DJ: What's with you people? (glares at reviewers) You ENJOY reading this? (gets smacked by Jaazi)
Jaazi: Stop trying to scare away my reviewers!
DJ: (scowls) Stupid no good hikari… (gets smacked by KK) grrr, and demented cat thing.
Jaazi & KK: HEY!
DJ: (smirks) Any way, Jaazi would like to thank all of those who reviewed.
KK: (reads from list) This would include: Hikari Skysong, Black Jackal, Hikari's-DS, Slave of Darkness, ILikeYaoi, Keoi, HappyDevil, Hathors-Favorite, Jisen Meizuki, Sarah Costa, Shinigami, Feral Glass Walker, Miko102, SparkyKnight, Lady Samurai, Kat1132, Inferior Being, Hikari of the Moon, Dartz' Loyal Servant, Fear of Falling, SeithrKairy, Crescent Twins, Chaos-Empersonified, Kenmeishouri, TheKoolKitty.
Slave of Darkness: There's no such thing as a stupid question…a Mary-Sue is an original character in a fanfic. The thing is, the story usually revolves around that OC, it's actually very annoying at times. It doesn't help that the Mary-Sue is sometimes paired with one of the characters from Yugioh, Harry Potter, or whatever characters are from the fanfic. (glomps) Thanks for not thinking it's pointless! I wuvz you much!
Shinigami: The Darks' parents were completely clueless about the magic stuff and since their kids were emotionless, it freaked them out. So they abandoned them, cruel, I know, but hey, Darks are tough. And Yugi, Ryou, and Malik didn't live with Grandpa Motou till their parents, or in Malik's case, sister were killed.
Inferior Being: Thanks for the advice! And the compliments are nice too! (giggles)
DJ: (scowls) I am NOT weak.
KK: (teases) Yes you are, admit it. (flees before DJ decides to mutilate her)
DJ: (eye twitches) Get back here you demented cat!
Kenmeishouri: 's okay, I don't mind. As long as you enjoy reading my fic.
Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter and Yugioh…in my dreams at least. Reality is such a cruel thing, isn't it?
Previously
"Perhapssss now you'll put more effort into doing asssss I ssay. Unless you want to lose your dear ssssson as well."
Chapter Twelve: Reactions
Voldemort walked into one of the towers in the Riddle House(1). He smiled cruelly as he stepped inside the topmost room in the tower. Inside was the spirit form of a girl with long black hair and silvery-blue eyes. She looked up at Voldemort with sad, depressed eyes.
"Hello, little Kira." he hissed.
"Why won't you let me go? Remove whatever spells, enchantments, or charms you have on this House and let me free," Kira whimpered.
"Kira, you may leave whenever you wish. I have no sssspells of any ssssort binding you here," Voldemort cackled.
"If that were true, my spirit would be able to move on to heaven or my afterlife or wherever people go once they've died!"
"You may check the housssse for enchantments yoursssself. Besssides, you and the rest of the Lightssss will become very useful in the near future, I might jusssst decide to bind you here after all."
"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Kira sniffled, "Why would you need us for? I th-thought you were after the D-Darks…"
"You shall ssssee sssssoon enough. Patience, little Light. I have already ssssent someone to bring me the souls of those other Lights. You remember the girl who separated you from Zhira don't you?" Voldemort sneered. Kira's eyes widened.
"Zhira will recognize her and keep her away from the Lights!" Kira said defiantly. Voldemort just laughed a cruel laugh.
"Zhira is going to be consumed by Illyria before that happens and by then Bakura will be consumed by Arcane, followed shortly by Yami falling to Mallos. And my favorite, Marik will be burned through by Rafe."
Everyone was at the Great Hall, eating breakfast. Draco and the Darks were once again sitting at the Gryffindor table. Draco stared at his brothers with ill-disguised revulsion. Since when had they become love-struck idiots? Obviously, Draco was the only one left with common sense. He shook his head in disappointment, just then an eagle owl flew in and dropped a letter onto his breakfast plate. His name was written in black ink, in a fancy handwriting he knew well. Draco's mouth went dry. His father hardly ever wrote to him. He opened the envelope with trembling hands.
Draco,
I have written to inform you, that regrettably your mother, Narcissa Malfoy, has passed away. Your mother was a very valuable and dear member of this family. I hope that you and your brothers can cope with this woeful event that has occurred.
Cordially yours,
Lucius Malfoy
Draco paled. His mother…dead? How could this be? He lay the letter down on the table. He didn't have to worry about others reading it. It was written in special ink that allowed only Malfoy's to read it. His brothers could read it also, they had shared blood at a young age so that they could truly call themselves "brothers." Draco left the table without a word.
Harry noticed when Draco received mail. Draco's reaction was unusual. His usual calm, indifferent demeanor and slipped to reveal shock. But then his stoic mask returned full-force, it was even colder than normal, if that was possible. Harry glanced over at the parchment. It was blank. How could a blank letter affect Draco in such a way? Curious, Harry followed Draco out of the Great Hall.
