Yu-Gi-Oh!
Balance
"Suteki da ne?" is sung by Rikki; my no own. Note to Hagrid excerpted.
CHAPTER TEN – A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS
Marik was sitting by himself in the Gryffindor common room that morning a few days before the Christmas holiday, catching up on his Ancient Egyptian Magic homework. Normally he would still be sleeping on a day off at eight o' clock in the morning, but he had too many things on his mind at the moment. Most of those thoughts were centered on what day it was.
December twenty-second, exactly a day before his birthday.
He leaned back in his chair, letting out a sigh of frustration. Soon he would be eighteen years old, and he had not even gotten a kiss out of Hermione yet. It was kind of pathetic; eighteen and still he had not been kissed by a girl.
Marik shot out of his chair, suddenly, pounding a fist in his open palm.
"That's it!" he declared to no one in particular. "I'm going to get Hermione to kiss me before midnight!"
Just then, a yawn came from the top of the stairs, and Marik looked up to see Yugi shambling down the steps, still half asleep.
"Mornin', Marik-kun," he muttered, as Marik plopped back down into his chair.
"Mornin', Yugi-kun," he replied, returning to his homework as Yugi shuffled toward the showers. A few moments later, there was another yawn from the top of the stairs, and Marik did not look up as another shuffling of footsteps came down.
"Mornin', Marik-kun."
"Mornin', Yugi-kun."
Marik frowned; wait a minute… He looked up in time to see a slightly taller version of Yugi enter the shower room. There was a shout of surprise, followed by a long silence. Then there was a brief giggling before the sound of rushing water came from the room. Marik just sweatdropped.
"I don't even want to know…" he muttered as Seto came down the stairs, a towel and change of clothes draped over his shoulder. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you," Marik warned. "Ra only knows what you'll be walking in on."
Seto frowned at the door to the showers before plopping down on a chair. He wiped the sleep out of his eyes, before squinting at what he was working on. Grimacing, he looked up at Marik.
"Why are you working on homework at eight in the morning?" he asked.
"You and Hermi-chan are a bad influence on me."
They were silent for a moment, before Seto asked, "So… have you kissed her yet?"
Marik almost blotched his ink. It was not the fact that he had just been thinking about that earlier, though it was a bit creepy, but the fact that Seto Kaiba was asking him… Well, it was just weird on so many levels; he could not even begin to describe it.
"I think your yami is a bad influence on you," he declared.
Seto frowned as Ron came pounding down the stairs. The younger wizard ran into the showers before either of them could warn him. There was a girlish scream before he came running back out, slamming the door behind him, and leaning against it with his eyes wide in surprise.
"I think I'm scared for life now," he muttered, before whirling on the closed door. "Can't you two use a closet to do that!"
Marik and Seto sweatdropped; that was more information than they needed.
-.oOOo.-
Later that day found Draco curled up in a armchair at the library, his transfiguration book opened up on his lap and his homework spread out on the table before him. In a way, he was glad he had woken up so late that morning. After he heard about the fight over the shower earlier, he did not know if he could look at Ron with a straight face ever again
Locating the chapter he needed for his homework, he set the book down and unfurled himself from the chair. Sitting properly now, he took up his quill and started to work when a sudden strange feeling came over him, like he was being watched. He looked up, spinning around in his chair as he tried to find the source of the strange feeling. There was a flash of brown eyes from behind a bookcase, and Draco sighed in frustration before getting up and going around to the other side of the case. If it was that Shadi guy again, he was going to go straight to Dumbledore and complain.
On the other side of the case, he did not find Shadi, but he did find a strange golden scale resting on the table there. The weighing device was accented with obsidian, and there was an eye at the top of the shaft, just before the crossbar that held the two perfectly balanced golden baskets. Draco gulped at the sight of it; that was the same design that was on Yugi's Puzzle and the other Millennium Items.
