Chapter 4: Lady Veela


All right new chapter. I'm on a roll. Okay before we start, a few notes to my beloved reviewers.

Marcella Jole' Mercilee: I'm not really sure if there's going to be any serious romance. We'll just have to see where the story takes us.

Tira's Host: Hey that's a good idea but let's just say the wedding will be exciting.

Albino-yaoi: Thanks. I'm really proud of the French accents but they drive me crazy when I type.

Nelotizapu: Hey! you finally get to learn a little more about Ryou's family history.

To TeeDee, -2005, and Twin Tails Speed: Thanks for the positive comments. I love you so much

Remember italics in bold

Ugh I also realized that my little carrots were deleted when Ryou and Bakura were talking so now when they talk you'll see /.../ when Ryou is speaking and /.../ when Bakura is speaking

Disclaimer: It should be noted that I own no part of Yu-gi-oh.

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"Who are you?" the child demanded trying to keep fear at bay.

"I should think that obvious," came the soft reply

"Well it isn't. Who are you?"

"Who else would be in your mind besides you?" said the still bodiless voice.

"You!" the child said accusingly, looking around frantically for the source of the voice.

"Exactly. So logically I am you. The darkest part of you."

0.0.0.

"Before I find Fleur , you must meet Lady Asceline. Zat is my muzzer. She will be dying to see you," Desiree told Ryou happily, marching the boy to the house. Kosuke's face filled with dread and he slipped quietly away. Ryou and Desiree didn't even notice.

The company of two walked up the winding stairs until they came to the attic.

"As soon as we arrived, we cleaned out ze entire attic for muzzer. You will not believe what zey had up zere. Alain 'ad to banish a ghoul. Eet waz 'orible," Desiree said as she pulled a rope hanging from the ceiling. The soft sound of bells echoed in the hall and an equally musical voice answered.

"Enter."

The ladder fell down presumably by magic and Desiree climbed easily. Ryou hesitated for a moment and then followed.

The room had an ancient and enchanting feel, emitting an ethereal glow. Long satin drapes hung from the walls, each intricately embroidered with fantastic shapes. Elegant crystal vases and beautiful glass statues adorned the place. In the corner was a large round bed, covered by deep blue curtains depicting the night sky. Stepping into the room was like stepping into a dream.

A full-blooded veela sat on a chair that seemed to be carved from silver. It's high back and velvet cushions made it look like a throne. The veela was the most beautiful creature, Ryou had ever seen. Looking at her, Ryou was reminded of his own mother, and he felt a strange peace enfold him.

"Bienvenue," said a smooth voice. Each syllable seemed to ring with its own music.

"Muzzer may I introduce Ryou Bakura, Angeline's son. Ryou zis is Lady Asceline D'Angeli, protectress of our clan.

"C'est une honneur," Ryou said with a deep vow.

"Merci. I am pleased to see you," the veela spoke, studying Ryou intensely with a deep penetrating stare. "very pleased. I 'ope we can speak again. We 'ave much to disscuss."

The veela then stood and extended both hands toward her nephew and Ryou slowly stepped closer. Clasping his hands in hers, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek Releasing him, she bid him farewell.

Desiree smiled, as she guided Ryou out the door.

"She really likes you," Desiree told Ryou. "I theenk you shall be good friends. Now where is zat daughter of mine."

After consulting with several relatives, eliminating contradicting information and random guesses, Desire found that her daughter was out shopping with some of her old school friends. Bill had also been taken out by his brother, Charlie, and some of their close friends to "relax." But knowing those adventure-seeking boys, it probably involved something that would have made Mrs. Weasley's heart fall to her stomach.

Since Desiree couldn't physically introduce Fleur to Ryou, she decided to talk about her daughter's great achievements and the fabulous school that she graduated from.

Beauxbatons is ze finest girls school in France and no doubt in all of Europe, and likely ze 'ole world. No finer girls school anywhere wizard or muggle," Desiree said with a toss of her hair. "I went zere when I was a young lady. Your muzzer went zere too," she added happily.

"My mother?" Ryou asked genuinely interested. He didn't know much about his mother especially her childhood.

