Amari Koorime: Sorry I haven't had time to actually e-mail you..I'll get to it soon! Though it doesn't happen in this chapter, eventually along the way, probably during their Hogwarts Halloween holiday, I swear, Bakura and Marik WILL DO something absolutely horrendous to our evil hag!!
ShebytheDogDemoness: Haha! You are the first one to notice that! Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Draco were gone because they met Umbridge when they were about to enter the castle again; from there she decided to recruit the Inquisitorial Squad!
Peter Kim: There you go! A chapter of Duel Monster duelling! I actually don't think it's too shabby, myself, even though I don't usually like decribing the duels. That took me the longest time to write! That one paragraph or so took about...eh...two to three hours, because I had to find so many different references about thier cards and their decks!! Of course, I did jack some moves off the actual YGO Plotline... Hope it was good enough for you!
Ahh...yes, I've been gone for quite some time. Sowwy!!! Thank you so much too, my beta-readers!! And my fans!!
Please READ, REVIEW AND FAV!!
I love you all!! (smooches them)
Chapter Fourteen
Most of the Great Hall's inhabitants left with the most horrified expressions on their faces, but none as precarious as the one that Marik was wearing.
The tomb keeper was wearing the a look of pure disgust, his eyes narrowed menacingly and his fists clenched. Yugi edged away tentatively as the crowds of students began to climb up the stairs.
"Marik?" asked Ryou softly.
Marik snapped his head towards the white haired boy. "What?"
"You okay?"
"I'm fine," Marik responded vehementaly.
Hermione gently tugged the edge of Harry's robes.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Come....I have something to do about SPEW," whispered Hermione. Ron overheard and gave an exasperated groan.
"Hermione...how many times..?"
"Until they know better!" replied Hermione back, slightly irritated. She leaned over and called over Harry's shoulder, "Ryou! Could you come here for a minute?"
The white haired boy looked back, gave a reproachful look at his fair-haired friend before timidly walking towards Hermione.
"Yes?" he asked politely.
"Would you like to come with me to the kitchens?" asked Hermione eagerly. Ryou blinked bewilderedly. "No,.no, I'm quite full, thanks.."
"No, no," laughed Hermione. "There are house elves down there...I really want to have enough support if I really want to convince them...I'm sure they'd like you, Ryou! You're great at convincing people. If you're there, maybe you can..."
"I'm sure you can manage on your own," smiled Ryou as Ron gave a hacking cough. "Sorry Hermione, but right now I have some other matters to ...." There was a loud squeak as Yugi backed away from Marik's unfortunate glare. There was almost a visible instant flash of light under Yugi's robes as Yami began to frown at Marik's behavior back.
"…no…" groaned Ryou. "Sorry, Hermione…I have to go talk to Yugi and Marik…"
"They can come too!" said Hermione, clearly offhandedly, seeing as though anyone who had actually paid attention to the silent duel of intense rage that Marik and Yami were exchanging would know perfectly well that asking them to accompany yet another persistent liberal move would've resulted in world destruction. Harry seemed to notice this, but before he could do anything, Hermione called out from the top of the stairs.
"Yugi! Marik! Hold on, can you come with me for a second?"
Yami and Marik exchanged each other another resentful look before both of them
trudged up the stairs through the crowd of black.
"Yes?" asked Yami as he reached the top of the staircase. Marik barely acknowledged Hermione's call; his arms were crossed over his chest, his face frowning at particularly nothing.
"Come…I want you to come to the kitchens with me," said Hermione. She turned to Yami, as though seeking some sort of desperate support. "You're a believer in fairness and nobility, right, Yugi? Do you think that these house elves should be put through such imprisonment?"
Yami blinked. He didn't seem to have much of an answer for this, but it hardly sufficed, since Marik and Ron both replied at the exact same time:
"They. Like. It. Ditch it, Hermione."
Hermione gave an exasperated groan; she looked as though she'd properly like to whack Ron and Marik on the head, but Yami nodded.
"I suppose," he said. "Fine then. I will accompany you, Hermione."
"Thank you!" exclaimed Hermione, relieved. She sent Ron and Marik dark looks before pulling Harry by the sleeves towards the kitchen. They heard Ryou suppress a chuckle and a small sigh before he ran after them. As Harry attempted to release Hermione's grip, he whispered to Yami, "Do you actually believe it, Yugi?"
Yami shrugged.
"What harm could come out of it?" he said as he gently eased Hermione's fingers from Harry's robes as they skidded to a stop in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit.
"Oh! Oh! Let me do this," said Ron. "This is the only fun part when we come down here," he explained to Ryou, Marik and Yami as he began to tickle the pear. "Other than being waited hand and foot by the house elves, of course, but Hermione might get mad at you for it." The pear giggled and began to turn into a door knob. Ron wrenched it open, revealing a hole for them to climb through.
"I'm not expecting tips," he said at the bewildered Ryou, Yami and Marik. "So better get in, cause I'm not staying out here forever, mates."
Blinking, the three foreigners hastily scrambled in, except Marik, who gave Ron a cynical raised eyebrow before entering.
Yami's eyes widened in wonder inside. It was such a large kitchen, full of pots and pans, steam wafting from every corner. Half-naked house elves ran about, skidding into each other, cleaning, scrubbing, hastily tying up their only means of clothing; tea cozies, tea towels, some even large cloth napkins. It reminded Yami of something much like an ancient Egyptian steam house, except with much shorter and smaller occupants.
"HARRY POTTER, SIR!" squealed a high pitched voice. Yami turned towards the sound and saw an elf quite-laddened with a variety of poorly matched clothing throwing himself into Harry. The poor boy staggered back as the elf's twelve-hatted head collided into his middle.
"Dobby!" gasped Harry, quite literally having the wind knocked out of him. "Hi!" he said weakly. "Okay okay…could you ..er..let go, please? It's kinda hard to breathe.."
