Burn Me With Fire was giving me headaches, and somehow this happened.

The Tri-ni-Set- the force that safeguards life, death, and rebirth in all the countless Earths scattered throughout the multiverse- is comprised of the Vongola Rings, the Mare Rings, and the Arcobaleno Pacifiers, this is a known fact.

The Vongola Rings, when used to their fullest capacity, can move vertically through time. Giotto, the founder of the Vongola Vigilante group, (which would eventually come to be known as the Vongola Famiglia, and the Vongola Boss would be referred to as the 'Boss of all Bosses'), had been gifted the set of rings by the ancient being Sepira. Fearing the damage that could be done with such power, Giotto split the power of the rings between the Vongola main family and the CEDEF before he retired to Japan.

The Mare Rings, when used to their fullest capacity, can move laterally through time. Sepira's descendants were able to use this 'miracle' due to the prophetic gift that she passed down to her descendants, Giglio Nero Famiglia bosses had always come from Sepira's line, though not all of them were bosses, some were simply Famiglia members. Intrinsically understanding that such information could cause great harm to those that were unable to cope with such vast information, (such as the madness that that one incarnation of Byakuran Gesso descended into in that one particular timeline), the holders of the Mare Rings guard them fiercely, lest the delicate balance of the Tri-ni-Set overbalance and tip the world into chaos and destruction.

The Arcobaleno Pacifiers are perhaps the most difficult to administer and more than likely that was why Kawahira had been left with the task instead of Sepira.

(Kawahira had no particularly strong positive feelings for the humans, unlike Sepira, and their Master had likely seen that Sepira would allow herself to become overinvolved and fail if the duty was left to her- a fact that angered and saddened her greatly in equal parts.)

The Curse reverted the bodies of the I Prescelti Sette to that of toddlers due to the fact that their Flames were being constantly used to sustain the Pacifier's role as a fixed point in Time and Space. The strain of trying to maintain a fully grown human body, the Pacifier, and the use of Flames in general would cause the soul, (the source of the Flames), to be in a state of constant duress and therefore cause constant strain to the body. This set of circumstances would cause the body to try to shut down in an act of self-preservation, which would force the Flames to try to fix the problem, which would only exacerbate the issue, and ultimately the person would die at a very young age. The smaller body allowed the chosen Arcobaleno to maintain their Pacifier, use their Flames, and maintain the strength of their adult form without the side-effect of burnout.

(Admittedly it seems strange that their child bodies would be able to maintain their former strength, but the simple answer is that smaller means compact and therefore less strain.)

However all of the Arcobaleno were once adults and Kawahira had no use for Arcobaleno who went mad from the strain of being in a child's body. Sky Arcobaleno were hard to find but most of them chose to live shorter lives and keep their adult forms, (especially those from Sepira's line who also held the Mare Rings- holding two parts of the Tri-n-Set was a ridiculous strain), while the other six elements were not given a choice.

To help keep them sane, (and therefore not needing to retake their Pacifiers and find replacements, as the elements had to be unilaterally replaced as opposed to the Sky), Kawahira allowed a reprieve for them once certain conditions were met- three days in their adult forms. It never happened more than once a decade, but it was something for them to look forward to, at least.

Kawahira's brand of kindness left much to be desired, but he did care in his own convoluted way.

(Of course, on one world this little bit of kindness would cause quite a ruckus.)

Harry Potter was a ridiculously small, eerily obedient, and alarmingly silent child.

At least, that was what Dr. Shamal had observed in his week at Little Whinging Primary.

There was something that nagged at him though, something about the quiet child that tingled in the back of his mind, going so far as to distract him from his favorite past time of hitting on every able-bodied female in the vicinity. Shamal scrubbed a hand over his face irritably and leaned back in his chair to stare out the window. He had a series of assassinations in England to perform over the next year and this job was the perfect cover as none of the targets actually lived in this area- close, but not exactly.