"Yes all ze women in our family went zere. You see, most with veela blood 'ave girls. In fact you are first boy with veela blood in our family. Zis makes Fleur very 'appy. She would like to 'ave a boy. Many leetle boys and girls," Desire said dreamily, already envisioning her future grandchildren.

"Please tell me," Ryou ventured, "how are you and my mother related."

"Ah yes, we called each ozzer seester. But we were actually cousins. My muzzer and her muzzer were half seesters. You see veela are all women. And one veela can have only one baby in her lifetime. Zis makes veela population very small. And in war veela almost wiped out. So, many veela marry wizard man to keep veela race alive."

"I think I understand," Ryou said encouragingly.

Desiree nodded and continued. "So my grandmuzzer 'ave two daughters. One full veela, my muzzer, Lady Asceline, and one 'alf veela, your grandmuzzer, Celeste. Sadly Celeste die when Angeline jus a leetle girl. So Angeline live with us and we live like seesters."

"So I'm one eighth veela," Ryou said musing. That was a strange thought and a rather creepy one. All his life he thought he was human. Well at least now he had an explanation for his naturally white hair. He then thought of another question. "How did my parents meet?"

"Oh, even I not know full story. Angeline's 'eartbroken fazzer left her education to us. 'E went to England to become Auror to fight in Dark War. When Angeline graduate she go to England too. She meet your fazzer and next zing I know zey are married. Very surprising. Make me mad for long time. And now my daughter do same zing. Ees funny. No?" Desiree said with a smile.

Ryou smiled glad to have learned something about his parents even if the details were missing. "It's strange that my father didn't follow my grandfather's example and leave me with your family."

"Yes," Desire said with a sympathetic nod. "I offered so many times. But 'e refused. Say he didn't want same fate for you as Angeline, to grow up wizzout fazzer around."

That was an ironic statement since he rarely saw his father. Sometimes it was like he was dead and Ryou was in mourning for his whole family. And now it seems that there was a family waiting to take him all those lonely years ago.

"Thank you very much for sharing Aunt Desiree," Ryou said quietly, feeling he had heard enough to satisfy one day's worth of curiosity.

"Eet was no trouble. And now my daughter is back," Desire said standing up to wave at Fleur who had just apparated into view. Had Desire not been half veela she would have bounded up to her daughter but as she carried the blood of the most graceful species on the planet, she floated up to her and greeted her with a kiss.

"Look who is 'ere Fleur," Desiree murmured and waved a dainty hand in Ryou's direction.

"Oh my goodness. I theek I shall faint. Is zat my dear cousin Ryou?" Fleur said with a gracious smile.

Ryou walked up to the bride with an extended hand, one she batted away and then proceeded to kiss him all over his face. Ryou once again found himself in a suffocating position. She finally let go of him and ushered him into the house.

"You must be 'ungry. Please let me make somezing. Mrs. Weasley is teaching me great cooking spells. I must learn to be good wife to Bill. Yes?"

"Oh my dear, you needn't do that. We should get a 'ouse elf for you," Desiree said, making disapproving sounds.

"No muzzer. I want to be a wife Bill can be proud of," Fleur said seriously.

Desiree was slightly taken aback by her daughter's new work ethic and strength of character but she smiled. She would have to get used to this new mature Fleur.

"Okay zen let's get cooking," Desire said with a clap of her hands. She then brought out some clean dishes while Fleur poured over one of Mrs. Weasley's cookbooks trying to make sense of the ingredients and incantations. After a few wrongly cast spells, Fleur managed to make a decent tuna sandwich. Ryou thought it would have been easier to simply make it by hand but he ate it anyway.

"That was delicious Fleur, you'll be a great cook and an even better wife, " Ryou said with a genuine smile.

Fleur beamed. "Zank you very much."

"Hey where did my father go?" Ryou asked, realizing that he and Kosuke had parted ways shortly after he had met Harry. It was strange thinking about his father. It was hard to believe they were in the same country, let alone the same house.

"You know I 'ave know idea," Desiree said with an indifferent glance about the kitchen. "Perhaps 'e went for a nap."

