Yu-Gi-Oh!
Balance

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – SECRET OF THE TAUK

"Shocking business… shocking… miracle none of them died… never heard the like… by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape…"

"Thank you, Minister."

Harry woke up groggily to the sound of two men talking. It took his brain a moment to process whom they were, but soon he realized it was Snape and Cornelius Fudge. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see the world had been blurred; someone had removed his glasses. Groping around, he finally located his glasses and immediately put them on his face.

The hospital wing of the school came into focus, and he was able to see he was lying in a bed toward the end of the ward. He looked off to the side to see that Madam Pomfrey was hunched over another bed, and Harry could just make out Ron's flaming red hair. Across from him, Yugi was lying, still unconscious, with Yami Yugi sitting next to him, holding his hand while looking like he was going to fall asleep any moment. Harry looked off to his other side, to see that Hermione was just starting to wake up as well. Yami Bakura was sitting next to her bed, his legs propped up on another chair and his head tilted to the side, as if he had just slipped into a light doze. Marik and Draco were nowhere in sight.

Madam Pomfrey was now walking toward Harry, carrying a large block of chocolate that seemed more like a small boulder.

"Good, you're awake," she said, setting the chocolate down on the stand where his glasses had been. She started to break it apart with a small hammer as Harry sat up a bit in bed.

"How are Ron and Yugi?" he and Hermione asked at the same time.

"They'll live," the nurse replied grimly. "As for you two… Well, you're staying here until I'm sure you – Potter, what are you doing?"

Harry had grabbed his wand from where it was resting on the nightstand while she was speaking. Now he was attempting to get out of bed, but he was not having much luck.

"I need to talk to the headmaster," he explained, trying to get his legs to cooperate with him.

"Oh, Potter," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly, "it's all right now. They've got Black. He's locked away up in Professor Flitwick's office, and the dementors will be performing the kiss any moment –"

"WHAT!"

Harry's legs finally decided to work for him, and he jumped out of bed. There was a thud and a snort following his shout, and he turned slightly to see that Yami Bakura had sputtered awake, falling off his chairs as he did so. His shout had also distracted the people in the hallway, and in the next second Fudge and Snape entered the ward.

"Goodness, Harry, what's all this?" the Minister asked. "You should be in bed!"

"Minister, listen!" Harry exclaimed. "Black's innocent! Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight and –"

Fudge, however, was just shaking his head. "Harry, you've been through a very tough ordeal. Lie back down, now, we've got everything under control –"

"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry bellowed. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"

"Minister, please listen!" Hermione pleaded. "It did happen as Harry says it did!"

"Yeah!" Yami Bakura added in, finally standing up from when he fell. "He was an Animagus, that Pettigrew guy, and he was Ron's rat, and –"

"You see, Minister?" Snape interrupted. "Confunded, all of them. Black's done quite a job on them."

Yami Bakura looked insulted. Harry was beyond furious.

"We are not Confun—"

He did not get a chance to finish, as Madam Pomfrey stuffed a wad of chocolate in his mouth. He gagged slightly, and she took that opportunity to push him back into bed. Yami Yugi, in the meantime, had stood up from his seat, glaring daggers at Snape.

"What did I tell you, Snape?" he demanded. "Don't let the past override your judgment!"

Snape returned the glare easily enough. "I don't recall asking for your advice."

Yami Yugi backed up a moment, temporarily stung by that. Yami Bakura snarled, pointing an accusing finger at Snape.

"Hey!" the tomb robber shouted. "Baka Snape! Just because his highness-ness is a pansy ass, doesn't mean you can just ignore his advice!"

Yami Yugi sweatdropped, trying to resist the urge to punch him. How he had managed to insult him and support him in the same sentence, he would never be able to guess.

"My goodness…" Fudge muttered. "Well, I must attend to the matters at hand. Professor Snape, I will speak with you later."

The Minister swept out of the room, leaving Snape behind. Madam Pomfrey waited, expecting the professor to leave as well, but he did not move.

"Pomfrey, I would like to speak with these children alone," he stated.

The nurse gave him a strange look, as if he grown another head, and she was not the only one giving him such an expression. She handed Hermione a piece of chocolate, before retreating from the ward. As soon as Madam Pomfrey was gone, Yami Yugi was in Snape's face, narrow amethysts eyes nearly flared red in his anger.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" he demanded, grabbing the Potion's Master by his robes and pulling him down to his eye level. "You were there! You saw everything that happened! And don't even try to tell me you missed it! Why the hell did you lie!"

