Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu Yu Hakusho, or Harry Potter. I am merely a devoted fan with an after-story monster thing.

.~.~.

IX.

.~.~.

Ryou had already decided that Apparition was not the ideal way to travel– it felt as though his lungs had been crushed. Before he could well and truly breathe again, a small piece of paper was shoved underneath his eyes.

'The Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London.' it read. An address?

But when he looked up at the row of houses towering above him, there was no Number 12 Grimmauld Place. There was an 11 and there was a 12, but it looked as though Number 12 had been skipped.

He found himself wondering why someone would make such a silly mistake, especially given how large the houses in this neighborhood seemed to be and how expensive he could guess that they were. One would think that the builders would have been more careful…

"Concentrate on what you just read." it was as if Dumbledore had sensed his confusion, but perhaps he hadn't been the only one. When he glanced at his new comrades, he found that they looked rather perplexed themselves.

Ryou did as he was told.

It had appeared out of thin air and squeezed itself between Number 11 and Number 13, and it was just as large as the other two… if a tad more foreboding. It seemed cold and unlivable from the outside. As they neared the door to the massive townhouse, Ryou decided that it really didn't look any better up close. On the door, there held the address and a most unsightly decorative piece featuring shrunken and inhuman heads- were those real?

Dumbledore didn't bother knocking.

The entire house hummed with something that Ryou couldn't name. The only thing that he could liken it to was white noise or static. But it was more intense than that, more penetrating. He didn't like it.

And then the screaming began. It was shrill and angry and Ryou couldn't quite make out what the woman was saying– something about 'mudbloods' and 'muggles' and 'inhuman beasts' 'disgracing the house of Black'.

It stopped soon enough as he heard the sound of heavy curtains being drawn quite forcefully, which was then replaced by a much softer and kinder voice, "Is that you, Albus?" She was a mother. He could always tell – motherly types never failed to remind him of his own. She was small, plump, and she had a face just as kind as her voice had been. Her hair was fire.

"Yes, Molly, it is I. I have come to deliver our Japanese ambassadors to their first meeting."

Molly. Ryou wondered what her family was like – it must've been a nice one.

"Oh, dear! Are these boys the representatives?" she studied them. Her eyes were sharper than he would've guessed just by looking at her. They weren't quite as motherly as the rest of her was.

"Indeed."

The woman's face paled slightly as she pursed her lips. Her voice, however, was still quite calm, "Well, then, take them into the dining room. The meeting's just begun."

The inside of the house was nearly as gloomy as the outside, but it was bigger than he would have guessed. Nonetheless, it didn't take them very long to reach the dining room.

It was filled with a motley assortment of people – a girl with mousy, brown hair who was perhaps in her twenties sat next to a man who's face looked as though he'd been through a war; one of his eyes seemed to be mechanical and the way in which he looked at him made him feel as though his soul was being searched… though Ryou knew that this wasn't the case. Or was it?

There were many others as well, but these two stood out to him more than the others. The girl didn't seem like she was supposed to have hair of that color… it was too plain for her. Her spirit was fire. Ryou wasn't sure why. And, well, the man with the strange eye stood out for obvious reasons.

The buzzing was worse in here, louder and stronger. It was making him feel nauseous, and he could feel a headache blooming. He glanced towards his comrades.

…Was he the only one who could feel it?

He could dimly register Dumbledore's voice welcoming them into the 'The Order of the Phoenix' as he sat down on the seats that were summoned from, seemingly, nowhere.

He couldn't bring himself to suprised. Things suddenly weren't connecting the same way— he couldn't think and he was tired, so tired. It was a familiar feeling.

Ryou had thought that this was over.

.~.~.

Kurama could feel the power coursing through the house. It was electricity running through him – the energy was everywhere. It crackled in the air.

It wasn't a particularly powerful form. It wouldn't be noticeable in a crowd full of normal humans– but there was too much of it. In this concentration, it'd be difficult for anyone with any significant spiritual awareness to tune out. He was sure that his teammates were feeling it as well. So this was Wizard Neo-Magic—he could barely recognize it from how it used to be. Then again, he'd been much less powerful a thousand years ago. Perhaps that was it.

He doubted it.

Redirecting his attention, he studied the people in the room. There were ten Order members present including both Genkai and Dumbledore and excluding both him and his new team mates – from a rather disfigured man missing an eye and sporting a – surprisingly Demonic– one in it's stead to what seemed to be a family of red-heads to an older woman wearing a very pointy hat with severe expression on her face to a man with greasy, black hair and an interesting air to him– a spy, perhaps?

How very eclectic.

"What are your names, ages, and ranks?" the man with the Demonic eye broke the silence. He directed his gaze towards Yusuke first, who shrugged but didn't answer.

"Ah, I apologize." Kurama interrupted the exchange in English, himself, "Yusuke only speaks Japanese. One moment, please."

He then switched to Japanese, turning towards his rather disgruntled friend, "How much English do you know?"

Yusuke frowned and shrugged again, "Not enough. Keiko's been trying to make me learn some phrases, but none of it really stuck. What the hell did he just ask me?"