It was then that he felt a warmth against his chest. Looking down, he saw that the feather on the chain around his neck was glowing slightly. Freaked out, Draco slipped the feather under his sweater before going back to his table, gathering his homework, and rushing out of the library.
On the table the scale was resting on, there was a brief passing of a shadow, before the object disappeared…
-.oOOo.-
Before dinner that evening, Harry, Bakura, Hermione, and Marik went down to Hagrid's hut for a visit. They knocked and waited, but when they did not get an answer, they were a bit concerned. The giant of a man had promised them that he would be home all day that day. Bakura knocked again, before pressing his ear against the door.
"It sounds like something's whining…?" he announced, confused.
Harry pounded on the door. "Hagrid! It's us! Open up!"
There was the clomping of footsteps, and the door opened to reveal Hagrid, his face and beard stained with tears.
"Yeh've heard!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms onto Harry and Bakura's necks. It would have been funny if Hagrid was not twice the size of a normal man. The two of them struggled under the weight, before Bakura's eyes suddenly narrowed.
"You bloody idiot!" Yami Bakura snarled. "Get off of me or I'll –"
Fortunately, Hermione and Marik managed to grab Hagrid under each arm and steer him back into the hut before the tomb robber could finish his threat. The giant allowed himself to be led down into a chair and slumped over his table, sobbing uncontrollably.
"What's wrong, Hagrid?" Harry asked.
Hagrid was too upset to answer, but Yami Bakura spotted an official looking letter on the table. He picked it up, looking it over.
"Is this the problem?" he asked. Hagrid wailed louder. "I take that as a yes," the tomb robber replied sourly, before reading the note aloud.
Dear Mr. Hagrid,
Further to our inquiry into the attack by a
hippogriff on a student in your class, we
have accepted the assurances of Professor
Dumbledore that you bear no responsibility
for the regrettable incident.
However, we must register our concern
about the hippogriff in question. We have
decided to uphold the official complaint of
Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will
therefore be taken to the Committee for the
Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. The hearing
will take place on April 20th, and we ask you
to present yourself and your hippogriff at the
Committee's offices in London on that date.
In the meantime, the hippogriff should be
kept tethered and isolated.
Yours in fellowship…
After that was a list of the school governors, but none of them got a chance to see any of the names. Yami Bakura crumpled the note in his hands, twisting it as if he were twisting someone's head off until the parchment finally ripped in half. The look on his face was so absolutely terrifying that even Marik backed away from him.
"Damn that Malfoy and that wench Ecillia," he snarled darkly. "They're doing all of this on purpose."
The three students stared at the tomb robber, afraid he was going to try and kill someone or something.
"Um… I think what the tomb robber is trying to say is…" Marik began, "is we'll try and help you prove Buckbeak's innocence."
"Yeah!" Harry added, noticing Yami Bakura calm down a bit. "It's the least we can do. After all, Buckbeak is really a nice hippogriff."
"Don't worry so much, Hagrid," Hermione encouraged warmly.
Hagrid snorted loudly before blowing his nose. "Thank yeh…"
There was a sudden loud crunch, and the four students whirled around to see the hippogriff in question lying in a corner, munching on something that was squirting blood all over the floor. They sweatdropped, wondering what in the world they were getting into.
After they were sure that Hagrid was feeling at least a little better, the four of them left the hut, with Yami Bakura fuming a bit before switching places with his hikari. Bakura and Harry started talking about how they were going to help Hagrid and Buckbeak, leaving Marik and Hermione more or less to themselves. The Egyptian rubbed the back of his neck; now was as good a time as any.
"Uh… Hermi-chan?" he asked. "Could you… uh… could you meet me at the Astronomy Tower? Before midnight?"
She frowned at him. "Whatever for?"
Marik blushed slightly. "Um… no reason, just… please?"
Hermione blinked, confused. "Sure… I suppose."
"Great!" Marik exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically, before running off to the castle, nearly bowling over Harry and Bakura in the process. The two of them looked back at Hermione, confused.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked.
