"How did I get rallied into this again?" Harry sighed walking along the dirt road, mumbling and grumbling about this atrocity of a mission only rivaled by paper work.

"Ya think I know? All I remember somebody calling me in for a mission briefing and everything else is black." Came the reply from the red-hair tattooed man next to him. He had to look up to see him, his senpai being a very muscular 188 cm tall. His crimson red hair was up into something resembling a pineapple, the source of much teasing in the break room (although rumor had it he was attempting to change it into something less fruit-shaped). Black tribal tattoos covered every visible appendage on his body, and he could only wonder how far they went…

The lone girl of the group scoffed, her somewhat cute features contorting into a look of distaste and contempt associated with full-blooded members of her clan. Or better yet, the Malfoys.

"You can't even remember how you got a mission? No wonder Nii-sama has been so stressed lately." She was rather short, though not the shortest in their merry band of Shinigami standing at about 144 cm. Her eyes were a rather unique (and in his opinion, nice) shade of violet, which managed to complement her raven black hair, only strengthening the resemblance to her adoptive family. She had recently gotten her hair cut to a 'bob' (something he only knew due to his pseudo-membership to the Shinigami Women's Society caused by their odd fascination with him) and he personally liked it better than her old style which made her seem much too serious (not that he was implying anything of course; he still loved Ginny after all, even with his less-than alive status).

"Oh yeah, then exactly how did we get sent on this mission?" his taller companion taunted.

"Easy, Sou-taicho presented us with a mission and we accepted." Harry sweat dropped.

"That's code for you weren't paying attention either, isn't it." Her back straitened and she peddled on ahead, unusually tense, trying to ignore the blush on her cheeks.

The Redhead beside him gave out a hearty laugh, one that sounded like it came from the pits of his abdomen, but did not have any sort of Santa Claus like quality. Instead it sounded like the very pits of 11th division hell, a place he saw once and never wished to see again, he wondered sometimes how Yumichika survived it before he remembered the real nature of the man. But, to think they had to survive that as a Ranking Initiation Ritual…

Were they all on crack or what?

"Oh, this is priceless; the oh so great Kuchiki Rukia, brought down to the levels of low ranking vice-captains." He did an over-dramatized gasp to complete the mockery; while normally they were good friends rumor had it their relationship had become a bit strained in absence of their 'closest' friend, savior of the Soul Society and mystery to much of the Shinigami population (especially the Women's Society); Ichigo Kurosaki. It was apparently justified if the morphing of her embarrassed blush to a flush of angry was any indication.

"Like you have any room to talk Akapine. Or do I need to remind you of the May Second Incident." She snorted, "The magnificent Abarai Renji caught drunk with people as low as 4th seats." She haughtily swung her head to one side in a great impression of Aunt Petunia.

"Hey! You know full well Yumichika and I go way back! And he wasn't even drunk! He was trying to pick up are sorry asses!" Renji's chest swelled with fury over the perceived insult to his friend. Rukia, probably meant no harm to Yumichika; she barely knew him and she wouldn't simply insult him for Renji's sake. She had probably just been trying to get him to shut up (which never turned out well) and forgot that Yumichika was only 5th seat, or that he was involved in the incident.

"My point still stands."

"Like hell it does!"

He held his hands in a placating way, hoping to soothe the tempers of two of the most prideful people in the entire Seireitei before it escalated any further.

"Could you please settle-"

"Shut up." The biting words brought on a sudden chill and they looked toward their last companion, forgetting all arguments in the pregnant silence. "Stop your bickering or I shall freeze you all to death." The 'Hard Ice' captain of the Tenth Squad, Hitsugaya Toshiro glared back at him. Normally the captain (who was not intimidating by any means, at a mere 139 cm and a rather childlike complexion) would have been able to resist the urge to snap their necks. After all, if he didn't have enormous patience he wouldn't have been saddled with Matsumoto as vice-captain. But today was not normal; the heat, the gawkers and a rather tedious mission had left the normally quite friendly taicho (in comparison to others that is) to a state of pure agitation.

They continued on in silence for a little while, simply walking around at a rather sedate pace, three because of fear, and one because of exhaustion. Eventually, Renji decided to break the silence like the (Courageous?) idiot he was. There was no doubt in his mind that Renji would be sorted into Gryffindor if the hat ever landed on his head, if not for bravery then for brashness.

"Hey, um why exactly are we visiting these people?" Rukia sighed.

"We are going to interfere in a dangerous place and build up our hurting ranks with people with potential."

"I still don't see why we have to do this." Akapine put his hands behind his head, prompting her smack him.

