STORY SUMMERY: It had been only weeks since the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, where Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had bravely stood against the Dark Lord, and failed to protect the world from the sinister creature's return. However, the Death Eaters and their master moved fast, locating an appropriate location to continue their plotting and plans. One of which would not only complicate the lives of the Order of the Phoenix, but of several others as well…
STORY WARNINGS: Drama, Violence, Angst, Swearing, Romance (Shonen-ai and Het)
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Alright- back onto the 'Wednesday deliverance of chapters' again! Quick shout out- Nachtnelke, thanks for the quick info on the Latin. Trust me, it's due to a lack of any sort of Latin knowledge from which sprouts my ignorance instead of a laziness to fix it. If anyone could point of a website that gives good or decent definitions, that'd be really great. Otherwise I'll putter along with what I have.
Also: Skakkanin is Japanese for tenant.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm not making money off of this. There is a bit of direct quoting that occurs in this chapter and that definitely belongs to JK Rowling.
--
CHAPTER
SEVEN:
TURBO, TEMPESTAS
--
Last Time: Their questions are answered, they've picked their classes, and they've got a mountain of books to look through thanks to Hermione.
--
From the Sunday that the group arrived to the following Monday, Grimmauld Place was as peaceful as could be- the four teenaged boys spent most of their time in Yugi and Marik's room, studying the mountain of texts that Hermione had bewitched to fit into a trunk that should have been full a library and a half ago. Mokuba, however, had cleaning duties to perform with the rest of those living in the house. Despite his lack of cleaning knowledge ("When you have people to clean for you, you don't really learn to do it yourself."), he quickly befriended the rest of the Weasleys.
The Order seemed to go out of its way to make sure all of the teens were well cared for, as if to make up for the lack of information coming from their end. Not that it appeased the teens who were busy cleaning most of the day. They whined down the hall in front of their door, interrupting the studying occurring within as they looked over the railing just beyond Yugi's doorway.
"It's unfair! We've got just as much right to know as the rest of them!"
"Yeah… too bad Mum binned all Fred and George's Extendable Ears…"
"Acutally, I think they saved some."
"Really?!"
After the first few times, Kaiba stuck his head out and threatened them bodily harm, with or without magic. They quickly learned to complain about the unfairness of life in softer tones. Overall, life wasn't too bad once the foreign group was able to send letters to their loved ones about necessities. It was going well. It was going too well.
It was late at night on Monday, August second when everything went to Hell in a hen basket.
--
Yugi leaned over the letter that Joey had sent, smiling and snickering at random intervals. A package of clothing and a box of puzzles and games were sitting next to him. With a happy sigh, he folded the letter and tugged a piece of parchment from beside him, and started to scribble on it with a quill. Marik sighed, setting his own quill down and shaking out his hand.
"I'm never going to get used to writing with this thing," the blonde whined. "I'll always prefer the slight squish of my mechanical pencil."
Kaiba rolled his eyes as he typed on his laptop. "Hn. Pens get much more use in this day and age. Well, in the Muggle world, anyway. Fortunately for you, Marik," Kaiba continued in a sardonic tone, looking up to seer at the Egyptian, "they, too, have a 'squish' on them."
Marik grumbled unhappily, scribbling in quicker strokes on the parchment. Ryou softly chuckled from his corner, where he was shuffling through his deck. His right arm was without bandages once more, and long, dark scars raced up towards the elbow. He turned his doe eyes to the Kaiba, who blinked at his computer screen for a few moments. The white-haired teen looked then towards the door. He turned back to the group.
"Where's Mokuba? It's getting late."
Kaiba's brow furrowed, and he leaned forward to look at the clock on his laptop. "It's almost nine-thirty. Where is he-"
There were a series of loud cracks and pops, and people were yelling. There was a stampede of footsteps, and then something crashed below them. Their door slammed open, Mokuba standing there, face flushed slightly. "Everyone's going crazy! Something happened to that Harry kid!"
The four teens were on their feet in an instant, papers flying everywhere. They rushed out of the room, stopping at the railing to peer down at the chaos at the base of the stairs. People were darting in and out of the kitchen and other rooms, shouting at one another.
"FILTH! Witches and wizards not fit to lick the scum from my fathers' boots! Traitors to the Lord! Mudbloods of all sorts and shapes and sizes and colors! Leave my house or pay the consequences!!"
Mrs. Black quickly decided to join the noise with her crashing screams and wails, and Remus Lupin rushed from the kitchen to silence her. The group of foreign wizards watched as the portrait was once more covered, with the extra help from Tonks, and then the people calmed themselves, the noise level dropping swiftly. Marik's mouth dropped open and he looked around at the floor below.
"By Apophis, what in the world is going on?!"
"Apparently, Harry managed to find the only two dementors in Surrey."
The group of five started, jerking around to stare at form of Fred and George as they held the end of one of their few Extendable Ears. Fred grinned slightly at them and began to reel in the Ear, and Marik blinked at them.
"What's a 'dementor?'"
George looked smug, waving his had slightly as he spoke. "It's a Dark Creature- it sucks the happiness from your body and makes you relive your worst memories."
"Nasty little buggers, they are."
"Right you are, Fred. And if one Kisses you-"
"-It'll suck out your soul!"