Hermione shrugged helplessly. "Sometimes I think I'll never understand him…"
-.oOOo.-
Marik paced the length of the Astronomy Tower, constantly checking his watch. Eleven forty; was she going to show up at all, or had she gotten caught? He started pacing at eleven forty-five, and by eleven fifty, he had taken out his deck and shuffled it out of nerves. Hermione finally showed at eleven fifty-five, gasping slightly for breath.
"I almost got caught by Mrs. Norris," she breathed, going over to him. "Why did you want me to come up here anyway?"
Marik rubbed the back of his neck, nervous. "Well, in five minutes it'll be December twenty-third – you know, my birthday – and I'll be eighteen, and well… uh…"
Oh, no; perfect time for his nerves to fail him.
"Your concerned about what Yami Bakura said on the train?" she asked. "That whole bit about you being a cradle robber?"
Eleven fifty-six…
"Well, yeah," Marik admitted. "I mean, Yugi and Yami Yugi get a lot of looks when they walk down the halls together. I can only imagine the kind of looks a seventeen and a thirteen year old walking down the halls together get."
Hermione shrugged. "Since when did that ever matter?"
"Well, it never did, but the point is I'm going to be a legal adult in a few minutes, and you're still a kid… er… young woman," he amended. "People tend to frown down on that more."
Eleven fifty-seven…
"So… what?" she asked. "Are you saying that we should stop being together?"
"No!" Marik exclaimed, a little two quickly. "No, far from that." He took a deep breath; this definitely was not his forte. "I'm just saying that until you're eighteen too, people might take certain gestures the wrong way."
Hermione raised an eyebrow slightly, as if she just realized what he was getting at. "Oh?" she asked, letting him come out with the right words. "Like what?"
Eleven fifty-eight…
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Marik could literally hear his heart pounding in his chest; it was thumping so hard, he was afraid he was going to have a heart attack or something.
"W-well… y-you know," he began, trying hard not to stutter. "Simple things; holding hands in the hall, a friendly hug… a kiss…"
Marik suddenly found himself staring into her deep brown eyes, unable to look away as she approached him slowly. She smiled gently, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"A kiss doesn't sound so bad," she whispered softly.
Eleven fifty-nine came with the two of them in each other's arms, wrapped in the warmth of one another as they shared a long kiss under the soft glow of the stars. The wind blew slightly, sending shivers of cold down their spines, but they ignored it. They were too busy with one another to notice much of anything.
Midnight came, and Marik forced himself to part from Hermione, his reluctance evident on his face. She smiled up at him warmly, before settling on falling into a hug. He held onto her, closing his eyes and playing back the kiss in his mind.
That had to have been the best first kiss in history.
-.oOOo.-
Christmas morning finally came, and Harry woke up earlier than he had wanted to. He yawned lazily, stretching out in bed, hearing every bone in his body pop satisfyingly. His feet kicked something as he stretched, and he sat up, reaching over and putting his glasses on as he did so. At the foot of his bed was a thin, non-descript parcel. There were no markings on the wrapping that he could see, but further inspection was prevented when a pillow hit him upside the head, almost knocking his glasses off.
"Morning, Harry!" Yugi exclaimed playfully, jumping onto the bed behind him, making it creak in protest. There was a yawn, and Marik appeared from behind the curtains of his four-poster bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"I swear, Yugi-kun, you're only this hyper in the morning when you're getting something," he complained.
"Yup!" Yugi exclaimed as the others crawled out from their beds. Draco squinted at the package on Harry's bed as he approached.
"What's that, Harry?" he asked around a yawn. Harry was about to answer, when something fell out from behind the curtains of Yugi's bed. Everyone turned and sweatdropped as a bleary-eyed Yami Yugi sat up from where he had fallen.
"Since when is that bed so small?" he muttered tiredly, not really noticing the looks he was getting. Just then, Yami Bakura appeared next to his hikari, before sitting down on the bed next to Yugi, elbowing him slyly.
