One Tin Soldier

Chapter 16: Asking for It

"Harry, come here," came Muramasa's voice. He was standing in front of a small curio cabinet.

"What's up?" Harry asked as he and Sirius stepped over to stand by the Zanpakuto spirit.

"Whoa!" Sirius exclaimed. "I wish he wouldn't do that!"

Harry chuckled as he scanned the cabinet. "Hmmmm...I see what you mean." He raised his hand and a small locket floated out.

There was a sudden pop and an elderly elf appeared. "Master Regulus' locket. Poor Kreacher failed good Master Regulus. Kreacher was unable to do what good master asked of Kreacher. Good master wants Kreacher to destroy locket, but Kreacher cannot." The old elf stood, head bowed in shame, wringing his hands.

Harry performed a small Kido spell to wrap a barrier around the locket. He frowned. "Are you sure Muramasa?"

"Yes, Harry. It has the same taint as the one that was inside you scar."

Sirius and Remus gasped in shock at that revelation.

"Well, as evil as it feels, it's a sure bet it'll go straight to hell. According to Ichigo, the gates are massive, as well as ugly, so I really don't want to do a soul burial here."

Kreacher twisted his hands cruelly while staring at the locket, moaning about how he failed his poor, dead master.

"Kreacher," Harry said sternly, bringing the house elf abruptly back to reality. "Tonight, I will cleanse this locket just as your master wanted you to. Can you tell me a bit about it?"

Kreacher muttered to himself. From what Harry could understand from his mumbling response, Regulus had become disenchanted with the Dark Lord when he learned the mad man was splitting his soul and creating horcruxes. He decided to betray him by collecting the horcrux he knew of and destroy it. Retrieving the locket had cost Regulus his life, and so its destruction fell to his faithful elf, Kreacher.

Sirius plopped onto the nearby couch in shock. "I...I didn't know...I...I had...no idea..."

Remus went over to the liquor cabinet and poured two shots of fire-whiskey. "So, now what? We need to research how to deal with..."

"Oh, that's no problem," Harry broke in, interrupting him. "Ichigo and his friends deal with this type of thing all the time. But we can't do it here. Not safe. How about tonight after curfew, in the Forbidden Forest? It's big enough and far enough from people. It'll probably attract unwanted guests though," Harry sighed ruefully.

Much to Sirius and Remus' surprise he pulled out a cell phone and hit speed dial. A quick call to Japan, and everything was arranged. "There, it'll be early morning for them, as they are a day ahead of us, but Ichigo, and maybe Shinji, will come." Harry tucked the small phone back into his pocket as he spoke.

"Your cousin? I would like to meet him," Sirius said, after he downed a second shot quickly.

"You should be able to see him in his Shinigami form," Harry mused, looking over at Muramasa. "We wizards can see ghosts all of the time, especially at Hogwarts."

~~

Upon returning to Hogwarts that evening, Harry had a bad feeling that his luck just took a turn for the worse. After all, his duel had been broadcast around the world. The odd thing was no one was waiting for him as he entered the castle. "Hmph, almost too quiet," he murmured as he entered.

Harry stepped into the Great Hall as dinner was being served, just as he had promised his head of house. He was still wearing his fighting robes, scarf and kenseikan, sans Fudge's blood of course, and looked every inch a noble lord. He was thankful that he had taken the time to clean up and unwind at Sirius'.