"Speaking of which, where am I going to sleep?"

"I theek there is room with Harry Potter. Yes?" Desiree said slyly. "Alain is still building some extra rooms. 'E is so good with construction magic," she added proudly.

"Ah okay, but are sure that will be all right with Harry?" Ryou asked not wanting to offend anyone.

"Nonsense I already 'ave one of Alain's nephews bunked with zem. Leetle boy named Jacques," Desiree said with a wave her hand.

"Okay I'll put my stuff away," Ryou said excusing himself from the table. He grabbed the suitcases that had been left.

"Yes, Fleur could you show 'im where it is? I really 'ave been neglecting my duties as muzzer of ze bride," the woman said gliding out the door.

"Ah my muzzer," Fleur murmured fondly before guiding Ryou up the crooked staircase.

Fleur danced up the stairs while Ryou struggled with both his and his father's luggage. (Fleur's self improvement efforts sometimes fell short).

Ron and Harry were lounging out on their beds. Ron casually flipped through a magazine. Ryou could make out moving pictures of men and women on broomsticks. Harry had a newspaper spread before him, reading intensely, brow furrowed.

"This is too much. Now the Ministry is making people sign loyalty oaths. What idiot thought of that?" Harry sputtered angrily before he noticed Ryou and Fleur standing in the doorway.

"I am sorry for intruding but Aunt Desiree said there would be room up here for me," Ryou said meekly, eyes cast down.

"Yeah Alain converted our beds into bunk beds," Ron said pointing. "Unfortunately the spell has to be redone every twenty-four hours. If he forgets, the top bunk will disappear."

"Don't worry Ryou. My fazzer never forgets anyzing," Fleur reassured him.

"Well thank you very much," Ryou said to Fleur. "Oh and if you find my father could you tell him that his things are with me. I'm not sure where he is sleeping."

"Oh yes, of course," Fleur said with a large smile and floated down the stairs.

Ryou stood around awkwardly before he hesitantly asked, "Do you know where Jacques is?" The boy was one of the few relatives he hadn't been introduced to and he felt he should get acquainted with all his new roommates.

"Probably trying to help the adults set up," Ron said putting the emphasis on 'trying.'

"Oh do you think they will need any help?" Ryou asked eager to be useful.

"Probably not. The adults are doing most of the spell work for the big stuff like moving chairs and statues and whatever else they're dragging around. And the girls are fussing over decorations, which doesn't leave much room for underage boys," Ron explained. "After crumpling flower number forty, Harry and I were kicked of the decoration crew"

Ryou nodded and shifted his weight awkwardly. He sighed and dug through one of his suitcases before finding a book. Necromancy Through the Ages. Ron stared at the title as Ryou perched on a nearby chair, reading quietly.

Ron made a noise of disgust. "Why would you want to read that? Really that subject is so gross."

Ryou blushed slightly before answering. "I… just always liked the occult. I don't know why." Which was true. Ryou always felt a pull towards dark magic even before, he was fully aware of his other half. But thinking about it maybe it was the spirit's subconscious influence that spurred Ryou to this odd hobby.

/I have no interest in your reading material. Don't blame me for your own peculiarities. It's just your own warped personality/ said an annoyed voice echoing through his head.

Surprised, Ryou realized that this was the first time the spirit had spoken since they got off the airplane.

/Glad to see you're still talking to me. I thought you were mad or something/ Ryou said to his yami, genuinely pleased.

/No. It's…just strange being among wizards again/

/Again/ Ryou asked, confused but the spirit was silent and Ron was muttering about 'dark arts,' 'Sytherin types,' and 'suspicious characters.'

"I apologize if I have offended you. I'll put the book away," Ryou offered a still irritated Ron.

Ron stopped grumbling for a minute and stared at the strange, submissive, white-haired boy. "Er…well it's just with the war and all, it's hard to trust people that take an interest in the dark arts. That's all I'm saying," Ron said looking a little sheepish.

