So I finally saw Force Awakens the other day. It was AMAZING! My friends got annoyed because I would not shut up through the whole thing. Not actually talking. I was texting them my thoughts and reactions as the movie went along (I sat in the back just so I wouldn't annoy the other patrons). Don't worry if you haven't seen it yet, I won't give any spoilers!

But you're not here to hear about Star Wars. You're here to what happens after Mad-Eye's Game!

Mages

Upstairs, the Mages all went to their separate rooms for the night. While Yugi got ready for bed, Yami was pacing around the room, trying to work off the excess energy he suddenly had. After trying to ignore the Pharaoh and failing, Yugi finally sighed, "What's the matter, Yami?"

"Nothing," Yami said quickly, "Why would you think that?"

"Yami," Yugi said knowingly, giving him a look, but elaborating anyway, "You're being particularly vindictive tonight. And though I'm agreeing that Moody got what he deserved and Potter deserved the harshness he got, it's a little out of character for you."

"I'm fine," Yami said stubbornly, turning away, but watching Yugi carefully out of the corner of his eye.

"Is it the vision?" Yugi asked, knowing he hit the nail on the head when Yami tensed. "Please don't dwell on it," he begged, coming closer to his dark, "You won't be able to focus on our mission if you're preoccupied with me. I haven't trained for 500 years for nothing," he pressed, "Let me worry about me and you worry about everything else."

Yami sighed, "I don't know if I can do that," he admitted, shoulders slumped, "The thought that I could be without my other half in less than a year…" he trailed off.

"I told you," Yugi said, "The Shadows won't let me die. You will not be left alone."

"You're right, of course," Yami agreed with a hesitant smile.

"Of course I am," Yugi teased, "Will you please settle down now and go to sleep?"

"In a minute," Yami promised, "Really!" he defended when Yugi gave him an incredulous look.

"You'd better," Yugi told him and pulled the curtains around his bed. Yami sat down, staring at his hikari's bed, thinking deeply about what Ishizu saw, what Yugi said, and what might be. Contrary to what he told Yugi, he didn't actually get to sleep for a couple more hours.

Hidden behind his bed curtains, Yugi was not sleeping either. He'd seen how distracted Yami was by Ishizu's vision and knew from experience that he would not push it to the side, especially since it involved his hikari. And so Yugi had hatched a plan during the Yami no Game, carefully keeping his thoughts hidden from Yami.

He waited until he heard the slow, even breathing from Yami's bed before creeping out of his own, using the Shadow's to keep him silent. Silently and somberly, the took the key and placed it at the sleeping king's head. "Sorry," he whispered as he turned the key. Carefully rifling through Yami's memories, he found the ones that contained the contents of the vision and those related to the vision and skillfully hid them. He left and did the same thing to Seto, Malik, and Ishizu.

Quietly, he crossed the hall to Ryou and Bakura's room. He hid the memory from Ryou with no trouble, but when he came back from Ryou's mind and turned to Bakura, he was no longer in bed. Suddenly he was grabbed from behind with a hand clasped over his mouth, "Don't scream, it's me!" Bakura whispered hurriedly before Yugi could react. Yugi relaxed and was released. "What do you think you're doing?" Bakura demanded quietly, confused at the Prince's actions, and also concerned.

Yugi looked away, ashamed he was caught and because of his actions, "It needs to be done if we're going to be productive this year," he answered, not really answering the question Bakura asked.

Bakura studied the Prince for a moment before grabbing his arm and muttering, "Come on," as he pulled him into an isolated part of the Shadows where they could talk privately.

"Would you like to give me a real answer?" Bakura asked patiently, "I know you were manipulating memories, but I don't understand why."

"Ishizu's vision has been distracting Yami," Yugi admitted, "And you know as well as I do, that that will be the only thing on his mind until the vision is either averted, or comes to pass. And if that is the end of the year, that is too long for Yami to have preoccupations. So I hid the memory."

"And to make it convincing, you had to do it to everyone else," Bakura nodded understandingly. Of course Yugi's concern would be for his family first.

"Yes," Yugi admitted softly, finding the Shadows under his feet very interesting.

"I made a promise to Yami earlier," Bakura said suddenly, leaning back and capturing Yugi's attention, "I promised him I would do everything in my power to protect you. I can't very well do that if I wasn't aware of the danger you could be in, which would happen if you hid my memories." He leaned in for emphasis before he said seriously, "I fully intend to keep that promise."

