Sanji Komamura was a bit of a mystery to the Soul Society. Mostly due to the fact that he was a large canine who walked around like a human. He had hide that fact for years, in order to keep people from freaking out about his appearance.

Nowadays he walked around proudly as the Captain of Squad 7. The need to hide his appearance had left him when his friend Tosen abandoned his duty with the traitor Aizen.

He was finishing up his paperwork for the day when he felt the odd twinge again. For reasons he could never understand, some days he just had the urge to prank people. Especially Squad Twelve.

He always followed that urge, mainly because it would get worse if he didn't.

Oddly enough, no one ever realized he was the culprit behind the pranks.

He hid a grin when he heard the howls of rage from Mayuri. The man grated on his nerves some days.

He had just left an innocent seeming black ball on a table, and when Mayuri picked it up, it activated and destroyed all of his more inhumane experiments. And it did some serious damage to his research notes.

It took him hours to pin the thing and destroy it with kido.

As he sat back down at his desk, he looked at his lieutenant and said with perfect innocence in his voice "I think Captain Kurotsuchi has been having trouble today. Something just destroyed most of his experiments."

The man wasn't fooled for a minute. He knew full well that his captain was behind the odd prank that hit the soul society. He never said anything because he found them funny too.

Well, that and he was afraid his captain would hit him with one of his by now infamous pranks if he said anything to the others.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi went to the Head Captain, his face livid.

"Head Captain Yamamoto, I demand that you have someone investigate this...menace! Many of my experiments have been completely ruined!"

Yamamoto would rather die than admit he found most of the pranks amusing. Still, he had Captain Soi Fon put on the case.

She walked into his office. Her face was extremely amused.

"I have the report sir."

"You found the culprit?"

"Oh, I found him alright. It's another captain," she said, trying not to laugh.

It was hilarious because Mayuri couldn't exactly get his revenge on another captain because of a rather harmless prank. Especially since they needed all of their captains alive for the war to come.

"Who was it?"

Here Soi Fon snickered.

"Captain Sanji Komamura, of Squad Seven."

Now he was laughing.

Komamura had a good idea of why the head captain wanted to see him. He had seen Soi Fon asking around.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"I have here a report that says you set a destructive black ball that destroyed almost all of Captain Kurotsuchi's experiments. Care to explain?"

"I was bored and they were probably borderline illegal anyway?"

He wasn't surprised to see the head captain hiding a smirk. The other captains would be hard put to say that they liked Mayuri. Seeing him pranked gave them all a laugh.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't dock your pay?" he finally said.

"Because every time I prank someone, I get a little bit of my past life back. It's one of the reasons why I always act on that urge."

That was news to the head captain.

"Explain."

"The first time I acted on the urge to prank, I remembered what my name was before I died. The second time I remembered old friends. The more I acted on it, the more I got back. Eventually I regained some old skills, like specialized Kido spells."

Yamamoto looked him right in the eye and asked him what his name when he was alive was.

"Sirius Orion Black. Apparently when I was alive I could turn into a black dog commonly associated with causing death."

Yamamoto felt like banging his head against the wall...repeatedly. He had gotten a report months ago from Avalon asking for help in finding the man who fell through the Veil in England. They didn't know exactly what modifications had been done to it, but no one had been willing to test it out in some time.

Looks like they got their answer.

He had two choices. Either keep Komamura here and fight in the winter war...or gain some much needed allies in Avalon by sending him back to England and letting him sort out his own affairs.

Not really a hard choice.

"I'm sending you to England. You should find out more about your death there," he said.

"And my gigai?"

"I'll have someone other than Captain Kurotsuchi make you a gigai of your former body. I want you to try and see if Avalon would be willing to help us in the coming war. You can take three others with you."

He already had an idea of who to take with him.

Once he stepped into the gigai, he felt a few more memories return to him. Memories that were from the days before he died.

They were of an angry boy named Harry, who was his godson. Harry was sick and tired of being coddled for no reason other than being the supposed Savior.

And he was the only person who treated him like a teenager, rather than a doll made of glass. He was the boy's best support.

Time to bring the old man's plan for his godson crumbling down.

"So explain to me again why I have to go to England?" asked Ichigo.

It had taken a few days for him to get used to the fact that Komamura was in a gigai that made him look human.

"For one thing, you are one of the rare people who can act in the human world without drawing too much attention. For another, you're in the right age group," said Komamura annoyed.

