Yu-Gi-Oh!
Balance
CHAPTER EIGHT – THE WEIGHT OF DEFEAT
While the teachers searched the school for any signs of Sirius Black, the whole student body was in the Great Hall trying to get to sleep in the large and comfy purple sleeping bags Professor Dumbledore had conjured up for them. They had stayed up for awhile, until Percy (as Head Boy, he was left in charge) declared lights out. Yugi fell asleep almost immediately, a large grin on his face that the others could see clearly in the dark. Marik and Hermione followed soon after, their sleeping bags a little too close together. Around three in the morning, only Harry and Draco were still awake, trying to come up with ideas on how Black could have gotten into the school, when they saw Professor Dumbledore enter the Great Hall and approach Percy only a short distance away. They instantly dropped into their sleeping bags, pretending to be asleep as the two of them conversed.
"Any sign of him, Professor?" Percy asked in a hushed whisper.
"No. Is all well here?"
"Everything is under control, sir."
"Good," Dumbledore replied, sounding relieved. "I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. Everything will be fine tomorrow morning."
"And the Fat Lady, sir?"
"She's hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. She's still distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Filch restore her."
The doors to the Great Hall opened again, and Harry was just in the right position to see Professor Snape enter the room and cross hurriedly over to Professor Dumbledore.
"Headmaster," he began, "everything's been searched. Black is no where to be seen."
"I didn't expect him to linger," Dumbledore replied thoughtfully.
"Have you any theory as to how he broke in, Headmaster?"
"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."
From the position that Draco was in, he was able to see the three of them easily without them knowing that he was awake. Percy was standing at attention, as always, while Snape's whole body had gone ridged. When he spoke next, he sounded quite angry.
"It seems impossible that Black could have entered without inside help. I did express my concerns when you –"
Dumbledore cut him off, "I trust everyone in this school without question. Now, I must go to the dementors. I told them I would inform them of our progress."
"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy asked.
"Oh yes," Dumbledore answered dryly, "but no dementor will ever set foot in this school as long as I'm headmaster."
The three of them went off then, with Professor Dumbledore leaving via the front doors to get to the Front Foyer and the entrance of the school. Once the coast was clear, Harry and Draco lifted their heads from their sleeping bags once more, concerned looks on both their faces.
"What was that all about?" Draco whispered.
"Snape is hiding a darkness in his heart."
Both Harry and Draco jumped, turning to where Yugi was sleeping. Yami Yugi was lying out on his stomach next to him, having appeared from the confines of his Soul Room.
"I really hate it when you do that," Draco hissed.
Yami Yugi smirked before continuing. "I noticed it in the first year that we were here," he explained. "That time that Snape had disappeared for so long; that was because of me. We had played a Yami-no-Game and, well, he lost. While he suffered punishment, I noticed that something was clinging still to his heart; something that had happened to him in the past."
"Could you find out what?" Harry asked.
Yami Yugi shook his head. "The Puzzle doesn't have that ability. The point is, he had been letting go of it, little by little, but something's making him take it up again."
"Black?" Draco asked.
The pharaoh just shrugged. "I honestly can't tell you."
-.oOOo.-
The day before the first Quidditch match against Slytherin, Draco and Marik were sitting in the common room, the latter of which was helping the former prepare for a Muggle Studies exam he had coming up. Suddenly, Wood came bursting though the portrait hole with Sir Cadogan, their temporary common room guardian, shouting for him to come back and face him like a man. Wood ignored the painting, however, as he was too busy twisting the piece of parchment he had in his hands.
"What's up, Wood?" Marik asked, eyeing the parchment.
"We're not playing Slytherin," the Gryffindor team captain snarled, tossing the parchment to the floor and grinding it under his foot. Draco stood up from his chair.
"What happened?" he demanded. "Did they chicken out because the weather's been bad?"
Wood sighed dramatically. "I wish I could write it off as that. Their excuse is they're waiting for the injuries of their new Seeker to heal –"
"Wait; injuries?" Marik interrupted, standing up as well. "Oh, don't tell me… please don't tell me!"
The team captain raised an eyebrow. "The one and only Ecillia Lestrange."
Both Marik and Draco groaned.
"Wood, I told you not to tell me," Marik muttered.
"Oh, man," Draco groaned. "Ecillia's good too. She hardly ever lost a match when she went to Durmstrang."
"She's the least of our worries," Wood cut in. "We're going to be going up against Hufflepuff."
Marik laughed. "What's to be worried about? No offense to my buddy, Bakura-kun, or anything, but the Hufflepuff team is a push over. I caught the Snitch in less than five minutes against them, remember?"
Wood looked like he was about ready to pull his hair out. "I knew you'd react like this," he muttered. "The point is, they're not pushovers anymore. Their new captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory is very talented. We have to take them very seriously."
-.oOOo.-
Yugi went rushing out of the portrait hole late the next morning. Well, hopping out was more like it, as he fought to get his sneaker tied. He was not a morning person, but he usually woke up on time during school, though there were still days – like today – that he overslept. As he hopped along, he almost lost his balance, but found himself being held up by an almost solid hand. Twisting around, he saw Yami Yugi above him, letting out a loud yawn.