Yugi sighed, "Alright," he agreed, "I promise you I will not mess with your memories. But you can't do anything that would let anybody know I did something like this. Yami would be furious."

"One, of course he'll be furious," Bakura smiled, "But only because you didn't let him worry about you. Two, I lie, cheat, and steal. I think I can act well enough to fool the other Mages. Besides, this will leave one person you can come talk to about this if you need to. I know Ryou is confused by our relationship, and I'm sure the Pharaoh is as well, so it wouldn't seem too strange."

"Thank you, Bakura," Yugi said gratefully.

"Great, now that we have that taken care of, get back to bed, Shrimp," he teased.

"Yes, mother," Yugi smirked, ducking under the playful swat that came his way before using the Shadows to deposit him back in bed.

A week later, the kids were getting ready to leave the safe house and go to Hogwarts. The Mages had taken a day during the week and visited ahead of time in order to get a glimpse of the place they would be guarding, start laying down protective spells, and to set up their new living quarters. The five Mages that Yugi had altered the memories on, woke up on the next morning, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Yami was back to his cheerful self, at least around the Mages. He was still cold and harsh to the other inhabitants in the house though.

Chaos reigned in the house. Molly was yelling at the twins who had charmed their trunks to fly in front of them and had knocked down Ginny and Sirius had turned into a dog in order to accompany Harry to the train station. Cars from the Ministry came to pick them up and take them all to the station. Yami had ordered Bakura, Seto, and Malik to go ahead of them to scout out the station and the people there to identify any problems they might encounter.

Yami sat close to Yugi in the car, having an urge to protect his light, but couldn't fathom why. Yugi either didn't see to notice, or didn't seem to mind the extra attention from Yami. He decided that Yugi must not notice it because he certainly minded when Yami got too protective and was always very verbal about it.

The wizards kept shoot wary glances or angry glares at them, as they had all week, but had the sense not to say anything. It seemed two good things had come from the Yami no Game. The first was the Shadows were extremely happy right now, and the second was that the wizards suddenly took their presence much more seriously. There was a lot more respect, and no more delusions that the wizards held power over the Mages. The only "bad" thing, was that things were not looking well for the man trapped in the Shadows. He was being very uncooperative and was in no way trying to redeem himself.

King's Cross was packed today, full of Muggles, the wizards might say. The Mages, though visible to the wizards, were invisible to the rest of the population thanks to the Key's power. And since they were wearing the black trench coats they showed up in the first day, it was a good thing as they would be a bit conspicuous. Unfortunately, the teenagers, with their carts full of trunks and owls, were drawing some curious stares. "Come on now," Molly was trying to direct and herd them towards the barrier between stations 9 and 10.

"For as much as these wizards don't want to be discovered," Ryou said, "They had to choose the most populated train station around to put their secret entrance."

"Just another foolish thing these people do," Yami commented, watching the kids run one at a time through the wall, where the Mages on the other side would begin their surveillance on them.

"Well come on then," Molly waved to the Mages. She was perhaps the only wizard the Mages could tolerate. They understood she was a mother to more than her own children, even to some of the adult wizards, so they let her mother them a bit.

Yami led the way as they strolled casually through the wall. The magic on the wall achieved a similar effect that Shadow Magic did when transporting objects, but was less elegant. Once on the other side, the Yugi released the magic on the Key and they became visible once again.

"There's a bunch of stuck up kids around," Bakura reported once he saw the Pharaoh, "All in the den of snakes." The Mages had taken great interest in the houses in Hogwarts and the symbolism behind them.

"So long as they don't start any trouble with us or other students," Yami told him, "Anything else?"

"Nothing worth mentioning," Bakura said, "Seto and Malik are setting up a car for us where we can keep an eye on the entire train without having to interact with the students. It's the last one."

"Thanks," Yugi nodded gratefully. The less interaction they had with the students, the less chance there was for a Yami no Game to be needed. They had promised Dumbledore to try not to Game students, but if they persisted in breaking the rules, they would have little choice.

"Shall we go?" he invited his Court to follow him to the car. They drew some stares as they stepped into the closed car where Seto and Malik were finishing up the security measures for the car. There was a sign on the door that said, 'Hogwarts Guards. Do NOT enter,' so it was understandable that the students were curious who would be entering that car.

"I have Souls of the Forgotten patrolling the train," Bakura announced once the door closed behind them, "They will make regular reports. The conductor said we won't get there until late evening and a trolley will come around noon with food."