"Sorry Harry Potter sir!" squeaked Dobby, his large green eyes shining as he saluted. "Harry Potter has brought friends!" he cried excitedly, upon seeing Marik, Ryou and Yami. Marik gave the elf a "you're-insane-look" whereas Ryou bent down so that he and Dobby saw eye-to-eye.
"Hello," he said pleasantly.
"Hey Dobby," smiled Ron as he scrambled for something out of his pockets, which turned out to be a rather mixed bundle of horrible socks. He handed the bundle to the elf, who was so happy he was leaking tears. "Here."
"Sir is too kind!" squeaked the elf. "Sir, what is your name?" he asked Ryou.
"Ryou Bakura," smiled the Japanese white-haired boy. "You're Dobby?"
"Yes!" squealed Dobby. He turned to Marik.
"And you, sir?"
"Marik Ishtar," said Ryou quickly. Dobby gave Marik a beaming bow before turning to Yami.
"And you is Yugi Motou!"
"Yes," nodded Yami, smiling. He raised an eyebrow at Dobby's clothing. The elf had made himself a knobbly pair of mis-matched socks, and his tea-cosy was covered by a too-long sweater. He was wearing a tie that was much too big for him, hanging loosely from his neck. Yami saw Dobby's eyes linger at his leather straps and his dog collar in awe. He felt Yugi giggling from the back of his mind.
/Can we give him one, Yami?/
/Ah…/ Yami was rather attached to his leather, but Yugi's giggling glance persuaded him enough. He slowly slipped off one leather strap from this wrist and handed it to Dobby.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
Dobby's eyes widened. "Yes sir…" he said truthfully. "But Dobby cannot accept such a gift, sir! No he can't!"
"Yes he can," smiled Yami as he then took the strap and slid it around Dobby's arm. "I insist. You need a bit more style than that, Dobby."
Dobby's eyes were streaming with tears again. "Sir is too kind!!"
"Thank you," smiled Yami as he began to look around the kitchen. Harry and Ron had to stifle their laughter of the absurdity of the elf wearing the punkish wristband.
"Dobby," asked Hermione. "How's Winky?"
"Eh?" voiced Ryou.
"Another house-elf," explained Harry. "She used to work with Mr. Crouch from the Ministry of Magic." Ryou nodded to show that he understood, but Yami could tell from his blank chocolate eyes that he didn't understand at all.
Dobby's look suddenly rather dark, very unlike his normal cheery attitude. "Winky…Winky is all right."
"Oh?" asked Harry. "Can we see her?"
Dobby pointed disgruntledly at the fireplace, where Winky was dancing around, her blue skirt billowing happily as she pounced and bounced, a Butterbeer bottle clutched in her hand. At first glance she seemed rather tipsy, but Harry remembered what Butterbeer did to an elf; it didn't make them dance around all high, but rather actually make them suffer through serious hangovers. Winky actually seemed genuinely happy this time.
Hermione was slightly surprised at Winky's attitude. "Hello, Winky," she said kindly. "Why are you so happy today?"
"Winky had met a man, Miss Hermione," whispered Dobby darkly.
"What?" said Harry and Ron in unison.
"Who?" asked Ron.
"Oh," sighed Winky happily. "He is the most gorgeous elf ever, Mr. Weasley, sir. He is so tall, so strong, so manly! How he looks in his armor, and how he holds his sword, and how he told Winky to be quiet when she brought him fruits…"
"What?" asked Harry. "Winky…were did you meet this elf?"
"In the hospital wing, sir," she squealed. "He is not there anymore, Winky feels very sad, but Winky knows he is around sir! He was next to young Yugi Motou's bed…!"
Everyone rounded on Yami, who gave them what seemed to be a ridiculous look.
/Oh nuts…/ breathed Yugi. /And WE tried to stop Bakura and Marik from being too noticeable!/
/Oh my/ was all Yami could say, a bead of sweat trickling down his face. He laid his hand on his forehead. /I hope she doesn't remember…/
"Winky…er," Harry gave Ron a worried look. "You don't think…you don't think you've been drinking too much Butterbeer again?"
"No, sir!" insisted Winky, still dancing. "He did not tell me his name, but he says he was guarding the pharaoh, that he is on king's orders! Oh, the elf is of nobility! And how he mended my knee when I is falling, Mr. Harry Potter, sir! So kind, he is!!" She sank in her chair, sighing wistfully. Dobby frowned even more darkly, it was rapidly beginning to look like a pout.
/The pharaoh is getting caaarreless../Yami Bakura almost sang in his soul room.
Harry eyed Yami quizzically. Ron had a very bewildered look on his face, that clearly said "She's been drinking to much...get away...." Ron actually had bent down, picked Winky up and stared into her face, his own scrunched up.
"No way," he said, surprise in his voice as he laid her back down. "She's sober!"
"Ron!" Hermione scolded.
"I still think she's not," said Harry quietly. He turned to Hermione. "So...what were you going to do here, Hermione?"
Hermione quickly regained composure and raised her hands; though at the sight of her about-ready-to-proclaim-freedom-speech, the elves had quickly scarpered off. Ron blinked and began to chuckle. Hermione looked very disappointed.
"Come," said Ryou, his eyes trailing to the sides of the seemingly empty kitchen as he reached out towards Hermione. "Let's go...maybe you'll have better time next time, Hermione."
Hermione frowned. Ryou gave her a convincing smile before gesturing towards the door. Hermione sighed and began to leave, Ron's mouth dangling. He then began to look from Ryou to Hermione, from the flushed, exasperated boy and the brown-haired girl, his eyes looking indignant. Harry quickly pushed him after Hermione.
"Guys like Ryou get all the luck," he muttered. Harry chuckled; Ron quickly changed tatics at the speed of light.
"I can't believe she listened to him!! And we've been trying to convince her for years....!!"
"Yeah well," smiled Harry as he thrusted Ron out of the door. "Maybe she has something else in mind."
They soon found out what Hermione was acutally rather relieved about, for in an instant they stepped out, Hermione gave them a rather sly, yet triumphant look as the former DA members stood behind her.