He didn't mind them dropping the honorifics, so long as they followed orders.

His lieutenant, Ichigo Kurosaki and Hanataro Yamada had been selected to go with him after careful consideration.

Then he turned to the teenager, and told him bluntly "One of the key figures in England's secretive societies is a teenager. And he absolutely hates being treated like glass. You might be able to help him more than the adults at the moment."

"Who is this kid?"

"His name is Harry Potter...and when I was still alive he was my godson."

After dropping that bombshell on them, he lead them onto the plane.

Komamura lead them to a rather darkly lit house that gave them all the creeps. It was as empty as a grave...except for a painting that suddenly woke up and started shrieking.

Komamura growled. And then used Shakkaho to destroy it.

He looked at the other paintings, all staring at him in absolute horror.

"Let me get one thing straight. Any of you try to cause a racket like Walpurga did, and I blast you off the walls. If any of you even think of alerting that old meddling bastard that I'm back, then I will hunt down every portrait with you in it and destroy them. Am I clear?"

After that, they all clammed up.

"Why did you just threaten a bunch of paintings?" asked Ichigo slowly.

"They aren't as inanimate as you think. They can move in their portrait, and some can even leave. They make excellent spies, since no one really notices them," said Komamura annoyed.

He went to the one labeled Phineas Black.

"I know you have a portrait in the headmaster's office. If you help me keep tabs on that old bastard, I will ignore you."

Phineas looked at his descendant, and said "You have a deal. Never liked him much anyway."

Once they were in the kitchen, Komamura laid out a game plan.

He would have his lieutenant retrieve Harry from his relatives before Dumbledore got to him. He was probably still upset over his death.

Hanataro would set up a video screen so they could keep in contact with the Soul Society. Ichigo would go with Komamura to reclaim his vaults.

Ironfang took one look at the figure of Sirius Black, and assumed the old man had finally made his gambit for the Black Vaults. He sneered...until he got a good look at the magical signature.

"I'm here for payback. Care to help?" asked Sirius.

"You'll have to prove you're really Lord Black."

Sirius smirked. He had one surprise that the old man didn't know about. His personal vault.

"Would my magical signature suffice? I'm afraid that the veil has...altered my blood."

Magical signatures were unique, and impossible to duplicate. And Sirius had a vault which would only open to his specific signature. Anyone else would be hit with pressurized salt acid.

Frankly the goblins could care less if he was dead. If he turned out to be an imposter, then they would have the fun of watching him melt alive.

Goblins approved of swift and unpleasant retribution to thieves.

Sirius and his orange haired friend went down to the vault. It was exactly as he remembered it.

When he was sixteen, his uncle gave him ten thousand galleons so he could live on his own. He placed all of it in a special vault so his mother would be unable to claim it without his approval. He keyed it to his signature alone.

There were also other items, like his wand.

Sirius stepped forth, and radiated his magic in his hand. He had learned that like kido, magic could be used without a wand.

He placed his hand on the vault door.

With a loud groan, it opened. Ironfang was both surprised and disappointed.

Surprised because he had successfully proven that he was in fact Sirius Black, Lord of the Black family.

And disappointed because he had half hoped to see the trap activate.

"You may as well come with me, Lord Black. It appears we have much to discuss."

Sirius gave him a grim smile. In his hand was his wand, a bag of gold and a few other items that would come in use later.

"Lord Black, are you aware that Headmaster Dumbledore has moved to seal your will?"

"I figured as much, when I started to remember who I was. He did the same to James' will."

"I'm afraid that with your...departure...a few things have gone missing. We are unable to reclaim them because of your current status."

"I wasn't planning on picking up where I left off. I've grown tired of England, and currently live in a remote area of Japan."

The boy on his left snorted in amusement. He wouldn't call the Soul Society remote.

"As per your last instructions, your godson is now the current Black heir. In order to claim them he would have to come to the bank and fill out the proper forms."

"Which will never happen as long as the old goat has anything to say about it. I fully blame him for my death."

It had been because of Dumbledore's information ban on Harry that had caused his godson to go to the Department of Mystery and retrieve the prophecy. Had Harry been fully informed of the entire situation, he would never had gone down there.

At least, Sirius hoped he wouldn't.

"Since you are clearly back, you have full access to all the vaults. You also are allowed to reclaim any stolen property."

"I want everything that's gone missing, barring the things in Narcissa's personal accounts, to be returned. And any galleons taken from the Black vault are to be retrieved with interest."