"I'm sorry. Trust is a difficult issue for me too. I appreciate your honesty. But you don't have to worry. Even though I find the subject interesting I would never actually perform any of these spells. I believe its best for the dead to remain dead." Ryou said softly when suddenly a searing pain gripped his chest, crushing his heart. Doubling over, he gasped for breath when just as suddenly the pain was gone.

"Ryou are you all right?" Harry said jumping from his bed.

Still unable to talk Ryou waved him off and gave a weak but reassuring smile.

/What was that for?/ Ryou shouted down the mind link. Truthfully he didn't know whether he should be terrified or angry. Right now he was a strange mixture of both.

/You should watch what you say around the dead/ Bakura said threateningly but just under the surface of that threat Ryou felt more than heard just a small bit of hurt in his voice.

/I didn't mean you should stay dead. I like you here with me. I was just talking about my mother and sister. Even though I miss them I think they'll be happier where they are/ And silently he added that he would want to see his mother's face when she saw how her son was living.

/Oh/ the spirit said noncommittally. It was difficult to tell whether the spirit was indifferent and simply enjoyed tormenting his host, or in some weird way he was apologizing. /I see/

Harry was now next to Ryou and gently shook the smaller boy's shoulder. Ryou started and gave a small smile.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked with genuine concern. He didn't know why but he felt protective of this boy. Perhaps it was his girly appearance or his mild manner and soft speech. But something about this strange white haired creature called out to the boy who lived.

"Yes. I'm fine, just a little heartburn," Ryou said standing straighter.

Harry looked doubtful but let it slide. Ron who had also been worried laughed. "I bet you tried some of Fleur's cooking. She's delicious to look at but her food is severely lacking."

"Oh no. It's probably just the airplane food," Ryou said in defense of his cousin whose food was fairly decent.

"Aren't those like big flying cars?" Ron asked thinking aloud.

Ryou looked bewildered and didn't know what to say. Harry saved him when he affirmed Ron's guess.

"Sure exactly like a flying car with wings," Harry told his best mate.

Ron, rather pleased with himself, went contentedly back to reading. Ryou, after a moment's hesitation, climb to Harry's top bunk, and finally began to enjoy his book.

0.0

Harry didn't know what to make of this new stranger. Until now most of Fleur's relatives were either regal and arrogant or loud and eccentric. Ryou didn't fit either description. He was soft spoken, shy, and eerily polite. Ron seemed to believe that Ryou was a death eater or at least a 'slytherin type' best to be avoided. Although Harry didn't think Ryou was evil, he had to admit the boy was different to say the least. Harry made a mental note to stay cautious.

"Hey Harry, Ryou dinnertime," Ron called bringing both boys back to reality.

Dinner was outside since there were at least forty people there. Not only were Fleur's relatives bustling about the table but more Weasleys had arrived. Harry finally got to meet the accountant Ron had mentioned on that first train ride. Harry glanced around at the chaos of dinner. Red and silver hair intermingled and often bumped against one another vying for a position close to the bride and groom.. Finally everyone was seated and Desire toasted the bride and groom.

Alain announced earlier that if he added any more rooms the house would be magically unsound. So tents were now erected around the table. The whole experience was very much like camping, except for the distinctly French cuisine. But Harry enjoyed himself nonetheless.

He saw that Ryou was enjoying himself too. There was a slightly haggard looking man, sitting next to the white-haired boy. The man was staring at his food, avoiding eye contact, and drowning in his wine glass. Harry guessed that this was Ryou's father although they showed no resemblance. The two hadn't actually spoken to each other, but occasionally Ryou would shoot the man a worried glance, as he listed to his aunt talk.

After dinner everyone disbanded to their own groups, going over the processional, the entertainment, the last minute seat changes. Harry wandered over to Bill. He hadn't had a chance to speak to him since that battle at Hogwarts, a battle that left Bill scarred for life.

"Hey Bill," Harry said with a smile. "You know I don't think I ever got a chance to say 'Congratulations'"

Bill laughed. His laughter was refreshing, easy and natural. Harry could forget about those disturbing scars and their testament of battles to come.

"Don't worry I think half the people here have said congratulations at least a hundred times. That's more than enough to cover everyone else," Bill said with a genuine smile.