The twins cackled evilly, yet softly as to not disturb the portrait below. Marik, Yugi, and Ryou looked over at Mokuba and Kaiba who were frowning at the memory of having their souls removed as well. George waved his hand at them, dispersing the conversation.
"Anyway, after Harry drove them off with the Patronus Charm-"
"-He dragged his lumpy cousin back to his house and safety-"
"-Only to get expelled from Hogwarts and told-"
"-They were coming to snap his wand."
"Of course, Headmaster Dumbledore took off out of here in an instant-"
"-And now they're holding a trial for him."
After they're eyes resettled from playing ping-pong with the twins' voices, the five foreigners turned to look at one another. Kaiba glowered.
"They're disregarding one of their own laws if they expel him," Kaiba said suddenly, crossing his arms and leaning on the railing again. "However, seeing as this smear campaign is as bad as it is, I wouldn't doubt them to at least try it."
Ryou stared blankly over the banister. "That's horrible," was all he murmured after a moment. Suddenly, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all came running up the stairs, Molly's voice carrying after them.
"-And if I catch you trying to hide in the kitchen again, I'll make you clean the third floor bathroom by yourselves with Muggle cleaning supplies!"
The group of seven already at the top of the stairs fled from the railing, staying out of the indignant mother's sight. The trio quickly rushed over to them, pale and frowning.
"Alright," Ron said swiftly, rounding on George or Fred, "what'd you find out?"
As if waiting for their cue, the twins once again began to ping-pong their sentences back and forth. Those who'd heard it already dropped their gaze to the floor to avoid the nausea. Once the retelling was over, Hermione straightened herself, turning around to look at Yugi.
"Do you mind if I dig through my trunk to find a few books? I'd like to research on the laws in order to give Harry some notes. Not that he'd need them- it's completely ridiculous what they're doing- but it'll make him feel better."
Yugi smiled, scratching the back of his head and began to lead the brunet towards his shared bedroom. "Um, no problem. We've been looking through the first and second year books all week and taking our own notes, so the rest of your books should be still where you had them."
Kaiba rubbed the bridge of his nose and caught up alongside them. "I took a law book from inside, however. Let me find that one for you while you dig for what you need."
Marik sighed, leaning backwards and rubbing his forehead. Ryou leaned his head slightly to the side, while the others merely turned their attention to him. Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"What?" she asked after a minute. Marik turned his lavender gaze upon her.
"You do realize that we're all going to be dragged by Hermione and Yugi into looking up every single law to help Pooter out, right?"
Ron flushed angrily, and Ginny snickered slightly, which was echoed by the twins behind her. Marik blinked. "What?"
Ron frowned. "You said 'Pooter.' It's Harry Potter."
Ryou stifled a giggle, earning a dark look from Marik. "Yeah, well… sorry. Well, let's get over there. Maybe we can recruit Kaiba into keeping us from the search-"
"Hey guys!" Yugi called from the bedroom door, his tri-color-haired head poking from around the door, "We need your help! It won't take long with all of us working, so c'mon!"
Marik exhaled loudly, and the twins quickly babbled what sounded like an excuse before Apparating away. Ginny glared at the spot where they had stood last, before storming towards the doorway, Ryou and Marik trailing slowly behind.
--
That Friday evening, the sixth, found Yugi and the others buried into their textbooks and notes, but it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate. The noise level oft eh front hall had risen to where Mrs. Black had been disturbed twice in the past three hours. If that were not enough, the voices of the vexed teenagers were loudly pouring through their door. Growling, Kaiba rose from his spot on Yugi's bed, closing the laptop with a loud click! Marik looked over at him with a sigh.
"Don't kill them, Kaiba. They've been good all week."
The CEO glared at the blonde before turning to the door. "I won't," he snapped, "I'm just curious as to what is going on this time that'll make the weasels panic."
"Kaiba!" Yugi admonished, but only succeeded in extracting a sneer from the brunet. Sighing, he put the Astronomy book he had been reading down and rose to his feet, cracking his back. Ryou blinked over his Ancient Runes book for a moment before sliding a bookmark into it and closing it. Marik tossed his Herbology book onto his bed and groaned.
"Alright, let's go check it out. Maybe Mokuba can tell us what's going on."
Marik walked over to the door, opening it and peaking out and looked both ways before opening it wider and leaving, the other three following. In front of the railing just outside their door were the other teens of the house. Ginny was crouched down, peering through the banisters, holding an extendable ear as best she could over the heads of the people below. She turned, speaking softly to the teens kneeling beside her.
"Alright, well, it sounds like they're just waiting for Harry to arrive. They were seen flying a few towns over, so unless Mad-Eye decides to double-back a few more times, they'll be here in about ten minutes," the youngest Weasley finished, pulling up the Extendable Ear as the group beneath them began to disperse.
"About bloody time!" Ron finally hissed, rising to his feet and turning around, coming face to face with Marik. The redhead stifled a shriek and jumped backward, almost trouncing on Hermione's hand. She gasped and flailed, striking Ginny, who fumbled with the Extendable Ear and almost dropped it. The twins were snickering loudly, and Marik merely raised and eyebrow.
"When you're trying to be sneaky," the lavender-eyed teen quipped, "you should try being silent."
Ron frowned, but Ryou was the one who jabbed him in the side with his elbow, giving the Egyptian a sharp look. Marik frowned and looked away while Ryou turned back to the group.