"Excellent," Yami commended, taking a seat and staring out the now heavily tinted window where students were still milling around, getting their trunks on board and saying good-bye their families.

"We need to keep an eye on that Malfoy boy," Malik said, staring at the pompous looking blond with disdain, "He's been given a position of power this year, and he fully intends to abuse it."

"That 'prefect' thing the kids were going on about?" Seto asked.

"Yeah," Malik confirmed, seeing the badge proudly pinned on the boy's robes, "I think he'll cause trouble for us."

"He'll regret it the moment he does," Bakura growled at the boy who was oblivious to them.

"His soul is dark," Ryou spoke up, "And his father's is even darker."

"Not surprising," Malik said, "He's a follower of Voldemort."

"We'll Game him later," Yami said, knowing what was on their minds, "When there are less witnesses."

"Dibs," Bakura called, annoying Malik to no end.

"Not fair!" he whined.

"Bakura," Yugi chided, "Malik identified him so let him decide his Game when it comes time. There are plenty more for you."

"I'm sure you'll come across more than a few in your searches for the pieces of Voldemort's soul," Seto added.

"Fine," Bakura gruffed, though everyone could tell he wasn't really that upset.

The whistle blew; a warning that the train would be leaving soon. Students crowded onto the train, all searching for a place to sit with their friends. Yami leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You alright, Yami?" Yugi asked concerned.

"Fine," Yami answered, "I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing. Maybe I'm just paranoid."

"I don't think so," Ryou said, "I've been getting the same feeling all week."

"Ishizu, have you seen anything?" Seto turned to the seer.

"Nothing so ominous," she replied, "Just little bits. The new teacher will walk the line of the rules, making it difficult to Game her fairly."

"We'll just have to keep our eyes and ears open," Yugi said optimistically, sitting next to Yami. Everyone missed the relieved glance between him and Bakura, "Perhaps it's just because we'll be away from home for so long," he suggested.

"Of course," Yami agreed, smiling gratefully at his hikari.

The whistle blew again and the doors on the train magically shut. With a lurge, they were off. Yugi yawned and settled into his seat, closing his eyes, "Tired?" Malik teased.

"I forgot how tiring being social could be," Yugi quipped back, eyes still closed, "Which is funny because I use to thrive on it. How'd that happen?"

"I guess being reclusive for 500 years made us introverts," Ryou answered.

"Besides," Yugi muttered, "I was up all night playing mother hen to all of you and making sure all of your things got to Hogwarts."

"You didn't have to do that," Yami said amused, wrapping an arm protectively around him, "The Shadows would have taken care of it."

"Yeah, but who would make sure the Shadows did their job," was Yugi's sleepy response.

"Sleep," Yami said with a chuckle and Yugi was out like a light.

"He's really too good to us," Ishizu said fondly, watching the not-so-young prince sleep.

"He is," Yami agreed, "We'd be pretty lost without him." At his words, he felt an inexplicable protective instinct rise up in him that he had to squash down. There was no danger here, not on the train and certainly not in this car.

An hour into the trip, Yami had fallen asleep as well, having nothing better to do since Yugi was leaning on him. Seto and Malik were in the middle of a brutal chess game being watched with great interest by Bakura, who had declared he would play the winner. Meanwhile, Ishizu and Ryou were watching the ongoings in the train via Shadows. Ryou made an offhand comment that it was almost like watching dramas.

A ruckus outside caused the five awake Mages to instantly be on guard. The Shadows crept in and whispered to them that it was the Malfoy boy and his friends trying to bully their way into the guards' coach. "I'm a prefect," came the boy's voice, arguing with the Warrior Lady who stood guard outside, "I think I deserve to be able to greet the new school guards."

"No visitors," she intoned, "No disturbances."

"If that brat wakes those two," Bakura nodded towards the sleeping pair while glaring at the door, "There will be hell to pay."

"You'll have to stand in line," Ishizu said darkly.

"I'm a prefect," the boy said again, as if that meant something, "Let me through."

Bakura stormed over to the door, pissed as the audacity of the child, and threw it open, reveling in the shocked expression on his face. "Get lost," he growled at the boy, "Or so Ra help me, I will drag you and your friends through the deepest pits of your own personal hell."

"You can't do that to me," Malfoy said arrogantly, "My father is very influential in the Ministry, a good friend of the Minister. He can have you removed from the school."

Bakura barked a laugh, "Nobody can remove us from anything, fool. You are already on our bad list, so I would tread carefully if I were you."