Being around Bill put Harry at ease. For a while he was feeling guilty about what happened to the courageous curse breaker. He kept thinking if only he had stopped Malfoy from brining in the death eaters…if only he had been able to save Dumbledore… if only they hadn't left that night to the cave. But now he was beginning to realize that thinking like that wouldn't solve anything. Now he was a man of action, and not that rash, thoughtless action that got Sirius killed. He would proceed with careful deliberate steps with only one goal in mind, to kill Voldemort.

"Oh here comes my future mother-in-law. Here to brag about me to one of her many relatives," Bill spoke up drawing Harry out of his dark thoughts. "You see, if her daughter marries a poor English wizard, at least he's a war hero,"

Right on cue Desiree twirled her way into view, pulling Ryou by the hand.

"And zis is my brave son-in-law who fought a werewolf with 'is bare 'ands," Desiree said with as much flourish as she could.

"A werewolf," Ryou said with a shudder, as if recollecting an unpleasant memory. "You are far braver than any I have known."

"Desiree exaggerates my physical prowess. It was too one-sided to be called an actual fight," Bill said humbly but with a twinkle in his eye.

"But you survived. That should be a miraculous feat unto itself," Ryou insisted.

"Bah. He wasn't even fully transformed," Bill said with a wave of his hand.

"Really?" Ryou said confused. "But I thought werewolves were normal humans without the full moon."

"True," Bill said nodding. "And being from Japan, you might not know, but there's this nasty beast named Greyback who believes werewolves deserve blood. He's as bad human as he is wolf. He's the guy that attacked me."

Ryou simply shook his head. "Then I guess you're not a werewolf,"

"No. I just get a little excited when the moon is full. I usually go joy riding on my broom, something to get the blood boiling," Bill said as casually as if he was talking about how to best alleviate boredom.

"Ah zat eez good. You'll be all ze more better in bed. Yes," Desiree said seriously.

Harry nearly choked on air and Ryou turned a deep scarlet but Bill just laughed.

Harry felt he had enough of this conversation and slipped away to join his friends.

0.0.

The house had finally quieted down. Witches, wizards, and veelas were drifting off to sleep.

/Yadonshi/ came a voice from the shadows. /I believe its my turn now/

Ryou hesitated then released control. Spirit and host had drawn up a 'rental agreement' of sorts. If Bakura did not disturb Ryou's classmates or his father, then the spirit had full reign during the night as long as he was back in time for Ryou to sleep at least six hours a night (on average) There were a few loopholes in the contract that let Bakura come out for an emergency. But emergency to the spirt and emergency to Ryou were two entirely different things. However the agreement seemed to be working out well. And Ryou didn't want to be the first to break it.

Bakura stretched out his limbs and climbed out the window, easily jumping onto the ground below. He inwardly smiled. For some reason the body always preformed better under his control. Perhaps it was simply mind over body.

Bakura walked briskly, heading to the woods. He knew there would be nothing in the wizards' house he would be interested in stealing so he decided to do some exploring. The woods seemed more appealing than snooping in people's tents.

The wood was dark and quiet and Bakura blended as easily as a shadow among the trees. As he walked, enjoying the darkness of the night, he saw a familiar sight ahead. It was Ryou's father and he was not alone. Lady Asceline stood by with all the grace and majesty of a queen.

Bakura decided to keep his distance since he was unsure if veela senses were keener than humans. But curious to what they were talking about, he activated the ring, allowing him to hear every word clearly.

/Wow/ Ryou said observing from his soul room /I didn't know the ring could do that/

/The ring has many powers/ the spirit responded and continued to watch.

"We reunite at last, Kosuke Bakura," Lady Asceline whispered. Even with the ring it was difficult to hear her breathy speech. "I failed to see you when I greeted your son." She paused contemplating, while Kosuke grunted an apology. "You never did like staying with our family," she said when he fell silent. There was no accusation in her voice. She was simply stating facts. She smiled as Kosuke stuttered. "I take it by your ers and ums zat I am correct. And I can understand. You are a muggle through and through ," she said with a small musical laugh. "Even if magic is right in front of your face, you still can't truly believe." She gazed at him with steady unblinking eyes. "But I did not come here to reprimand you. Rather I came here to talk about Ryou."