"So, Potter will be coming then? Were you able to get anything for his trial?" the white-haired teen asked. Hermione brightened and nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, I found so much about the laws of our society that I think we can come up with a great defense for him," she said with a slightly smug face. She whirled around, grabbing Ron's arm and pulling him towards his bedroom. "C'mon Ron. I want you to help me organize the papers one last time so Harry won't have to worry about it."
The youngest male redhead stumbled after her, murmuring an unnecessary affirmative to her 'request.' As they disappeared behind the door, George turned to Yugi and gave him a small smirk. "Hey, listen," he began, "Harry is a good kid, but he's had it rough the past few years."
"So if he seems a bit… ireful-" Fred picked up the hanging sentence.
"-Don't spend much time thinking about it-" George continued.
"-'Cause he doesn't mean it," Fred finished.
Ginny cleared her throat slightly, drawing the attention of all the boys gathered. "He's always had a bit of a temper, but Headmaster Dumbledore has kept him completely out of the loop. He lives with Muggles who aren't the kindest to him. He'd rather be here and he's bound to be jealous of us, and especially you. You just learn about the magical world and you're rushed to his Godfather's house. Harry doesn't even know you're here yet because we couldn't tell him through the mail."
Marik struck his forehead with his palm. "This is going to be an interesting dinner…"
Yugi quickly took over that line of thought. "I hope he isn't too-"
Yugi paused in mid sentence, blinking a few times before rubbing his forehead. Marik placed a hand to his temple, itching at a spot. Ryou scratched the bridge of his nose. Kaiba's nose merely twitched, although it was obvious that something was bothering him, too. Fred leaned forward, as if inspecting them.
"What's wrong with you lot?" he asked. Yugi pointed to the doorway below.
"There's a strong presence of Neo-Magic approaching. We're getting used to it, but it kinda tingles when a bunch of wizards arrive here at once, because of all the magic concentrated in this one house. It gave us headaches at first," the violet-eyed teen said with a wince. Fred and George grinned at one another while Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes.
"That would probably be Harry and his guard," the young female redhead said, a small smirk on her lips. "But, man, it's going to suck for you at Hogwarts. That place is filled with… what did you call it? Neo-Magic? Anyway, Hogwarts is saturated with 'neo-magic.'"
Ryou frowned slightly, turning around and looking at Yugi. Yugi merely sighed and looked over at the twins and their sister. "I'm going to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore about it. See what he thinks we can do."
Any further conversation was put on hold when suddenly the door swept open, and the group of eight ducked back. However, it was only Professor Snape, and he ducked immediately down the hallway, where the gathering men and woman quickly followed after, not even whispering to one another as they made their way towards the kitchen. Fred poked his head over the railing, raising an eyebrow.
"What's that greasy git doing here now?" he asked after a moment. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Obviously, he's giving a report to the Order. I wonder if we can listen in…" her ginger eyes narrowed and she slowly slunk down the stairway and towards her bedroom.
The twins raised an eyebrow at one another before turning to Yugi. "Well, if she wants to have a listen, we'll have to scrounge up an Extendable Ear, so we'll take our leave now."
With two loud cracks, the twins Disapparated away and left the group standing at the railing. Mokuba leaned forward, peering at the front hall before he turned and looked at Kaiba.
"Do you really think that Harry Potter's going to be ticked off?" the blue-violet eyed boy asked softly.
However, before the boys could respond, the front door opened, and the presence of the Neo-Magic increased, no longer distilled by the main wards, crashed into the Shadow mages. Yugi's head pounded suddenly, and he swayed in shock, forcing Yami to take control. Kaiba rubbed the bridge of his nose while Ryou and Marik gritted their teeth and blinked a bit. Mokuba looked on in concern, and then Pharaoh sighed, turning to his friends.
"Alright, everyone into the bedroom," Yami commanded, marching everyone forward, even though he, too, was wincing and pupils shrinking to small circles in his maroon eyes. He closed the door and walked away from it, plopping onto his bed and staring at a spot on the wall. Marik collapsed onto his bed, groaning in annoyance. Mokuba looked over at him, picking up a book from the floor.
"Is it really that bad?" the eleven-year-old asked doubtfully. Marik turned and looked at him for a moment before pushing his face back into his pillow.
"It isn't horrible, per se, but I won't be able to concentrate with this. I hope dinner starts soon- maybe we can ask for a sleeping potion so we can just go to bed," the blonde mumbled into his pillow. Sekhmet walked over to him and lay down next to his head, as if sensing his discomfort. The lavender-eyed teen began to pet the Maine Coon kitten.
Ryou sat at the edge of his bed, knees pulled up to his chest. He looked over at Marik, sighing softly. "It wasn't bad in Diagon Alley… much more space…"
As their headaches slowly ebbed away, someone was walking up the stairs and toward their bedroom. A strong sense of neo-magic followed the presence, and Yami winced as the person paused outside the door, and then exhaled as they continued on. Yami rubbed his temples. Mokuba, who had been peering through one of the first-year books, had stopped to watch Yami's expression. Concerned, he walked over to the spirit.
"You and Yugi okay?" he asked quietly in Japanese, having hung around the twins and their Extendable Ears long enough to know to not leave anything to chance. He placed a hand on Yami's shoulder and smiled at him.