"Their Reiatsu is beginning to affect the neighbors!" They stopped in front of a run down shack of a house. It looked as if the world's biggest college party had been held there about 20 years ago and nothing had been cleaned up. The wood was turning black; the metal was rusting, but it still managed to be charming, somehow. Although it was most shocking when put next to the other houses; they followed a Japanese style while this one had more of an English-style to it; Gothic if he really had to give a name. It almost reminded him of his home in Scotland (so McGonagall could make sure her 'little lion' wasn't getting into anything too exciting in his 'retirement'). They walked up the decorative stone path to the front door trying to ignore the explosions and shouting from within the home.

Trying being the key word in that sentence.

"Give it back mutt!"

"Not in 100,000 years Snivilis!"

"Black! You give that back immediately or…"

The noises continued for quite sometime and all the while Harry grew paler as the voices resonated with memories within his mind. This wasn't supposed to happen! But it was happening, and if that laughter was any indication, the house had a lot more than just Sirius and Snape within its walls (he mentally winced in sympathy for the house).

"Uh, do you think, I can um, sit this one out? I'm not feeling well at the moment…" he let out a fit of nervous laughter as Hitsugaya raised one, damnable eyebrow.

"I've seen you take on 3 Grande at the same time, go head to head with Espada and Arrancar, brave to go toe-to-toe with Kuchiki-taicho in one of his 'moods', and survive Orihime's Pot Luck bento. And you're afraid of recruiting new Shinigami with some slightly destructive tendencies?" They all had a slightly incredulous look on their faces and he vehemently shook his head.

"No, no, no! Not at all! It's not necessarily the recruiting I have a problem with, and trust me, it's not just slightly destructive, and anyway the problem is who…" His explanation halted at the sound of the door and he found himself whipping his mask on over his face.

Harry recognized the man at the door, despite him looking decades younger. With sandy brown hair and harsh eyes of a nondescript color, his bulky frame contained all of his limbs excluding the chunk of nose that had apparently been missing since childhood. The 6-foot frame of Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody loomed over them with a power and aura truly awe-inspiring. He was in his prime, and he could suddenly recognize why this man was feared so greatly among his enemies.

"We ain't interested in any of your dang papers so get lost." Rukia shook her head and stopped him from closing the door in their faces; a truly dangerous move when dealing with Mad-eye, but it wasn't like he could warn her.

"We are not here to sell you papers. I am Rukia Kuchiki, the man to my left is Fuku-taicho of the 6th Division Abarai Renji, the man to my right is 10th division Taicho Hitsugaya Toshiro, and the man behind Renji is…" She looked back at her partner to see him in his guard uniform. He wore a mask with slanted eyeholes; covered in red and black fang like markings. There was a thin line for the mouth, two near invisible holes for the nose, and two pointed appendages on both sides representing the ears. He now had his sword on his back instead of on his hip like normal. "The 3rd seat of the Hollow Guard, code name Fang."

The Hollow Guard contains the Shinigami-Daiko(1), the Quincy (though they denied it), human bound Shinigami, the Visoreds (the ones that weren't captains anyway), and any other human with spirit powers that was generally accepted in the Seireitei. They were all positioned in the human world so they could carry out tasks in different areas, or defend different areas; the soul society either couldn't or wouldn't get to with or without endangering the humans of an area, or leaving an area of the Soul Society undefended. Harry was one assigned to a specific district, England. The man at the door eyed them warily.

"What do you want?" He growled, Harry tried to make look unaffected, but it wasn't working to well. Luckily Hitsugaya thought it his turn to speak.

"We are on a mission from Sou-taicho about the people living here and would like to have a word with everyone at the moment." The man nodded.

"I will see what I can do." Mad-eye shut the door and Harry sighed only to be smacked upside the head by Rukia.

"What the hell was that? Putting on your mask so suddenly, what are you thinking! Do you know how intimidating that is! They'll never joining us now!" Harry felt his anger rise over the blush implanted on his face.

"Listen, I know him from the human world! I know whom those voices belonged to, and who else is probably in this house!" he shook his head. "They all died for me in the war. What do you think they would do if they saw that I died, which is not entirely false? What would they say, what would I say? I'm not sure if I can face them now, Rukia." He looked her in the eyes, which was pretty hard considering the mask, and waited. She sighed.

"Well, they're going to find out eventually, though I admit this isn't the best way nor place to explain it to them. But if they're your friends as you implied, they would understand your reluctance to tell them immediately and in this way. They would be very hurt if it wasn't you to tell them." She turned back around and he knew she was right, but he'd wait all the same. He didn't want to tackle this issue when his mind was racing in a million different directions, it would only end in confusion for both parties. He would wait until this mission was finished to some degree and then approach. He hoped. They heard more shouting coming from the inside.

