I have finally updated! I know you're probably all mad at me for not updating sooner, and I'm really really sorry for the delay. I promise I'll do my best to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, and this time it won't take eight months, I swear. Once again I apologise, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 10: Pieces of a puzzle.
New Year's Eve had now gone and passed. The Kaibas, the Ishtars and Jounouchi had left on the 2nd of January, after various promises of taking care of each other. ("Yes, Isis, don't worry, I'll be fine, take care, I love you both...") Mariku and Bakura had snickered at the gift Mokuba had made for Seto and Jou. He had added a photograph of the blond teenager in his brother's card locket, while offering the same to Jou, only with pictures of both Kaiba brothers. The hikaris had thought it cute, which added to the two yami's hilarity.
Now that the festivities were over, the hikaris now found themselves covered with a huge pile of homework and with a lot of catching up to do. Yami, Draco and Blaise had offered to help them. At first they had refused, but after realising they were never going to make it on their own they gladly accepted the help. And so, when classes started once more, all three had caught up with a rather decent amount of work. What they couldn't manage to do, the teachers were willing to let pass, allowing the hikaris a bit more time to finish.
However, the whole school had by now heard of the mysterious events that had occured the last week before Christmas, mysterious events that still remained unsolved. So, much to the transferees' annoyance, they found themselves the centre of all attention, along with the Golden trio and the Weasley family.
Once, Yugi had been 'attacked' by a group who wanted to know what exactly had happened. After this, Yami refused to ever leave his side, and it became very rare to see a hikari walking alone in the corridors. Professor Umbridge had also tried to question them hikaris, but of course, it pissed the yamis off, especially when they saw Yugi on the verge of tears, Ryou's skin turning paler than it usually was, and Marik clenching his fists until he could draw blood.
Needless to say, all three yamis earned themselves another week's worth of detention.
"She WHAT?!?!" Ron stared dumbstruck at Hermione. Both were trying to work on their DADA homework while waiting for Harry to return form his first Occlumency lesson. Said homework now laid forgotten in front of Ron as his eyes were fully trained on the smart girl sitting across him.
"You heard me right. She gave detention to three Slytherins. A whole week's worth. I heard from one of the Padma twins that she already gave them one during the holidays."
"Who gave who what?" asked Harry as he stepped through the portrait hole.
"Umbridge gave a week's detention to three of the transferees!" Harry frowned at his best friend, confused.
"Why would she do that? I thought Slytherins were on her good side!"
"Those three aren't, apparently. Something happened that night you got that dream, Harry. You see, Mutou, Bakura and Ishtar had this weird fit. I'm not sure what it was, but from what I heard the next day it was pretty bad. The three of them were out cold for nearly a week!"
"Serves them right!" Added the red haired boy. "A Slytherin isn't any good unless he's out cold!"
Hermione shot him a disapproving look. "How come they got detention then?" Harry asked in a hurry, before his friends could go at it. Hermione shook her head.
"Oh no, I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about the other three, what were their names again? Oh yeah, Atem, Akefia and Ishtal. For some reason, they wouldn't tell Umbridge what really happened, so she gave them detention. Seamus said he saw them getting pissed off at her for questioning the other three." She told them about the other strange events too. How strange people had come, how the fifth-years from Slytherin had reacted, everything she knew. Which, for once, wasn't much.
Once she was finished, Ron was fiddling with his quill whereas Harry shrugged. "I don't think that's something we should worry about. Maybe a spell backfired or something. I bet they did something illegal, that's why they wouldn't tell Umbridge what really happened."
Ron made an approving sound. "So, mate... How was Occlumency?"
No matter what lies Umbridge served the students, many figured that something was amiss. The transferees were among those students, recent events only serving to enhance their bad feeling.
The next day just brought its own load of bad news.
Reason?
There had been a massive breakout in Azkaban.
Yami glared disapprovingly at the newspaper in front of him, trying to will the large bold letters away. Draco looked questioningly at his friends. Mariku and Bakura didn't look very please about something, then again they never did seem happy unless they were with their respective lover, and he noticed Ryou, Yugi and Marik weren't their usual cheery selves either.
Not that it really surprised him. Not after what happened two weeks ago.
"Something wrong?" Yami tossed him the Daily Prophet as an answer. Frowning, Draco unfolded the paper to read the title.
"Oh... right..." Deep down, Draco was smiling; really, the Death-Eaters had finally managed to escape. But the way his friends seemed to take the news, he decided he'd keep his glee in check.
It was only a matter of days before a new decree was pinned unto the notice boards. This time, it banned teachers from giving information unrelated to the subjects they teach.