Yami looked up at the boy before patting his hand softly. "We're fine," he responded likewise in Japanese, "it's just… with two minds and two separate magical presences in one body… things tend to get a bit more painful."
Mokuba gave his shoulder a sympathetic squeeze before walking over to where Kaiba had taken a seat on one of the trunks and plopped down on the ground next to him, picking up another book to look through. There was a comfortable silence that reined through the room as the Item holders relaxed.
And then a bomb went off that sounded an awful lot like a screamming teenaged boy.
"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG BEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU?! YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER!" (1)
The angry tones continued, causing Kaiba to stiffen automatically, his blue eye twitching slightly. Sekhmet hissed, fleeing from her spot and darting under Marik's bed, much to his annoyance. Thoth gave an angry hoot, flapping his wings as he perched on the top of his cage. Ryou looked between the door and Yami.
"Is that…?" he whispered, the raging still going on in the background. Yami nodded, his eyes also on the door.
"Harry Potter," he murmured. Kaiba growled softly, rubbing the bridge of his nose, turning his glare around the room.
"If he doesn't stop, I'm going to make him stop."
Marik looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. "He knows how to hex you into a blob. Do you really want to mess with that?"
Kaiba stared back at him. "I've faced worse. Besides, he isn't allowed to use magic, just like us."
"Yeah, but you should know that rage makes you insane. Insane people don't care about laws," Marik chirped, and Kaiba threw a paperback book at him. He caught it, and stuck his tongue out at the CEO. Kaiba rolled his eyes at him, and growled when more screams reverberated through their walls.
"FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK AT PIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS-" (2)
Ryou sighed, leaning on his elbows onto his knees as he stared dully at the carpet before reaching down and grabbing at the Defense Against the Dark Arts book by Quentin Trimble, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. Marik peaked over his shoulder, blinking down at the page he was reading.
"This stuff is right up your alley, right Ryou? You were always into the occult-type stuff. At least… that's what… uh… he said once," the blonde paled instantly ducking back and dropping his gaze, wincing. Ryou looked at Marik out of the corner of his eye. He sighed, closing the book around his forefinger.
"Yes, I've always been fond of occult-type stuff. Don't look so sheepish, Marik. Shakkanin-" he arched his eyebrows to let Marik know who he was talking about- "won't ruin the occult for me. Something far more powerful makes it a good memory. My mother was just as into it as I was," Ryou said, a soft smile lighting his face. He grinned quietly at his friends, who had stopped and turned to look at him. "It was one of the few things that I shared just with my mother. My sister, Amane, was more into technology and such and didn't like magic and myth. I'm sure you would have liked her, Kaiba."
Kaiba rolled his eyes at him. "I'm sure," he said with a sneer and turned away to grab his laptop.
Mokuba, however, dropped his gaze, thinking. He then frowned, eyeing the white-haired teen. "I've never heard you talk about them before now. Where are they?"
Ryou paled suddenly, dropping his gaze to the floor. He slipped his finger from the book and set the text aside, avoiding their gazes for several long moments. Suddenly, Kaiba realized why Ryou never said anything about them, and his mouth went dry.
"They… died when I was nine," Ryou softly whispered at last, clutching his hands together and squeezing his eyes shut. "They're buried in Exeter, where my grandparents lived." He chuckled sadly, lifting his gaze slightly, showing a pair of dark brown eyes. "Father is being cremated and his ashes spread over the deserts of Egypt."
Having exchanged places with this yami, Yugi slid forward, almost leaving his bed before Ryou shook his head slightly. "I'm okay. It was a long time ago."
"But," Yugi began, head tilting slightly to the side, "what about your father? That was just over a week ago."
Ryou blinked a few times before shrugging slightly, a dark glint to his usually innocent eyes. "I… don't really know how to feel about his death. I really don't feel… anything."
Yami jolted in his soul-room in shock, and Yugi resisted the temptation to make sure that the Millennium Ring was still safely stowed away in his trunk.
Marik, however, chuckled beside the brown-eyed teen, his lavender eyes also dark. "I know how you feel Ryou. My mother died when I was young, and it devastated our family. But when my father died… I couldn't bring myself to care so much, no matter how much my sister did."
Kaiba managed to look uncomfortable, but Mokuba frowned, looking down and ignoring the feeling of Kaiba's eyes on his back. "Mom died in childbirth with me," the black-haired boy said after a moment, "and Dad died in a car crash a few years later. I didn't know Mom them well enough to mourn her, but Dad was always so… distant with us that it was hard to."
Kaiba cleared his throat and looked down at him, and Mokuba looked over at his brother and smiled slightly. The rest of their tale was not his to share, and Seto would tell it on his terms and no one else's.
Yugi sighed, placing his chin into his hands. "My father travels all around the world, so I don't see much of him. Mom goes with him, but she comes back more often. But really, it's just me and Grandpa. I'm sure that I'd feel something if Dad died, though."
Ryou looked over at him quietly, as if measuring him with his soft eyes. "I'm glad for you, Yugi," he said at last, "because that means you care about him."
The silence that followed was awkward and uncomfortable, each person quietly groping for some sort of book to distract them from it. It was a few minutes later that the necessary distraction arrived in the form of Mrs. Weasley knocking on their door.
"Boys?" she called, and Mokuba rushed to the door, opening it with a smile.
