SleepyMangaHead, this chapter is dedicated to you! Please read the review reply at the bottom... because I'm sure you're confused as to why. *Sweat drop*

Hermione found Harry seated in the library in the middle of writing a lengthy reply to Kurama's latest letter.

"If only you'd dedicate this much attention to your school work," she teased him. "What are you writing about?"

Harry didn't even glance at Hermione as he replied. "Kurama and I are trading stories. I asked him to tell me all about the Dark Tournament - gruesome stuff, by the way - and in return I'm telling him about the Triwizard Tournament."

"Just the Triwizard events, or... the graveyard too," she asked.

"Everything. He told me about a lot of stuff that he didn't have to-"

'That bastard Karasu is lucky he's dead or I'd-'

"So," Harry interrupted Kuronue before he could go off on a tangent. "I'm doing the same."

"Oh," the young witch said, simply. "Are you going to tell him about all your adventures?"

"We're trading story-for-story, so when he tells me something, then I tell him in return. So it'll probably end up that way." Harry said.

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "Does this mean... well, if it comes up," she hesitated, "that you'll tell them about the Dursleys?"

This time Harry paused his writing, his quill still on the parchment. He didn't respond immediately, instead turning to look Hermione in the eye.

"I don't think it'll come up-"

"But what if it does, Harry? Are you going to tell him the truth?" She cried.

"You actually want me to tell him how weak I am!" Harry stood up and shouted.

"Weak?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes weak," Harry said less loudly, but just as upset. "Let him see how Harry Potter, hero of the Wizarding World, can't even handle a few muggles!"

Harry paused and took a breath. "He'd never let any humans push him around. How could I ever let him know that I let non-magical humans do it to me every summer?"

Hermione put her hand on his shoulder to try to calm him down. "Harry, the only reason you let them get away with how they treat you is because you have to. It's not that your're too weak to handle them. It's that you're strong enough to take them."

Harry took in a few breaths to calm down, but he still didn't look entirely convinced.

"And besides," Hermione continued. "Kurama told you about his love for his human mother, which is also a weakness. Even though the situations are different, you can still see the similarities between them, right?"

Harry hesitated before nodding. "I guess."

He sat back down in the chair and picked up the quill again, but didn't continue writing.

"If it comes up I won't avoid it. I won't be happy about telling him, and I probably won't tell him much unless necessary... But I'll tell him. I promise."

xXx

A few weeks pass by, the Easter holidays are almost upon the students of Hogwarts. By now Harry and Kurama have completely traded stories of their adventures. Harry ended up telling Kurama about each of his years at Hogwarts (and thus his status as the boy-who-lived), up to his current year, plus a few extra tales, such as his experience at his cousin's birthday at the zoo where he accidentally vanished the glass and released a large Boa Constrictor out of its enclosure. While Kurama told Harry about everything from stealing the mirror of Forlorn Hope and meeting Yusuke, to the Demon World tournament, plus the side story of how he met Hiei.

Harry had just finished reading Kurama's latest letter. In Harry's previous one, he had mentioned that he would be having Easter holidays soon, and Kurama had suggested that they use that time to meet up. Kurama could make it to London in a few days in his Youko form.

Harry knew that just saying that he wasn't going home for the holidays would raise a few questions, and he'd rather not make himself look suspicious. It would be better to tell Kurama outright why he has issues with his muggle relatives, than to have Kurama possibly draw the wrong conclusions and ruin the relationship they've developed over the last several weeks.

'Kuronue, how am I supposed to tell him?' Harry asked, helplessly.

'Harry, Kurama will understand. We both grew up in Demon World and know what it's like to be treated like dirt by some lower class scum who should be licking your boot.' Kuronue said.

'Not exactly the same situation...' Harry argued.

'Exactly. You can't do anything because the law forbids it, and you're not strong enough to do against the law... yet.'

Harry mentally raised an eyebrow at the last part.

'The point is,' Kuronue continued. 'you're smart enough to wait to do something, instead of doing it and getting in trouble. And like your friend said, you're strong enough to handle it. Hell, you never even whined about it. You're not weak, Harry. And Kurama won't see you as weak either. Trust me. If I don't, he won't.'