Shamal's eyes narrowed as he watched a large blonde boy and his goons corner the little black haired-boy and proceed to beat the crap out of him. His eyes narrowed further later that afternoon when he heard the teachers gossiping about how 'that Potter brat' was 'such a menace' and other nonsense.

What was wrong with these people?

It had been six months since Shamal had taken this job and he really wondered what the fuck these people were on.

Using his position as the school's Medical Officer he had become quite fond of Harry Potter and conversely, he had become not-fond of just about everyone else in Little Whinging.

Watching as the little brunette was once again cornered by the Whale and Horse's offspring Shamal mentally began to review the reasons why he should not get involved, (meaning why he shouldn't just accident the Dursley family and whisk little Harry away to a family that wanted the sweet little boy). The list was growing shorter by the day, and all of his reports on the situation seemed to be getting misplaced, which only made the paranoid assassin in him twitchy.

Shamal had just resigned himself to getting out the First Aid kit, (he had learned to not step in directly as the attention only made little Harry's treatment worse), when everything that had been festering in the back of his mind suddenly snapped into crystal-clear focus.

Oh.

Oh.

For Harry had just disappeared.

To everyone else it would seem that one moment the boy was there and the next moment he wasn't but Shamal knew better and had seen what had caused the incident as well as to why the boys who had been happily beating on little Harry were now dazed and disoriented.

Sun Flames.

The brat had Sun Flames.

Sun Flames strong enough to Activate an escape at the age of eight.

Shit.

Shamal was already halfway out his office door and dialing his cell phone.

*Ring* *Ring*

"Ciaossu." A squeaky voice answered.

"Reborn." Shamal said with a calm he most certainly did not feel at the moment, "When was the last time you were allowed a Reprive?"

There was a beat of silence and then, "I assume you have a reason for asking?"

Shamal spotted the black haired boy on the roof and quickly threw up an illusion to keep others from noticing him as he made his way towards the child, "There is an eight year old who just used Sun Flames to Activate an escape at the school that I am using for a cover. Has messy black hair and some of your features if you know to look." The assassin said wryly.

There was a sharp intake of breath, "Name?"

"Harry James Potter."

There was muted muttering on the other end of the line for a moment before a clearly voiced, "Where are you?"

"Little Whinging, England. I take it there is a possibility?"

"James and Lily Potter were vacationing in Italia during my last Reprieve and they were ah, experimenting. We were careful, but…" The squeaky voice trailed off hesitantly.

Shamal's voice was grim, "There's always a possibility." Shamal sighed and hesitated, but ultimately tacked on, "Look, Reborn this kid- well, the mafia life would be an upgrade for him at this point."

There was a beat of silence on the line before the voice spoke firmly, "It's mid-morning there. I'll be there in less than four hours. Do what you need to do, but don't let him leave."

"Understood."

Harry Potter was having a terrible day.

First he hadn't made breakfast just right and his Aunt had whacked him over the head with the skillet, then Dudley had stolen his homework, (again), and turned it in to the teacher who had accepted it, (as if Harry and Dudley's handwriting looked anything alike).

Then he hadn't even managed to make it to Dr. Shamal's office for recess. The man had become his hero in the last half year, believing Harry and actually giving a damn about him. The man was weird, sure, and the ladies in Aunt Petunia's gossip club seemed to vacillate between hating him for his 'incorrigible ways' and loving his 'mysterious aura', but Harry thought that Dr. Shamal was pretty much the coolest person ever. He gave Harry food, helped him with his homework, and didn't seem to mind letting Harry hide in his office during free periods.

So, here he was, stuck on the school roof while it was threatening to rain, wondering if the day could get any worse.

"Harry?" Dr. Shamal's voice called from the ground.

Harry's stomach plummeted and he started to shake a little- He won't want anything to do with me if he knows I'm a Freak!- he wailed mentally as he tried to come up with a viable excuse as to why he was on the roof.