Yami Yugi had his fist raised toward the end of his rant, cocked and ready to punch Snape. He would have gotten a chance to as well, if Yami Bakura had not come up behind, grabbed him, and pulled him away.

"Whoa, chill out, pharaoh," the tomb robber urged. Yami Yugi struggled against his grasp as Snape stood up straight, smoothing out his robes while glaring as the two spirits.

"I lied," he snarled, "because no one else would believe what really happened."

"So you were there!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why didn't you do anything to help!"

Snape glared, but instead of answering her question, he tossed Harry his invisibility cloak.

"Just because no one believes, doesn't mean you can't do what you believe," he continued. "That's what Dumbledore wanted you to know. He would have told you himself, but he's too busy looking for young Mr. Malfoy to do so. I'm sure you can figure out what to do from here."

With that, he whirled on his heel and left the ward, leaving two confused teenagers and two confused spirits behind. Harry spoke first, finally swallowing the chocolate that had been stuffed into his mouth before doing so.

"Does anyone know what just happened?"

"My brain is still trying to process that," Yami Bakura said. "Gimme a few minutes."

Hermione, however, was not going to wait for the tomb robber. She tugged down her shirt a bit, pulling out the Millennium Tauk from its hiding place.

"Everyone, hold onto me," she ordered.

Yami Yugi blinked in confusion. "Hunh? Why?"

"Just do it."

Confused, the pharaoh, tomb robber, and Harry held onto Hermione's arms as she brought her hands up on either side of the Tauk. The Item flashed, and suddenly the ward disappeared into darkness. There was a feeling of falling backward through the inky blackness, the wind rushing through their ears…

Then, they were in the deserted entrance hall of the school, late afternoon sunlight streaming in through the windows. Harry looked around in confusion, before Hermione grabbed him and the two Egyptian spirits and pulled them into a broom closet. She put her ear to the door immediately, ignoring the three of them.

"Can someone please explain what –"

A strangled surprised gasp cut Yami Yugi off, and all four of them turned to see a familiar spiky white haired individual standing in the broom closet with them.

Yami Bakura looked from his three-hour-into-the-future self, Yami Yugi, Harry, Hermione, and back to his future self. The tomb robber blinked a few times, before putting his hands on his hips.

"You should have been able to figure this out!" past Yami Bakura accused.

"You do realize that I've already yelled at me for this, right?" future Yami Bakura pointed out.

"That doesn't stop me from yelling at you," past Yami Bakura replied smugly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to Hagrid's house."

Past Yami Bakura walked up to the door, pushing his way by the four of them. He listened at the door for a moment, before pushing it open and walking out casually. Hermione shut the door right away, before turning to the other three, who had utterly stunned and confused looks on their faces.

Harry turned to Yami Bakura. "You just yelled at yourself… literally," he said.

"No shit," the tomb robber said dryly. "C'mon, lets get out of here."

"Wait a minute," Yami Yugi objected. "What just happened?"

Yami Bakura smacked himself in the forehead. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" he demanded. "Okay, pharaoh, here's the deal: remember that little argument we had awhile back, about what the Millennium Tauk can do? Well guess what? We're three hours in the past, and we have some people and some animals to save. So, if you don't mind, your highness-ness, get your royal ass in gear and lets go!"

Yami Yugi growled under his breath, before following Yami Bakura, Hermione, and Harry as they crept out into the front foyer and out onto the grounds of the school. The shadows were starting to lengthen as they slid into the slightly illuminated forbidden forest, creeping through the trees till they could see the pumpkin patch in the back of Hagrid's hut. Buckbeak was still there, pawing nervously at the ground.

"Why are we going for Buckbeak?" Harry asked.

"Do I really need to answer that?" Yami Bakura replied.

"Didn't Madam Pomfrey say that Black was being held in Flitwick's office?" Yami Yugi asked. "That's on a high level. We'll need something that can fly if we want to get to him without getting caught."

"So, do we grab him now?" Harry questioned.

"Not yet," Hermione answered. "We need to wait until the committee members see Buckbeak tied to the fence. Before that, they'll think Hagrid set him free."

"But that only gives us a minute!" Harry protested.

Yami Bakura turned to the younger wizard, his hair softening as Ryou Bakura took over his body.

"Don't worry, Harry-kun," Bakura said, smiling. "Buckbeak's familiar with me. He'll come quickly if I get him."

Before Harry could get the chance to reply, the door on the hut opened wide, revealing Hagrid. A brief moment passed, as if he was letting someone out.