Harry sighed, but wrote out the letter anyway.

Kurama,

Harry here. While I am dying to meet up with you, I really am, and I'm glad that we've progressed far enough in trust that you feel comfortable doing so, there is something that I have to be honest about.

What I'm about to tell you...This is something that I have a hard time talking about to even Hermione and Ron, let alone writing it to you. I hope that what I'm about to tell you won't change your view of me and see me as weak... especially after all of the dilemmas I got myself out of.

Okay. Here goes.

I never go 'home' unless I have to. You already know all about how my parents died and I was left with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin. I also told you about how my cousin is a prat.

But that wasn't even the half of it.

You see, my relatives really hate anything that has to do with magic. In fact, they try to appear as normal as possible. So with me being a wizard, I put a damper on their image of 'normalcy,' according to them.

If they could get rid of me year 'round and never see me again, they call me 'boy' or 'freak' and insult both me and my parents. They tell me about how they never wanted me and were stuck with me and that I should be grateful that they took me in. They initially told me that my parents were drunks who died in a car crash and that was where I got my scar. When I go 'home' I'm either ignored, or put to work (or bullied by Dudley).

My cousin torments me and they do nothing to stop him. They even Encourage it! He and his friends used to play a game called Harry Hunting... I'd rather not explain. But I'm really good at running because of it.

My aunt used to make me do chores all day, and still does when I'm there for the summer. They make me cook, but don't give me my fair share - I get less than half a plate, while my cousin gets at least two plates full (I wish I was joking, but I swear on my magic that I'm not). I know I told you he was spoiled, but that really doesn't even cover it. My cousin was always huge for his age, and yet they used to give me his old, gigantic clothing for me to wear, while he'd get new things. I used to salvage his broken or unwanted toys, while they bought him everything new.

My uncle used to scream at me and throw me in my room - which was a cupboard under the stairs until I was ten and got my Hogwarts letter, so they put me in Dudley's second bedroom - if I ever mentioned the word 'magic' or did anything 'freaky,' which I found out later was accidental magic.

I'm not abused or anything, so it could be worse. But I hate being there with people who think they're superior to you. You know how I feel about people like that. But it's worse because unlike with Malfoy, I don't have a way of fighting back. I'm too young to use magic outside of school, and I can't even pretend that I can because they know that's not true.

I know that it makes me look weak because I can't retaliate, no matter what Hermione or Kuronue say, but I hope that I don't change too much in your eyes.

This was hard for me to write, but I hope you understand. I honestly wouldn't have told you about them, but I know you'd want to know the reason why I wasn't going 'home' for the holidays.

I only hope that this doesn't ruin whatever we had between us. If it did, well, at least you and Kuronue could still talk. I wouldn't get in your way.

- Harry

Harry quickly folded it and gave it to Hedwig before he could change his mind.

xXXx

Kurama was in his kitchen washing dishes when the owl flew through the window with Harry's letter. Excited, Kurama quickly finished up and took the letter.

His parents were out to dinner and his step brother, Shuichi, was at a friend's house, so he had no worries about any of his family seeing the owl.

As he opened it and began to read the first two paragraphs, he became concerned. He wondered what Harry could possibly be hesitant to tell him about.

He kept reading, and then began to understand. Harry was ashamed that people were allowed to mistreat him like this and he didn't have the power to stop it. Kurama now understood why Harry never mentioned his relatives too much in his letters - usually they were short, cold and factual little details; nothing like how he described his friends, or even his rivals.

While Kurama, through letters, knew Harry to be honest, he was cautious about these things, and decided to research Harry's claims, hoping them to be an exaggeration if only for his own sake. He'd hate to know that he'd really be leaving Harry in such conditions.

Kurama decided that Koenma would be able to find out about Harry's claims. He told the owl to wait in his room until he returned.

xX

Kurama waited outside Koenma's office, until he could be seen. He only had to wait a few minutes before being allowed in.

Koenma looked up from his pile of paper work.

"Kurama," he greeted. "What can I do for you?"

Kurama gave a small bow. "Koenma, I am in need of your assistance."

"Oh?" The toddler-bodied ruler questioned; curious as to what Kurama could possibly need his help with.