"Ryou?" Kosuke asked.

"Yes. Surely you know by now that every time I invited you to France, it was to discuss Ryou's education. It was my opinon that he would have had a better school at England or France but you swooped him over to Japan. This is somezing I can forgive. I 'ave 'eard that Japanese wizards are very disciplined and often use a traditional method of spirit energy and meditation. But you didn't enroll him in a magic school, you shuffled him around from one muggle school to another," Lady Asceline said angrily.

"Wait how do you know this," Kosuke said suspiciously.

"My friend Proffesor Peu. He spends much of 'is time in Japan. I asked him to offer private tutoring for Ryou but he said you refused. Zis deeply grieved me. But I refrained from forcefully taking Ryou. So until now I 'ave only written you each year."

"So that's why that weird old man showed up. I should have known you were behind that," Kosuke said his voice rising.

"Can you blame me for wanting the best for my grandson?"

"You know, he technically isn't your grandson," Kosuke said sourly. "So it really isn't your concern."

"I beg your pardon. But Angeline was like a daughter. I cherish any child of hers. Please think of what Angeline would 'ave wanted," Lady Asceline said holding her head high.

Kosuke cursed angrily but Asceline continued. "Angeline would be horrified. As a girl she dreamed of her children at Beauxbatons or Batonsforts. (1) But you would not even consider leaving Ryou in France. 'e could 'ave been 'appy with us. 'is French is very good, you know. Or maybe you don't. Do you even look at your son? 'E's a ghost of a child and you don't even notice," Lady Asceline said contemptuously.

/Yami. It's rude to eavesdrop. Let's go. Please/ Ryou hated to hear others call Kosuke a bad father, even if it was true.

/Quiet weakling. There's nothing else to do around here/ Bakura said dismissively.

Kosuke was at first at a lost for words. He had gone through stages of shock, anger, and shame. Now he was somewhere in between. "Look I'm sorry for not putting Ryou in magic school but that wasn't my fault. The school didn't accept him. And your tutor friend didn't seem very promising. In fact he never knew of a case like Ryou's.

"Explain," Lady Asceline said simmering down and regaining her composure.

"Well it all started with a letter from Kaede School of Mystics. They said something to this effect. "We regretfully announce that we cannot accommodate your son in our school. His powers are too unique to fit into the standard of our curriculum. Your child is very special and requires the help of someone better equipped."

"That 'someone better equipped' could have been Proffessor Peu," Asceline reminded the archeologist.

"I know. But like I said he never found a case like Ryou's and I just didn't want my son treated like a genuie pig. And I felt that this 'condition' or whatever it was must be a blessing from heaven because I really didn't want to deal with my son's developing magic on my own," Kosuke explained

Lady Asceline paused, thinking. "What exactly eez Ryou's condition. Eez he a squib?"

"That's a wizard-born that can't do magic, right?" Kosuke asked. At Asceline's conformation, he shook his head. "That's not exactly it. Professor Peu gave him a few tests. He said that it was like something was blocking his magic or he has a completely different form of magic, that he couldn't identify. I just felt that it was meant to be."

Lady Asceline was quiet for some time. Finally she spoke "I theenk I'm beginning to understand. Since Ryou wasn't exactly a wizard, you felt that you had no obligation to Angeline to train 'is magic. And you never left 'im with us because you promised Angleine you would take care of 'im. Correct?"

Kosuke nodded miserably. "But I was wrong. There is definitely something different about him, something dark. And every time I noticed it, I just ran away to Egypt Whenever I found cuts or bruises, and he wouldn't tell me where he got them, I ran away. Whenever I saw those creepy dolls or those occult books, I ran away. And whenever… a friend of his would fall into a coma, I ran away."

"Fell into a coma?" Lady Asceline asked.

"Well, I don't know what happened but often, he would have friends over, and then they would just fall asleep and not wake up. The police would ask a lot of questions. But they never found any evidence. I was so scared, the only thing I could do was transfer Ryou to another school. Just run away." Kosuke muttered, hanging his head.