"There's gotta be a law about waking up this early," the pharaoh muttered, rubbing his eyes as his hikari finished tying his sneaker.
Yugi was about to comment, when a roll of thunder cracked outside, making him jump on Yami Yugi out of reflex. The Egyptian spirit chuckled.
"Aibou, I love you too, but it's just thunder," he said. Yugi frowned before letting go of his darker half.
"I can't help it," he replied. "I hate thunder." He winced as thunder struck again. "How are they going to play in this?"
"We'll never know if we don't get going," Yami Yugi pointed out, putting a hand on his back and gently propelling him down the hallway.
They were about to enter the corridor that led to the Great Hall, when Bakura suddenly stepped in front of their path. There was a strange look on his face, almost as if he knew he was going to die any minute. Yugi commented on it, only to have the white haired boy gulp nervously.
"Okay, I just want to make it very clear," Bakura began, "I did not do this. Yami Bakura-kun did not do this. I lost my camera, and whomever found it must have done it."
Yugi felt his heart sinking. Yami Yugi looked like he was going to kill. "Did what?" he growled out.
Bakura gulped again, before stepping out of the way and allowing them to enter the other corridor. All along the walls and hanging from the ceiling were the pictures that Yami Bakura had taken of the two of them at the Shrieking Shack. Some of them were moving – and doing a little more than just hugging – while others were just stationary like normal photographs. Yami Yugi grabbed the nearest picture to him and crumbled it up, his face a mask of pure cold anger.
"If it's any consolation," Yami Bakura said, taking control, "I was never going to sink this low."
"Amazing, someone reached a point even you wont go," Yami Yugi snarled.
Yugi piped up before the tomb robber could retaliate, "How many people have seen this?"
"By now? Everyone," Yami Bakura replied. "I can guess who would do this too."
"Ecillia," the three of them said at the same time. Yami Yugi started to stalk off to find her, but the tomb robber held him back.
"Oh no, allow me," he offered, a sneer spreading across his face. "I have first dibs for her outdoing me."
As if on cue, they heard Ecillia's annoying laugh coming from down the hallway. They turned to see her strutting down the corridor, Crabbe and Goyle on either side of her as always. She smiled her mockingly pleasant smile, amused by the glare that Yami Yugi had on her.
"Why did you do this Ecillia?" Yugi demanded. She just smirked down at him.
"Oh, I just thought it was so sweet you two queers got together, that the whole school should share in your new… pleasure," she replied, the smirk broadening sickeningly.
"Very amusing," Yami Bakura replied, crossing his arms. "You know, insulting the pharaoh on this level was punishable by death in the olden days." He reached into his pocket, took out the Millennium Eye, and started to toss it up and catch it. "Technically, I'm one of Hikari Pharaoh and Yami Pharaoh's priests now, and even though I can't kill you without getting Ryou expelled, I'll certainly take great pleasure in playing a Yami-no-Game."
Ecillia raised an eyebrow, not amused. "What the bloody hell are you talking about?"
The tomb robber smirked. "I'll make it simple for your miniscule brain to comprehend," he said, catching the Eye one last time and holding it above his head. "You. Me. Shadow Realm. Now!"
As he said each word, the Millennium Eye changed, flattening out, "growing" a handle and a crossbar before a gleaming silver blade shot out of the other end. He brought the Sword down, pointing it at Ecillia as darkness appeared behind him, fanning out and engulfing all six of them in the Shadow Realm. The younger wizards and witch looked around in surprise, not used to such unusual magic.
Yami Bakura slung the Millennium Sword over his shoulder, a confident sneer on his face. "Welcome to the Shadow Realm, bitch and bastards, where the Duel Monsters are real and –"
"Excuse me," Ecillia cut in, tapping her foot in annoyance. "In case you forgot, I don't have my own deck."
Yami Bakura sweatdropped; he had forgotten about that.
"Nice going, tomb robber," Yami Yugi muttered.
"Shut up, pharaoh," Yami Bakura growled under his breath. "I can still save this." He turned his focus back to Ecillia. "Fine then. You chose the game. Whoever wins can do whatever they want to the looser."
Ecillia smiled devilishly. Yugi and Yami Yugi sighed, shaking their heads. They did not give the tomb robber a prayer.
-.oOOo.-
Marik stood next to Draco in the spot reserved for replacement players, squinting up through the rain as he tried to find Harry or the Snitch in the sea of red and yellow. It was almost impossible, however; the rain was coming down with such intensity that it made it difficult to see anything. With the first flash of lightning came Madam Hooch's whistle, and the two reserves rushed toward where the rest of the team was gathering under a large umbrella. Harry took off his glasses and hurriedly tried to wipe them off, but his robes were so soaked that it did not matter much.
"How are we doing?" he asked, putting them back on.
"We're fifty points up," Wood answered, "but if we don't get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing well into the night."
"I don't have a chance with these things," Harry said, pointing to his glasses.
Marik's face suddenly lit up. He snatched Harry's glasses off with one hand while reaching into his robes for his wand.
