Time and Tide

Chapter Six

Remus smiled as a familiar snowy owl alighted on the perch by his desk. Harry had called when he had arrived but then he'd been busy preparing for school and dealing with the memories being back in Karakura brought up. Remus was busy with his duties and Sirius had been wrangling the Wizengamot and the Pureblood old guard who had decided to make one of their attempts at getting their power back. He reached out and took the letter from her, opening the envelope and then grinning at the short note within. It was a relief to know Harry was no longer alone.

~~

Becoming 'friends' was easier than they had thought it would be. Second day of school and Shakespeare was mentioned, letting them bond over the Bard. No one needed to know it had actually been Ichigo who got Harry to read the plays. He'd known Hermione was named for one of his characters but since he'd never done high school he'd never read them, now they were part of the Hogwarts curriculum as well. Keigo and Mizuiro had groaned, obviously not Shakespeare fans. It helped that Harry's route to school intersected with Ichigo's. And then Ichigo asked Harry if he'd help Yuzu with he English homework and Harry agreed.

~~

Harry looked at the clinic with attached house and took a deep breath. It had been years since he'd been here...and yet he was a stranger to those within. He could feel the twins, their powers barely registering. Isshin was in the clinic and his powers were slowly recovering. He had never thought much of the man for the way he had lied to his children and 'trained' Ichigo. All three had died early on, the twins had been targeted by the Second Division after the war, Karin's growing powers especially had led to them being killed. Isshin had died during the Quincy War, protecting his daughters until Harry had arrived, Ichigo had been on the front but Harry had been in town to recover from an injury. He had saved the girls but had been too late for their father. After his sister's deaths, Ichigo had shown no mercy towards the Onmitsukido, personally taking out Soifon, despite her old ties to Yoruichi.

Ichigo was having a hard time adapting to his family being alive and Harry knew that was why he had been offered as a tutor, so that he could be over often to help him deal with it. Harry had it easier, he hadn't made any really close friends outside of those who fought in the war which meant he only had to deal with people he knew at school. Chad had accepted him into their group easily enough. Uryu would be difficult but he didn't want them torn apart by thinking he'd gone over to the enemy. Orihime would be interesting, he knew she had always had a crush on Ichigo, would she still choose to fight if he was with Ichigo? Her powers would be needed, hopefully they could knock some sense into her over attacking much earlier this time, she had been a liability several times because of her lack of intent behind her attacks.

Harry took another deep breath and rang the doorbell, Ichigo must have sensed his presence but had been giving him time. Sure enough he opened the door, understanding in his eyes. He ushered Harry inside where he slipped out of his shoes and followed him inside.

"Yuzu!" Ichigo called and she rounded the corner. "This is Harry," he introduced, and she smiled.

"Thank you very much for helping me."

"It's no problem at all," he promised, following her to the table. "Let's see what is giving you trouble." They sat and got to work.

~~

Isshin let himself into the house, seeing Yuzu and a stranger at the table. So this was the foreign transfer student he'd heard his son mention to the girls...and he had not denied friendship when Yuzu had brought it up. That made him happy, his son had always had trouble making friends. He had noticed a change in Ichigo since the first day of High School, but it was more than just growing up. It was like he had grown up overnight, he eyes reflecting an age his body didn't, but he wasn't sure why. He had checked with Kisuke, but he had reported no sign of anything having come near him, he hadn't run into anything beyond the normal Pluses that tended to follow him home for help.