"Harry!" called out Cho.
"Er...!" Harry blinked at the massive greeting; Hermione went to the front to join him. She held out her hands in the air and thrusted them towards the sky.
"What do you say, Harry?" she said. "DA back on?"
Harry's face split into a grin. "You got it, Hermione."
"Dumbledore's army! Dumbledore's army!" the group started chanting.
"When's the next meeting?!" called out Ernie from Hufflepuff. Hermione flicked him a coin. "Will do!" he called, getting the message.
"What's going on?" asked Marik, staring at the crowd.
"DA? Dumbledore's Army?" asked Ryou.
"We'll explain later," assured Hermione. "You'll get the idea after another one of Umbridge's classes."
"Let's go," smiled Harry. He addressed the crowd, grinning. "This time, Umbridge won't know what's hit her."
The motivation flourished as soon as DADA classes started the next day; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ryou, Yugi and Marik all trudged into the classroom looking extremely dark and annoyed. Harry overheard Ron whine to Hermione under his breath, "Please, may we poison her?" as they sat down at the back. Marik overheard and was staring at Ron as though poison was the least he'd do if he was going to go on a homicide against the toad.
Marik had been in quite the grumpy mood since Lupin left; the young Egyptian boy was now quite obviously showing his rebellion; he lounged back in his seat, crossing his ankles on the table, and leaning back, his arms tucked behind his head, clearly in a relaxing fashion. Harry caught a glimpse of a pair of beige pants and a pair of pointed black boots as the Eygptian tapped his ankle accordingly on his desk. Yugi and Ryou gave each other nervous looks as they glanced in Marik's way.
The professor entered the classroom, her mousy hair in disgusting crimps, her flabby face wobbling slightly. Harry was quite pleased to see a hint of nervous-ness in the toad's bugling eyes; Ron seemed to have noticed this as well and softly began making clip-clop noises. Professor Umbridge gave a jump and the class snickered cruelly. Seething, the professor forced herself to reveal that disgusting simpering smile.
"Good morning class."
"Good morning, Professor Umbridge," chanted the class back, though with a hint of sneering coldness.
"You all know the routine," she smiled simperingly. "Now I'm not here permenantly..."( the class made an obvious sigh of relief)..."but my because of my predecessor's condition..."(she said this part wrinkling her noise with an obvious disapproval; the class began to cheer; several students at the back were chanting: "Lupin! Lupin! Lupin!" and "Gryffindor Wolf! Gryffindor Wolf!" until Umbridge began to haphazardly whip her stubby wand around)..."I will be in charge of the class for the time being. I understand you all have textbooks to study from, am I right?"
"Please, Professor," said Hermione coolly as she raised her hand. "We're supposed to be learning about Dementors now..."
"Talk only when being address to, Ms. Granger," said Umbridge immediately. "Now," she continued, smiling even more broadly. "Turn your textbook pages to page five hundred and three...and begin reading the chapter about the Origins of Dementors. I expect you to do the review questions at the end of the chapter and write an essay about the Origins of Dementors and how they would affect us, to be due on Monday. "
"Professor," piped up Ryou tentatively as he raised his hand. "I'm sorry to interrupt but we are new students here...."
Umbridge gave Ryou a cynical look. "And your name is...?"
"Ryou Bakura," he said promptly but softly. "Yugi and Marik and I are new students and we are due to finish Boggarts..."
Umbridge raised her eyebrow even higher, clearly not believing Ryou. "I'm sorry, Mr Bakura, but you are part of the class and you, like the rest of the class, will not have exceptions concerning the cirriculmn. Please turn your textbook to that page, please."
"But Professor!" protested Yugi suddenly, raising his hand. "We're not ready--"
"And you are?" asked Umbridge, eyes bluging, smile widening that it looked much artifical.
"Yugi Motou," replied Yugi. "Please, Professor, we're not ready to..."
"Then perhaps I'll suggest the Headmaster to put you in a lower grade," suggested Umbridge sweetly, "if you think you're not up to it."
"We're perfectly up to it," said Marik softly. "Don't underestimate us, Professor. Judging the circumstances, we might even be able to teach you---OW! Ryou hastily had kicked Marik underneath the table.
"We will do our work, Professor," said Ryou quietly as he began to open his textbook. Marik and Yugi gave him incredulous looks, but judging by the sad, forfeiting expression on Ryou's face, they decided against it. Sighing, Yugi opened his textbook. They were almost done Boggarts...!
Yugi found himself not concentrating on his page at all. He was beginning to dream wistfully about the first time they had encountered a Boggart. Professor Lupin was quite pleased with their work; soon after he had left, Yami took over to try. Yugi couldn't quite remember what Yami was afraid of, given the fact that the Boggart interference had resulted total blockage of soul rooms, or otherwise the Boggart would've detected their other souls. Ryou was very good with concerning his fear; his fear was to have his friends in miniature idols, splintering into nothingness. Yugi had suspected that Ryou's worst fear would've been Bakura, but it wasn't so, since the Boggart did not materialize as the tomb robber. Yugi had smiled when he saw that. Maybe Bakura and Ryou were getting along after all.
Marik had a fun time with his fear; he kept on jabbing Yami Marik in the face with the Rod, making faces from jeering to triumphant.
But Yami Bakura never came out at all....
Ryou poked Yugi from his remenscient day dream; Yugi hastily returned to reading the book.
Ryou couldn't help but feel very tired after reading the first few paragraphs. The class was in total stupor of silence, one that was definately beckoning sleep. He stared at his book, his eyes not leaving the same exact spot, since he was so distracted anyways.
/Hello,/ said a voice in his head.
Jumping, Ryou quickly regained composure.
/...Yami?/
/No.../ snapped Bakura back. /What is it, ahou?/
/There's a voice in my head.../
/Hmn, you think so?/ sneered Bakura back sarcastically.
/No no, not yours,/ murmured Ryou offhandedly. /Someone else.../
/Chill, Ryou/, laughed the voice, and this time it was accompanied by a familiar bark-like laugh.