"Oy, Yugi," he whispered. "Pharaoh gave you his present early, hunh?"
All that got him was a mouthful of pillow, courtesy of both Yugi and Bakura. He glared at the two of them, straightening out his mussed up hair.
"So what is this already?" Ron asked, poking at the package.
"I don't know," Harry replied, taking the parcel and ripping off the wrapping to reveal an unmarked white box underneath. He opened that… and a collective gasp when about the room.
"Is that…?" Seto began.
"By Ra…" Marik muttered.
"I don't believe it…" Ron said hoarsely.
"A Firebolt…" Draco breathed, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was not seeing things.
The broom was very real, however, identical to the dream broom Harry, Marik, and Draco had drooled over in Diagon Alley ages ago. The handle glittered as Harry picked it up. He could feel it vibrate slightly, and he let go, leaving the broom to hover at the exact height for him to mount. Shaking in disbelief, he ran a hand down from the golden registration number at the handle all the way down to the streamlined birch twigs that made up the tail.
"It's beautiful…" Harry murmured under his breath.
"Who sent it?" Yami Yugi asked in a hushed voice.
"Check and see if there's a card," Yugi suggested, too preoccupied with staring at the broom. His other half tore apart the wrapping the broom had come in.
"Nothing!" he exclaimed, before staring at Harry, bewildered. "Who would spend that much on you?"
Everyone turned to Seto.
"Don't look at me!" he exclaimed.
"Well," Harry began, a bit stunned, "it definitely wasn't the Dursleys."
"Maybe Dumbledore?" Bakura suggested. "He gave you that invisibility cloak."
"Yes, but that had been my father's," Harry objected. "Besides, he wouldn't spend this much on a student. He can't go around spending hundreds of Galleons like that."
"Well, maybe that was why he didn't want to say it was from him," Draco observed, "in case some git like Ecillia said it was favoritism." His face lit up at that. "Oy, Harry! Ecillia! She'll turn positively green when she sees you on this!"
Yami Bakura snickered at that thought as Ron started laughing his head off.
"What're you boys laughing about?"
Hermione walked in, wearing her nightclothes and carrying a rather disgruntled looking Crookshanks.
"Don't bring that cat in here!" Ron exclaimed, diving toward his bed for Scabbers and shoving the rat into his pocket. Hermione did not listen to him, however, and dropped Crookshanks off on the bed Seto had been sleeping in (what was normally Seamus's bed). She stared open-mouthed at the Firebolt, still hovering before Harry.
"Who sent you that?" she asked, hardly believing it.
"No idea," Harry replied.
Hermione's face fell. "And you're not worried?"
"Why should we be?" Ron asked. "Hey, Harry, could I have a go on it? Please?"
"Me too!" Marik exclaimed.
"Me three!" Draco put in.
"I don't think anyone should ride that broom just yet!" Hermione exclaimed shrilly. The boys just stared at her.
"What do you propose he do with it? Sweep the floor?" Yami Yugi asked.
Before she could answer, Crookshanks leapt from Seto's bed, heading straight for Ron's chest.
"GET – HIM – OUT – OF – HERE!" Ron bellowed, holding his hand protectively over Scabbers as the cat's claws ripped his pajamas. Hermione and Marik grabbed Crookshanks before he could take another swing, carrying the feline out of the room with him still glaring at Ron over their shoulders.
Ron took Scabbers out of his pocket once he was sure they left, and stroked the rat's head, calming it down. It had been awhile since any of them had seen the rat outside of his pocket, and they were all surprised to see the once fat animal was deathly skinny, and was loosing patches of fur.
"He doesn't look so good, does he?" Seto asked.
"It's stress!" Ron exclaimed. "That damned cat is going to be the death of him!"