Ironfang nodded.

"The goblin clans will fully support your claim."

Sirius nodded, and they left.

"So...you're a lord?"

"Like I cared about that crap. I'm still a captain, Kurosaki. And I fully intend to return to being Komamura when this nonsense is over. Now, I would like you to help me search for something. Dumbledore alluded to some dark artifact being the cause of their Dark Lord's supposed immortality, and I have a sneaking suspicion there's one in the house. If we find it, then Avalon will look at us in a better light."

"I thought they gave the OK us being here?"

"Coming here on official visits to finish business is fine, so long as we don't cause trouble. But Captain Yamamoto wants to bring in reinforcements to deal with Aizen later. And the best way to do that is to help the Wizards win their ridiculous blood war."

"And why would they care about a bunch of the living with powers?"

"Let me phrase this as carefully as possible. Most magically inclined people who die become Avalon's soul reapers. And if we gain a favorable impression on the wizards, then it translates to favor with Avalon later. If we help them win their war, then Avalon would consider helping us with Aizen."

"So help the madoushi now, get help in the Winter War later," Ichigo summed up.

"Exactly. The fact that I was born and died here doesn't hurt either."

"So who is this old goat you have a grudge against?"

"Albus Dumbledore. Right before I died, he kept vital information from his people and their supposed Savior who happens to be my godson. Because of this, Harry went down into a restricted area and I went after him. My cousin threw me into what is called the Veil of Death, which apparently sent me all the way into the past of the Soul Society and turned me into a dog-human hybrid. I only recently started to remember most of my past."

Ichigo managed to keep up.

"So the reason you're having your lieutenant kidnap the kid is...?"

"Harry has repeatedly asked to come live with me. Dumbledore keeps ignoring obvious signs that he has been abused by his relatives. The only real friend he has until the old man retrieves him is his owl."

Ichigo winced. No wonder Komamura was so pissed at the old man.

Harry didn't know what to think when he saw the man looking at his window. One minute he was trying to figure out a good excuse to escape his Uncle, who had learned of Sirius' death less than a week ago, the next he knew, the window explodes.

He wasn't hurt, but it certainly shocked the hell out of him.

The man appeared in the large hole, and knocked him out cold with a single hit. He knew no more.

(Lieutenant POV)

He had no idea why his captain ordered him to retrieve the kid at all costs. Or why he told him that he was free to destroy the room if he had to.

He grabbed the kid's things (it was easy, since his spiritual signature was all over them) and the owl, and used Shun Po to return to the base of operations.

Ichigo and Hanataro were already done. His captain was out getting food for later, since the previous occupants had taken everything edible with them.

The kid moved. He was stronger than he took him for.

So when his captain came back in, he took one look and grinned.

"How much of a mess did you make?"

"They'll have a larger repair bill than that time one of the newbies called you Fluffy," he stated.

"Good."

His captain handed him the food and took the kid.

Who was starting to wake up.

Harry realized where he was pretty quick. Though why someone would take him to Grimmauld place he had no idea. He realized he was being carried upstairs, and did the logical thing.

He put up one hell of a fight.

"LET ME DOWN!"

"Easy Pup...I thought you wanted to escape those bastards?" said a familiar voice. One that belonged to someone he knew was dead.

"S-Sirius?"

"Back from the afterlife to raise hell."

"It can't be..."

The person put him down. And he nearly broke down crying. The man looked exactly like Sirius, only he didn't appear to have spent thirteen years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit.

"But...I saw you fall..." said Harry nearly silent.

"I did fall. Funny thing is, the Veil ending up changing me and sent me to the wrong time."

"How are you back?"

"I just recently remembered who I was. I had to get approval to come back to England, and the first thing I thought of was getting you as far away from Dumbledore as possible."

Harry shook his head. It couldn't be Sirius. If there was a way back from the dead, surely his parents would have come back as well?

"How about I prove to you that I'm really Sirius?"

Harry nodded. It was too good to be true. His luck was never that kind to him.

So they went to Sirius' old room, which had been bewitched to hex anyone who wasn't allowed in it. The only ones that were allowed to go in were Moony, James and Sirius.

Anyone else would set off the trap.

He opened the door...and went in. Nothing happened.

Harry went to step in...and got hit with a color changing hex. The trap was still very active.

Which meant...that Sirius was in fact before him.

"Sirius!"

He tackled his godfather in a hug. And cried all the tears he had fought to keep inside.