/Sirius!/
/So you've finally figured it out. Too bad you can't see me, but that's okay, unless your ears are so rendered that they can't recognize my voice. Then I'd get worried, because then you might mistaken me for yet another soul eager for your body, or maybe then you'd label yourself a true schrizophrenic.
...and we don't want that/, added Sirius hastily, as though he was worried that Ryou thought he was really serious.
Ryou jostled from his glazed surprise and chuckled. /Nah,/ he assured Sirius. /But how is this possible? I thought that you could only talk to me in my subconciousness.../ he hastily looked around. /wait a minute..did my yami take over without me knowing? I was sleeping in class..../
/Whoa, no no, ahou/ said Bakura's voice suddenly. /I would like too, but a certain pharaoh and a certain hikari thought that it would've been haphazardous to have an sadistic necrophilic tomb robber in the presence of these innocent mortals.../
/Hey hey hey,/ cut in Sirius's voice suddenly. /It's not JUST a certain hikari and a certain....who do you mean, "pharaoh"?/
/None of your business,/ stated Bakura back. /And you are not to tell him, Ryou./ he added venemously to Ryou, who winced slightly.
/Why not?/ he ventured timidly.
/Do you dare question my orders?/ whispered Bakura harshly.
/Whoa, Mellinium Morbid/, interrupted Sirius hastily, though there was a tint of amusement in his voice. Ryou vaguely aware that his friend's voice seemed to be slightly strained; it was almost as though he was actually struggling slightly to hold Bakura back./That's not nice. That's why we don't let you out in the world./
/You don't order me what to do, Black!/ yelled Bakura so loudly that Ryou had to grab his head to keep it from exploding. Sirius seemed to get the gist that the hikari couldn't handle two bickering darker adults, since Ryou heard a distinct thump as the Prisoner of Azkban seemed to have crammed Bakura against the soul room wall.
/Sorry, Ryou,/ he apologized, grinning. /I know we shouldn't ---/
/GET OFF ME!!/ came Bakura's voice angrily. There was a sudden WHOA and then a crash. Ryou could hear the tomb raider's heavy breathing as he began to appear next to Ryou in spiritual from. The hikari jumped in surprise when he saw his darker half sitting on his left, his narrowed brown eyes glaring almost accusingly at him. Ryou quickly looked around to make sure no one could see his yami.
/The man is impossible to stand!/ he growled.
Ryou gave his yami a sheepish smile, which the tomb robber only returned with an angry cold glare of his own.
/Sorry about that, Ryou/, said Sirius's voice.
/Could you guys..not bicker so much?/ asked Ryou tentatively. /It's really annoying, no offense, when I'm trying to study.../
/I don't really care,/ snorted Bakura. /The class is not even a class anymore with that toad woman.../
/I'll try/, promised Sirius firmly, though Ryou could tell he was slightly reluctant. He seemed to rather enjoy egging Bakura on; whereas Bakura existed to be Ryou's yami, exsisted to be Marik's partner, exsisted to be Yami Yugi's oppenent and the most vicious theif the world has ever seen, he seemed to be nothing more than something to amuse Sirius with. The former prisoner seemed to find it so fun to egg the tomb raider on and on and on, since he was so easily agitated.
Secretly, Ryou thought that Bakura felt the same way towards Sirius.
/Now, back to your question...said Sirius. /I believe that it is because that since the link between us is much more stronger, we can communicate without means of you being subconcious. I think it's stronger because you attempted it as well as I...the double the effort used probably resulted in a stronger link. Much more convient, is it not?/
/Depends/ admitted Ryou truthfully. He suddenly caught what he had said and clapped his hand over his mouth, followed (on cue) by Bakura's tutting of carelessness. /Sorry, that wasn't what I mean, Sirius.../
Sirius's laugh echoed through Ryou's mind. / I know. I know. I promise I won't bicker with your darker side when you can hear me. It'd be too much of a waste to use so much effort in magic anyway, with a white haired slimeball like him anyways./
/I assure you, Black/ said Bakura suddenly from Ryou's side, pointedly taking out a card and showing it to Ryou,/ that soon if you don't keep shut, you won't have any head at all, much less hair to clean slime off of./ He waved the card pointedly at Ryou, which showed a headless anatomy.
/He can't see/ pointed out Ryou innocently at the card. Bakura scowled at his lack of effects as he slipped the card away.
/What are you doing now?/ asked Sirius.
/Defence Against the Dark Arts/ replied Ryou.
/Wonderful!/ exclaimed Sirius, almost eagerly. /With who?/
/Was Lupin..../
There was an awkward silence between them. Sirius seemed to have slumped slightly with thought.
/You know him, don't you?/ asked Ryou.
After another awkward pause, there was a reply.
/Yes. He was my friend at Hogwarts. /
/Strange./ said Ryou. /He never mentioned you.../
/That could possibly be the fact that I am a nation-wide known mass murderer/, replied Sirius, almost snappishly. /I would highly doubt that he'd like to admit to the world that he knows me personally./
Ryou flushed. /Oh right.../
Bakura gave a loud exasperated sigh next to him.
/Only those very close to me know that I am innocent/, continued Sirius. /Even then, they would never admit to the public that they know me, regardless of my guilty or innocent status. It's far too dangerous./
/I'm sorry/ apologized Ryou, still flushing, his cheeks hot.
/It's nothing,/ said Sirius. /Just don't tell him yet that I'm alive. For one, it might draw attention to you if anyone overhears; they might think you're in league with the Dark Side and might harm you. Also...I don't want him coming after me. He has enough to worry about, with Voldemort alive, and having yet another world-dominating insane psychopath right in his own classroom./
/Heeyy.../ started Bakura viciously. Ryou hastily cut him off.
/Sirius,/ he said, remembering something. /There was something I was meaning to tell you..../
/What?/
/The Ministry says that in one of their rooms, they have an archway...it appears to be enveloped with dark, looming clouds./
/Dark, looming clouds?/ said Sirius thoughtfully./That's odd...I'm not quite sure about that. Voldemort had never seemed to possess any by that description. Which room is it in?/
I'm not sure.../ said Ryou, straining to remember.