Everyone went downstairs to unwrap their presents under the common room Christmas tree. Spirits were running thin at that point, however, as Hermione was annoyed by the way Ron spoke of Crookshanks, and Ron was annoyed by the fresh attempt on Scabbers' life. It was not until noon when everyone went down to the Great Hall, except for Yugi and Yami Yugi, who hung back in the common room a moment. They looked at each other nervously for a moment, before blurting out a the same time:
"I got something for you."
They chuckled, and Yami Yugi motioned to his hikari. "You first."
Yugi nodded, before taking his other half's hand and leading him back upstairs. Once in the third year dorms, he went over to his bed and reached under to a loose floorboard, lifting it up to reveal a small package. Taking it in hand, he waited a moment for his heart to stop hammering in his chest before handing it to Yami Yugi.
The pharaoh smiled at him encouragingly, before tearing off the wrapping to reveal a small jewelry box. He raised an eyebrow – he had not been expecting that – before opening it. Inside was a small golden locket, oval in shape, with an embossed heart in the center fanned by an angel wing on one side and a devil wing on the other. He opened it up, and smiled at the picture inside. It was of him and his hikari, one that he remembered Jonouchi taking some time after the recent Battle City. The two of them had an arm around each other's shoulders, winking and holding up their other hands in a peace sign. On the other side of the photo was some kind of strange sparkle, trapped behind a thin layer of glass, and it seemed to be singing something. Frowning slightly, he put the locket up to his ear, trying to hear the song.
Kaze ga yoset kotoba ni
Oyoida kokoro
Kumo ga hakobu ashita ni
Hazunda koe
Tsuki ga yureru kagami ni
Furueta kokoro
Hoshi ga nagare, koboreta
Yawarakai namida
Suteki da ne
Futari te o tori aruketa nara
Ikitai yo
Kimi no machi, ie, ude no naka
Sono mune
Karada azuke
Yoi ni magire
Yume miru
Kaze wa tomari; kotoba wa
Yasashii maboroshi
Kumo wa yabure; ashita wa
Tooku no koe
Tsuki ga nijmu kagami o
Nagareta kokoro
Hoshi ga yurete, koboreta
Kakusenai namida
Suteki da ne
Futari te o tori aruketa nara
Ikitai yo
Kimi no machi, ie, ude no naka
Sono kao
Sotto furete
Asa ni tokeru
Yume miru
Yami Yugi smiled broadly as the song ended, truly touched. "Hikari, this is beautiful," he declared. Yugi's whole face lit up, relieved that he liked his present so much. The spirit of the pharaoh smirked, closing the locket and fastening the charm around his neck. "I only wish I had been as creative," he added sheepishly, going over to Seto's clothing trunk, lifted it open, and pulled out a purple and gold baggy.
Yami Yugi handed him the baggy and held his breath slightly, hoping he would like it. Yugi reached into the bag, pulling out tissue paper and other glittery things until his hand wrapped around something soft. He pulled it out, revealing two plushies of himself and Yami Yugi, attached together at the hands by a piece of Velcro. The two little dolls were dressed in what the two of them normal wore, with the exception of the shirts. The Yami Yugi plushie wore a shirt that said "Property of Hikari", while the Yugi plushie wore a shirt that said "Property of Yami". The real Yugi giggled, hugging the two plushies.
"These are so cute!" he exclaimed, before practically jumping on his other half, hugging him fiercely. Yami Yugi chuckled, hugging his hikari back.
"I'm so glad you like it, koibito," Yami Yugi said warmly. Yugi blushed bright red, not used to being called someone's "sweetheart".
"Panseru-kun…!" he exclaimed, his face almost the same color as the tips of his hair. Yami Yugi chuckled, ruffling his hair, only to have it spring back into place.
"C'mon, lets go down to that feast."
They went down and out of the common room, making their way to the Great Hall. The large house tables were set up against the walls, and only one small table was set up perpendicular to those tables. The professors and their friends were already seated, with the addition of two nervous first years and a sullen face Slytherin fifth year. Dumbledore, for some strange reason, was wearing a hat topped with a stuffed vulture; Snape was glaring at the absurd hat. The two of them sat between Marik and Ron upon the headmaster's prompting, and joined in on the feast. Yugi looked up and down the table, concerned.
