murderer so close to Hogwarts?" McGonagall was appalled.

"It's far enough away. If we station someone in the Shack, then have a regular patrol in the Alley with portkeys, this could work. Nobody would even know anything's amiss – it's 'haunted,' remember?"

"So who gets to live in the Shack?" James piped up. "None of us," he added, referring to the shinigami, "can do it. We all have appearances to make at the school." And the rest of them had lives to live, jobs to go to. It would be hard enough to organize a patrol with enough people to ensure Lestrange wouldn't get away. They needed at least two or three people out there 24/7, so the witch couldn't attack or run off easily. If she did, they wouldn't get another chance.

Hitsugaya looked at Black.

He blinked. "Oh, you're kidding me, right?"

"You're the only one who can't actively patrol the Alley. You're already living at Hogwarts, and this way you won't have to be a dog all the time."

"It was your idea," Kurosaki added lazily from somewhere across the room.

That reminded him. "You can join him, Kurosaki."

"Huh?"

"You don't have a job. You have plenty of time to kill in the Shack while you're here. I thought you wanted to be useful?" He was above childish taunting. This sort of behavior was beneath him. Really.

"My job's to kill hollows."

"The regular patrol can handle the few that appear without Voldemort's influence. And face it, we can't get there to kill the hollows Voldemort summons before he takes them away again." The Dark Lord's guerrilla tactics against the muggles were horribly efficient, and more than a little annoying. "The 12th division can't notify us fast enough to protect single muggle houses all over Europe before they're gone; not even Shihoin is that fast."

"…so what am I doing here?"

Paid vacation? "Back up for when Voldemort makes another move." There would be more than enough hollows for the four of them then, at least. "In any case, Kurosaki, you report to me while you're here. You can split your time between Grimmauld Place and the Shack." He couldn't help the slight hint of malicious pleasure at the look on the substitute's face. The boy was going to be bored to tears sitting around the Shack waiting for the mere possibly to help take down Lestrange, and they both knew it.

Hitsugaya was not above a little payback.

"So that's it. We set up some anti-apparation wards around the Shack, and everyone on the patrols takes a portkey. Don't bother knocking her unconscious if you don't need to – we don't want to cause a scene in the middle of the Alley – just transport her directly there. Black or Kurosaki will provide back up to subdue her if necessary. Snape will keep an ear out for her movements, but we are not going to rely solely on his word." He paused, half-tempted to bark out 'dismissed.' Instead, Dumbledore calmly rose and ended the meeting, saying he would have patrol schedules ready by the end of the week if everyone would be so kind as to let him know when they were available. He didn't seem to mind much that Hitsugaya had taken control of the meeting.

With that, people started filtering out of the room, one or two remaining to give the headmaster their schedules. Kurosaki disappeared somewhere with Black, leaving Hitsugaya with the distinct feeling that he'd made a mistake forcing them to live together for an undefined period of time.

He shook his head, deciding to go convert some more spells into reiatsu-based magic. There was little else he could do, and the Kido Corps would certainly appreciate it later on.

From here, it was a waiting game.

Yes, I dragged Ichigo into it. Don't worry though, Hitsugaya is still and will always be the central character in this fic. Ichigo will just show up every once in a while.

(1) It's been awhile, so I thought I'd remind you that this is set about three years after the war. That means Ichigo's almost nineteen, and that the lost substitute arc happened over a year prior. I am blatantly ignoring the final holy war arc.

(2) I mentioned earlier in this fic that Ichigo had killed Aizen, as I hadn't read the Decide chapters when I wrote it. That's not going to be edited; in this story Ichigo killed Aizen with Mugetsu.

(3) True, and I had forgotten this when I said Hitsugaya didn't like sweets (which amanatto is). Of course, people seeing him eating sweets could be construed as childish in his mind, so I think he would try to hide it anyway.