"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," he said. The ginger-eyed woman smiled at him and nodded back to him.
"Hello, Mokuba. Boys, dinner is ready now if you'd like to make your way to the kitchen. I'll be down behind you in a moment. I just have to get everyone else," she said with a smile, moving to turn. She stopped mid-step, looking back at them. "Oh, and be careful where you tread. Someone left a bunch of dungbombs around the kitchen door. I think I grabbed them all, but do take care."
She vanished a moment later, and Mokuba turned to the group of teens behind him. Yugi sighed, standing up. "Well," the shortest teen said after a second, "we've got to go meet Harry sometime. Let's get down there before he does, though, so we can avoid an awkward meeting on the stairs."
They five of them began to descend the stairs, just as a greasy-haired, hook-nosed man left the kitchen, grumbling under his breath. Yugi's eyes brightened and he paused halfway down the stairs.
"Professor Snape, sir!" the crazy-haired teen called, managing to stop the man before he could leave. The group rushed down the stairs to get to him. The black-eyed man merely glared at them.
"What is it?" he snapped, his mood sour. Yugi flushed, smiling meekly.
"Sorry sir, but we were wondering if you could send word to Headmaster Dumbledore that we really need to speak with him about the shadow magic," Yugi said quickly. Marik came to a stop beside him, resting his elbow on Yugi's shoulder.
"Yeah, it has a strange reaction to the neo-magic. We figured that putting that in a letter wasn't exactly intelligent," the blonde said. Kaiba kicked his shin, eliciting a sharp yelp from the Egyptian before the blonde remembered to squeak out, "Oh, yeah: sir."
Snape rolled his eyes before glowering at the group. "I will give word to the Headmaster," the man said, but continued in a more dangerous tone, "but do not expect me to give him any more messages. Any of the other adults have little to do and would gladly function as human-sized owls for you."
Ryou smiled softly at him, bowing his head to the man. "Thank you, sir. We won't bother you with any others."
"See that you don't," the Professor snapped before storming down the hall. Yugi watched him go, exhaling.
/ He is the most unpleasant person, Yami, / the hikari said to the spirit of the Puzzle, clutching the artifact in his hands. He felt the Pharaoh stir within his mind.
/ Don't worry about him, / Yami said quickly, / he's your Professor, so don't give him any reason to dislike you. /
Yugi smiled at the golden pyramid, but was startled out of it when he was bumped into and sent stumbling towards the door. A few more wizards and witches had gathered into the hallway, and the teens found themselves pushed against the wall nearest to the screaming portrait of Mrs. Black. Yugi placed a finger to his lips, and the others nodded quickly. After a moment, the crowd moved towards the door, and left quickly and efficiently. Lupin and Tonks began to seal the door's many locks and bolts, throwing a ward or two on the door just to be safe.
The group of five tiptoed away from the portrait, where Yugi exhaled softly before turning and watching as Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George made their way down the stairs. Standing with Hermione and Ron, however, was a dark, messy-haired teen with vibrant green eyes partially obscured by a pair of glasses. He looked rather scrawny beneath his baggy clothing, although Yugi knew that appearances truly meant nothing.
After ushering the last Order member through the door, Mrs. Weasley finally seemed to notice that the teens had all gathered in the front hall. "Oh, there you all are. We're eating in the kitchen, so-"
CRASH!
Ryou gasped, spinning around to see Tonks lying on the floor, legs tangled in the troll-foot-turned-umbrella-stand. Tonks began to apologize profusely, but it fell upon deaf ears, for all sounds were suddenly blocked by the curtains across from Ryou parting with a snap, exposing a yellowing, old woman whose face was drawn and eyes rolling as she screamed and screamed. This then caused the rest of the portraits to wake up and begin to scream as well.
Mokuba clamped his hands over his ears while Kaiba strode forward with the air of someone on a mission. After waiting a moment Marik marched forward, trailing a few paces behind. As they latched onto one set of curtains and Remus Lupin grabbed the other, Molly spun around, stunning the other portraits to stop their screams. The portrait turned her rolling eyes upon them and shrieked in outrage.
"Horrible mudbloods from across the sea! Bringing your filth and disgrace with you! You are worthless! Nothing but insects in a world of men!"
Kaiba growled at her, blue eyes narrow as he fought with Marik to close the curtain. "This coming from an animated portrait of a dead woman!" the CEO snarled.
With those words, the portrait screamed, if possible, louder. Kaiba merely smirked while Marik rolled his eyes, an amused spark to their lavender depths.
Suddenly, Lupin was joined by another man- Sirius Black. The black-haired man snarled at the portrait. "God, can you just shut up?!"
The witch turned upon him and looked even more angry and bloodthirsty. Her face paled quickly and drool began to pour from her mouth like she was some sort of rabid dog.
"Yoooou! Disgrace of my fathers! Failure of the family! You dare come before me!!"
Sirius growled, and nodded to Remus before turning to the two teens. Marik nodded and Kaiba jerked his head in what could be called a nod. Sirius then turned back to his mother's portrait.
"Just-shut-UP!" he roared, and the four of them pulled at once, slamming the curtains closed. Mrs. Black's screams died away as Kaiba looked down at his hands, frowning.