"It's official now!" said Mariku. "Anyone still believing that old coot's speech of 'everything is under control' is even more gullible than Yugi is!" He ducked under Yami's punch, smirking at the slightly irritated Pharaoh... until Yugi gave him a hard kick in the shin. "OOW!!"
January turned into February, until Valentine's Day came. Teachers were piling homework over the students, so many welcomed the escapade to Hogsmeade that weekend. The hikaris had to leave their boyfriends behind, though, since they had gotten into trouble again, this time with Professor McGonagall.
The three lights therefore decided to hang out with Draco, Blaise and Pansy. The six Slytherins were either seen refilling their provisions of sweets at Honeydukes or laughing and joking around a nice mug of Butterbeer, in a warm corner of the Three Broomsticks, merrily ignoring the conversations around them. The three transferees also took turns calling their friends and family with Yugi's cell phone, just to check on them.
When they returned to the castle, they headed straight for dinner in the Great Hall, but the yamis didn't turn up for another hour. All three seemed rather pissed, but then again...
That wasn't really unusual.
Yugi smiled at his darker half as soon as he had taken a seat beside him. "So, how was detention?"
"Might have been enjoyable if it wasn't for those two." Yami glared at the other dark personalities before turning back to his light. "Did you call anyone?"
The smaller duellist nodded eagerly. "Yep! I phoned Honda and Grandpa and Anzu and Jounouchi, since he made me promise to phone every time I could."
Marik chuckled from opposite them as he helped himself with salad. "Tell them the latest news!"
Yugi grinned back. "I'm getting to it! So, as I was about to say before being so rudely interrupted..." Marik flipped him off, but was ignored "... when Jou returned to Domino the first thing he did was checking on his sister. He was a few streets away when he spotted Honda and his girlfriend sharing a kiss... Turned out the girlfriend was none other than Shizuka..."
He had barely finished, however the Egyptians and white-haired boys were already laughing. Yami fought back a smirk, deciding to lift an eyebrow instead.
"Really? Let me guess, Jou went berserk on Honda, and when you called him he wouldn't stop bragging about it?"
"Almost."
"Oh?"
By now Yugi had also fallen prey to the contagious laughter so he was unable to talk. It was Ryou that answered him.
"Let me put it this way. I was standing quite a few feet away from the phone, and I could still hear him. He wasn't just bragging, he was actually screaming the whole tale on the phone. I'm surprised Yugi didn't turn deaf!"
This time, Yami couldn't help it. He laughed. So hard he fell off the bench, which only made the others laugh harder.
"Gods, trust Jounouchi to freak out each time someone takes an interest in his sister!" he managed to blurt out in between fits of laughter.
A week later, Marik found the entire Slytherin Common Room's inhabitants sporting murderous and gloomy looks. The homework he had come to ask was quickly pushed at the back of his mind as he strode over to Blaise and Pansy.
"Hey, guys! Is something wrong?" he asked as soon as he'd taken a seat beside Blaise. His eyes fell on the paper Pansy was glaring at. "Guys?"
"Read!" Blaise ordered angrily. The Egyptian sent him a questioning look before pulling the paper towards him.
HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST:
THE TRUTH ABOUT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED
AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN
"Remember at breakfast yesterday when Umbridge seemed pissed at Potter boy?" Pansy asked. "We just discovered why. That no good bastard!"
Marik smiled apologetically at the girl. "Sorry, but I actually missed that. I overslept yesterday…" He turned his attention back to the article.
Now he could see why the atmosphere was gloomy all of a sudden. The brat had actually accused quite a few people of being Death Eaters. Some of which were related to his friends.
"Malfoy… Crabbe… Goyle… Nott… Avery…Macnair… Zabini… Parkinson… How could he accuse your parents like that? Sick bastard!"
Blaise folded his arms and rested his head on top of it. "Professor Umbridge also committed a big mistake. New educational decree: the Quibbler is henceforth banned from the school. She wouldn't have done differently if she wanted the entire school to find out about it…"
Marik nodded. "I knew she was stupid all along…"
An annoyed huff reached their ears, and all three turned to face Draco. Everyone knew he was probably the most pissed off out of all of them. It wasn't a secret anymore he hated Potter's guts as much as the other hated his.
The Egyptian sighed and stood up to wrap an arm around the blonde's shoulders, a sympathetic smile on his face. "I'll tell you what. You three are all going to grab your brooms and come with me and the others enjoy the pleasant weather. Forget about Potter. You're all above that, aren't you?"
He inwardly patted himself on the back as he saw Pansy give a weak smile and received a nod from Blaise. Draco glanced at him uneasily, but finally he too grinned at the Egyptian.
"That does sound like fun! And I actually hope we'll see Potter outside! You know, to rub it in his face that he can't fly anymore…"
Marik smirked at his friend. "All right then! Let's go!"