"Go quick," Hagrid hissed as he started to close the door. "Don' listen…"

"This is weird," Harry stated, as all four of them watched indentations of feet in the grass retreat from the hut.

From within Hagrid's hut, a knocking sound came, and from their vantage point, they could easily hear the conversation that followed as the burly groundskeeper let in Fudge, Dumbledore, the executioner, and the committee member.

"Where is the beast?" Macnair the executioner demanded.

"Out-outside," Hagrid croaked.

Harry and Bakura pulled their heads out of sight as Macnair's ugly face appeared in the window. He stared out at Buckbeak, gave a satisfied nod, and retreated back into the hut.

As soon as the executioner was gone, Bakura emerged from his hiding place, keeping low as he quickly made his way toward the hippogriff, making sure he kept eye contact with Buckbeak the whole time. Once he got close enough, he bowed to the animal. As if sensing the urgency in the situation, Buckbeak bowed back quickly, pawing at the ground in his anxiousness to be freed. Bakura instantly went to the rope tying him to the fence and pulled the knot free before leading Buckbeak into the forest with the others. Yami Yugi, Harry, and Hermione bowed before the hippogriff – just in case – and he bowed back just as Hagrid's hut door opened with a bang. Silence followed as everyone held their breath… then…

"Where is it?" asked the committee member. "Where is the beast?"

"It was tied here!" the executioner said furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"

"How extraordinary," Dumbledore said, a humored tone in his voice. There was a curse, followed by a swish and a thud as Macnair threw his ax at the fence where Buckbeak had been tied. Yami Yugi and Bakura exchanged relieved looks, while the latter petted the hippogriff's beak.

One life saved, one more to go.

-.oOOo.-

Not long after they had witnessed themselves disappear down into the passage under the Whomping Willow; Harry, Yami Yugi, Hermione, and Bakura watched as Hagrid left his hut, drunk as a skunk and not really caring. They waited until he had retreated into the castle before they entered his hut together. Harry had suggested it, seeing as once they returned from the Shrieking Shack the werewolf Lupin would be heading toward the forbidden forest, and it would have been best if they were not in his way. Yami Yugi kept watch at the window, letting the others know when something important was happening outside.

"There I go with Yugi," he said, not long after settling into his spot. "You guys should be following soon after."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, they did follow, and a few seconds after that, Lupin turned into a werewolf and bounded off into the forest.

"I'm going to go back out there," Harry said suddenly, standing up from where he had been brooding in a corner. He left the hut before anyone could protest.

Hermione clucked her tongue in annoyance. "I hope he doesn't try to change the past or anything. That could really mess things up."

"Give him some credit, Hermione-chan," Bakura urged. "I'm sure he knows what he's do—"

"Whoa!" Yami Yugi suddenly exclaimed, pressing his face closer to the window. "Bakura-kun, Hermione-chan, look at that!"

The two of them joined the pharaoh at the window to behold an awesome sight. A strange, silvery animal was galloping across the lake, going toward a large cluster of creatures that could only be dementors. They watched as the stag charged at them, shaking its horns at them threateningly. The dementors scattered, and the stag returned to where it had come from… from a small bush across the lake.

"Harry!" Hermione groaned, pulling away from the window. "How could he…!"

"Because, he already did," Bakura said, soothingly. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs… I may be going out on a limb here, but I think Prongs just rode again tonight."

The three of them left the hut, pulling Buckbeak along with them, and joined a giddy Harry at his hiding spot behind the bush. Hermione chewed his ear out, before congratulating him on completing such an advanced spell. They hunched down and waited, watching as Snape revealed himself from under the invisibility cloak and carried Harry and Hermione away on stretchers. After that, they waited for what seemed like ages, before Macnair appeared at the door the castle.

"He's on his way to get the dementors," Yami Yugi hissed. "Now's our chance."

Bakura was already halfway to mounting Buckbeak. Harry was on right behind him, followed by Hermione and Yami Yugi. The hippogriff complained slightly at the weight, but Bakura whispered soothingly to the animal as he tied the other end of the rope to his collar, using it as reigns.

"Ready?" he asked. "You'd better hold on…"

With that said, Bakura nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels. The hippogriff took off almost immediately, the weight of four people on his back not bothering him in the least. Hermione was holding onto Harry so tightly, he thought she was going to squeeze his upper half off.

"Oh… I don't like this…" she muttered.

"Oh… I really don't like this…" Yami Yugi muttered. Turning back slightly, Bakura could see Yami Yugi holding onto Hermione just as tightly as she was holding onto Harry. In addition, the pharaoh's eyes were squeezed shut.

