A day just like any other

"You know Bakura?" Harry asked Yami once the fuss had died down. The newly-discovered Bakura, along with Sirius and Lupin, had been sent off to Hogwarts, although Dumbledore still wasn't sure what he was going to do about him. Now Dumbledore was sitting across from them getting ready to cross examine Yami.

"Yes," Yami agreed. "We're sort of old enemies. He's mellowed a bit since then, but I'm still not willing to trust him. First impressions and all that."

"Excuse me, young sir," Dumbledore interrupted. "But would you mind explaining why you are here? I sense no magic about you, and yet you are in the Order's headquarters."

"The pendant I wear prevents others from seeing or sensing my magic." Yami explained haughtily. "It's a defense mechanism. If others cannot see my magic then they will not attack me to get it."

"Your magic is that strong then?" Dumbledore inquired.

"At the risk of parroting Bakura, how is that any of your business?" Yami retorted. Harry grinned. When Bakura had been asked that question he'd called Dumbledore an old geezer and managed to sound like he was insulting not only Dumbledore but the entire wizarding community.

"As I told Mr. Bakura," Dumbledore replied frostily, "I am the headmaster of Hogwarts and the leader of the Order of the Phoenix. I must know enough about you to determine whether you can be threat or whether you will attract trouble to the Order."

Yami sighed, looking long-suffering. "If trouble comes for me I can take care of it. I have enough to magic to do almost anything I like. Except get rid of Bakura, that is. Our magic is about the same type and is pretty much at the same level also, much as pains me to admit it."

"Why do you two hate each other anyway?" Harry asked curiously. Bakura hadn't seemed that bad to him, and he'd helped Sirius. Sirius seemed to have a really good opinion of him too. So why didn't Yami like him?

"Let's put it this way," Yami said cautiously. "We've been enemies ever since we first met. We have each tried to kill the other on several occasions. It's a personal thing."

Harry blinked at him several times. "Isn't trying to kill each other going sort of overboard?" he asked finally.

"Yes," Dumbledore agreed faintly. "It sounds as though you are at least as dangerous as he is. And at least Mr. Bakura doesn't seem to harbor a grudge the way you do."

Yami snorted. "Bakura has held a grudge against me from the time he was six. I think that he has more problems than I do. The only reason that he gave it up was because the Guardian showed him that it was unreasonable to blame me for what happened."

"So he had a reason to want to kill you." Dumbledore observed shrewdly.

"Yes," Yami agreed. "We both had good reasons to want to kill each other. But the way Bakura went about getting his revenge didn't exactly endear him to me."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Trying to kill someone is a guaranteed way to make an enemy. If it had been you who tried to kill him first he would be the one talking like that about you."

"Yes," Yami admitted with a sigh. "And I know that he has reformed, which is why I didn't try to kill him on sight; but I still hate him and I know that he feels the same way about me."

"Ah," Dumbledore said as understanding dawned. "You would not be the one to ask about Mr. Bakura then." Yami nodded fervently. Harry smirked at the thought. "But could you tell me more about yourself and how you found out about this place?"

"Okay," Yami agreed simply. "I didn't actually find out about the Order directly at all. I saw Harry fighting a hopeless battle against three black-robed figures, one of whom was doing something to his friend, and stepped in to rescue him. He got knocked out before I got there and the girl showed me to this place. It's not really much of a story at all. Just the kind of thing that happens every day."