A SHINIGAMI'S DUTY by Obscurum_Venator Rating: PG13 Ship: Harry & Hermione Canon: Books 1 - 5 Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance Status: In progress Length: 1,385 words in 1 chapter Published: 22 Apr 2007 Last updated: 22 Apr 2007 Shinigami are supposed to preserve the balance of souls between Soul Society and the Human World, but what happenes when one Tom Marvolo Riddle shatters that balance, and Harry isn't there to stop him? BLEACH Crossover From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/7090/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. BLEACH+HP 1: Death and a New Beginning A/N: This is a response to a challenge over on the Portkey forums. Hope you like it. Sorry if it's too short, I plan to make the chapters a bit longer. Disclaimer: Anything you recognize probably belongs to Kubo Tite or J.K. Rowling. BLEACH+HP 1: Death and a New Beginning If there was one word that truly described how Harry Potter felt right now, it was scared. His two best friends in the world had been injured, three of his other friends and classmates were probably fighting for their lives alongside the Order of the Phoenix, the Order members were dueling ferociously with the Death Eaters, Sirius was dead, and he was face to snake-like face with the Dark Lord Voldemort with Dumbledore nowhere in sight. I know that you're scared, but you can do this, you've gotten away from this jackass before and you can do it again. I believe in you Harry, will you trust me? Harry heard a voice say from the back of his mind. It was a soft voice, still strong and still male, but it spoke in a tone that was like a grandfather comforting his grandchild. Who are you? Harry asked. I'm a part of you. If you trust me, focus all your strength into your hands. The voice instructed. Harry did so, and, after a flash of light, a medium-size katana appeared in his hands. With the voice in his mind giving him instructions, he stood up from behind the cover of the fountain's rim and faced Voldemort with determination written on his face and confidence that came from that voice within his mind. “A sword? How archaic…but if you insist,” Voldemort said, a large, green-bladed, broadsword appearing in his hands. Harry said nothing, he merely shifted his stance so that more of his weight was put backwards and used that to spring at Voldemort, slashing horizontally across his chest. Voldemort easily blocked the attack and, shifting, kicked Harry in the stomach, robbing his lungs of air and doubling him over. Voldemort brought his blade down towards Harry's back, but Harry threw his sword over his shoulder and narrowly caught the opposing blade, thrusting his shoulder and back up into the blunt side of his katana to take the brunt of the blow. As soon as he gathered his breath back, Harry bent his knees as low as possible and sprung upwards, knocking Voldemort away from him. “You seem to have a handle on the basics of swordplay, but I doubt you can keep up when I get serious,” Voldemort said, getting up and shifting his sword to a reverse grip. He bent his knees slightly and…disappeared. “What the hell?” Harry asked himself out loud, just before blood exploded from his chest and back as Voldemort suddenly appeared before him, his sword now buried deep in Harry's chest. “Like I've said so many times before to so many wizards, `you just can't measure up.'” Voldemort said, a wicked smile splitting his features. “HARRY!” Hermione's voice screamed from across the atrium. Harry turned his head slightly to the side and saw her, Ron, Dumbledore, and the rest of the Order members and his classmates that had come, minus Sirius, running towards him and Voldemort. “You're gonna regret that, you red-eyed motherfucker,” Ron roared, picking up speed as he ran. “No, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, you will let me handle this,” Dumbledore said, waving his wand and freezing them in their tracks. “So, the old man wants a go at me?” Voldemort, fresh off his victory high, chuckled. “That's correct, Tom,” Dumbledore said, and without any warning he waved his wand and a massive whip of fire flashed, knocking Voldemort off his feet and into the fountain. He rose from the water a second later and began a few complex wand movements, a split second later all the water in the fountain rose from the small pool around the base of the statues and rushed forward, forming into a snake with it's jaws wide and fangs bared. Dumbledore created a large shield and the water-creature splattered against it, and with his activities obscured for the moment Dumbledore waved his wand at the statues to prepare a little surprise for the Dark Lord. “Tom, why fight at all? You know that, in the end, it will all be for naught.” “Perhaps, but if my days are numbered, I'd like to spend them ruling this world,” Voldemort said, laughing manically and firing a blast of dark light at Dumbledore. Dumbledore dodged it and fired a phoenix-shaped jet of flame at Voldemort, at the same time activating his spell to bring the statues to life. Voldemort was still preparing his counter-spell when the large wizard statue grabbed him, holding him in the path of the fire. Surprised more at the fact that he hadn't thought of doing that first than Dumbledore's actual trap, Voldemort took the blast head on and fell to the ground, his cloak on fire, as the wizard's hand was obliterated. Voldemort rose, putting out his cloak before blasting the statue to bits, only to be tackled by the stone house elf. He blew that statue off his back before looking around at the various entrances to the atrium as the rush of noise signaled the arrival of the poor saps that had to come into the Ministry this early in the morning. There was a collective gasp as the crowd noticed the tall, pale form of Voldemort. “What the bloody hell?” Fudge exclaimed from the front of the gathered Ministry employees. “Lord Voldemort, at your service,” the snake hissed before giving the Minister a mocking bow, “I was just leaving.” With that said, he and Bellatrix, who'd been standing off to the side since the Voldemort's fight with Harry, disappeared. Hermione and Ron, Dumbledore having released his seal on their movements, rushed over to Harry and found him barely clinging to life. “Harry, Harry! Speak to me!” Hermione whispered desperately, her face and the collar of her robes soaked with tears. “Her…mi…one, is that you?” Harry asked weakly. “Yeah, Ron's here, too. Hang on, Harry, Dumbledore's being held up by Fudge but he's coming,” Hermione said, grabbing Harry's left hand, as his right still had a death grip on the katana that he'd somehow summoned. “Hermione, I promise that I'll find a way back, a way to get stronger,” Harry said, his voice and breathing getting weaker. “Harry, mate, what do you mean `a way back'? There is no way we're going to let you die,” Ron said, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder and letting a few tears of his own spill. “I'm sorry guys, I'm sorry for being so stupid and nearly getting you killed. Tell that to Luna, Neville, Ginny, and everyone else, too. Tell them I'm sorry for being such a prat this year, also. I'll tell Sirius myself,” Harry said as he caught sight of the scars on Ron's hand on his shoulder, scars that were still bloody and inflamed. As his sentence finished, his strength finally gave out, and his eyes closed. The sword in his hand vanished, and Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, her crying turning into sobs that made her whole body shake. “Harry, mate, goodbye,” Ron said, his voice breaking as let his tears fall. He felt like a part of him had gone with Harry, he felt like he'd lost a brother. Hermione felt much the same, except much more intense. She felt as if Voldemort had cut her open and ripped out her heart. “God, help us all,” Dumbledore whispered as he finally managed to break through the curious crowd and kneel next to his students, placing a withered old hand on each of their shoulders as he himself began to cry, Harry was like a grandson to him, but, more than that, he was the only one who could have prevented so much death and destruction. Now, however, all the Headmaster saw was a future shrouded in darkness. There's no way I'll let you guys down, Harry thought, somehow standing next to his body, wearing a large, black, samurai-like robe, a pair of Japanese-style sandals, and wearing the sword that he'd called earlier on his back. I'll find a way to get stronger.