Calai'di– Okay, same thing with chap 12: I don't know how many people know the Pharaoh's real name, so be warned. It is revealed in this chapter. So is Ryou's second possessor (please don't yell at me when you find out who it is!). Have fun!

Chapter 15: The Secret of the Marauder's Map

"I couldn't open it," Malik commented. "What makes you so special?"

Malik was sitting with to Gryffindors again, but this time is was so that Ryou and Yugi, occasionally interrupted by Bakura and Yami, could tell him what had happened the previous night. They'd gotten to the point where Yami had closed the locket when Malik made his comment. Ryou frowned at him, using a very good impression of Bakura.

"I don't think it's special if, every time this thing opens, Bakura and I are in danger of dying," he said quietly.

"But it won't open anymore with that Sealer on it," Malik said, reaching for the ketchup. Yugi and Ryou stared wide-eyed at him.

"Wait, we haven't gotten to that. How did you know?" Yugi asked. Malik shrugged and began to pile the red condiment on his potatoes.

"Sis put one in my hair once. It was supposed to keep my darker half sealed, but it came off in the shower," he explained. He took a rather large bit of his potatoes and went on, "So, nob whob in id yed?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, that's disgusting," Ryou scolded. "And no, we don't know who's in it. But I have an idea."

"Who?"

"Your yami."

Malik almost spat out his food, but instead swallowed all of it and started choking. Ryou waited politely until he finished; Malik wiped his eyes and nearly yelled, "Why do you think that?"

"Well, one, it is your present that's causing this," Ryou said, ticking off each one on his fingers as he went. "Two, whoever it is knows a lot about Ancient Runes, which he could have learned in Egypt. Three, the reading Bakura did last night said it's a psychopath that's possessing me, and last I checked, Yami Malik fit the category."

"But, he's still in the back of my head, and he's not even another spirit. He's me, as much as I hate to admit it. How could he be possessing you?"

Yugi 's eyes lit up and he put his fork down. "Shadi said that one type of possession is human control, and for that, the possessor has to be alive still. And he said that it could be directed through an item. I bet that's how. Yami Malik's still alive, just trapped, and I bet he's trying to possess Ryou because he know he can't possess you anymore!"

Malik glanced down at his plate, quickly moved it out of the way, and began banging his head on the table. Hermione and Ron looked up in alarm, and Ryou attempted to get him to stop it; Yugi, Yami, and Bakura were all too busy laughing to do anything.

"Malik! What happened? Are you okay?" Hermione asked, her eyes full of alarm, though she couldn't do much from the other side of the table.

"I–hate–that–damn–fucking–bastard!" the Egyptian said between thumps. "Why'd–he–have–to–pop–up–again?!"

Yugi stopped laughing for a second to move Malik's plate back to it original spot, which forced him to stop hitting his head on the table; Ryou stared at it, wondering why he hadn't thought of doing that. Glancing back at Hermione, Yugi smiled sheepishly and said, "He's referring to Shadi. They never really liked each other." And then he whispered to Malik, "Quit making a scene. We'll figure something out, but you need to calm down!"

"Sorry," Malik muttered. "But I can't believe it might be my fault that Ryou's like this."

"Malik, it isn't your fault. We don't know who it is. I'm sorry I started pointing fingers like that," Ryou said. He held up the locket so they could see it better. "Besides, it won't open as long as the Sealer's on it."

"But if that's what Shadi put it on there for, it won't keep you from being possessed," Malik said.

"That's okay. As long as Bakura's here and this thing doesn't hurt my friends, I'll be fine," Ryou answered. Then he blushed as he realized what he'd said and tucked the locket back under his robes; he grabbed his fork from the table and began eating hurriedly, so the others couldn't ask questions.

[[Looks like he cares for the thief quite a bit, too.]] Yami commented silently.

[What do you mean by that?]

[[Nothing. I was just making an observation.]]

Yugi inwardly stared accusingly at his other, but decided to give it up and returned to his breakfast.

During the next four days, Ryou was possessed by 'the spirit of Ra' no less than six times, twice during classes and the other four over the weekend, and he was beginning to tire of it. Though the locket did not open, true to Shadi's word, every possession was accompanied by pain as well as weakness; each time he felt as if he was being ripped apart. Twice, Bakura was able to stop it by taking control before the other spirit could, but it didn't seem to hinder his efforts.