"Yes," Kurama confirmed. "You have the ability to find out the information I need the quickest and easiest."

Koenma nodded for Kurama to continue.

Kurama sighed, but decided to tell Koenma everything from the beginning.

"A couple of months ago I got a letter by owl-"

Koenma's eyes widened a bit.

"I already knew about the Wizarding World before this," Kurama said with a slightly annoyed tone.

Koenma gave a nervous laugh. "Of course. Right. Erm, continue."

"The letter was from a wizard who claimed to have found out that his past life was an old partner of mine from Demon World, Kuronue, a bat youkai."

He paused so that Koenma could think over how Harry could have felt.

"Harry was able to establish a mental link with Kuronue. They act both as two separate beings, and yet as one. Anyway, both had expressed, in their letter, a desire to meet me. I gave them a test, several deeply personal questions that only Kuronue would know - they were answered not only accurately, but also just as equally personal. I was inclined to believe them, and still am. So over the last several weeks we have been corresponding with each other; not just Kuronue and I, but also the wizard, Harry, and I."

Kurama stopped once again so that Koenma could process everything.

"Oookay," the prince said, thinking everything over. "So what exactly is the problem?"

"Well, he had mentioned to me that he had a small break for Easter coming up. So I suggested that he return home for the break and I could travel to London to meet him. But, something unexpected came up."

Kurama handed Koenma the letter. Koenma read it and a look of understanding crossed his face.

"You want to see if it's really true," he said more than asked.

Kurama nodded. "Harry seems honest to me, but to make such accusations and not do anything about it... And if it is truthful, then I intend to do something about it."

Koenma nodded. "Very well. This isn't something too big, so I can help you with it. What's Harry's full name? I'll have one of my assistants pull up the files on him and his family."

This is the part where Kurama had to make sure he didn't smirk as he said the name. "Harry Potter."

x

All Ogres and Ferry girls stopped momentarily as they heard the high-pitched voice of their boss scream out "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"

It shook the entire building and lasted only about three seconds, but everyone stayed motionless for at least ten, before going back to their jobs.

X

"Harry Potter?!" Koenma's voice continued at a less-louder level. "As in Harry Potter, child-of-prophecy-to-defeat-Tom Riddle/Voldemort! That Harry Potter?!"

"Yes," Kurama answered calmly.

Koenma took a few breaths to calm down and thought it over. "A youkai soul... past life... this explains so much."

Kurama raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, believe me. Blood sacrifices may be powerful, but even they can't fight the killing curse, fully." Koenma answered Kurama's unspoken question. "The killing curse separates the soul from the body. The sacrifice acts as a layer of defense so that the victim has the chance to stay alive, but it doesn't necessarily keep them alive, especially an infant. But with Kuronue's influence... yes, now it makes sense."

"Will you still aid me?" Kurama asked.

"Hmm?" Koenma refocused. "Of course! If Harry Potter is living in such conditions they must be rectified at once."

xXXx

Hermione once again found Harry in the library, but this time, instead of writing, he was laying his head on the table, sighing every so often.

The young witch shook her head as she approached him. She sat down in the chair next to him, but he didn't respond to her presence.

"What happened, Harry?" She whispered.

He turned his head and looked at her through curtains of black hair. "Never have I been so annoyed to have Easter Holidays."

That was all he said. Hermione raised an eyebrow. Harry sighed but explained the situation.

Hermione stayed quiet as Harry expressed that not only had he told Kurama about the Dursleys, he had opened up his heart and spilled it all out - how it wasn't just that they were 'mean' to him, but that they hated him, all of the things they made him do, what they allowed his cousin to get away with...

Harry was so frustrated it looked like he was close to breaking down and sobbing, which was very unusual for her friend. She knew that if Kurama reacted negatively to this, it would no doubt shatter both Harry's and Kuronue's heart. She could only lean over and hug him, holding him close and assuring him that everything would be okay.

xXx

"Koenma, sir. I've brought Harry Potter's Cinematic Life Record," a young Ferry Girl with red hair and glasses announced as she entered the room.

She passed what looked like a regular VHS tape, with the name 'Harry James Potter' written on it, to Koenma.