"I'm going to have to wash my hands," he murmured. Marik stared, too, at his hands before turning to the curtains, as if to inspect just how dirty they actually were. Sirius smirked at them.
"Well, thanks for the help," he said with a grin, brushing the hair from his face. Kaiba gave a curt nod while Marik flashed a grin.
"No problem!" the Egyptian said, giving him a thumbs-up. He then looked back at his hands, wrinkling his nose slightly. "Uh… I'll just go visit the sink in the kitchen for a moment." He began to walk towards the kitchen. Kaiba nodded once more as he turned to follow, but Marik glanced over his shoulder, sneering.
"Coming, binky-boy?"
Kaiba growled, glaring fiercely at the back of the blonde's head before walking forward, his usual confident stride in place that caused the end of his black robe to kick up and billow behind him. The two disappeared through the door to the kitchen, leaving Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba behind in the hall. Yugi grinned weakly as the rest of the teens quickly descended the rest of the stairs. The twins walked over to where the three had gathered. Fred was grinning from ear-to-ear while George was smirking.
"'Binky-boy?'" Fred snorted, brown eyes practically glowing with a wicked light. Yugi winced as he smiled, scratching the back of his head as he did.
"Yeah… binky-boy…" the blonde-banged teen said. George chuckled as gestured for the trio to follow him.
"C'mon- we'll introduce you to Harry," he said. Fred and George walked forward, leading a reluctant Yugi, a curious Mokuba, and a quiet Ryou to where the others had stopped to speak with Sirius. Fred loudly cleared his throat, hooking arms with his twins as they shielded Yugi, Mokuba, and Ryou from sight.
"Howdy there Harry," George said with a smirk, and the green-eyed boy turned and looked over at them.
"Hello George, Fred. What're you up to?" the black-haired boy said, raising an eyebrow at their antics.
Fred cheekily looked offended, turning to look at George, whose expression was just as outraged.
"Why, Harry!" the offended twin called, "We're up to nothing! We just thought you'd be interested in meeting a few new students for Hogwarts!"
Harry's eyebrows rose, looking at Hermione and Ron out of the corner of his eye. Ron winced and Hermione fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Ron met his gaze. "Sorry, mate. Forgot to mention that…"
Harry frowned at him, but George wasn't about to let the mood go sour.
"Well then, here they are!" he cried, and the twins leapt apart, exposing the trio of foreigners. Harry's eyes instantly were stuck on Yugi's mess of abnormal hair, and then slowly trailed over the other two. Fred grinned.
"Harry, this is Yugi Mutou and Mokuba Kaiba," the twin said, gesturing from the spiky-haired teen to the similar-sized black-haired boy, "and they come all the way from Japan."
Harry's eyes widened and his eyebrows disappeared beneath his tangled mess of black hair. George set a hand on Ryou's shoulder, earning a weak smile from the white-haired boy. "This is Ryou Bakura. He's also from Japan, but we found him in Egypt."
Harry's eyes widened once more, but then his eyebrows furrowed, as if trying to remember something. Ryou chose to ignore this, and flushed slightly, but bowed his head to Harry. "Pleasure to meet you, Mister Potter."
The twins snorted in laughter while Sirius let out a barking laugh. Harry shook his head. "Just call me 'Harry.' I get enough of that from my Professors."
Ryou smiled, nodding. "Harry it is."
Fred gestured towards the kitchen. "The other two you saw-"
"-The blonde and binky-boy -" George cut in.
"-Were Marik Ishtar-"
"-The blonde-"
"-And Seto Kaiba-."
"-Binky-boy."
"But don't call him 'Seto-'"
"-Or he'll sue you-"
"-Or something equally nasty."
Once George and Fred were done ping-ponging sentences, Harry blinked a few times, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Ah… right…"
"Don't worry, mate!" Fred proclaimed, instantly at his left side and clutching his shoulder.
"We'll get you straightened out in a jiffy!" George affirmed, suddenly at Harry's other shoulder and holding on just as hard. Harry was then led into the kitchen, the two twins 'helping' him learn the differences between the five newest arrivals. Ginny stifled a giggle at their antics, her ginger eyes bright, while Sirius shook his head slowly.
As Ryou entered the kitchen, he was firstly aware that it was far livelier and less dungeon-esque when there was actual food and people working in it. Kaiba and Marik had vacated to a corner, watching the goings-on through the smoke and chaos. Ryou nodded to them, and all five immediately scattered, dong what they could to assist in the process.
It was five minutes later when everyone had finally gathered at the table. As they had every night since their first visit into the kitchen, the group of five settled at the far end of the table. They tried not to listen to the other conversations, and bowed their heads together to visit amongst themselves.
"Well, Harry seems like a very nice guy," Yugi said finally.
"I'm sure it's just frustration that made him act like that earlier," Ryou said after a moment, watching the steam rise from a spoonful of stew. "I doubt he'll erupt like that again."
Kaiba rolled his eyes, but kept his voice emotionless. "We'll see," he uttered after a moment.
Mokuba frowned at him and poked his brother's side, making the CEO choke uncharacteristically on a mouthful of stew. Yugi snickered, although he could feel Yami rolling with laughter on the floor of his soul room. The teen had to keep himself from doing just that, and reached over and patted the glaring brunet on the back. Marik gave the younger Kaiba thumbs-up.