Between possessions, Ryou figured out that he was better than Yugi in all of their classes but Transfiguration, which he still didn't see much of a point to, and that Snape liked him about as much as Harry, which was very little. He and Yugi also spent nearly all of their free time doing homework, half for this year, and half for credit for first year. Sunday was the only day they really rested at all; they slept in and spent about three hours doing nothing or, in Ryou's case at least, spending time with the yamis.

Also during those four days, Harry decided he was being paranoid about the new students, and stopped checking every few moments to see if they'd changed to their darker personalities. He didn't believe that nothing was wrong, just that if something happened, it would be too obvious not to notice. Besides which, he'd mention the changes to Ron and Hermione, and they didn't seem very worried; actually, they didn't really seem to believe him at all and were just putting up an act so he wouldn't worry too much.

On Monday, Ryou officially determined that Snape hated him, and it was most likely Bakura's fault; he also hadn't found the weapons Bakura had hidden, and he suspected they were hidden with Shadow Magic. The tomb robber possessed him for Ancient Runes, just in case, but it wasn't necessary.

That night, Yugi revealed that he had somewhere he needed to go, but he wouldn't say where or who he was meeting with. Even Ryou didn't know where he was going, as he believed that Yugi's meeting with Shadi was still on Wednesday. Yugi tucked his deck into his pocket and stepped through the portrait hole, leaving the rest of them behind.

Yugi entered the quiet Defense Against the Darks Arts room and looked around his as he walked to the right-hand wall; it was still unnerving to be here since it still looked like Yami's soul room. The room was silent but for the echoes of his footsteps, in rhythm with the beating of his heart. Yami shifted uncomfortably in his real soul room; he was not getting a good feeling about this.

"Shadi?" Yugi called as he approached the real staircase. He noticed that one of the doors he'd thought was painted on the wall was real and open a crack, but he didn't pay it much attention. He was used to weird things like that happening by now.

"Shadi? Are you here?" he called as he passed by the open door. The Egyptian had promised he'd be here to tell them a little about Yami's past, but he didn't seem to be here.

[[...Being unreliable again...]]

[No, I don't–]

Psychopathic laughter from behind him caused him to stop in his tracks and turn to look; it had sounded very familiar, but no one was behind him.

"Bakura?" he asked cautiously. He heard the laughter again and a figure stepped out of the open door. Yugi gasped; he hadn't seen those psychotic, purple eyes in ages, but they struck fear in him down to his toes.

"M-Malik?" he squeaked as the figure smiled maliciously at him. "Is that you?"

"Yes, the true Malik is back," answered the figure. His spiked, platinum hair swayed slightly as he moved toward Yugi, eyes betraying his complete awareness of the fear he was instilling in the boy. "And I've come for the Puzzle, little Yugi."

"NO!!!"

Far away in the Gryffindor common room, Ryou jerked his head up from his work and held it cocked as though listening for something. Harry and Hermione stared at him, confused, until his eyes grew wide with fear, and he stood up from the table where they were working.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione as Ryou started towards the portrait hole.

"Yugi's in trouble. I need to find him," Ryou said absentmindedly, though there was a definite tone of fear in his voice.

"What? How do you know?" Harry asked as he stood up himself.

"I sensed him call out. Can I go now? Yugi really needs my help, and I'm not sure where he went." Ryou's voice sounded panicky, even to him. Harry shook his head and started toward the boy's dormitories.

"Wait here, I have something that can help you."

Harry raced up the stairs to his dorm room and over to his trunk; digging through it, he pulled out an old-looking piece of parchment and ran back down the stairs again to the common room, pulling out his wand as he went. Ryou was gone.

"Where is he?" Harry asked, his eyes moving between Hermione and the portrait hole and back.

"I think Ryou somehow heard Yugi again, and then he panicked and ran out," Hermione answered. She got up and walked over to Harry who was already muttering at the paper; a map of Hogwarts suddenly appeared. He scanned the paper and quickly found a dot labeled Ryou Bakura moving swiftly away from Gryffindor tower, and another glance revealed that Yugi was frozen stiff against a wall in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room.