"Thank you, Chiki," he dismissed her.

The young woman bowed and left.

"Cinematic Life Record?" Kurama questioned.

"Yes. Every being has one," Koenma explained. "It's basically a tape that shows a person's life. Not their entire life - every minute of every day - but a collaboration of what their life was pretty much like, day after day, along with any significant moments. Think of it like the concept of someone's life flashing right before their eyes, except that in this case, it's us seeing it, instead of them."

A large television in the shape of an eye appeared in front of the desk, and a VCR seemed to pop out of nowhere. Koenma pushed the tape in and pressed play.

It of course started from the day of Harry's birth. Koenma grabbed the remote and started to fast forward to when Harry was left with his relatives.

Kurama watched a sped up version of Harry's brief life with his real parents. One might think he felt guilty invading Harry's personal life like this, but Kurama knew that it was for a good reason. The fox also took this as an opportunity to really get to know Harry, as letters could only tell so much; it was like a way to bond with the wizard, and Kurama promised himself to make it up to Harry later... without actually telling him what he did, of course.

"Huh," Kurama heard Koenma muse and press play. Harry wasn't at the Dursley's yet. Instead, he was still at Gordric's Hollow in the arms of his mother... with Voldemort on their tail.

As the evil man neared the room, Lily whispered feverishly to her son. Harry was upset and confused as she put him in the crib and turned towards the door. It opened with a slam and a dark-robed figure stepped into the room.

He demanded that she hand over her son. She refused and begged him to kill her instead. He told her that he would spare her life if she stepped aside. She refused again. Finally, Voldemort decided to just kill her as well. He cast the killing curse on her.

Koenma peered closely at the screen after that. Kurama looked deeply as well. After Lily's death a golden hue began to circulate around the child. Voldemort, in his arrogance, did not sense a change, and raised his wand.

Kurama watched young Harry closely and noticed a deep purple aura coming from him, different from Harry's golden one. When the dark one cast the curse, the golden hue acted as the first line of defense, slowing it down and even decreasing some of its power. Then, as the remaining power in the curse headed for Harry, the purple aura completely engulfed the golden one. His green eyes turned dark blue, his hair tinted blue as well, and his features briefly shifted into Kuronue's bat-like appearance.

When the spell finally hit, the purple aura pulsed, and seemed to use all of its force to reject the spell, and sent it flying back toward its caster. Voldemort screamed as the killing curse came hurdling back towards him, and actually hit him. His body seemed to disintegrate.

The purple aura around Harry faded until no evidence was left that it had even been there. Harry's features returned to normal, and he regained control over his body.

Koenma paused the tape.

"I had always wanted to look into the Harry Potter case, but my father had already handled it and denied me access to it. I had regarded it as an interesting phenomenon, but now it all makes sense." Koenma said. "Anyway, let's continue."

He fast-forward through the discovery of Voldemort's defeat, and up to Dumbledore placing him on the steps of the Dursleys.

"Here we go," Koenma mumbled as he clicked play.

It was early in the morning, the milkman had already come and a woman came out from inside the house - Harry's Aunt, obviously - to collect it. As soon as she opened the door and looked down, she gasped in fright and actually slammed the door. She could be heard from outside of the house screeching "Vernon!".

A few minutes later the door opened again and she reluctantly took the child inside. She read the note that was left with Harry and started to yell about 'magical freaks leaving their trash with them' and how she told her sister 'not to associate with their lot, and now she's gone got herself blown up'.

Young Harry began to cry but instead of comforting him the man, who was apparently her husband 'Vernon,' took the child and put him in the cupboard under the stairs, so they wouldn't have to deal with him.

The woman wouldn't stop raving until another infant's wail rang through the house and the woman stopped mid-rant and ran upstairs, cooing to the off-screen child as she ran.

Kurama was already looking upset, but Koenma urged him on since this was not enough evidence to support Harry's claim yet. The fox youkai internally groaned, but agreed.

They continued to watch Harry's life go by, which turned more miserable each day. They kept the cupboard as Harry's room. As soon as he was able to grasp things and walk decently the aunt, now identified as 'Petunia,' would have him do chores around the house with her, including cleaning and cooking. She spoiled his cousin, 'Dudley,' while Harry got whatever was left over, or meager in comparison.