"Hey, brat, calm down. Breathe in through your nose and then out through your mouth."

Harry followed the advice, pleasantly surprised when it did help calm him down, "D-Dr. Shamal?" he asked shakily.

Shamal, who had managed to find a way just under the young boy tipped his head back and grinned, "Maa, jump brat, I've got you."

It wasn't a far drop, only about a story and a half, but to Harry it was like jumping out of an airplane and had it been anyone else asking he wouldn't have ever considered jumping, but Dr. Shamal hadn't led him wrong yet, so Harry lined his too-big sneakers up at the edge and gulped down one more fortifying breath, "O-ok. You'll catch me, right?"

Shamal did his best to smile reassuringly, "I've got you, brat." Because if you are Reborn's kid, I don't want to die. The Doctor thought wryly, carefully pushing the slight vindictive glee at the thought of the Dursley's having to deal with the volatile, possessive hitman to the back of his mind as the expression that wanted to burst forth would not reassure the child on the roof.

Harry nodded shakily, closed his eyes, and forced himself to take a step forward-

Thentherewasonlyemptinessbeneathhimandhewasgoingtodie-

Then strong arms were around him along with Dr. Shamal's familiar scent.

Harry opened his eyes hesitantly, not really believing that someone had caught him, and his green eyes met Dr. Shamal's amused hazel ones. "Have a nice trip?" the Doctor asked cheekily as he swung Harry around to stand on his own feet.

Harry grinned at the man as he tried to make his legs support his weight, "It was brilliant. I might take up skydiving as an occupation."

Dr. Shamal laughed as he led them back into the main building, "I'm not catching you if you voluntarily jump out of a fully functional plane, brat."

The next few hours passed pleasantly, Dr. Shamal taking a few samples of Harry's blood and a mouth swab, but Harry was so thankful that the man hadn't demanded an explanation as to why he was on the roof that he just sort of went with the flow of things. Dr. Shamal had apparently decided that Harry was his 'assistant' for the day and had told Harry's teacher as much when the woman had come to complain about the boy not being in class.

Dr. Shamal had gotten a phone call at some point, but had moved out of hearing range and Harry was quite accomplished at the art of not listening.

It was nearing four and Harry knew that he had to get back home or his Aunt would kill him for real that the door to the office swung open and a toddler, dressed in a nice looking suit with a bright yellow pacifier on a necklace walked into the room.

"Shamal." The suit-wearing baby with the strange hat greeted in a squeaky voice, but most of Harry's attention was fixed on the curly sideburns. How does he get them to curl like that? The boy wondered confusedly.

Dr. Shamal poked his head out of his office door and nodded at the baby, "Reborn."

Then Harry was the focus of two piercing stares and all of a sudden all he wanted to do was hide.

"Hm," The baby said at length, "This will take a while."

"E-Excuse me." Harry wetted his lips nervously as he inched towards the door, toddler-sized or not that baby was dangerous and he wanted out of here, "I-I need to get home now."

Something like approval flashed through the baby's black eyes and Shamal grinned, "You have good instincts, little one."

Harry stopped inching towards for a moment, his curiosity temporarily overpowering his common sense, "What?"

The toddler smiled, though it looked more like a smirk, "Tell me, have you ever done anything strange? Something unexplainable?"

Harry's heart lurched in his chest. What do I say?

The toddler's eyes narrowed, "Do not lie to me, little one."

Harry gulped nervously, absently noting that Dr. Shamal had taken a mouth swab of the toddler while the conversation had been happening and disappeared, "I-ah-I mean-"

The toddler stared a little harder at Harry before sighing and holding out a hand, "Watch." The young child ordered.

Harry was confused for a moment, but then he squeaked in surprise and scrambled backwards in alarm as yellow fire covered the toddler's hands. "Why are you on fire?" He yelped in distress.

Please leave a review on your way out.