"Nice, Mokuba!" the blonde said between bursts. The blue-violet eyed boy smiled weakly before turning to his smoldering brother.
"Sorry, Seto. Didn't mean to make you choke," he said as he tugged gently on the oldest Kaiba's sleeve. Kaiba sighed before frowning at him.
"Just don't do it again," Kaiba grumped, turning back to his stew. However, even he smirked slightly when Fred mouthed to Mokuba: "Do it again!"
The meal trailed on, and a few helpings of desert later found that Marik and Ryou had traded seats. Ryou was piling up the dishes of his friends on top of his own. Kaiba was sitting stiffly, but his eyes were trained on Mokuba who was talking animatedly with Yugi and Marik. Ryou pushed the plates towards the center of the table before settling back in his chair, pulling out his Duel Monster's deck and began to rifle through the cards.
Ryou had restructured his deck three times since his father's murder, but he couldn't get the feeling that it was missing something from it. Some cards from his yami's deck had made their way into it- Dark Necrofear was wound into it and Ryou couldn't bring himself to get rid of it. The Change of Heart was definitely in there as well, as it was his favorite card and a useful thing to have. Plucking them from the deck, he inspected both of the cards in his hand. Both had the ability to take over an opponent's monster. The Dark Necrofear, however, had to first be destroyed for it to happen. Ryou placed the cards back into his deck before putting that back into his pocket. He closed his eyes and sighed, allowing his head to drop to his chest, reveling in the silence.
"It feels like we should head to bed soon," Mrs. Weasley's voice broke through to Ryou's mind. He opened his brown eyes and glanced over at her, only to find her gaze on him, concern written across her features. The white-haired teen resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at her, and instead sat up straighter, feeling slightly annoyed.
"Hold on, Molly," Sirius said softly, pushing his plate away. His grey eyes turned upon his godson. "Harry, I was sure that you'd've asked about what we know about Voldemort."
Everyone tensed at the table, even those who had strayed away to converse. Fred and George flinched before leaning around to stare at the Boy-Who-Lived. Ginny paused from her playing with Crookshanks on the floor to watch as well. Ron and Hermione both snapped around, eyes wide with fear that Harry might explode once more. The wizard adults glanced around, looking for someone to stop the conversation before it began.
Marik's eyes gained an inquisitive gleam to them, while Yugi fidgeted in his seat, looking around. Ryou paled swiftly, clutching his hands together under the table. Mokuba settled back into his seat while glancing from the adult to his brother. Kaiba was the only one to look completely unflustered at the turn of events.
Harry, after a moment of silence, frowned and glared at his plate. "Actually, Sirius, I did," the black-haired teen said with a soft yet dangerous tone, "but no one I talked to had answers. Only Order members can know. Only Order members are trusted to know…"
The injured tone in his voice made Mrs. Weasley pale several shades and turn her eyes away, her retort dying on the tip of her tongue. After a moment, she turned back to his slumped form. "It… it isn't that we don't trust you, dear…" she said softly.
Harry raised his shockingly green eyes from his plate and turned them onto her, asking her, pleading her to tell him why. Mrs. Weasley looked around for assistance before sighing.
"Dumbledore doesn't want you to know more than you need to, Harry, dear."
Harry dropped his gaze once more, and Molly feared she may have said the wrong thing. Finally, Harry spoke, his voice carefully dull and his eyes still hidden. "So… it's just Headmaster Dumbledore who doesn't trust me. Good to know."
Molly paled even more, and shook her head swiftly, fearfully. "No, no! Harry, that's not it. Not it at all! He just doesn't want to burden you, I'm sure. But… I… I guess we could let you ask some questions…"
She trailed off, looking at her husband who nodded back at her, a small grim smile on his face. Lupin nodded before turning to the other teens in the room.
"Alright, Molly. Harry can stay. What about the rest of them?"
Mrs. Weasley frowned, staring at her children who were staring back at her with defiant eyes. Mister Weasley leaned forward in his chair slightly. "Well, Fred and George of off age now, so we really can't stop them from staying…"
Fred and George grinned at one another, sticking their tongues out at Ron and Hermione. They reclined in their chairs, and Mrs. Weasley gained a bit more color in her face.
"Yes, fine. But Ron and Hermione-"
Harry lifted his head slightly, a strange look in his eyes. "You know I'll just tell them everything you say here, anyway."
Mrs. Weasley flushed slightly at this, while Sirius was obviously trying to keep from laughing. She rounded on Ginny, who stared back at her. For several moments, no one made a noise. Then Mrs. Weasley exhaled.
"Fine! Everyone stays!" she snapped, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at Sirius, who smiled cheekily at her.
"Uh… even us, Mrs. Weasley?"
All eyes snapped over to where Yugi was sitting, violet eyes wide and staring. He fidgeted quietly, scanning them all. He flushed, ducking his head slightly. "We don't have to stay, ma'am," he said quickly, "if it makes you uncomfortable…"
Mrs. Weasley was at a loss and turned from person to person before Lupin frowned at them. "How's this: we tell you what we know about Voldemort's-" a shudder ran through the group once more- "plans for your Items. After that, you leave. Is that alright?"
Harry had a bewildered expression on his face. Yugi looked at the four teens around him, gathering their expressions before turning back and nodding. "Yeah, that's fine."
Harry blinked a moment. "Wait- Items? What does Voldemort want with these guys?"