"My father will hear about this!" Malfoy said, picking up his shredded dignity and strutting away.

"Next time," he turned to the warrior, "Unless it's the lady with the food cart, just run them through after one warning."

"Yes, my Lord," the warrior bowed to Bakura as she shut the door again.

"Oh I can't wait for him to slip up," Malik said gleefully.

"You'd better give him one hell of a game," Bakura told him.

"Don't worry," Malik assured, "He'll get what's coming."

"Are you going to move?" Seto asked Malik annoyed.

"Don't rush me!" Malik complained, studying the board closely. "There!" he said, moving a knight forward.

"Checkmate," Seto declared, capturing the knight with a rook.

"Argh!" Malik exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defeat, "Good luck," he said bitterly to Bakura, as they switched places.

Yugi shifted a bit in his sleep and muttered something unintelligible, drawing the Mages' attention for a moment. Usually such movements made by the prince were followed by the flailing and yelling accompanied by a nightmare. Years of experience did not disappoint. A moment later, the shifting became restless and with a cry, he fell out of his seat, waking Yami as well.

Yami hurried to his side as the other Mages crowded around, "Are you alright?" he asked, checking the recovering man over.

Yugi nodded shakily, getting his bearings again, "Just a nightmare," he said, picking himself up.

"Do you want to tell us?" Yami asked, watching his hikari carefully.

"It was nothing," Yugi shook his head. It was very typical Yugi. He always tried to wave off nightmares, or anything else that was bothering him for that matter. The Mages had learned long ago to not argue with him though because he could be very stubborn when he wanted to be and drove everyone mad. Especially Yami since he was the only one who never seemed to learn that lesson.

"Yugi," Yami said warningly, knowing what Yugi was doing.

"Really," Yugi insisted, "I can't even remember most of it now."

Yami looked at him doubtfully, but amazingly, let it go, "Anything interesting happen?" he stretched and asked the others.

"The Malfoy brat tried to bully his way in," Malik informed him, "Tried to convince Warrior Lady to let him pass. Heck, even tried to threaten Fluffy with his father when he went out to shut him up."

"And he survived the encounter?" Yami asked amazed, looking at the former thief.

"I gave him a warning, as we did for everybody else," Bakura shrugged, "Rules have not been explained to them yet."

"He threatened to drag the boy through the deepest pits of hell," Ryou smiled at him yami.

Yami's face showed sudden understanding, "Oh, good. I was worried Bakura might be becoming a decent person."

"Not a chance," Bakura gruffed, playing along.

"Anything else?" Yugi asked.

"Not unless you count Malik be beaten by Kaiba at chess," Ryou stated.

"Sounds pretty typical," Yami said.

"What have we here?" Bakura asked, moving towards a Shadow showing Harry's compartment. The Malfoy boy was apparently flaunting his new position to the boy.

"This isn't good," Ryou muttered.

"Why not?" Malik asked, watching both teens get frustrated with each other and have Malfoy saunter out.

"If those two are enemies," Yugi explained, seeing the problem just as Ryou had, "Potter might try to manipulate Malfoy into breaking the rules so that we take care of him for him."

"Do you really think he'd sink low enough to do something like that?" Yami asked, remembering how outraged the young wizard was when it happened to Moody.

"If the hatred runs deep enough," Yugi answered.

"So now we have two boys to babysit," Ishizu said unhappily.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to keep tabs on the Malfoy boy anyway," Seto said, "Especially if he has connections to Voldemort."

"True," Yami allowed, "We'll keep tabs, but we won't follow him as we will Potter."

"You know what I've just remembered?" Malik said suddenly.

"How to scramble an egg?" Bakura guess haphazardly. It was well known among the Mages that Malik could not cook.

"You said Dumbledore said he was going to announce us as Shadow Mages at the beginning of the year," Malik directed at Yami, but said to everyone.

Yami groaned, "I'd forgotten about that," he admitted, "We should plan what we're going to do."

"It will need to be powerful if we are to command instant respect from students and teachers who aren't in the Order," Seto said, crossing his arms.

"Or at least impressive enough to scare them," Bakura agreed.

The Mages shot ideas back and forth for the next few hours. Only allowing themselves to be distracted with the food cart came around. They were appalled to find mostly candy on it, but made the best of it. Soon enough they had a plan that had them all smirking.

Arrival at Hogwarts next time! We all know Umbridge will be there and probably say something stupid. How will the Mages react?

Thank you all for your reviews! You guys are amazing!