Edited again: 05/17/2015 - No big edits, just forgot to take out a bit at the end when I uploaded the next chapter and fixed a few grammar mistakes. I also added a little bit of information I meant to add in in the last scene. Nothing big, just a further explanation of why these two in particular had to go.

*coughs dust and rises from the dusty recesses of hiatus/death and casually pretends nothing happened*

...OKAY This story needs some serious revisions and is the first on my list to get fixed. Therefore! I apologize to the wonderful people who reviewed and followed this story even though it must have seemed like it was never going to get finished. My writing style has changed and (hopefully) improved, and now I need to re-write these chapters accordingly. The plot will stay generally the same, but I will be changing some things (both small and large, so ignoring the new updates might be unadvised) and making the characters a bit less OOC (thank you to those who pointed that out uwu).

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor Bleach.

"Talking" Thinking

Here we go! New and improved Chapter ONE.

Transferred to Hogwarts

Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of squad ten of the thirteen court guard squads, maneuvered his way reluctantly towards his office, the early morning still holding a slight chill from the previous night. The streets were still and empty, not anything like it would be when the other Soul Reapers began their morning duties. The white-haired captain soaked in as much of the quiet as he could, taking deep breaths to push down the annoyance wriggling its way into his mind at the thought of work. Paperwork, to be specific. Especially his lieutenant's, which was most likely still gaining height from the day before and just waiting to get pushed off onto his own desk.

He couldn't postpone the inevitable, unfortunately, and he eventually found himself in front of the rice paper doors of his office. After a deep breath to steel himself, Toshiro slid the door open and walked inside, studiously refusing to look anywhere but his own desk until he was seated. When he finally gathered the nerve to glance away from the wooden tabletop, he blinked. Then blinked again.

There wasn't a piece of paper in sight. Warily, the captain got to his feet and looked under the couch. The only things there were dust balls and an empty sake bottle.

Toshiro walked back to his desk and sunk into his seat, staring into the space in front of him with a perplexed frown.

Matsumoto never finishes her work on time.

The captain became lost in thought over the matter until small rapping sound caught his attention. He straightened abruptly and cleared his throat before speaking. "Enter."

The door slid open and his red-headed lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, bounced in. "How are you today, captain?" She greeted as she pulled him across the desk into a hug. There was no answer for a moment as the short captain struggled out of his lieutenant's grasp.

With a grunt, he managed to regain his personal space and sat back in his seat, running a hand through his hair. "Surprised, to say the least." He fixed his lieutenant with a searching stare, "What have you been up to, Matsumoto?"

Rangiku recoiled, a hurt expression crossing her face, "What do you mean? I haven't been doing anything! See? I even did my work for once!" She gestured proudly to her empty desk, grey eyes shining.

"Exactly. Never in the time that I've known you have you willingly done paperwork." His eyes narrowed, "So what's going on?"

Rangiku's smile faltered for a fraction of a second, and Toshiro's frown deepened. "Matsumoto…"

Her head hung down and she looked off to the side, "Head Captain Yamamoto asked for you to come see him at noon." She raised her head to look Toshiro in the eye, "I didn't get the full debriefing, but he said that you may be gone for a while."

Toshiro ran a hand through his hair, "Do you know how long?"

Rangiku fidgeted slightly, "It depends on how quickly you finish the mission. It may only take a month but-" She trailed off, and Toshiro waited. However, the lieutenant seemed reluctant to go on.

He decided to prompt her, "But…?"

She sighed, "But it could take up to seven years."

Toshiro stood up, eyes wide, and the temperature dropped. "Seven years? But the winter war is nearly here! We can't just go sending off captains!" The captain grit his teeth and sat down gruffly, massaging his temples. "What was he thinking?"

The room went silent for a moment, as Toshiro gathered his thoughts and Rangiku waited. Finally, Toshiro rested his head on his hands, "I'm sorry, Matsumoto. Would you happen to know anything else? Perhaps where I'll be going at the very least?"

The lieutenant smiled, "You'll be going to the World of the Living in London, England."