Harry had to secretly salvage things that Dudley didn't want, for as soon as he expressed a desire to have them, the spoiled child would want it back, then go back to not playing with it.

Harry's cousin ate seconds, while Harry sometimes didn't even get firsts. Harry endured his uncle's screaming purple face at something he couldn't control.

Kurama's heart broke at each memory he viewed, and yet he still wanted to watch them all, if only to know that Harry would be okay in the end.

After several more, similar memories, including the snake one that Harry had told Kurama about, came the one where Harry finally got to Hogwarts. Even Kurama thought that the castle was beautiful, for something made by humans.

Kurama watched each of Harry's years at Hogwarts, remembering Harry telling him about each event in his letters. He also saw extra memories such as the break out from his relatives' house, the chaos at the Quidditch World Cup, and the Department of Mysteries.

Then finally, came this year.

The teacher of the Care of Magical Creatures class, Hagrid, had shown them a silver fox that he had found injured in the Forbidden Forest. He had spent several weeks healing it and the fox had finally warmed up to him enough that he could show it to the class. The moment that Harry saw it, Kurama could see something in his eyes flash in pain; he knew that it was Kuronue's influence.

The next series of happenings were all about people trying to cure Harry of his depression through various ways, some of which were quite comical - last he checked drinking hot sauce while doing a handstand was a cure for hiccups, not depression.

Then came the potions class that changed everything. They brewed the Potion of a Past Life, and that was where/when Harry discovered Kuronue.

After that showed Harry and his friends performing the ritual which would allow Harry to talk to Kuronue.

Harry and Kuronue drafting their first letter to Kurama...

Anxiously awaiting Kurama's reply, then whooping for joy when it finally came and was a positive response.

Several more memories.

Present - Harry being deeply afraid that Kurama will reject him because he'll be seen as a weakling.

The tape turned to static.

Koenma had been noting each memory of abuse and compiled a list of the instance and the date.

"I'll get this taken care of. You, reply to Harry already before he has a conniption!" Koenma ordered before running off.

Kurama headed back home as quickly as possible.

The owl was still in his room when he arrived. He brought some bread for it from the kitchen. It snacked on it while Kurama wrote out a reply.

xXx

Several days later, in the Great Hall at breakfast, Harry saw his reply from Kurama approach him. His heart was in his throat as he watched it come closer and closer. Hermione took his hand and squeezed it in reassurance, while Ron leaned over and put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

The owl landed and Harry took the letter. He held his breath as he opened the envelope and read.

Harry,

You are braver then I could have ever imagined. I know that it takes a lot to admit something like this. Just ask Kuronue. We have both gone through similar hells that we will fight tooth and nail not to discuss.

I feel honored that you care enough about me that you wanted to tell me the truth. Thank you for that, Harry. Please know that you still have not changed in my eyes - you are still the kind, adventurous, caring and strong person I got to know through letters, and still want to know in real life.

We can work around the problem of your relatives. I promise. I still wish to see you this upcoming break. I was thinking about asking a favor from Botan to take me to and from Hogsmeade, it wouldn't take her long, and I know that she could get me into Wizard territory much faster and easier then I could in Youko form. We could meet up there on the first day of your break, if you want. We could spend our time in Hogsmeade... and then just wing it from there. That would be much more enjoyable then spending time (how did you once put it? I believe it was) in your relatives 'cookie cutter neighborhood full of boring old snobs'.

What do you think? Please let me know if this is acceptable.

And never worry about me never wanting to talk to you, Harry. I am quite fond of you, with or without Kuronue. (No offence Kuronue, but you know where you stand with me.)

Reply soon so that we may get started on planning.

- Kurama

Harry let out a sigh of relief. He felt like he could breath again. His friends also let out a breath when Harry relaxed. He passed them the letter and they scanned over it.

Ron muttered "good" as he settled back down to eat.

Hermione smiled at Harry. "I told you he wouldn't have a problem with it. In fact, he's actually happy that you told him. You did the right thing, Harry."

Harry smiled back. "I know."

AN: Dammit fanfiction! I had just pressed save when it logged me out and Now I Have To Type Everything Out Again! x( Grr!