Lupin sighed, leaning back and looking at Ryou specifically, who merely returned his gaze evenly for a moment. Marik paled, squeezing Ryou's shoulder in concern, but Ryou merely smiled at him slightly. The white-haired teen finally turned to Harry, twining his fingers in front of him.
"You know that Bill Weasley's encampment in Egypt was attacked a few days ago, right?"
"Yeah," Harry said, "the Daily Prophet said it was some Egyptian wizards who'd had enough. Everyone there was killed, except for two teens…" his eyes grew wide and darted down to Ryou's scarred right arm and back to his eyes.
Ryou nodded slowly when Harry made the connection. "Both Marik and I were there during the attack. But they weren't Egyptian wizards. The Order informed us that they were Death Eaters who were out for Bill's blood. Fortunately, I suppose, they only managed to get everyone else's there. I doubt they would have let anyone live, even if he had been there."
Ryou's eyes darted to the stack of plates in the middle of the table, staring for several moments before turning back to Harry. "When they attacked me, I used a Millennium Item- an ancient Egyptian magic item that allows its wielder to control the shadows. It absorbed the spell they cast… mostly," he said, holding up his right arm to inspect the lines on it. "But the Death Eaters saw its abilities, so it was only a matter of time before they decided that the Items were a more succulent prize."
Yugi quickly took over. "There are seven Items, and we have five of them. The other two are safe enough where they are. We're here because we apparently have your kind of magic as well as Shadow Magic. Except for Mokuba- he's just a wizard."
Harry stared at the tabletop for several seconds before he turned to Ryou, eyes slightly narrow. "They… killed your father, didn't they?"
Ryou stiffened slightly at the question, but relaxed immediately after. "Yes," he said with a nod, looking into those green eyes. Harry fell back against his chair, paler than before. Ryou smiled slightly at him before Marik cleared his throat, drawing the attention to him.
"That's the basics. You can ask Mister Weasley or, really, anyone here for more information," the blonde said swiftly. "I kinda want to know what Dictator Dark is up to."
Harry stared at him for a moment. "Did you just call Voldemort-" the adults all flinched- "'Dictator Dark?!'"
Marik shrugged slightly, looking at the floor. "Yeah. I just can't bring myself to say 'You-Know-Who.'"
Harry sat still for several seconds before he burst out laughing, doubling over in his chair and leaning his forehead against the table in front of him. Marik looked taken aback for a moment before he smirked.
"You can use it if you want to," the Egyptian said cheekily. He ignored the mortified faces of those around him, focusing instead on the image of Ryou hiding a smile desperately behind his hand. Harry finally looked up, wiping his eyes.
"I think I will. Thank you… uh… Marik."
"No problem."
Lupin stared at them for several seconds before he rubbed his forehead slightly. "Alright, alright… settle down." He waited a moment before speaking, "What we know is limited, since it's still so early. Voldemort is indeed interested in the Items, and he did send some of his people to Domino this past week. They didn't do anything, however, but he knows you five aren't where you should be. However, it just proves us right in being cautious and taking you here immediately. He knows that we have you, and he's aware that you will be attending Hogwarts this year."
Kaiba frowned, eyes twitching down to Mokuba for a moment. "Is there anything he doesn't know?"
Sirius smirked at him. "Actually, yes- how the Items work and what people have the last two Items. He has agents crawling all over Egypt looking for information. Somehow I'm doubt he'll find any."
Marik nodded. "Damn straight!" he growled, crossing his arms. Yugi shook his head slightly before watching the man with cautious eyes.
"Is everyone safe?" Yugi asked quickly, and Marik stiffened, eyes widening. Lupin smiled softly.
"As safe as we can make them. Your friends in Domino, your grandfather in Norwich, Yugi, and your sister and brother in Egypt, Marik. Kaiba, we've also posted a few people around KaibaCorp to ensure its safety," the greying brunet said.
Yugi slouched back into is chair with a sigh, while Marik rubbed his forehead, closing is eyes. Kaiba's eyes narrowed, opening his mouth to say how much he did not appreciate having people poke around his corporation, before Mokuba prodded his side again and smiled.
"He appreciates it. Really."
Kaiba glared at his younger brother but finally ended it by rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, turning his gaze back to the brown-eyed man. "Is there anything else?"
Lupin frowned, turning his gaze around at the other adults in the room. When no one else spoke, Lupin smiled at them. "No," he said, "that's all."
"Good," Kaiba grumbled, rising to his feet in one swift motion, leaving the kitchen without a backwards glance. Mokuba followed immediately after. Yugi sighed as he rose with Marik and Ryou, smiling around the table once more.
"Thanks. It was a wonderful meal. Have a good night's rest everyone," the teen said, walking towards the door. Ryou bowed is head to them as he followed. Marik stopped just before he left, holding the door open as he grinned at them.
"Have fun and stuff, alright?"
And the door closed softly behind him.
--
AFTER NOTES: Holy crap. This is the longest chapter yet. I just couldn't figure out where to end it. Expect the next chapter to be done next Wednesday.
Works Cited:
– Rowling, JK. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Chapter 4, Page 65.
– Rowling, JK. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Chapter 4, Page 66.
CHAPTER TITLE: TURBO, TEMPESTAS --Throw into Disorder, Storm