"England?" Toshiro furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't understand, wouldn't someone from the European Division be better suited?"

Rangiku shrugged, "I didn't think about asking that, but I did find out that you won't be going alone." She grinned, and Toshiro raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Who'll be going with me?"

"Rukia Kuchiki."

The room was silent except for the incessant scratching of pen on paper. A small stack of paper sat on the corner of a desk, with a taller one on the other corner. Rukia Kuchiki sat in between the stacks, writing furiously and doing her best to make a dent in the stacks. Her captain was constantly sick, and there still wasn't a replacement for her vice-captain. Thus the squad's paperwork normally fell to lower-ranked shinigami, Rukia included. She leaned back and rubbed at her eyes, stifling a yawn and stretching. Almost done, just a little further and I can go on break for the day.

As she turned back to the stacks of paper, Renji rolled the door open, "Oi, Rukia-" He paused and blinked, taking in Rukia's appearance. Her hair was frazzled and her shihakusho was disheveled. The skin beneath her eyes was dark, and the whites of her eyes were rimmed with red. "...Were you here all night?"

The tired shinigami shrugged and waved a hand in Renji's direction, pushing down another yawn. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. It doesn't matter. Did you need something?"

Renji raised an eyebrow at her reply, and opened his mouth before closing it again, heaving a sigh. "The Head Captain asked for you to come to his office at noon. Something about a transfer."

Rukia pursed her lips, "A transfer?"

He nodded, "Yeah, to London or something like that." Here, he began to scratch the side of his face, "From what I could tell, it could turn into a pretty long transfer." Renji's ornate eyebrows lowered as he looked at his friend seriously, "It might be seven years, Rukia."

The sleepy look in Rukia's eyes was quickly replaced by alarm, "S-seven years? But what about the Winter war?" She bit her thumb and leaned forward, knocking over her pot of ink and cursing under her breath as she grabbed at the papers.

Renji rolled his eyes and bent down to help her gather the papers, "I'm not really sure what the Head Captain's thinking. But it's gotta be an important mission. He's sending Captain Hitsugaya along too."

Rukia looked up from her frantic rescue in surprise, "A captain?" Then she noticed the pool of ink creeping toward another pile of paper and pushed the thought from her mind in favor of a more urgent task.

Rukia walked out of her house at little before noon. After salvaging what papers they could, Renji had demanded that she go get some sleep before seeing the Head Captain. Though she had wanted to stay and finish the paperwork, she couldn't deny that it would be rude to go to the meeting half-asleep, so she had reluctantly bid Renji good luck with the remaining work and left.

That had been at eight, and the air had still been pleasantly cool. Now, the Seireitei had warmed to a much higher temperature and Rukia shifted uncomfortably. Her zanpakutou was ice-based, and as such she was partial to cooler temperatures, though the heat didn't affect her as much as it did those with stronger ice-based weapons.

If I feel this bad, Captain Hitsugaya probably feels worse. Rukia smiled wryly, taking a small comfort in that before using shunpo and arriving at the Head Captain's office. She stood in front of the large doors and dusted off her uniform quickly before knocking. "Head Captain? It's Kuchiki Rukia. You requested a meeting?"

"Yes. Come in, Kuchiki," Came the gravelly reply. Rukia stepped inside, glad of the temperature change, and walked over the the desk. Yamamoto and Toshiro were already seated, Yamamoto looking as inscrutable as usual, and Toshiro with a bland look.

"I hear we're to be assigned on a mission together." Toshiro addressed her in lieu of a greeting.

"As have I." She said as she took her seat and turned to the Head Captain with a questioning look.

"You both have heard correctly. The two of you are being sent to London, England, on a mission of high importance." He nodded to Toshiro briefly, "Now, as Hitsugaya has pointed out to me, this would normally fall under the jurisdiction of the Soul Assembly in Europe. However, there are two difficulties. The first of which being that very few Reapers in their ranks hold the necessary skill set this mission requires, and none of whom are open for a mission of this duration."