It didn't take long for them to find the other Japanese students and to convince them to play a little game of Quidditch. It came to no surprise when Bakura and Mariku both decided they wanted to play Bludgers, just for the sake of it. Yugi had found a ball they could use as a Quaffle, and they started to play three on three: Draco, Yugi and Blaise against Yami, Marik and Ryou. Pansy decided that she preferred watching them play and would be referee.
The game went on rather smoothly until Blaise managed to score against Ryou. He proceeded to fly around the small field in victory, but had to wheelbarrow when Mariku sped past him, cackling like a maniac.
He recovered quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid colliding with Marik.
Pansy screamed in horror as both boys crashed against one another, the force having knocked them off their brooms. Immediately, all players raced towards the two falling teens in an attempt to catch them before they would hit land.
Blaise suddenly felt himself slowing into a halt. a hand having latched unto his wrist.
"Hang on!" he heard Yami yell from above him. Yugi appeared beneath him, and he was gently lowered on the shorter teen's broom.
Marik wasn't as lucky. Neither Draco nor Ryou were fast enough, and both Mariku and Bakura had to swerve to avoid collision with Yami, Yugi and Blaise. He had however managed to twist his body around in order to try and catch the branches of a nearby tree, desperately clinging to anything that could break his fall.
Most branches snapped beneath his weight combined with the speed with which he was falling, and although it did manage to slow his decent, his landing was still rough and painful.
Pansy was the first to reach the teen as he growled in pain. She halted though, staring at the wounded teen. Cuts could be seen on Marik's exposed hands and face, and a particularly sharp branch had torn his long sleeved shirt across his back. Blood was starting to seep through the large cut it had created, but that wasn't what had startled the girl.
The marks on his back were.
Even in his painful state, Marik had noticed how Pansy was staring at him. He was confused at first, until he felt the cool wind on his bare back.
"Shit!" he tried to twist over so that he would be lying on his back, but a horrible pain in his left arm stopped him from moving any further, a muffled scream escaping his throat.
The others landed around them. Mariku was beside him in an instant, mentally cursing as he spotted his boyfriend's exposed tattoo. He knew it was too late to cover it, and besides what really mattered right now was Marik's health. Bakura soon joined them, carefully feeling the teen's arm, wincing at every whimper Marik didn't manage to hold back.
"It's broken!" he stated simply before turning narrowed eyes towards the three other Slytherins. Blaise and Pansy were both staring mouth agape at the Egyptian's back, and Draco had visibly paled. Eyes not leaving the hieroglyphs, the blonde took a step back, shaking his head in disbelief, before turning round and rushing towards the castle.
"I wonder…" Marik heard Bakura mumble before the Thief stood up and raced after the blonde.
Ryou appeared at his place beside the Egyptian, helping Mariku to hoist his love into his arms without bumping the injured arm around.
Said Dark turned towards Pansy and Blaise, who were still standing to the sides uncertainly.
"You two listen, and listen good!" he started, violet eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're both going to go back to your dorms and act as if nothing happened! You never saw those tattoos, and you don't know Marik has them! Got that?"
The murderous look in his eyes was enough to make them nod and obey. Satisfied, he turned towards Ryou and Yugi, having noticed that Yami too had disappeared, probably gone after Draco and Bakura. "You two follow me! I am NOT risking angering those idiots by leaving you behind!"
Both nodded and followed him as he headed towards the Hospital Wing, with Marik groaning in his arms.
Draco couldn't believe it. Of course he had suspected something, but he never considered believing it. He didn't want to believe it.
He knew the Death Eaters were looking for some kind of Ancient Magic, and he knew that whoever possessed its secrets would be in danger.
He knew something was different about the six transferees. It was kind of obvious after all. Three pairs of look-alikes coming from the same place at the same time couldn't be considered as just a mere coincidence.
He had had the feeling that they were the Dark Lord's target. Deep down he had known.
But he didn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. Even after what happened to Ryou, Yugi and Marik. Even after meeting Rishid and Isis.
Even after the other three mysteriously helped curing their boyfriends; still he didn't want to believe it.
It was different now.
When he saw Marik's back… when he saw the carvings, reality crashed down on him. Hard.
He knew. He had known all along.
He ran upstairs, deciding that the Common Room wasn't the best of options right now. He had heard about the abandoned girls' bathroom. It wasn't the best of places to calm down, but he didn't feel like facing the transferees right now.
He had just rounded a corner when a hand roughly grabbed the back of his collar, nearly chocking him in the process. He was jerked into the opposite direction, in front of a familiar painting.