"Come on," Harry said, and he pulled Hermione out of the portrait hole and after Ryou.

Please don't hurt me, Malik! Go away, please just go away! Somebody help me, please!

{I'm coming Yugi.} Ryou thought as he raced down the stone hallway. His friend's screams were as loud as if he'd been standing right there. {Hold on, just a little longer.}

{{What was that? One 'please' per sentence?}}

{Not helping...}

He stopped at an intersection and looked over his options; the Ring glowed again and pointed him to his right, down a flight of stairs. He turned and started running again, wishing he didn't have to use the Ring to find his friend, but desperate times called for desperate measures; he hoped Professor Dumbledore would understand. Suddenly, his foot sank down into the step; he quickly, though painfully, pulled it back out and started again; his friend was in trouble and Hogwarts was playing tricks on him. Perfect.

NO!!! Stay away from the Puzzle, Malik! This isn't like you! You're my friend now!

{Che, sounds like Rishid matters even when he and Malik are apart.} Ryou cursed as the Ring pointed him down another hallway.

{{Ryou, your cursing is bothering me. }} Bakura scolded, though it was only because the light almost never swore. {{It's old and boring. Want me to tell you more interesting ways?}}

{NO.}

He tripped but immediately picked himself up and started again. {I'm coming, Yugi. Hold on.}

Yami didn't understand what was going on. It seemed that, somehow, Malik's dark side was back, and he was still bent on getting the Puzzle, but they'd thought Malik had that under control now. However, it was clear that Yami Malik was the one threatening Yugi, as the Shadow Realm had appeared and the dark had the Rod out and unsheathed. Yami tried desperately to take control of his hikari only to find that he couldn't; Yugi had all of his defenses up, as well as the ones that blocked Yami out.

"You know, mini-pharaoh, this would be much easier if you just gave me what I want," Yami Malik murmured in his ear. He placed the knife against Yugi's throat and laughed softly. "But then, where would the fun be in that?"

"Leave me alone!" Yugi yelled as he kicked Yami Malik away. "You're not yourself, Malik! Can't you see what you're doing?"

"Perfectly well," answered Yami Malik softly. He moved his free hand in a loopy movement, and four shadows curled around Yugi's arms and legs to bind him the ground. "And this time, you won't stop me from getting what I want." The knife glittered in his hand as he moved closer to the struggling boy, and Yugi's robes suddenly disappeared. "In fact, you probably won't be doing much afterwards either."

"I can't believe we haven't caught up with him yet," panted Hermione. Ryou was moving incredibly fast, and he was swiftly moving away from them, even while they were running. And somehow, he seemed to know exactly where he was going, since he was heading directly towards Yugi.

Harry suddenly stopped and stared bewilderedly at the Marauder's Map. The Ryou dot had just stopped moving and was still for a moment, and then, another dot seemed to come out of him to watch him. This one was labeled only Bakura.

"Hermione, you might want to see this," Harry called. Hermione jogged back to where he was standing and gasped as she saw the Bakura dot pacing back and forth by Ryou.

"But-but, that's not...what in the world?" For the Bakura dot had just merged with the Ryou one and now the only dot there read Bakura. This dot started moving again with, if possible, more speed than before. Harry glanced over the map to where Yugi was and stared. There wasn't only one dot here either. The first, labeled Yugi Mutou, was against a wall and not moving. The second was circling him back and forth. This one was called Pharaoh Atemu.

Ryou's speed only seemed to increase as he neared his target, and so did the screaming in his mind. He had to get to Yugi and Malik before something bad happened; Bakura was the only one able to sedate their friend's dark side enough for the others to help. He had to get to Yugi, had to–

Yugi's screams suddenly stopped and everything was quiet. Ryou halted, confused. Why would Yugi stop yelling for help?...unless...