Yamamoto held up a hand here, holding off the objections evident on the faces of his audience. "I am aware that there is a possibility of the Winter War arriving shortly. However this second part leaves me to believe that perhaps we can postpone it." Yamamoto's expression turned grave, "This mission falls under our jurisdiction, as the danger comes from our own enemy. Aizen has allied himself with a particularly dangerous soul, one that has been evading the Reapers for at least a decade. A certain 'Lord Voldemort'. If our stealth squads are correct, the two are after an object known as the Sorcerer's Stone created by a human known as Nicholas Flamel and similar in power to the Hogyoku."

Toshiro frowned, "A human created something like that?" The captain realized the redundancy of his question and shook his head, "Nevermind, there are more important matters to discuss. How is this Voldemort still a soul? After a certain amount of time, any soul that does not find its way to a Soul Plane will become a Hollow."

Yamamoto shook his head, "Not exactly. There are humans who are… different. They have high amounts of a different kind of spiritual pressure, one humans know as magic, and their physical bodies become capable of feats similar to our kido. Consistent use of these abilities causes the fabric of their souls to alter, stabilizing it so it may stay indefinitely in the World of the Living."

"M-magic, sir?" Rukia's eyes had widened fractionally, "Are you sure?"

The Head Captain raised an eyebrow, "I've encountered it enough times to be sure, Kuchiki."

Rukia coughed and looked at the table, "Of course, my apologies."

Toshiro glanced at her for a second before flicking his eyes back to the Head Captain, "You said we had a certain skill set necessary for the mission, sir?"

Yamamoto nodded, "You will be going into the World of the Living undercover, and as such you need to blend in. The two of you have latent magic, though it is much more common than would be expected among the Shinigami. What is more important is that you both have the physical characteristics to blend in- pending a few alterations to your gigais- with the first-years you will be enrolling with to enter your base of operations: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

A short silence fell over the room as the news sunk in, and Yamamoto waited expectantly. He sat unsurprised as the two shinigami bit their tongues and showed signs of restrained annoyance, nor when the temperature began to steadily decline.

Before either could gather themselves enough to reply with the respect required to the the Head Captain, a snowy owl glided through an open window and landed in front of them with two thick, off-cream packets clutched tightly in its beak. The bird turned its bright yellow eyes to fix first on Rukia and then Toshiro before it placed the letters down with a screech and tilted its head expectantly at Yamamoto. The wizened Shinigami scratched its head in approval and produced a strip of meat for the bird as he watched his subordinates.

Toshiro picked up his envelope first, followed shortly by Rukia, and the room returned to its normal temperature in the time it took for them to look over the letters.

Rukia finished first, setting the paper down on the table with a gusty sigh. "I guess it can't be helped. It seems we'll be going to school now, Captain Hitsugaya."

Toshiro hummed his agreement absentmindedly, a contemplative look on his face. "Head Captain, how are we supposed to go about finding Aizen and the stone? I find it hard to believe that the humans will just ignore us sniffing around."

Yamamoto nodded, "There won't be a problem there, the HeadMaster of the school is a distant relative and close friend of mine. He has been informed of what is going on and has agreed to lend a helping hand."

The door to the room suddenly rumbled open and startled the three, the younger two falling into ready stances with their hands at their swords, and a tall woman walked in.

She grinned, her yellow eyes shining brightly against her tanned skin and purple hair. "Ne, I heard that there was going to be a mission. Mind if I tag along?"

Toshiro responded with an aggravated look, "Unfortunately, you're a bit too aged to be going on this trip, Ms. Shihouin."

Yamamoto cleared his throat, "Perhaps in this form she would be." He looked at Yoruichi critically, "If she were to accompany one of you in her feline form, however, she might prove to be under sufficient cover."

Rukia blinked, "The letter did say that students may bring pets." She tilted her head, "Owls, cats, or toads, if I remember correctly."

Yoruichi smiled, "Then I might as well come along! Who knows when you'll need me?" She winked, "Now which one of you two wants me as a pet?"

The two shinigami glanced at each other for a moment, neither looking pleased, before both answered with a resounding "No."