Sirius was rather quiet for a moment.
/You said the room had an archway in it,/ he said. /That's where I was before...before I came to the Shadow Realm. I was in a room duelling against Voldemort's supporters and there was an archway there. This is very vague though, Ryou. I can't trust it that it was that room with the dark, looming clouds. I'm sure there are many other rooms in the Ministry of Magic with an archway there./
What are you saying though?/ asked Ryou.
/Baka,/ snapped Bakura. /You've been to the Shadow Realm and you STILL don't know it's characteristics? How it looks like?/
Ryou blinked but then comprehension drew upon his face.
/OOoohhhh.../
Bakura snorted.
/Do you really think so, Sirius?/ inquired Ryou. /Do you really think that the Shadows are growing from the archway? That whatever these things are....that are in the Ministry...that they are the Shadows you're in?/
/Perhaps,/ admitted Sirius./ but I can't trust it. There are so many different rooms in the Ministry of Magic that could possibly have an archway in it. I could've easily been in another room. All the same, it seems too coincidental, doesn't it?/
/There is no possible way for that to happen/ cut in Bakura. /The Shadows are entirely a different realm that can only be accessed through means of those who own Millennium Items. YOU, Black, don't own a Millennium Item, and neither does the stupid Ministry. There are only seven in total, and those we know about we either have, or they are in someplace we know is safe. Other than the means of the Millennium Items, one cannot enter the Shadows, even if they loose a duel./
/But I suppose that's why I'm wandering, right?/ said Sirius. /I see people passing by, some that are silouhettes, and others who are muttering themselves mad in triangular hourglasses. It almost seems like ...Azkaban.../ Sirius trailed off.
/It's supposedly worse than Azkaban,/ said Bakura almost happily. /But I suppose since you weren't banished by means of an Item, then you probably wouldn't feel what those were in the hourglasses...those in there suffer more than just wandering the Shadows, Black. Those were specially sent by the Millennium Items./
/How does that work?/ asked Ryou. /I'm confused./
/If you lose a Shadow duel,/ explained Bakura, looking as though he had nothing else to do, /then you wander the Shadows forever. However, if someone per se, used an Item to banish you, whether or not you lose the duel, then you are automatically far worse off./
/Example?/
/Hmmn, let's see,...Yami Marik?/ suggested Bakura, feigning mock thought. /And er...us?/
/Marik?/
/Yami Marik banished Mai with the Rod and she ended up in the hourglass. The Hourglass is actually a symbol of one's own confinedment with their illusions; they see their worse fear and they are blocked in by it, and then they grow almost claustrophobic of it. If they stay there too long, their minds will not go insane, but then the Shadows would've reduced their souls to nothing more... they will then slowly disappear, becoming part of the Shadows themselves./
/Certainly sounds like the Dementors,/ said Sirius darkly.
/Maybe/ shrugged Bakura. /I have not actually seen a Dementor at all yet...I daresay it would be highly amusing to do so though.../
Ryou had the distinct impression that Sirius suddenly wanted nothing more than to stuff Bakura's head into the soul room wall.
/But with us, hikari.../ continued Bakura. /When Yami Marik beat us...well, me,/ he smirked ruefully, / he didn't banish us with the Rod. Because we lost the duel, but he didn't dispose of me with the Rod, I was able to wander the Shadows with you./
Bakura leaned back in the chair, smirking widely low.
/Of course, it wouldn't have made much of a difference.../ he said, his lips twitching. /I've always been part of the Shadows themselves.../
Ryou then had another distinct impression that Sirius would've gladly wanted to drag Bakura back into his soul room to give him a good proper whack on the head.
/But then..is it possible to have a gateway to the Shadows?/ asked Ryou.
/No/ said Bakura shortly. /It's an entirely different realm that can only be accessed by means of either an Item or a Shadow Duel...and even then, the person who proclaims the Shadow Duel has to possess Shadow Magic.
...and that, concerns an Item. Unless you are like me, who can always pop up anywhere at anytime, and use Shadow Magic without an Item because I've been so used to the magic for so long./
/So it's not possible../ sighed Ryou sadly.
/It's alright, Ryou,/ smiled Sirius. /I'm sure there are other ways to get me out. We just have to wait. I'm just glad I'm not going mad in one of those ..Hourglass....things...
....on a lighter note, you said that your DA teacher WAS Lupin. Who's there now?/
/Whoever said THAT was a lighter note?/ laughed Bakura.
/Umbridge,/ sighed Ryou.
There was a silence where Sirius seemed to be struck dumb.
/WHAT?/
Bakura threw his head in laughter.
/Yes, Black. It's Umbridge. Do you know her?/
/The woman was there ...before...!/ said Sirius./The woman can't teach Defence Against the Dark Arts if her life depended on it! You're never going to learn anything in that class, Ryou. What's happened with Lupin?/
/Gone/ said Ryou. /Don't know where, but he's gone. Maybe ...well, it IS the full moon tonight.../
Sirius made a highly uncanny low canine growl.
/Are you learning anything at all?/ asked Sirius.
/No/ admitted Ryou. /She doesn't do anything..../
Ryou and Sirius then began yet another conversation together; in fact, it was so intense that the hikari had not noticed that soon, he was staring into the face of Sirius Black.
/What happened?/ he said, suddenly realizing that he was not in the classroom any longer. Sirius blinked and looked around; Ryou discovered the contents of his soul room around him...
/Oh NO!/ he moaned. /Bakura!/
/Bakura took over?!/ exclaimed Sirius.
Ryou hastily called out; his yami did not reply other than his sneering snickers.
/Oh hikari...don't trouble yourself./
/Yamiiii!/ moaned Ryou. /Class time is MY time! I need to study!/
/You don't need to study in this dead end class/ noted Bakura coldly. /Anyways...I haven't been getting out much...cut me a slack, hikari. Let me have some chance to bring some enlightenment here./
/No!/
But the communication was blocked off conviently; Ryou was left alone next to Sirius in his soul room.