{No, that can't be it! Yugi can't be–}

{{He's probably dead, hikari.}} Bakura said quietly, almost sadly even. Ryou shook his head frantically and started running again. Bakura continued, {{That brat would scream even if Yami Malik got the puzzle from him. There's no other explanation.}}

{No, it's something else. It has to be.}

Ryou groaned softly as he began to feel nauseous and as though his chest was being ripped apart. Not now... he didn't have time for this. The whole world seemed bent on keeping him away from Yugi, even his own body. He tried to keep running even though his legs were turning to jello, but it was no use. He tripped and didn't have the strength to get up again. His vision blackened, his arms felt like fire, and he felt extremely weak.

"Bakura...please...help Yugi...please..." Ryou muttered as he slipped away from consciousness.

Bakura separated from his unconscious host and stared down at him. {{Great, now Ryou's out cold, and I have to save his hobbit-like friend. Ra's really smiling on me today, isn't he?}} Bakura returned to his soul room and, from there, took control of their body. His arms and legs did feel a bit weak, but it was nothing he couldn't handle; he'd been in situations like this before.

He pushed himself to his feet and started running again. {{All right, Yugi. Ryou wanted me to do this, so here we come.}}

Yami pushed out of his soul room just in time to see what happened. Yami Malik held the knife to Yugi's throat and slowly drew it under his chin, leaving a blood red line.

"Having fun yet, little Yugi?" he hissed, placing on hand on the Puzzle. "Because I am."

"Kee-keep your hands off the Puzzle, Malik," Yugi stuttered, though his voice sounded strained and quiet. Yami Malik laughed harshly and trailed the knife over the boy's chest.

"What if I don't? There's not much you can do about it, is there? Now–" he slipped the Puzzle's chain over Yugi's head– "I think I'll be taking this."

"No, don't, Malik," Yugi protested weakly as Yami Malik placed the chain around his own neck. The boy's strength was quickly being drained away through the shadows holding him down. "Please give me my Puzzle back."

Yami Malik laughed again and stood up to leave. "You won't last much longer here, but..." He suddenly pounced on the smaller boy and drove his knife home to Yugi's heart; Yugi let out a strained cry and tears fell from his eyes. "This'll make sure you never mess up my plans again," hissed Yami Malik as Yugi's eyes slipped closed.

"NO! Yugi!!!" Yami cried. He subconsciously made himself more corporeal so he could be seen and touched. Yami Malik glanced up at him and grinned, pulling the dripping blade out of Yugi's chest; he then turned back to the dying boy and began to carve lines and symbols into Yugi's bare arms.

"Hello, Pharaoh," he said softly, preoccupied with what he was doing, "come to say your final good-byes? You won't exist for much longer either." Yami Malik finished his bloody work and stood up, licking the crimson liquid off his knife. He bent down and pulled three cards out of Yugi's pocket. "Now that I have the Millennium Puzzle and the three Egyptian God Cards, I can destroy you and gain the infinite power of the Pharaoh. And there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"No, but there's probably something I can do," said a harsh voice from nearby. Bakura strode out of the shadows and glared at the demon, Millennium Ring glowing prominently on his chest. "Damnit, Malik, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Heh, Bakura, I didn't realize you'd sunk low enough to look out for these pathetic teens," Yami Malik sneered.

"I'm not. I'd just like to know what the hell is going on before I trap you here," Bakura answered stiffly. His hair began to wave a bit, tough there was no wind, and the Ring glowed brighter.

"I'm just taking what's rightfully mine. And you are not going to stop me from achieving my destiny."

"May I interject here?" Yami asked, stepping between the two psychopaths. They glared at him but didn't say anything, so he continued, "First: Bakura, what are you doing here?"

"Ryou heard Yugi's yelling, but he fainted before he got here. He asked me to help Yugi for him."

"But... Yugi is... he's..."

"Pharaoh, how dense are you? If Yugi was really dead or Malik really had the Puzzle, would you be standing here talking to me?"

Realization dawned in Yami's eyes. "No, I wouldn't."

"No, you wouldn't," Bakura echoed. The Ring flashed and Yami Malik stood frozen in a golden mist. Bakura started towards Yugi, who looked as though he was still bleeding from numerous cuts on his body, but the wound where the knife had gone in suddenly disappeared. "But Yugi does look like he needs medical attention, so–"

He never got a chance to finish the sentence. As he passed by Yami Malik, the immobile yami and the Shadow Realm disappeared and were replaced by a bloody figure laying face-down on the floor; the Puzzle reappeared around Yugi's neck. The figure on the floor looked like Ryou.