Yoruichi faux-pouted and walked closer, propping an arm on either of their heads and leaning down with a pleading look, "Oh, come on! I can't just sit around on my own!" She transformed in a cloud of smoke and appeared as a black cat on the ground in front of them, voice lowered by several octaves, "And who wouldn't want to be with a face like this?"

When neither of the two changed expression, Yamamoto sighed. "Very well, Ms. Shihouin will join Captain Hitsugaya, as her cover is decidedly male."

Toshiro sighed darkly, and Yoruichi walked over, rubbing against him and purring. "Don't worry, we'll have lots of fun, Shiro-chan~" She snickered and ran out of the room, leaving the temperature plummeting as the Tenth Squad captain shook with rage.

Rukia coughed conspicuously, "Well I suppose that matter is settled. I should go and inform my brother and then pack. When will we be leaving?"

Yamamoto sighed, "Be ready and at the Senkaimon by nightfall."

She nodded and left the room. As the door shut, Toshiro regained control of himself and followed suit, excusing himself and leaving the Head Captain's office.

The old shinigami stared at the door, an amused look in his eye and began writing a note:

You and your staff may have your hands full with these two, Albus. They're hard-headed and won't fall into step with your usual students very easily. However, they will protect you with their lives if need be, and will do so for any of the living souls within Hogwarts' boundaries. May they find you well and unharmed, and may you find their presence an unnecessary but comforting precaution.

Yamamoto signed the paper before rolling it and holding it out to the snowy owl, who took the paper in its mouth before blinking long and slow and taking off.

Rukia quickly threw all of her toiletries into a backpack as well as sleeping kimonos, her soul pager, and a pack of Gikongan. I should be able to get everything else once I get there.

When she arrived at the Senkaimon, Toshiro was already waiting for her in his gigai. The substitute body was indeed altered, everything about him seemed softer, which proved to unintentionally soften his expressions as well. His hair was slightly longer, which made it droop and seem more unruly than normal. His eyes were larger in proportion to his face and he was… shorter. Unbidden, a bubble of laughter escaped her, which she cut off promptly- heat rising to her face.

Toshiro shot her an amused look, which disconcerted her more than it would have if he had been annoyed, "Don't forget, my gigai isn't the only one that's changed."

Rukia's eyes widened and she whirled to look at her own gigai, which was propped against a rock. The same alterations were apparent, and she heaved a sigh. "This better be worth it." She muttered before she eased into her gigai and stood, brushing the dust from her clothes and fidgeting as she grew accustomed to the feeling. Gigais that were altered were more uncomfortable to wear than those built to match the soul within, and the more drastic the alterations, the less the soul and body would sync up. It was why she couldn't entirely begrudge the Head Captain for his decision to send them. Most of the souls she knew wouldn't be able to move in a gigai changed to this age. She finished working out the momentary kinks in the artificial body and released an aggravated sigh. That didn't mean she had to like the idea.

Now properly acquainted with the gigai, Rukia met Toshiro's gaze expectantly.

He looked back for a moment before nodding and turning to the Senkaimon, which opened slowly. "We'd better get going, Kuchiki. This could take a while." The air around the two moved, whipping their clothes around behind them as they stepped towards it.

"What about Ms. Yoruichi?" Rukia asked suddenly, looking around.

"She decided to arrive later, to make it less conspicuous." A vein in Toshiro's eyebrow pulsed, "I would tell you when she'd arrive, but she decided not to tell me."

Rukia sighed lightly, and the two fell silent and walked into the Senkaimon. When they walked past the threshold, the shoji doors rolled closed behind them, and with a quiet click, they were gone.

A/N- *phew* there we go. I'm really sorry to anyone who was waiting for an update!

Also, I'd appreciate it if you guys would comment on what you liked or didn't like about the new version of chapter one, for example, if you feel confused about something, or if it doesn't flow right, and give me some advice if you feel I need any. It always helps to get better~

Signing off,

Mixer Monochrome (formerly Hanashi Tokoma, if you got confused ^^;)