He sighed in his soul room.
"What's he doing?" Sirius asked, frowning at the ceiling of the soul room.
"I don't know..." sighed Ryou. The question was soon answered by the echo of Yami Bakura's voice.
"I play Necrophia in attack mode!!"
"He's duelling!" exclaimed Ryou. "But with who?"
"Should we really worry?" inquired Sirius innocently.
Ryou sighed exasperatedly.
"Predictable," snorted Marik under his breath, smirking at the card that was recently played. He stared at the field; miniature monsters from their contents had appeared, subtle and small, to avoid the knowledge of students, (and teachers) but to also satisfy the morbid fascination of the two duelists.
"Only because you lived in my body for about an hour or so," whispered Bakura back, smirking all the same.
Marik snorted. "Ha..."
"Make your move," taunted Bakura softly, after placing a card face down.
Marik instantly withdrew a card from his hand and slapped it dramatically on the desk. He then flipped up one of his face down cards.
"Metal Reflect Slime," he smiled as Yami Bakura frowned. "Now it will take an image of your own beloved Necrophia, Bakura..." Marik snickered. "And it's not over, tomb raider. Watch." He pointed to the card he had just slapped onto the desk: Swallow Tail Spiked Lizard. (1900/700). "Now it will give me one thousand life points everytime my turn begins." He then slipped two cards face down upon the desk."I shall also place two cards face down. End turn. You will never defeat me, Bakura, especially with SwallowTail Spiked Lizard on the field."
"Then I will destroy it," snarled the thief, though his lips were twitching evilly. He drew a card, and frowned.
"Aw, did the wittle tomb robber drew a bwad card?" cooed Marik.
Yami Bakura shrugged. "No. I'm actually rather disappointed. I was hoping the duel would go on longer; I like watching you squirm, Marik. Ah well, you can't have everything in life...you're finished!"
He slapped a card on his desk.
"Headless Knight!"
Bakura's lips began to smile sinisterly."Being the idiot that I'm not, I will not attack your Metal Reflect Slime...there's no point...but, I will attack your Swallow Tail Spiked Lizard witih Necrophia!" He pointed dramatically at Marik, who was staring back, unfrazed. "Then I will attack your life points directly with Headless Knight! GO, Necrophia!"
The dark, disturbing monster threw itself against the lizard, but---
"Activiate face down card, Mirror Force!" interrupted Marik, smirking. The card flipped itself up and extracted a mirror from its drawing; the attack collided right into the mirror---
"Activate MY trap card, REMOVE TRAP!" declared Bakura. His own card flipped itself up; the mirror soon disappeared, leaving an wide open opportunity for the Necrophia to attack the Lizard.
"What a waste," laughed Marik. "You forgot my other face down RECKLESSLY!" The said card revealed itself. "Now your Necrophia will have half its attack points cut, making it weaker than my own monster, causing damage to YOUR life points! I told you you could not beat me, thief." Bakura watched in anger as his monster's attack points became 1100 instead of the original 2200; the Lizard reacted immediately and sliced it neatly in half.
Bakura: 3200
Marik: 4000
"I place one more card face down," said Bakura, clearly unfrazed, "and end my turn. Let's see how well you truly know me, Namu-sama."
Marik frowned darkly at Bakura's mention of his Battle City alias, but shrugged and headed on.
"Nice moves, Tomb Keeper," praised a voice dryly from behind Marik. The Egyptian snapped around and saw Yami, looking quite innocently, at the field over his shoulder, as though more interested in the game than at the two opponents. "I suspect I know what Bakura's doing...he seems unafraid that his Necrophia is in the graveyard, and that can mean only one thing..."
"Go back studying, Pharaoh," snapped Bakura. "Doesn't his Majesty needs to regain his knowledge, to make up for his lost memories?"
Yami bristled. "You two shouldn't be duelling.."
Bakura began to laugh, though not loud enough to be heard by the nearby students, who looked clearly asleep. "Duelling? My Pharaoh, this class was meant to learn how to prevent such horrors as duelling. We're simply giving them first hand experience to be exposed to such a presence! We're aiding the flow of education!"
Yami opened his mouth to say something when Marik cut in.
"I gain one thousand more life points, Bakura," he declared omnipotently.
"Shut up," snapped Bakura back. "You won't be having any life points to brag about soon enough once I'm through with you."
Bakura: 3200
Marik:
Harry yawned. He was utterly bored. Thoughts kept drifitng across his mind, particularly ones such as "this is stupid" and "idiot women". Distracted, he turned his head around, mouth open to ask Ryou a question from the text.
His mouth fell open at the sight in front of him.
There were miniature monsters on Ryou's table!
Harry shook his head, convinced that his eyes must've been playing tricks. But when he looked again, the monsters were still there; sick, disturbing ones on Bakura's side, and violent, deadly ones on Marik's side. He hastily looked around. No one else had seen the monsters.
"Ron," he whispered, tugging at his friend.
"What?" groand Ron back, clearly just awakening from a nap.
"Tell me...tell me if you can see anything..."
Ron turned around to where Marik and Bakura were, playing their cards so intently that they hadn't noticed that Ron was gaping openly.
"Sweet. They're playing Duel Monsters! Why hadn't I thought of that?"
"Yeah..but does that mean you can see them too?" asked Harry.
"What? See what?" Ron squinted. "I can only see their cards...yeah, I can see their cards."
"But what about the monsters on them?" prodded Harry further.
"What monsters?" asked Ron, bewildered. "I don't see any monsters...are you sure you're alright, Harry?"
Harry blinked at them again; the monsters were still there....one of them had just been slashed (it was a monster from Bakura's side, thank heavens) and shattered into nothingness.
"Yeah...yeah I'm fine.."
Ron gave him a funny look. "You seem to see a lot of things others can't, mate. Is it like...another Threstral thing?"