"Damn," Bakura cursed. He dropped to his knees on turned the hikari onto his back; Ryou's clothes were torn and bloody, parts of his hair were stained crimson, and he had small cuts and bruises all over his neck and face. What really sickened Bakura, though, was a dripping slit on each of the hikari's wrists and the all too peaceful expression on his face. The yami stood up and backed away a little.

"Bakura...is that Ryou?" Yami asked, his tone reaching levels too high for a male.

"He talked about suicide a lot," Bakura muttered, almost to himself, "especially after I beat him really badly. He said it was the only way to keep me from hurting him and his friends, since he knew I couldn't exist without him. I caught him with a knife to his wrist once and stopped him. But that was ages ago. He never tried again 'cause he knew I cared too much."

Yami stared sympathetically at the other dark side and opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't get the chance since at that moment, Harry and Hermione burst into the room. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth, probably to hold back a scream, and they stared at each other for a few moments. Harry was the first to speak.

"Uh...what is going on here?" he asked, eyes moving from the hikaris to the yami and back again. Yami and Bakura glanced at each other and they could almost see the gears churning in each other's heads.

"Is that Ryou?" Hermione shrieked. "And Yugi! Oh my god! What happened?!"

"That isn't me," Bakura answered, pointing at the dead Ryou on the floor. "I don't know what it is. And he– he pointed to Yami– "just appeared with that thing."

The pharaoh looked shocked, but Bakura gave him a meaningful look and he stayed quiet. Suddenly, Yugi groaned and opened his eyes; instantly, Yami Malik was back, and Yami, who had understood Bakura's hint, and the dead Ryou were gone. Yugi stared wide-eyed at the demon and began to whimper, though he was so hurt that he couldn't move at all.

"Malik?" Hermione asked, now on the brink of hysteria. But Harry knew what was going on and he ran in between Yugi and Yami Malik. The dark side turned into a black, cloaked, hooded figure that looked like the Grim Reaper and the room grew cold; Harry smirked and brought out his wand, making sure to dwell on his pride of knowing what had happened.

"Expecto patronum!" he exclaimed. A silver stag blasted out of his wand and charged at the dementor, knocking it backwards onto what must have been its backside. Harry almost laughed at the scene, which was exactly what he wanted. "Riddikulus!" The dementor disappeared with a crack, and the door it had come out of slowly closed.

"What was that?" Bakura asked as Harry turned to face them again.

"It's called a boggart. It changes into whatever scares you most," Harry answered, trying to sound calm. Inside, however, his mind was screaming that there was something different about Ryou. Now that he'd seen Ryou like normal next to Ryou with this attitude, he was surer than before that it wasn't really Ryou right now. The same thing was happening with Yugi, as well. And he didn't like it.

"Harry, perhaps we should get Yugi to the hospital wing," Bakura said as he checked Yugi's pulse; the boy had fallen unconscious again and his pulse was low. Harry nodded and together they carried Yugi out of the classroom.

"What on earth was he doing?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she rubbed some type of ointment on Yugi's cuts. They quickly began to vanish, leaving no scars.

"He ran into a boggart, Madame Pomfrey," Hermione answered as the woman began to break up a giant block of chocolate.

"And it did this? My goodness, young man, you have some very dangerous fears," Madame Pomfrey said as she gave Yugi an especially large piece. "You eat all of that, now."

"Yes, ma'am," Yugi answered. He took a bite of the chocolate and felt a sudden warmth throughout his body. Madame Pomfrey proceeded to give the rest of them smaller hunks of chocolate and then walked back to her office to leave them alone for a bit.

Harry noticed that his white-haired friend hadn't yet changed from the sarcastic, darker personality and decided to try something.

"Bakura," he said cautiously, watching his friends' expressions, "why did your boggart look the way it did?"

Yugi and Bakura glanced at each other and the spirit's eyes twitched slightly. "Why did you call me that?"

"Just answer my question."

"I was depressed a short time ago, and I thought about suicide a lot. I'm afraid of that happening again, and it doesn't help that I'm afraid of dying in the first place," Bakura lied, trying to keep his tone neutral. "Happy?"