Inside his soul room, Ryou was crying. He had never heard his father talk about how he felt. It was both a relief and heartbreak. Bakura was surprised that Kosuke had noticed the odd things about his son. Perhaps the man was a little more perceptive than the spirit had given him credit for. But that really made him all the more a coward for not talking to his son.

"Zat sounds like untrained magic. Sometimes young wizards can break things or float. Although I 'ave never 'eard of a friend falling into a coma," Lady Asceline said with a worried look.

"Then he really should have been with you," Kosuke said sadly.

"Yes. But I fear it may be too late. 'E is already seventeen," Lady Asceline said regretfully.

"Yeah. I was afraid of that," Kosuke mumbled. "But he really needs a family. Someone who's there for him. Not me."

"Are you suggesting that Ryou should stay with us after all?" Lady Asceline asked quietly.

Kosuke shrugged. "That's the only thing I can think of that might help."

Lady Asceline gazed at the night sky. "I theenk that should be something you should discuss with your son."

"But he needs your help," Kosuke argued.

"No Kosuke, 'e needs you," Lady Asceline said sternly turning to go.

"Wait," Kosuke called after her. "He belongs in your world. I know he does."

"Perhaps," Lady Asceline acknowledged. "But our world is facing a war. Yes, the dark lord rises."

"I think Angeline once mentioned him. I thought he was killed." Kosuke said thinking back.

"Just delayed, by Harry Potter."

"Oh that boy with the glasses. That's why Desiree was so excited about him."

Lady Asceline nodded and continued. "With Voldemort's return, England will be on the front lines. Should he succeed here, he will no doubt move onto the rest of Europe. Most of the family is considering staying to help in the war effort. Your son will not be safe here. Take him to Egypt."

"I can't. I just can't. I can't even look at him. Every time I see him, I see my own failure. I'm just too weak," Kosuke said defeated.

" I cannot stop you then. I am too old to use my veela charm to sway you. But consider what you are about to do carefully. Are you sure you want to run away from this?" Lady Asceline asked.

Kosuke remained silent and Lady Asceline drifted away. Kosuke stood there for a while watching the graceful figure the veela gliding away. He sighed heavily and turned toward the house, passing Bakura and failing to notice him.

Ryou had stopped crying but he still felt depressed.

/I guess my father is finally giving up on us/ Ryou said miserably.

/He gave up years like a coward he avoided theinevitable/Bakura said as comforting as he could

/Well, I can't blame him. I'm a freak even by wizard standards/ Ryou said in a small voice.

/Stop thinking like a weakling. It's getting on my nerves/ Bakura said getting up out of the bushes.

/But I don't fit in anywhere/ Ryou said sadly

/Yes you do. You fit with me. My hikari. Shadow and light will always fit together/ the spirit said surprisingly soft. /You were born as my perfect host/

Ryou was touched by his yami's gentler attitude. /Is that why my wizard powers don't exist. Because I can't have both shadow magic and wizard magic/

/It's possible. But it's also possible to mix the two magics with some rather… interesting results/ Bakura said with a cruel smile playing on his lips like a cat remembering the taste of a mouse.

/What do you mean/ Ryou asked, curious. But Bakura didn't elaborate.

/We have a big day tomorrow. You should get some rest/ And with that Bakura brought Ryou back to bed.

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Okay so tell me what you think.

1)Batonsforts is the name I gave to the boys school in France. Since Beuxbatons is beautiful sticks. I felt strong sticks would be an appropriate name for the boys

Oh and I don't speak a word of French. All translations are brought to you by babble fish.

And just a note, I didn't read over this since it was longer than usual so some parts may be a little confusing with grammar and spelling mistakes. Boo hoo.

Kosuke is a bit of a wimp, a whiney wimp. I tried to give him a backbone but it just collapsed.

Well there was a lot of dialogue in this chapter. And a lot spoken in accents. So if you don't understand something, just put it in the review.

Hey people read the sidefic if you haven't already. You can find it on my profile. So click.