"Shinigami are here from the Seireitei on a mission? Then why the hell is the door closed, let them in Mad-eye!" they heard stomping footsteps and a girl with bright pink hair opened the door with a stunned Mad-eye behind her. "Sorry about Mad-eye he's a bit paranoid. Come in." she said brightly and led them inside. Right down the hallway was what acted as the main room, It was peculiarly round excluding the wall leading to the screened of porch, more American than English. He could see various other hallways leading to a kitchen and a study, as well as a family room, and a door that must lead to a potions lab of some kind. There was a stairway to there right leading up to a loft-like space that probably had all the bedroom, although it looked like someone slept on the couch.

The Backyard had a typical Japanese style garden complete with a walking path and a bird bath. However the traditional image was ruined by the swimming pool (fitted with diving board and water slide) right behind it closest to the tree line.

On the porch Dumbledore and a much younger Remus were playing shogi. He could spot Colin, Fred, and Cedric swimming around in the pool, jumping off the diving board and generally causing a ruckus. Meanwhile a girl with bright-red hair, his mom undoubtedly, was dragging two men, his dad and Sirius, by their ears while another, Snape, followed, frightened behind them. All of them looked around the same age as Remus, Harry noted, although this wasn't odd to him; when most people die they take the form of the age where their most powerful memory resides. That's why you didn't find too many old people around the Soul Society.

Dumbledore made a beckoning motion for them to come over and he felt as if he was a second year again, being called into his office for the very first time. Up close he could notice a few differences in appearance; a few less wrinkles, a shorter beard, some strips of auburn still left in his graying hair. But somehow he managed to look just like Dumbledore he just had a calm patient aura about him, quite similar to Ukitake-sama, er, taicho. Although, granted the neon orange/lime green kimono and the bowl of lemon drops helped a great deal.

"Hello I am Albus Dumbledore." Rukia took to being the spokesperson of the group, more comfortable in the familiar atmosphere.

"Hello I'm Kuchiki Rukia," she pointed to Renji, " the man next to me is Fuku-taicho Abarai Renji…"

"I'm 10th division Taicho Hitsugaya Toshiro and the boy over there is Fang of the Hollow Guard." He finished coldly, wanting to move this along. Luckily, Dumbledore was used to dealing with all types of unruly and unpleasant students and it seemed the rather rude interruption barely made ripples in his koi pond.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Kuchiki-san, Abarai-san, Hitsugaya-taicho, Fang." His eyes seemed to sparkle more as he reached him and Harry had a foreboding feeling. "And while it is nice of you to come visit, you are surely busy people and there must be some purpose to your visit?" Renji decided to grow some balls and speak up for himself.

"Yes, we are here on a, er, request about all of you so for time I would suggest you all listen at once." Renji replied in a polite tone that for whatever reason made his hair stick on end. Polite Renji was just unnatural. Dumbledore nodded in a calm manner and managed to speak over the chaos.

"It seems our visitors have a few important words for us."

'Yeah, a few." He rolled his eyes knowing no one could see him. He diverted his eyes over to Dumbledore's companion.

'Remus…' he was looking back at him as if he could sense his gaze, as if he knew they had met before. His eyes held curiosity mixed with an unknown emotion, was it sadness, hurt? He couldn't tell. He felt his heart leap and he oh so wanted to rip of his mask but fear stopped him. What would happen if he did that now? What would their reactions be to their supposedly alive hero being in the land of the dead? Besides just ripping the mask off like a piece of paper, as if it were no big deal, was not the best way to approach this… unique situation. Before they knew it everyone was in front of them, either sitting or standing. Dumbledore offered them a couple of seats but they declined, it shouldn't take them that long anyway. Rukia sighed, but that didn't make it any easier.

"Exactly how much do you know about Shinigami?" there was a pause before the youngest of them all, Colin Creevy, eagerly answered.

"They are warriors who help spirits pass on and purify hollows." Rukia nodded to say he was right.

"Yes, but there is much more to it then that." She paused to see if they were still following, "Each Shinigami has a special sword called a Zanpakuto. Zanpakuto are extensions of the person's soul and communicate, have names, and even take a solid form on some occasions. Each Zanpakuto has three forms; sealed, Shikai and Bankai, which levels you can use can decide rank, division, and pay." Mad-eye huffed.

"I don't see why any of this is important to know."