"Hikari!" A voice spat, and the painting swung to reveal a Common Room. Draco stumbled as he was thrust inside unceremoniously, clumsily regaining his footing as he turned round to face Bakura.
"I think..." the taller teen growled as he crossed his arms. "...that you've got some explaining to do.'
His narrowed eyes flickered a moment to the painting as it once again was opened, allowing entry to an out of breath Yami, before fixing them back on the blonde.
Draco only glared back. He did not appreciate the way Bakura had just treated him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He hissed. "Hell, I don't even know what you're asking me to explain!"
Bakura raised an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact I'm not sure myself. Maybe I want to know why you ran away when you saw those marks. I was wondering… maybe you know something we don't. Something we should know."
Draco noticed that Yami was also staring at him, obviously awaiting an answer.
"I didn't feel well…" he lied. "I mean when I saw his scars… They looked so deep; I just couldn't help imagining how they were made..."
He trailed off at the glare Bakura sent him.
"Yeah right, and I'm the king of Egypt!" he took a menacing step towards the blonde, stopping only when Yami took hold of his elbow. "If you're going to lie, at least make it convincing! Now answer me: Do you, or do you not know what attacked Ryou last Christmas?"
Yami suddenly yanked him backwards, glaring. "You know that's a serious accusation! He was as worried as we were when they were attacked! What makes you think he had something to do with it?"
Bakura jerked his arm away. "I'm not saying he had something to do with it! I'm saying he knows what happened and who it was!" He turned his gaze back to Draco. "Am I right?"
Draco had a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look on his face, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Now had it been someone other than Bakura and Yami, then he would have succeeded. For some reason, though, those two's glares were enough to make him nervous.
He didn't even want to think what it would had felt like had Mariku joined in.
"I don't know what attacked them…" he started. "I swear I don't know how they did it…"
Bakura quirked an eyebrow at that. "They?"
Realising what he'd just said, Draco remained silent.
Yami was slightly shocked. So Bakura was right. Their friend knew more than he'd let on, he knew something they didn't. The former Pharaoh kept his eyes firm on the teen, as he tried to figure out why Draco would keep anything involving the attack on the hikaris from them.
After all, it was all just a puzzle. A very twisted and complicated puzzle. And everyone knows how good the King of Games is at solving them.
"Draco?" he asked softly. "Is what Potter said true?"
The pale-blond just glanced his way, confused.
"What?"
The Pharaoh cleared his throat, before deciding to elaborate. "Is your father a Death Eater?"
Draco felt his blood freeze as those words left the other's lips. 'No… Why did he have to ask that? Why did he have to ask that when there's no way I can lie?'
For he wasn't a fool. He knew that any attempt at lying would be futile with those two. What's more, it would only serve to further anger Bakura.
He decided he didn't want to risk that.
"Yes" He finally answered. "He is."
He focused his eyes on Yami in hopes of ignoring the dark look Bakura was sure to have. The younger of the two stared back with a frown on his face.
"Then is it the Dark Lord that's after Yugi and the others?" he asked after a moment of silence.
Draco slowly nodded his head. "I wasn't sure until I saw Marik's back, but yes, I think He is. I knew the Death Eaters were to find some ancient magic, and Marik's tattoo leaks of it."
He sighed. "Had it been anyone else, I wouldn't have given a damn. Hell, I would have actually enjoyed it! But you're all Slytherins! You were the only ones who reacted fast enough when Potter and Weasley attacked me! You're not like Crabbe and Goyle, who just follow my orders, you're… you're what one would call friends. Like Pansy, and Blaise. So I don't want this to happen! I don't want Him to get to Marik, Ryou and Yugi; because there's no guaranteeing they'll survive once He's through with them! Potter was just one lucky bastard if he was able to survive!"
They remained silent after that, all lost in thought as they pondered what had been said.
"Are you sure you don't know what the Death Eaters did to them?" Yami finally asked. He sighed as Draco shook his head no. "Then, thank you… Thanks to you, we finally know who we're up against."
Bakura's eyes suddenly widened. "Hold on, Pharaoh. If he's after our magic, then…"
"I know" Yami interrupted, much to the Tomb Robber's annoyance. "…he's not really after our hikaris. For now he's mostly seeking information, because he doesn't know what exactly he's after. That's why they were attacked. But once he's gathered enough information, his main target will be the two of us, and Mariku."
And this is where I'm ending this chapter. It took me forever to come up with the last part! Anyways, once again I apologise for the long wait, and I hope the chapter makes it up to you.
Oh, and for those interested, I posted 2 drawings on my deviantart account (my username is TenshiOfLight). I drew Ryou and Marik on Halloween, and will draw the others too. I'm not a really good artist, but I thought I'd share it nonetheless.
I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading!
Until next time!