"I guessed as much. He asked for your name, rank, and age."

"You know that as well as I do."

Few who were present seemed to understand the exchange, instead looking on with mystification.

"I will speak for my comrades tonight as it seems that I am the only one entirely fluent in English." Yusuke looked irritated, but didn't contest, and Hiei didn't comment, which Kurama took as a 'yes'.

"…I'll speak for myself, if that's alright. I'm fluent as well." Bakura's English was perfectly accented and melodic, practiced. Something clicked – his mother's name had been Alice. A British name. So that was why he didn't look entirely Japanese…

He looked paler than he had when they had arrived.

Kurama disregarded it. He could find out later. He nodded in assent before addressing the man with the curious eye, "I am Kurama. I am nineteen. I am a former member of the Japanese Magical Government – I was part of a team with Yusuke Urameshi and Hiei." he pointed to both in turn, "Well, I suppose that we are now part of a team, as well, but of a different nature that the one that we were on back then. Yusuke was our leader of sorts back then. Yusuke is eighteen."

The man, surprisingly, didn't comment on the fact that Kurama hadn't mentioned Hiei's age— good,"How long have you worked for the Japanese Ministry?"

"Nearly five years."

A few people's expressions turn into ones of disapproval at that. Was it his age that bothered them so? In retrospect, he supposed that the age of fifteen, in human years, was an early age to start working for the government. But the situation had never really been typical anyway.

"Why did your government agree to send you here, and why did they pick you four as representatives?"

"I believe that our government signed a treaty promising you our assistance. As for why we were picked? Well, your 'Ministry of Magic' asked for our government's strongest team with the widest range of talents."

"And that's you?" his Demonic eye was trying to read something off of Kurama – not that it could get much. It didn't appear to be particularly powerful. A low-level artifact, D class at most. It wouldn't be able to read anything off of him other than the most basic of information.

"It is."

"Why did you choose to come?"

"That is… personal."

"How can we trust that you are being honest, then?"

"I suppose that you will simply have to."

"And why would we do that?"

Kurama was vaguely irritated, now, this man wasn't powerful enough for him to be questioning in such a way.

"We are not the ones that asked you for help. Your Ministry asked us. We can leave should you choose to not trust us based on your misconceptions of our magical abilities." he wondered why, when he said that, a few people flinched. Was his true nature showing through? He had to reign his emotions in. This wasn't the time to be scaring everyone.

The man, who had clearly been through a war and lived to remember it for no one who hadn't been through a war or had some kind of training could have been this calm among something this unpredictable, didn't blink, "And what might those abilities be?"

"I suppose that you'll have to wait and see, will you not? We will show you when we choose to."

The tension was rising, and the man with the Demonic eye studied him for a moment.

"Very well, then. If Dumbledore trusts you, I suppose that I must tolerate you being here." a pause, "That does not, by any means, mean that I trust you myself. Nor do any of us." he gestured to the rest of the Order, who looked on without reaction.

"And that is fine. We are not here to seek approval."

The tense silence that had lifted earlier had come back heavier than ever, but Kurama was unperturbed. He had only spoken the truth – they were not here for approval or friendship. And if these naïve—for that was what they truly seemed to be—humans chose not to trust them? It was their choice. It'd only hurt them in the long run, really.

The man spoke again, "One last question: what does He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named know about you that we don't?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Is that your name for Voldemort?" nearly everyone save for Dumbledore shuddered again and Kurama knew that he was correct in his assumption, "Nothing that we know of."

The man glared but didn't continue speaking. Dumbledore, seeing that the interview (interrogation) of sorts had ended for the time being, interjected, "I suppose that it is time for introductions on the Order's part as well, then!"

Kurama had been right – the two red-heads in the room other than him were, in fact, a family; they had many children and were a married couple. Molly and Arthur Weasley. The man who had been questioning him was named Alastor, or 'Mad-Eye' Moody, and other people present included Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Nymphadora Tonks, and Albus Dumbledore. There were apparently many other members of the Order that had been busy with other appointments and assignments

So this was a large organization, then.

But… if this was a large organization full of people with at least semi-significant abilities… why did they fear this 'Voldemort' so thoroughly that they couldn't even manage to use his name?

The only answers that he could come up with were more questions.

There was a lull in conversation, introductions were done and the room was only slightly less tense than before. Alastor Moody looked ready to continue his interrogation and was eyeing Bakura with a mixture of interest and suspicion.

Kurama almost pitied him.

"What is your name, boy?" Moody's tone was just as sharp and biting as it had been before as he addressed him, but Bakura didn't react. He only blinked.

"My name?" he parroted, dazed. His voice was quiet, nearly a whisper. He was shaking slightly.

Was it fear?

No, it couldn't be. Bakura didn't look afraid. His breathing wasn't as even as it had been and he was shaking, but it wasn't out of fear. Kurama could smell fear. This wasn't it.

Was the Neo-Magic's current affecting him to this extent?