Harry frowned. "I don't know..."
He suddenly caught sight of Yugi, who was leaning over his seat to watch the duel, craning his neck over Marik's shoulder. He wasn't just staring at the cards...he had pointed to the disappearing moster, though Bakura nor Marik seemed to have noticed. Marik pointed to a card of his; a monster appeared, and he prodded at it pointingly at Bakura. Bakura raised an eyebrow at the monster.
So maybe he wasn't the only one who could see them...
"Now I play Bowganean," said Marik, pointing to the said card. "Now it will deduct 300 life points from you ever turn. Now I will attack with you with my Swallow Tail Spiked Lizard...at your Headless Knight!"
"Hold on," smiled Bakura. "Because my Necrophia is now in my graveyard, Dark Sanctuary is now in play. And because it is in play, any attacking monsters will have half of its Attack Points deducted from YOUR life points, and ADDED to mine."
Marik watched in horror as his life points went down. Yami made a derisive, I-knew-it sound in his throat before being sent a glare from the tomb keeper.
"I end my turn," said Marik gruffly. "At least I'll get another one thousand life points after this.."
"Wrong," smiled Bakura. He threw down a card. "CHANGE OF HEART!"
The demon-angel hybrid began to appear on the field.
"My own hikari's favourite," explained Bakura dryly. "Interesting how this works, does it not? Now, I will use her to possess your Lizard, Marik. Now he belongs to me."
The Lizard disappeared from Marik's side of the field to Bakura's.
"And now..." Bakura waved his hand omnisciently. "...one thousand life points come to me, since it's my turn." His life points were now raised to 4200. "And of course, since Change of Heart is only available for one turn, I'm going to use it to my advantage. I shall attack Bowganean with my Headless Knight and scarifice your Lizard for my Dark Sanctuary. I also play Raise Dead, to bring back Necrophia!" The said monster appeared back on the field, its elf ears twitching.
"What the hell did you do that for?" exclaimed Marik, bewildered. "Then Dark Sanctuary isn't going to be in play any more!"
"That is, until I do this," smiled Bakura in return. "Attack his Metal Reflect Slime, my Necrophia! Attack his Bowganean, Headless Knight!"
Necrophia attacked its replica; both of them shattered.
"Since his attack points and your copy's attack points were the same, both of them are sent to the Graveyard, which means that my Dark Sacntuary comes back in play. And your Bowganean's demise will affect your life points, with no Lizard to replenish them!
"Also..."
Bakura smirked.
"My turn is not done. I haven't normal summoned a monster yet...and now, your are quite defenceless, Marik sama. Your Lizard sacrificed by me, your Bowganean destroyed, and your Metal Reflect Slime gone in my Necrophia's suicide attack. You are wide open."
Yami leaned over in interest, whearas Marik frowned at the field, almost accusingly.
"I now play Portrait's Secret, in attack mode. Go, attack!"
Marik growled as his life points went way down.
Bakura: 4200
Marik: 3800
"The tables have turned, Marik," smiled Yami. "Don't get in over your head."
"The tables are going to turn," said a sudden, sweet voice. "What, may I ask, are you three doing?"
"Nothing of your concern," snapped Bakura back, staring at the field intently."Now shut up, old toad..."
The class was deathly silent.
Yami hastily turned around and was faced to face with the Professor. She was so short, in fact, that Yami was actually slightly taller than she was, minus his foot-length hair. He almost recoiled from seeing the sudden, bulging eyes.
"You are supposed to be studying," she said softly. "What are you doing?"
"We apologize," said Yami, trying to distract her attention from the cards as Bakura and Marik quickly shuffled them away. "We are...easily distracted. Isn't Defence Against the Dark Arts more than just reading text?"
Harry perked his head up; he gaped at Yami, who was standing in front of Umbridge, looking quite expressionless.
"Are you a Ministry official?" asked Umbridge sweetly.
/No, but he's the pharaoh of Egypt/ ventured Yugi in Yami's mind timidly, as though trying to make the situation sightly funnier.
/Enough, aibou/ said Yami back. /I'll deal with this. It's my fault that I took control and was distracted by the Keeper and Theif's duel./
/I would've been too/ argued Yugi, smiling. /It's in our nature!/
Yami smiled and sufficiently returned to Umbridge.
"We're sorry," he apologized again. "I assure you, it won't happen again."
Umbridge's smile widened. "Oh, Mr. Motou. Don't think that you can get off that easily."
Yami blinked. "Oh? Then do tell me the consequences of having a little fun."
"A 'little fun' will get yourself a detention in my class," said Umbridge, grinning. "You should be studying, not playing solitaire, while in class. I shall expect you to be in my office tonight at eight." She turned to Bakura and Marik, who were frowning darkly and had both their feet perched up rebelliously on their table tops. "And you two as well. My, I've never had such a cheeky group."
Bakura, having lived with Ryou so long, frowned. "'Cheeky', my dear lady, is hardly the correct assumption for us--" Yami sufficiently whacked Bakura on the head to keep him from telling more. Marik glowered at the Professor, looking as though he'd gladly rather say what he was bursting to say than to sit in class doing nothing.
"Hold on," said Harry, standing up. "That's not fair, Professor! They're only playing a little bit...!"
"Mr. Potter, I don't believe I have asked you to make yourself known," said Umbridge coldly. "Unless you want a detention yourself, I suggest that you stay where you are and keep your mouth shut."
"Why did you give us these textbooks again?!" yelled Harry suddenly at her as she turned her back. "Has Fudge finally admitted that Voldemort is alive? He has! Then why are we still here, learning these?"
Umbridge's lips were pressed tightly together, becoming a sickly white. She suddenly flashed Harry a grin that was startlingly scary before continuing sweetly.
"10 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."
The class frowned, sending evil eyes more at Umbridge than at Harry. A few of them were making very rude signs behind their backs.
"That is not fair," said Yami suddenly, stepping between them. "Gryffindor should not suffer entirely for a mistake that we have committed, and nor should Harry. Because it is we that committed the crime, only we should take the consequences."
