AN: Skip to the bottom and review the story, you can read it later.

Anticlaimerer: I don't own Yugioh or Harry Potter, and I don't care who does.

Warnings: Over use of Dagger as a prop. Confident Ryou. A member of the ODD (Owls Disliking Dumbledore).

Enjoy the day, my friends, for it could be your last. No really, it could. Think about it.

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Bakura smirked, idly tossing the dagger he had been polishing at his hikari. Ryou squeaked and tumbled off his chair, rolling to his feet in a defensive stance an instant later. "I was reading!" he said indignantly, glaring at his dark side.

"And I was bored" Bakura answered equably. "So now you are not." Ryou huffed, not really upset, and retrieved his book from the floor. Setting it on the coffee table, he turned to pull the knife from the chair back.

"That one's for you," his yami informed him abruptly. "Do you like it?" The spirit was still wary when it came to giving presents; it was too much like being 'nice' for him to be comfortable with it.

Ryou studied the slender silver blade critically. A smooth silver hilt set with a single round saphire fitted easily in his hand. The balance was nothing short of perfect. Ryou tossed it up experimentally and caught it, delighting in the ease with which it cut through the air. He smiled brilliantly at Bakura. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

Relaxing slightly, Ryou's yami returned the smile, glints of sardonic humour shining in dark mahogany eyes.

Ryou turned his head, distracted, as something caught his eye. "What's this? I didn't see it before." He held out the silver envelope to his yami, who accepted it.

Bakura scanned the address and froze. "Rakura. It's addressed to Rakura."

Ryou went pale. "But who would know to call us that?"

"No one, that's who." There was a dangerous edge to the spirit's voice, made up of combined fear and anger, under icy control. He frowned. Combining Light and Dark into one person with the strengths of both was not something they did when they could avoid it, their own personal phobias forbid that. Not even the Yugi-tachi should have known the name of his and Ryou's fused form. It was also the name the two had used in their occasional dealings with the criminal underworld, but again nobody should have connected that deadly team with the shy and polite Ryou Bakura of Domino high-school. Any of the possible explanations meant danger to them.

"It could be a simple spelling mistake," Ryou offered doubtfully, not believing it himself. "Either way, we won't know until we open it."

He nodded his agreement and tore open the envelope, spreading it on the table so they could both read it.

Rakura Shadowstealer,

You are hereby invited, along with two others, to fill the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Should you choose to accept, the Hogwarts express will be leaving from Domino Station, platform 3½, every Tuesday at 12:00 noon. Please send a reply with the owl that delivered this letter, informing us of your decision, and/or date of arrival.

Bakura knew with absolute certainty that this wasn't some kind of weird hoax. He could sense the power that had gone into making the letter; magic much younger than any he was familiar with.

We await your owl.

The spirit had begun to relax when he saw the owl, but he was still visibly tense, half expectant of an attack. So Ryou felt no surprise at all when his dark side reacted to this new circumstance by attacking it.

She was a light silvery grey colour and had a talent for making herself inconspicuous. Had done so, in fact, with enough success that even Bakura had not noticed her presence until now. She dodged the blade the yami flung, with more agility than an owl on the ground (or in this case the coffee table) should have been capable of, but refused to give any more ground than she absolutely had to. Shaking ruffled feathers back into place, she appeared to be trying very hard to look unthreatening. The spirit chuckled darkly. "You have a great deal of common sense for a bird, haven't you?" The bird looked sarcastic. Bakura laughed again. "I do like you, lady." He held out an arm, which she took, carefully not digging her talons in even though the pain would not likely have bothered him. "So you belong to the school, do you? I think I shall steal you." The bird nibbled his finger approvingly. "You need a name. Calling you 'the bird' all the time is going to get old pretty fast."

"Mithril," Ryou spoke up. "It means true-silver."

"It suits her, aibou. I like it."

Silence settled over them, gently. Mithril was good company for thinking with, and they knew each other well enough that the need to discuss matters was almost eliminated. Ryou curled up again in his chair, while Bakura retrieved the dagger he had thrown at Mithril and turned it over and over in his hands, hypnotised by the shifting reflections in the blade.

"We are going, are we not? Ryou's soft voice lifted the silence. "If we don't, we will always wonder."

"I hate lost chances," Bakura answered darkly, as if half caught in a memory that hurt. His decision was obvious enough, though. After a few minutes, he scrawled a note on a piece of paper and handed it to Mithril. "Safe flight, lady. We'll meet you there."

Hours later, Albus looked up to a tapping on his tower window. The note that fell to the floor was even briefer and to-the-pointer than the letter had been. 'Fine. See you tomorrow.'

Today was Monday. Albus looked around for the owl he had used to send the letter, but couldn't see one. He shrugged, returning his attention to his paperwork.

Mithril settled down on the corner of his desk, fixing her scathing gaze on the Headmaster as she waited for her new friends to arrive.

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Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong it will go wrong, unless I really like you and make an exception. In which case, let the rest of the world run screaming, don't worry - you'll be fine.

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Review replies:

Miss Matched, Cyborgirl0016, Princess Krystal01: ARRRGH!!! NO! NO! NO! Those aren't their names, try waiting and reading the next few chapters before assuming I've made a mistake. I'm a Goddess - I don't do mistakes. Delighted you like the story.

Starlit Hope: Did I put this under Romance? I'm sure I'd have noticed. Yami/Hikari pairs if anything, but only if you have your mind in the gutter.

Lady Silver Dragon I: I like you, I do! In regards to the quote - if you've read the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett then you know who corrupted me, and I have a whole pantheon of Gods and Goddesses as muses, I wouldn't put interfering past them. As for the Yaoi aspect, my views on love are as follows:

Friendship = Love

Friendship + Sex = Love

Sex doesn't= Love

Love = Love, whether it is romantic or not, and neither is necessarily stronger than the other.

Oversimplified I know. I also reckon everyone in fan-worlds should be bi - it gives us so many more choices to play with.

Of course in fandoms if two people are friends someone will eventually pair them up, as if you can't be friends who would do literally anything for one another without being romantically involved. This annoys me. The Yami and Hikari pairs will love each other and their relationships will be important, but they are not necessarily romantically involved. I sincerely hope you keep reading this, and enjoy it! ;)

bloodyriver: glad you like. this is next one soon, but i might not keep it up. we'll see.

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Don't forget to review! Six really isn't good enough - I know you can do better.

Until next time friends, I remain

Your obedient servant

Eris, Goddess of Discord, Darklady of the Spire, and Patroness of Chaos.