*Deep breath* Okay. So, who noticed that the 'Cinematic Life Record' in this chapter was kind of similar to the Cinematic Record in Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler? Kudos to those who did! They're not entirely the same, aside from the name though. In Kuro. the Cinematic Record was the term used for when a grim reaper used his/her scythe to view an individual's life in order to judge whether that person should die or not. So it's not really a cross-over, but still, I claim No ownership to that of any of those. (Which you'd think would be obvious considering that this is FANfiction.)

Anyway

So, in the original outline I have for this chapter, I had actually squeezed in Harry and Kurama's 'date' at Hogsmeade, but when I actually wrote this chapter, I felt like the possibility of Harry being abused/neglected needed to be deeper than what I had written in the outline - it'd make more sense politically and for Kurama's character to do some investigating. So, in the end I couldn't fit it in because it just didn't seem right for this chapter. (You're all going to kill me now, aren't you?)

But I promise that the next chapter will finally have them meeting up in person. Promise. Brownie scouts honor (even if I haven't been one since like third grade).

Review Replies/Acknowledgements

Shadow Phoenix 16 - Difficult choice really. I'm not establishing a definite seme or uke, I'm just going to write their relationship as 'equal-looking' as possible, and let the reader decide who is which. So if you want Harry as uke, it should fit; and vice versa. :)

Yoruko Rhapsodos - I know right? xD He didn't even tell anyone what was going on, so everyone is going to be completely gobsmacked... except maybe Hiei, who seems to either know, or not be surprised by anything. ;)

Mystical-Elf-Of-Sorrow - :)

ultima-owner

Lord Geovanni - I am definitely hinting at yaoi. But I'm also trying to make it subtle, for those who aren't really a fan of it. And when major yaoi stuff Does come up, I'm going to put a warning in the chapter for those who won't wanna read it. But don't worry, there will be slashy goodness. lol And yeah, I noticed that too... I'm not sure why so many people turn Harry into a girl in these crossovers, especially the ones like this where Kuronue is involved. :/ There must be a conspiracy going on.

vampireharry the 2

twilightserius - Well, Harry's body is human, but with Kuronue helping him he Can access demon energy. Spirit energy is different, I haven't decided yet if he should be trained in it, or if his magic is going to block it; it's one of those little details that I'm winging until I actually write everything out, not just the outline. Lmao, 'The dark douche' you get some internet points for that! xD But, he's around. He's not making a move yet, and he probably won't be around until next school year, honestly. But he will come up again.

SleepyMangaHead - When I read your review, you gave actually gave me great inspiration for this chapter. :) I had wanted them to meet once before the summer (trying not to give too much of the plot away), but I wasn't sure how to accomplish that. Plus, Harry doesn't want to talk about his home life and would probably Never mention it, or skid around it, like you said. But that got me thinking about how it could come up, and what could be the result of it... And thus, this chapter was born. So, I really must Thank you! You really helped move the story along, even if it wasn't intentionally. lol This chapter is dedicated to you!

Megi Keishii - I'm not going too into Kurama's reactions to Harry's letters, mainly because I want to try to move the plot along. But Spirit World... that's another story. ;)

kirallie - =) Yeah, there is totally a conspiracy or something going on with that. How could all of those GirlHarryKuronue fics be mere coincidence? x)

Akayuki Sawada - Thank you! I tried to make the letters seem that way. Harry can't really sneak away to meet Kurama, and vice versa, so I thought that a penpal relationship could work for now. Glad to see it worked. =)

MoonPrincess623 - Yay, I'm glad you see them as in character, I tried, but wasn't sure if I was succeeding. Lol, Thank you! When you remember your questions, please feel free to ask. :) And thanks for understanding. It's much easier to write when people appreciate you writing when you have time and muse, and not asking Everyday For A Month whether you are going to update or not. (I had someone dothis to me with another fic, which I had actually written 1/2 of the next chapter already, but couldn't finish b/c this person kept stressing me over it everyday. No offense to them, but it was really annoying.) Whew, sorry for the rant. But I appreciate when people tell me 'no rush'. =)

pianogirl89

sdoyle1989