Heh heh… Note to self: pharaoh does not like heights… Yami Bakura muttered in his mind.

Hush you, Bakura replied, as his darker half chuckled to himself.

"There he is!" Harry exclaimed suddenly.

Bakura pulled back on the reigns, and Buckbeak came to a halt in the air, hovering slightly outside the window to Flitwick's office. Harry reached out once the hippogriffs wings went down and tapped on the glass. Black looked up, and his jaw dropped once he saw the four of them. He went up to the window and tried to push it open, only to discover it was locked.

Hermione pulled out her wand instantly. "Alohomora!"

The window opened instantly, and Black started to pull himself out.

"How did you…?"

"No time for a Q and A," Bakura said, trying to hold Buckbeak steady. "That executioner has gone to get the dementors!"

Not about to argue the point, Black pulled himself out of the window the whole way and slid onto the hippogriff behind Yami Yugi, who was still too busy holding onto Hermione to notice. Once he was safely on, Bakura dug his heels into Buckbeak again, and the hippogriff responded immediately, flying up to the top of the tower that housed Flitwick's office and coming to a landing on the battements.

Bakura, Harry, Hermione, and Yami Yugi (who was grateful to be back on solid ground) slid off of the hippogriff. Harry handed the reigns to Black.

"Sirius, you'd better go quick," he said. "The dementors will be at Flitwick's office any minute, and when they realize you're gone…"

"I know," Black said. "Harry, I…"

A long moment passed where the two of them just stared at each other, both of them thinking of what could have been had things not gone so horribly wrong.

"Go," Harry said finally.

Black nodded. "We'll see each other again," he stated. "You… you are truly your father's son, Harry…"

With that, Black squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his heels. The four of them watched as the enormous wings rose and fell once more, taking the hippogriff and its rider to places unknown…

-.oOOo.-

Snape was just about to close the door to the infirmary behind him, when he caught the sound of heavy breathing coming from nowhere. He looked around a moment, before rolling his eyes.

"The whole point of being invisible," he said to the air, "is to not be seen and heard…"

"So sue us," came Yami Yugi's disembodied voice. "Do you know how fast we had to run to get down here before we disappeared?"

"No," Snape replied dryly, "nor do I wish to find out." The Potions Master looked back into the ward for a moment, before he announced, "You've just left. Get back in there."

Yami Yugi, Bakura, Hermione, and Harry breezed past him, only taking off the invisibility cloak once they were close to the beds they had technically only occupied a few seconds before. They plopped into their respective beds and chairs just as Snape slammed the door shut, and not a moment too soon. Madam Pomfrey came back as soon as the bang stopped echoing through the ward.

"Is the professor gone?" she asked haughtily. "May I tend to my patients now?"

Still elated from their success, Harry and Hermione were not going to argue with her. They ate their chocolate quietly, and were on their fourth piece when a loud angry moan came from upstairs.

"Goodness, what was that?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Sounded like a really pissed off dementor," Yami Yugi offered, tossing Harry, Hermione, and Bakura a wink. The three of them fought back a laugh as another moan sounded above them.

"Honestly, they're going to wake everyone up!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, heading toward the door.

Silence passed between the four of them for a long moment, before Harry's face broke out into a grin.

"We really did it, didn't we?" he asked. "We didn't just dream all that?"

Another moan came from above, and Bakura giggled. "I think you have all the proof you need, Harry-kun," he said, pointing up toward Flitwick's office.

Just then, there was yet another moan, only this one was closer to home. Yugi opened his eyes blearily, looking around before settling them on his other half. Yami Yugi hugged him warmly, grateful that he was awake again.

"Ne, mou hitori no boku…" he began. "What happened? Why are we all here?"

A lost look was exchanged between the four of them, before Bakura helped himself to some chocolate, throwing a piece to Yami Yugi to give to his hikari.

"You can explain it," he said, popping the piece into his mouth.

Yami Yugi opened his mouth, about ready to at least attempt to do just that, when the door to the ward banged open. Madam Pomfrey rushed back in, looking highly distressed. Marik, whose tanned face was shadowed with concern, quickly followed her. Lastly, Dumbledore rushed in, carrying something in his arms…

Yugi would have leapt out of bed if he knew his leg was repaired.

"Draco-kun!"

Dumbledore laid the still form of Draco Malfoy on a bed. The blonde boy was not moving, not even breathing… his skin as pale as death…