Draco went to the most abandoned place he could think of. The Astronomy Tower. And why not? Daylight prevented any stargazing, so no one would be found there. Draco stood there, shaking. He would NOT cry. He refused to let himself cry. Crying was for the weak, and if there was one thing was drilled into his head was that Malfoys' weren't weak. Malfoys' didn't cry. He was so deep in concentration to keep himself from losing control, that he never noticed someone enter the tower.
Harry walked into the tower as quietly as possible. What he saw nearly made him faint. Draco, THE Draco Malfoy, was close to tears. Harry approached him quietly and slowly. He didn't know why he wanted to make Draco Malfoy, of all people, feel better. He blamed it on his hero complex.
"Malfoy? Are you alright?" Harry asked gently. Draco whirled around and glared at him.
"Potter, what are you doing here?" he spat, although his voice trembled just a bit.
"I…I'm not sure, really. It's just that you left the Great Hall so quickly and I was…worried, I guess." Harry shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, Potter, I don't need your help or sympathy. So why don't you just leave, Scarface?" Draco yelled. Harry glared at the irate blonde.
"Listen, Malfoy, I know something's wrong, and I'm not leaving till I know what it is!" Harry yelled back.
"FINE! YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S WRONG? MY MUM'S DEAD! SHE'S DEAD! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?" Draco screeched. Unwanted tears sprang into his eyes, as the news of his mother's death hit him full-force. Before, he had just managed to convince himself that it either never happened or that he didn't care. Now his denial fell into shambles, all because of that dratted Potter. Said Potter was stunned.
"M-Malfoy, I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize…" Harry stuttered.
"Malfoy. I despise that name. My father's name. It's all his fault…it always is…"
Draco continued rambling to himself and pacing, occasionally tugging at his hair. In short, Draco seemed completely out of it. This terrified Harry even more than Voldemort did. If there was one thing that Harry thought he could always count on, one thing that would never change, his absolute constant, it was Malfoy and his cynical character. If that wasn't dependable, what was? Harry grabbed Draco's shoulders in an attempt to make him stop.
Draco's tearstained face looked up at Harry. 'I never noticed how green Harry's eyes are…almost like the Slytherin green,' Draco thought dazedly. Harry wrapped his arms around the devastated Slytherin boy. Harry just wanted Draco to stop crying, anything to make him stop crying.
Draco stiffened when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He couldn't remember the last time he's been hugged like this. It was so warm and comforting. In his life, there were very few things that were warm and comforting, his mother among them. With this thought, he finally let himself to sob openly. Unbeknownst to him, though, Harry was also crying. Crying because Draco was hurting and he was helpless to do anything but watch. Crying because he couldn't imagine the pain of losing someone you loved. Sure, his parents died too and it did hurt, but he couldn't even remember his parents, so his pain was more like a small gap in his heart.
"Why'd she die? Why'd she die and leave me alone? She left me, she…she's gone…she was the only one who cared, the only one who wouldn't judge me…she told me I was already perfect to her…Father, I could never live up to his expectations, I was never good enough for him," Draco murmured sleepily. Apparently crying took a lot out of you. Harry couldn't resist nuzzling his nose into Draco's hair.
"Shh, Draco. It'll be okay, I promise. I'm sure plenty of people care. Your brothers, for one…and Snape always gave you special treatment, that's gotta mean something…Zabini and Parkinson seem to care too," Harry whispered back.
"Hmm," Draco was practically asleep on his feet. Harry's voice and warmth soothed his distraught mind. Somewhere in the back of his mind was a little annoying voice that said he was going to regret this later on. He blocked out the little voice and just enjoyed the moment.
Yami had picked up the letter as soon as Draco had left. He scanned through it and handed it to Marik, who then handed it to Bakura. The three didn't know what to do. They had just lost their "mother." The one person who ever showed them any amount of care.
"Yami? Are you alright? Why are you so sad?" Yugi asked, frowning. Yami's sudden sadness washed over him like a tidal wave. Malik heard Mariku's thoughts over the letter.
'No…not true…not true, they're lying to Mariku!'
"Who's lying Mariku?" Malik glanced at his dark. Both Yami and Marik stayed silent. Ryou took the letter from Bakura's hands. His Sight allowed him to read the letter. Ryou gasped.
"Bakura, I'm so sorry," he whispered. Bakura gazed at him with cold eyes.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. We must go speak to Draco now. I'll see you in class," Bakura said impassively. He, Yami and Marik left simultaneously. Yugi and Malik stared at Ryou.
"What's going on?" Malik asked.
"Hey, where'd Harry run off to?" Ron finally noticed that Harry had disappeared. Hermione looked around.
"I don't know, Malfoy's gone too." Hermione said. Blaise and Pansy looked around also and found no trace of Draco anywhere.
They would've investigated things further, but breakfast had ended and they had to get to DADA class. Either that or face the Professor's fury. They all hurried to class.