"Hermi-chan showed me this," he explained, before tapping his wand against the glasses. "Impervius!"
Marik handed them back, and when Harry put them on, he could see as clearly as he could if there were no rain at all.
"Brilliant!" Wood exclaimed. "All right, team, back into the air!"
The team took off again, leaving Marik and Draco under the umbrella. They were not exactly too keen on going back to the reservist spot, and they did not think anyone was going to complain. There was a blinding flash of lightning, followed by a deafening roll of thunder.
"This is getting dangerous!" Draco called over the roar of the rain. "I don't care who gets it, but they better get the Snitch soon!"
There was another flash of lightning, and it looked like Harry was staring off at something. He dropped a bit suddenly, when Wood started yelling from the goal posts. Though they could not hear what he was saying from the ground, Marik and Draco got the idea of what it was about from the sight of Cedric Diggory streaking up the field. Harry followed soon after, pressing himself against his broom.
"C'mon, Harry! Go!" Draco shouted as loud as he could. Marik was not paying attention to that, though. Something had dragged his attention away from the game. Something cold…
"Oh no…"
At least a hundred dementors, concealed faces pointing up toward the stands, were filing onto the field. Marik and Draco backed away, even though the horrid creatures were on the totally opposite side of the field from them. Their attention was detracted once again, as they saw a figure falling from the sky…
"HARRY!"
-.oOOo.-
Yugi and Yami Yugi walked down the corridor, making their way with a great amount of difficulty to the hospital wing. Between the two of them, they were carting a full body-bound, mouth sealed, and pink with lime green speckle haired Yami Bakura. The tomb robber was glaring at the pharaoh, just daring him to say something. Yami Yugi had been sorely tempted to say several things, but he wanted him to at least be in a non-murderous mood when Madam Pomfrey took the various curses off of him.
"I'm only going to say this, tomb robber," he said after what had to be the millionth glare from him. "If you're going to take being a priest seriously, maybe you should get some formal training from Yami Seto."
Yami Bakura made a sound like he sighed – though it was hard to tell, with the mouth seal, there was not even a line where his lips had been – and rolled his eyes.
"Can we hurry?" Yugi asked. "He's not exactly light, you know."
Yami Bakura growled, and glared up at him.
"Don't look at me in that tone of voice," Yugi returned. "It's not my fault you were dumb enough to let her pick the game. Did you even know how to play Exploding Snap?"
"Enough, hikari," Yami Yugi admonished, fighting back a chuckle. "This really isn't that funny."
Yami Bakura fixed him with a look, as if to say, "Who are you trying to fool?"
They finally arrived in the hospital wing, to find Madam Pomfrey behind her desk as always. She stood up when she saw them, surprised at the various effects that had been placed on the tomb robber.
"Do I want to know?" she asked in a slightly strained voice.
"No," Yugi and Yami Yugi answered at the same time. Yami Bakura tried to shake his head, but he could not because of the full body bind.
She waved them over toward the back, where they made their way over to deposit the stiff tomb robber as gently as they could on one of the many hospital beds. They were about to draw up chairs for themselves when they saw that further down the way a group of muddy individuals were surrounding a bed. Further inspection proved it to be the Gryffindor Quidditch team, in addition to a very wet Hermione, Seto, and Ron. Yugi raced over to them, leaving his other half with the tomb robber.
"What happened?" he asked.
Everyone turned, and then parted, to reveal Harry on the bed, his legs curled up with his face buried in his knees.
"The dementors showed up on the field," Fred explained. "Harry fell – almost got himself killed – and, well…"
"We lost," Harry muttered into his knees.
"There's still a chance we can win the cup," George said. "Don't beat yourself up because you lost once."
At that moment, Madam Pomfrey showed up to usher out the muddy Quidditch team. They all left, trailing mud behind them. She shook her head disapprovingly before going over to Yami Bakura and trying to figure out what all was wrong with him. Hermione, Ron, and Seto stayed behind, all three of them with concerned looks on their faces. Yami Yugi joined them after a moment, having been chased away by the nurse so she could do her work without him around.
"Dumbledore was really angry," Seto told Harry. "I never thought he could get that angry. He ran out onto the field as you fell, and sort of used his wand to help slow you down so you wouldn't hit the ground so hard. Then he shot some silver stuff at the dementors and they took off."
"He was mad," Ron put in. "He did not want them to come onto the grounds. We all thought you had…"
He trailed off at that, and the only sound in the room was the occasional yelp from Yami Bakura as Madam Pomfrey tried to pry his mouth open. Harry looked up for a moment, stretching out.
"Did someone get my Nimbus?" he asked.
Ron, Seto, and Hermione did not look at him.
"What?" Harry asked, dreading the worst.
Always the blunt one, Seto took up a bag that was resting at his feet. He turned it upside down over the nightstand, and out spilled dozens of splintered bits of wood and twigs, the only remains of Harry's broom.
"The wind got a hold of it before anyone else could," Seto explained. "It hit the Whomping Willow… Well, Harry, you know what that thing can do. It didn't stand a chance."