"Where's Professor Lupin?" he asked. "And Professor Trelawney?"
Professor McGonagall visibly fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Professor Trelawney hardly ever comes down to dine at any time," she answered. "As for Professor Lupin, he is unfortunately not feeling well."
"Such a pity, too," Dumbledore added, reaching for a drumstick. "To be sick during Christmas."
Yugi and Yami Yugi exchanged concerned looks, not sure what that was supposed to mean. The meal continued on normally for two hours. Full to the point of bursting, Ron and Harry got up first, patting their stomachs in satisfaction. They asked if Hermione wanted to come back up with them, but she said no, her excuse being that she needed to speak to Professor McGonagall.
"Probably wants to see if she can take more classes," Ron concluded as Seto, Marik, Bakura, Draco, Yugi, and Yami Yugi joined them.
The eight boys made their way back up to the Gryffindor common room, reaching the portrait hole, only to see Sir Cadogan having a Christmas party with a couple monks, several former headmasters of Hogwarts, and his fat pony. The goofy knight lifted his visor, saluting them with a flagon of mead.
"Merry – hic – Christmas! Password?"
"Scurvy cur," Ron replied dully.
"And the same to you, sir!" roared Sir Cadogan as the painting swung open.
"I can't wait till the Fat Lady comes back," Draco said as they entered. "This guy's a total loon."
Harry immediately went up to the dorm rooms, bringing back down his new Firebolt. Yami Bakura and Yami Seto came out, and the ten of them pined over the fine broom until the portrait hole opened up again, admitting Hermione and Professor McGonagall. They watched as Hermione went to hide in a corner of the room, picking up the nearest book and hiding her face behind it. Professor McGonagall, in the meantime, went over to the boys.
"So, that's it, is it?" the professor asked beadily. "May I?"
She did not wait for any of them to reply, taking the broom from Harry's hands. She examined it from handle to twig tail.
"Hmmm…" she mused. "And there was no note at all, Potter? No card? No message of any kind?"
"No," Harry replied blankly.
"I see…" she responded. "Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take this to be checked for jinxes."
Marik looked aghast. "But, why? There's nothing wrong with it!"
"You don't know that for sure, Ishitar, unless you ride it, and that won't happen until Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick strip it down," McGonagall replied sharply.
"Strip it down!" Ron and Draco squeaked, horrified.
"It shouldn't take more than a few weeks," the professor continued, ignoring their expressions. "I shall keep you informed."
With that said, she turned on her heel and left, taking the broom with her. Harry just stared as she left through the portrait hole, trying to figure out what just happened. Ron, in the meantime, whirled on Hermione.
"What did you go running to McGonagall for!"
Marik was about to scold him for talking to his girlfriend that way, but Hermione beat him to it. She stood up, red-faced, tossing her book aside as she faced Ron defiantly.
"Because I thought – and Professor McGonagall agrees with me – that that broom was probably sent to Harry by Sirius Black!"
Song translation:
My heart was swimming
In words gathered by the wind
My voice bounded
Into the cloud-carried tomorrow
My heart trembled
In the moon-swayed mirror
Soft tears
Spilled with a stream of stars
Isn't it beautiful
If we could walk, hand in hand
I'd want to go
To your town, your home, in your arms
In dream of being
Against your chest
My body in your keeping
Disappearing into the evening
Words halted by wind are
A gentle illusion
A tomorrow torn by clouds is
The voice of a distant place
My heart that had been
In a moon-blurred mirror that flowed
Those stars that trembled and spilled
Cannot hide my tears
Isn't it beautiful
If we could walk, hand in hand
I'd want to go
To your town, your home, in your arms
My dream of
Your face
That I softly touch
Melts in the morning