Zhira was taking attendance. A total of five students were missing. Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Khalid Bakura, Marik Ishtar and Yami Atemu. She glared at her class.
"Does anyone care to tell me where these students are? I highly doubt that they came down with an illness." she said scathingly. No one answered, she sneered, "Just as I expected."
Yugi felt an intense frustration and exhaustion. Like he was on the brink of giving up a long, tiresome battle. Malik heard Illyria whispering soothing words that dripped in poison. Ryou Saw Illyria, she was smirking and rattling the pitch-black chains at him. The chains looked ready to give out.
"Ryou, Yugi, and Malik. I would greatly appreciate it if you would stop prying at my shields." she said frigidly. Her eyes rimmed black-ish blue. She ran a shaky hand through her hair. Sudden bolts of electricity bolted off her body and struck the nearby wall, scaring the students half to death.
"Excuse me, I've been a bit strained lately," she murmured impassively. There was a sudden knock on the door, causing Zhira to growl under her breath and grit her teeth. "A moment of peace, that's all I want. Is that too much to ask for!"
The door opened and in came a girl with short brown hair and blue eyes. She looked over the room and smiled shyly. Zhira did a double take when she laid eyes on the girl. Zhira glared and her aura flared. Several bolts of electricity sparked off of her too.
"Zhira, it's been a long time hasn't it?" the girl said nervously.
"Not long enough for me, Teana," Zhira spat back.
"How many times have I told you to call me Tea? We're friends, after all." Tea laughed. She was cut mid-laugh when she was slammed into the wall by a very pissed off Zhira.
"We have no friends. We had our Light! Because of you, Kira's gone! We have waited so long to extract our vengeance on you! The Aurors have lied, the do not know you like we do! You took Kira away, no matter what anyone says!" Zhira said, but her voice was in dual mode, much like Bakura's had been when he was being taken over by Arcane. Her eyes were becoming more and more black/blue than gold.
"Professor! Stop!" Ryou cried. Malik, Yugi and Ryou rushed to separate the two girls. Golden chains of light shot out from them and wrapped themselves around Zhira. Hermione and Pansy rushed towards Tea and helped her up.
The chains of Light woke Zhira from her bout of insanity. She quickly shook them off.
"Darking!" she barked. Her black phoenix appeared in front of her and cooed.
"Get Lupin over here to teach the class," she ordered. Darking cooed a protest.
"I don't care if he IS mating with Black, GET HIM OVER HERE NOW!" she roared. She glared at the class until Darking came back with a very disgruntled Lupin and a thoroughly snogged Black.
"You called Professor Zhira?" Lupin said politely.
"You are going to teach the class since I am currently ill," she spat and left the room quickly. Sirius Black surveyed the class and grinned.
"Never thought I'd be a teacher," he laughed. Remus whacked him over the head.
"I am the teacher, you are just going to be with me and behaving quietly like a good little boy. Now, will someone tell me what just happened here?" Remus asked.
"Professor Zhira attacked Tea, sir," Hermione answered. Remus looked at Tea carefully.
"I haven't seen you here before. Are you a transfer student?" Remus asked.
"Yes, sir. I've been transferred from Beauxbatons. Please forgive Professor Zhira, she's still grieving the loss of her friend Kira. For some reason, she thinks it's my fault that Kira passed away. Quite frankly, I think she was jealous of me. After having Kira for herself for so long, she didn't like that Kira had me as a friend also," Tea said sadly. She had tears in her eyes. Remus nodded in understanding. Sirius didn't look too convinced but he kept quiet about it. Remus had everyone settle into his or her seats.
"Do you know if Professor Zhira had some lesson plan for today?"
"No, Professor. She never kept any plans for classes," Pansy said scrunching her nose distastefully, " She just started lecturing and expected us to take notes."
"Ah, I see." Remus looked at Sirius for some ideas for what to teach in class that day. Sirius smirked and stood up in front of the classroom.
"Remus, why don't you tell them about Zhira's phoenix. It is a rare breed, and very powerful too." Sirius said as he displayed Darking to the class.
"Good idea, Sirius. This, as you all know, is Zhira's prized pet. It looks very similar to a phoenix, but it's magical properties and capabilities are the exact opposite than those of Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. Darking is a pseudo-phoenix." Remus started.
Everyone in class leaned forward in expectation. Ryou, Yugi, and Malik were a bit distracted though. They had overheard what Zhira said about Tea. And Kira had mentioned something along the lines of "she tricked me, took me away from my Dark". Could there be a connection? That wasn't possible, they didn't sense anything evil about Tea. It was probably a coincidence.
TBC
(1) I'm not sure if the Riddle House was even big enough to HAVE towers, but in this story it does.
Jaazi: Another chapter that I hope you enjoyed. I put in the Harry/Draco fluff so many of you asked for! Draco is very OOC here, but wouldn't you be too if you had lost your mom? I know I would be…
KK: I'm trapped with Voldemort? WHYYYYY?
Jaazi: You'll see soon enough!
DJ: (glares) Review or Jaazi won't update!
KK: Please?