"I'm getting there!" Mad-eye's abrasive nature seemed to be rubbing Rukia the wrong way. She took a couple of moments to compose herself. "To keep up each level of Zanpakuto, or really, to have one at all, you need an excess of energy called Reiatsu. Reiatsu, or spirit energy, is gained by spirits upon death and can be used as a basic judgment of the power levels of a soul. Some have so much Reiatsu it can affect the outside world without prompting, like Hitsugaya-taicho's," she motioned to him, "and like yours."

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

"No I am."

"Really? After 20 years you're still saying that?"

"What, it's a good joke!"

Then a full-blown pun war broke out.

"You know, you really shouldn't be Russian through this."

"Well I'm sorry if I can't concentrate."

"Hey, leave my Orange Juice out of this!" (2)

Rukia 'A-hem'd' to get their attention focused on them again.

"It's not just you, don't worry, but your Reiatsu is so strong that the neighbors are beginning to be affected by it. So Sou-taicho has come up with a solution of sorts, or perhaps compromise is better? There is a special academy that trains newly recruited Shinigami. If you go there you will be put through classes to train your Reiatsu and eventually become part of the Gotei 13. If you agree to it. If not then we will simply move you so you do not have any negative effects on the other spirits." She stated matter-of-factly. Suddenly chatter broke out among them and he could distinctly see his dad, Sirius, and Snape arguing again before his mom smacked them upside the head. Dumbledore merely looked thoughtful at the prospect of becoming a Shinigami. He took on a contemplative look, as if weighing the pros and the cons. Eventually he spoke.

"It sounds interesting, becoming a Shingami. What do you think Harry?" everyone in the room turned stock-still and stared. "What do you think about being a Shinigami? Is it worth it?" Harry was silent before he slumped his shoulders.

"How?" he said, sounding a bit sick. Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled with mirth.

"I saw you on one of your escapades during your 5th year. It was actually quite intriguing, how you were able to remove your soul from your body and travel and spy. It was one thing I thought better kept a secret; I knew that neither Mr. Weasley nor Ms. Granger could do such a thing so I kept it to myself for later study." Harry sighed again, taking off his mask.

"I wouldn't have liked it to happen like this, though I suppose it can't be helped. I always had horrible timing, born on the wrong day, walked out at the wrong time, just missing the train, arriving late, arriving early; my bad timing replays over the course of history." Dumbledore laughed while most others stared wide-eyed at him, shocked at his appearance. He laughed sheepishly under their gazes. "I was going to tell you after-"

As if a switch had been flipped everyone, yet again started to talk. His mom was yelling (at him this time), Snape was twitching, Sirius was dancing, His dad was crying (in pride) trying to hide the tears and not succeeding. Fred was laughing and putting an arm around a shell-shocked Cedric, Tonks was congratulating him, Moody, well he really didn't know probably berating him for not being vigilant enough, Colin was all starry-eyed and he suddenly was having flashbacks to 2nd year (cause really, how could a 16-year-old still give that look?).

The others took a step back and couldn't help but wonder at these people's sanity. Then again, the wizarding hocus-pocus they'd seen up until that point fit well with these people. Harry noted, suprised, that even Scrimogeor and Crouch Sr. were there too (though not joining in on the flash-party). All in all even if you couldn't hear it, it was still pretty amusing. Well, to all except a certain 10th division white-haired 10th division Taicho because the temperature managed to drop several degrees.

"Would everyone just shut up!" everyone turned to look at the tiny taicho. "I'm sure that Harry would be more than happy to explain things after we've done our job!" He took a breath and counted to 10 "Now Harry would you…"

"Hit the deck!" Harry tackled Rukia to the ground effectively tripping Toshiro and shoving Renji to where she was. Rukia in response to the ungraceful tackle punched him in the nose. Because of this no one noticed Renji being slammed into by a random blur rendering him unconscious. As if a curtain had been lifted a girl appeared, dressed in miko robes standing on top of the red-head. Her long silver hair flowed down her back and her sapphire blue eyes sparkled like playful does, though he knew she had brains any Ravenclaw would be jealous of. Over her shoulder was the black satchel that she always carried with her, and never seemed to get full. The smile almost permanently planted on her face was ever-present still, her pink lips curving up gracefully.

"Harry, it so good to see you!"

"Um, you do, uh, realize that…" he motioned towards Renji. She looked down and shrugged.

"It's his fault he wasn't paying attention. Besides, he should be able to take this by now, don't you think? With all that 'training' he's doing." smiling again, though this time not as unnerving, she stepped back her posture relaxing and retaining a life-filled look.

"Hello, Harry." She gracefully stepped down off Renji and hop-stepped twice to give him a hug, as she always did. "It's been a while since I saw you last! What have you been up to?"

"Ah, Miss Kaguran, it is quite nice to see you again, have you been well?" Her head snapped toward his voice, somewhat startled. (3)

"Professor Dumbledore?" He chuckled.