"What about your boggart, Yugi?" Hermione asked.

"Uh, well, you remember when I said at the start-of-school feast that a short time ago Malik would have been the perfect Slytherin?" Hermione nodded. "Well, that was how he acted then. He scared me half to death during that time." Yugi glanced over at Madame Pomfrey's office as he finished the last of his chocolate. "Madame Pomfrey didn't say I had to stay overnight, so can we head back to the common room now?"

Once they left, Yugi had one more question. "Harry, how did you find us?"

Harry blushed and pulled out the Marauder's Map, which hadn't been wiped yet, out of his pocket. "I used this map. It shows the location of everyone in the castle."

"May I see that?" Yugi asked. Harry nodded and handed the map to him. Yugi looked carefully at the map and gasped; right where Bakura was standing was a dot labeled with his name and not Ryou's. He handed the map back to Harry and thanked him.

"Hey, I know how Harry knew your name," Yugi whispered once he caught up with the quickly moving spirit. "That map he used shows your name instead of Ryou's when you're in control."

"Great, as if Harry didn't suspect enough already. That damn boggart thing just set him off again," Bakura growled.

"But, if it can do that, don't you think it'll show the name of who's been possessing Ryou other than you?"

"I already have a pretty good idea of who that is," Bakura answered, shutting his eyes. "It's why he showed up again that I'm wondering about."

"Who is it?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now." Bakura glared at Yugi only to find that it wasn't Yugi at all.

"Tomb robber, this is for your best interest. I think you should tell me," Yami said, returning the other spirit's glare with one of his own.

"An old enemy of yours that you probably didn't want to meet again. That's all you need to know, Pharaoh." Bakura increased his speed and soon left Yami behind.

Harry took the Marauder's Map to breakfast the next morning; he had a theory that he wanted to test out. He sat down with the others and he and Hermione began explaining everything that had happened the previous night, at least from their perspective, to Ron, who had been practicing before Quidditch started. Ron was still positive that the new students were working for Voldemort, especially after that. But Harry didn't really pay attention to that. He was paying more attention to Ryou.

Bakura, Yugi, and Yami did about the same thing with Malik, though they had a better story since they'd been in the center of it. Malik almost cursed up a storm again when he heard that Harry had seen the yamis, both of them, right next to the hikaris. And he wasn't happy with the fact that Yugi's greatest fear was Yami Malik.

"You know what? Bakura's right, this has just set Harry off again. He keeps glancing at both of you," Malik said. "I can't believe you let him see that!"

"Do you think we had a choice?" Bakura hissed. "I had no idea Harry was following us! Besides, both Yugi and Ryou were unconscious at the time, so it's not like we could have fair warning or anything."

"Oh yeah, and do you mind explaining why my dark side is your greatest fear?" Malik demanded. Yugi didn't blush, but instead looked him straight in the eye.

"Would yours have been any different?"

"Well...no, probably not," he answered, staring at his plate. "But still, he shouldn't have been allowed to see that much! We've only known Harry for a few days, we don't know how trustworthy he is."

"But Hermione was there, and I know she's okay," Ryou remarked, taking control again.

"That just makes it worse! The more people, the more–"

"Aghhhhhh!" Ryou suddenly exclaimed, clutching his chest. "Malik!!! Yugi!!! H-help..." And suddenly he seemed fine again, though maybe with a bit more attitude.

"Malik, we need to get him to the hospital wing!" Yugi said, taking hold of one of 'Ryou's' arms. The boy tried to throw him off, but Malik was also holding on, and they were slowly puling him out of the Great Hall.

"Yugi! Let go of me! Is this how you treat your friends?!" 'Ryou' called out as they went, but it was no good; he couldn't escape from their grasp. They disappeared through the double doors and his voice faded.

This, however, was exactly what Harry had been waiting for. He pulled out the Marauder's Map and found the Great Hall, and the boys moving slowly away from it. Yugi was still Yugi, and Malik was still himself, but Ryou's name was completely different. It didn't read either Ryou or Bakura; the dot were Ryou should have been was labeled Zoku Necrophadisu.