Though, if it was affecting Kurama enough to make him more snappish (and he was, by nature, quite calm), then perhaps it could affect the boy in such a way. He was seemingly young, after all.

Bakura's eyes cleared somewhat and his voice sounded stronger this time, "Apologies, I was thinking… I am Ryou Bakura."

Moody looked unimpressed, "State your age, rank, and affiliation with the Japanese Government."

Bakura was more prepared now and answered rather quickly. Apparently he was used to working through duress, "I am seventeen. I am not sure what you mean by 'rank', I only recently allied with the Japanese Government and have not had a rank assigned to me. However, I am a part of this team…" he gestured towards his 'comrades'—Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke in turn, "As I already said, I only recently allied with the Japanese Government…"

"How recently might this have been?" Moody interrupted abruptly. It seemed to be something that he was prone to doing rather often. How rude.

"This is my first mission. I was recruited around a month ago."

"What did you do before? If you weren't affiliated with the Japanese Government until recently, when and how did you receive your training?"

"I was a student at a Japanese high school. Multiple, actually. I always have hated staying in one place." he smiled ruefully at that. There was backstory there.

"A Muggle school?"

"Muggle?" Bakura looked somewhat perplexed.

"It means non-magical folk." Dumbledore interjected warmly, smiling. It was quite interesting, the dynamic in this group. Moody was a war-hardened veteran, and surely Dumbledore was, too—perhaps he simply hid his knowledge until he needed to retrieve it. Moody was attack first, ask questions later, whereas Dumbledore was a bit more strategic.

Kurama liked that.

"Ah, yes then. Just a normal, typical school really."

"And as for training?"

"Training?" Bakura echoed and then frowned, "I didn't receive training, I learned what I know on my own." a pause, "Well, for the most part."

"Elaborate." Moody seemed to think that he was going to be a bit more open than Kurama had been, but Kurama wasn't so sure. It didn't seem as though Bakura intended on going into detail on any of the questions, and he hid it all behind a smile. Fascinating.

"Surely you know that I am affiliated with the Ishtar clan? I suppose you could say that Malik Ishtar and I are… old acquaintances. As for what I know, I learned it on my own."

"And what is it that you know? What are your abilities?"

Bakura paused, studying him thoughtfully.

"I'm afraid that telling you that isn't a good idea for the time being… it's difficult to explain without someone else to help to explain it, and I doubt that I'd be able to explain sufficiently given my limited knowledge. I'm rather new to my abilities, myself. I doubt that I would be able to explain it in English. I apologize."

"Why would the Japanese government choose to recruit someone who didn't know their Craft?"

The boy laughed pleasantly, though there was some bitterness masked underneath it, "Oh, just because I can't explain it properly in this language doesn't mean that I don't have the skill. I've been… perfecting my Craft since I was twelve years old, more or less. Unknowingly at first, but yes. I know my abilities well."

One who wasn't as skilled as Kurama was at reading others wouldn't have seen it at all.

So he'd been right. Those stories in the newspaper had been, most likely, accidental magic of a sort.

"Mr. Bakura, if you can not explain your abilities, can you perhaps show them?" Dumbledore interrupted once more, perhaps trying to ease the tension somewhat.

"… that would not be wise."

"How are we supposed to trust you if you can not show us what your capabilities are? Any of you?" Moody glared at Bakura Ryou and Kurama in turn.

Bakura was still shaking, but he also showed no fear. His eyes were steely now, his gaze steady, "I was recruited by the Japanese Government so that I could help the magical world fight a threat that is a threat to us all. I do not intend to cause any of you harm. I am merely here to be of use. I do not have the same abilities as my comrades, I do not use the same magic. I am more connected to the Magick of Ancient Egypt than I am to Japan. I can not speak for them—" he gestured once again to Kurama, "But I can speak for myself and I am sure that my comrades feel the same way. I do not intend to cause any of you harm."

"Intention does not equal a promise."

"I try not to give promises that I can't keep."

"Very well then. I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, but I've asked my questions and he's more than capable of making his own decisions." Moody stood up abruptly (he seemed to do most things abruptly), limping towards the door, "I shall take my leave, but everyone remember- CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

Surprisingly, no one jumped at the loudness of Moody's voice or the door slamming behind him—it must've been a usual occurrence.

So this was the Order of the Phoenix.

This certainly was an… interesting mission that Koenma had decided to push them into. Not that Kurama was complaining.

Author's Note:

Hahaha wow, look at how late this repost is. I'm sorry, I've had a rough few weeks and haven't found the motivation to edit. Or to do anything, for that matter. I'm so behind in school... ack.

Anyway! I already started chapter 10 a few weeks ago, but then my computer malfunctioned and I lost the thousand words that I'd written. It was... disappointing. I may be able to recover it, so we shall see! I was considering whether or not to omit that scene anyway, so I'm taking this as a sort of sign. I'll try to publish chapter 10 either sometime next week or the week after- I'm going out-of-state for a few weeks to visit California! I used to live there, so. I'm not sure how busy I'll be.

Thank you for being so patient, and please review!

-starisfairy