"My dear, who else might you think I am?" She seemed to finally look around her.

"Cedric! Colin!" she barreled into him, a traditional Hufflepuff greeting (in her words at least). She emphatically rubbed her, um, emphatic chest into his. She spun Colin around, who was not at all fazed by her appearance. She stopped suddenly with an unreadable expression.

"Fred?"

"Ora?" They stared at each other for a long while, and he remembered with sudden clarity her face as she held his body, Percy and George close behind.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She whipped around, shaking herself out of her trance.

"The others are off on missions and stuff, so I got with delivery duty today." After the debacle with the 12th divisions spying equipment, most of the really important messages were handled by the Guard instead of by Hell Butterflies. After all, they invented them, who knows what kind of equipment they might have installed into them (4)?

A groan sounded from the right and Renji got up rubbing his head in pain.

"Then what the 'ell are ya doin' here!"

She cleared her throat in a professional manner.

"It has been decided by the Gotei, quite unanimously with Byakuya in the 4th and quite unable to do anything about it, that you would make an excellent Fuku-taicho." Rukia stared gob smacked at her. "All Taicho's, Fuku-taicho's, and otherwise important people are to be present at the 1st division quarters at precisely 7:30 AM tomorrow for the induction of Kuchiki Rukia as Fuku-taicho of the 13th."

They stared for a second at her.

"I-I- this- no way- I'm not-"

"Congratulations." And she disappeared.

Awkward silence descended over them.

"So about, um, Reiatsu, or was it Zanpakuto…"

"It's quite alright, I think we know enough to make our own decisions now. What are your decisions?"

Fred stared off into space, "sure."

"Totally! Then I can kick some butt like Harry and-"

"I'm alright with it."

His father, Remus and Sirius looked at each other for a long moment.

"Together forever?"

"The Marauders Mischief is never managed!"

"And someone has to be there to keep you in line."

"I am only doing this because I hate being in the same house as the mutt."

His mother leveled her gaze at him. "This could have many benefits for us." The others murmured or otherwise stated their agreement.

"So I suppose its settled then." Pictures of Kings Cross Station filtered through his mind, all the information revealed to him there.

"You don't have to Professor Dumbledore." They all looked at him. "After all that's happened, it's your choice, there are other ways to do this. You don't need to." Dumbledore gave him a serious look.

"I am aware, but," he looked off a little ways, "but, I suppose it just wouldn't feel right to spend the rest of my time here doing nothing. To truly put my heart to rest, I know I must do this. 'Death is but the next great adventure' I said that to you so many years ago. It wouldn't be right to change my words now." The stared at each other, as equals, "I have decided, we have. I simply can't imagine doing anything else, if your their already, all the better."

And Harry was reminded, of all the good the unexpected could bring.

(1): The Japanese term (or fan term) for representative shinigami, I find it sounds more rythmic and professional compared to Representative Shinigami.

(2): A story now infamous around the Seireitei, often used in Drinking Songs and Funeral Afterparties (and before parties). The orange juice is a long story, of the misfortunes of Sirius and his poor, poor oranges. No one is quite sure what happened to this day, and all that is now known is that it left McGonagall laughing for weeks to come.

(3): Those well versed in Japanese lore, or have watched Chuggaaconroy's Okami-den let's play should know that Miko are essentially shrine maidens who are said to have mystical powers of exorcism, divination, ect. not completely different skills from wizards. I got Kaguran from Kagura, the place from which miko's are said to originate, Ora is short for Fioralba, an Italian name coming from "Fiora" and "Alba" meaning flower and dawn respectively.

(4): I do believe it was mentioned somewhere, that the 12th division created Hell Butterflies under Urahara.

hello everyone! Finally finished this, a rewrite of my most lengthy one-shot! It was a pain but it needed to be done.

Meanwhile each of my 'stories' is getting CRAZY. One Piece is flying all over the place, Naruto is (obviously) in an absolute riot between Tsunade and Tobi, and then of course there's Bleach (I thought you stopped being a pussy last arc Ichigo).

That thing with Byakuya dying, total crap, why would he (Kubo) kill off one of the main characters when we have barely seen any of them do anything after the timeskip? We haven't had enough time to make it matter (so its either a trick or BS writing). The thing with the vice-captain is different, his death was used to learn more about other characters and further the plot, as well as our understanding of the plot. So far, Byakuya's death has done nothing but outrage the fangirls and a nice portion of the sensible fanbase as well.

Finally, anyone willing to draw a cover for this is perfectly welcome to do so (I've been meeting to but I don't know how, lol).

Anyway Ta-ta for now.