Harry blinked at 'Yugi's' confidence. He was staring calmly at Umbridge with such a relaxed composure you'd think he was merely lecturing a five year old.
"Oh, but in Hogwarts, Mr. Motou, things work as a team," said Umbridge cuttingly. "Mr. Potter has once again, believed himself far too highly to be among the social status of his classmates that he was individually rude. Therefore, the entire Gryffindor should suffer because of him; that should probably teach him to keep his little dirty mouth shut."
"You will not insult Harry," murmured Yami darkly. Harry saw a flash of crimson in his eyes, unusually bright with slight anger. "As I said, it shall be Bakura, Marik and I who should suffer."
"Who said anything about us, Pharaoh?" called out Marik. Umbridge swung around to the Keeper, who still had his feet perched on the desk. He had unbuttoned his robes, baring his lavender shirt underneath. "The only person who should suffer is HER, Pharaoh." He looked straight into Umbridge's eyes, his lavender ones against her bulging, murky ones. "What have you done with Lupin?!"
The class started murmuring in agreement, still sending Umbridge dark looks.
"What have you done with Lupin?" demanded Harry. "What's wrong with him?!"
"I did not do anything," replied Umbridge, though she looked as though she was disappointed that she hadn't. "That werewolf is probably running around barabaric, biting humans, drinking blood...disgusting, filthy creature...MR. ISHTAR!"
Marik had gotten up instantly at the insults. He approached Umbridge menacingly; Yami sent Bakura a look and the thief (grudgingly) attempted to hold Marik back, but the Keeper simply threw Bakura off him.
"You will NOT say such things about Professor Lupin," he whispered deadly.
The class was definately agreeing with Marik now. Many had stood up and began chanting.
"We want Remus! We want Remus! We want Remus!"
"Tell us what you've done with him!" yelled Harry. Hermione, looking angrily at Umbridge but nervously at Harry, tugged at his sleeves.
"What?" he hissed, casting a look at the toad, who was distracted by Marik.
"Don't anger her!" warned Hermione. "It won't do much good, Harry!"
Ron even looked agreeable. He nodded at Harry, looking slightly worried.
"There's no point in getting worked up, mate," he said. "She's only going to give you worse trouble..."
"Fifty points from Gryffindor!" rang out Umbridge's voice suddenly. That was enough to instantly cease the chants. She glared at Marik with a sickening sweet fake smile.
"Detention, Mr. Ishtar," she had softly.
"What?!" Bakura yelled. "What the hell?!"
"Control yourself, Mr Bakura!" said Umbridge. "Or you will get detention as well!'
Bakura gave Umbridge a dead-end "duh" look and thrusted his index and middle finger above his temple, a European equivalent to the middle finger.
Expectably, Bakura ended up having detention too.
Marik was not done. He began approaching Umbridge slowly; Yami quickly grabbed the back of his robes to stop him from continuing. Umbridge clearly got the gist that the Keeper was dangerous, for immediately, she snapped her fingers.
Five Slytherins appeared through the door, marching as though her gaurds. Malfoy was in front, Pansy next to him, Crabbe and Goyle behind them. They strutted down the aisle of the class and snickered at Marik.
"I think," she said, no smile now, "that you three need to be in quarantine for the time being. If you are not able to properly behave in my class you will not be in it at all."
Bakura gave a mock, silent cheer. The class snickered.
"These...." she gestured to the Slytherins. "Are my Inquisitorial Squad. Because of certain...mishaps...last year, they are under my orders and will obey no other, am I right, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Always loyal, Professor," he said, smirking as he raised his hand in salute. "Shall we escort him to the Gryffindor dormitory?"
"We can get there ourselves," snapped Bakura. "We may seem crazy to you, but we are not unbalanced! We are perfectly capable of getting to a stupid room ourselves!"
And with that, he grabbed Marik's sleeve and dragged him out of the room. Yami gave Umbridge such a cold look that Harry shuddered slightly. He felt as though he was in the presence of an omnipotent spirit, like a king, or an emperor, and should've simply watched respectfully rather than interrupt.
"I shall leave," said Yami to Umbridge, his voice icy. "Although for your well-being, Professor, I suggest that you do not anger my friends in the future. We wouldn't want you hurt."
The class didn't know whether to laugh at this or to gape at this.
"Is that a threat, Mr. Motou?" asked Umbridge sweetly. "Remind yourself that I am a Ministry Official."
"Of course it's not a threat!" admonished Yami as he gathered his things and began striding down the aisle, his robes billowing dramatically. "It's merely a fact that should be taken into consideration. Have a good day, Professor." Yami turned around at the door, gave Harry, Ron and Hermione a wave, and left.
/Remind yourself, Professor,/ he thought. /That I am a Pharaoh of Egypt./
Yugi's bubbling laughter at that last statement was the only enlightening thing that happened to Yami that day, and the pharaoh was quite glad for it.
When Yami left, Harry sank into his chair, piling his books in front of him so that he didn't have to look at Umbridge at all.
"Whoa...tough luck," said Ron in awe as he stared at the open class room door. The Slytherins began to leave, some of them in persuit of Bakura and Marik under Umbridge's orders.
Harry did not say much back...there was a lot on his mind now. And being in Umbridge's class merely fuelled his anger so that when he finally left, his face was almost red from the amount of surpressed rage. He blamed Umbridge slightly for the death of Sirius...if it hadn't been her stupid ignorance when they first wanted to talk to Kreacher, maybe things wouldn't have turned so sour...
A sick, cold feeling swept through his insides, and overcome of guilt overcame him like a pounding wave. No...it was no use blaming that old hag...it was his fault that Sirius died...
The only thing that made him amused throughout the class, however, was Ron and his untraceable clip- clopping noises (soon accompanied by many in the class) Evidently, the memory of the centaurs had not been erased from Umbridge's mind.
In fact, the last time Ron made a clip clopping noise, the woman had been so shocked she released a rather high, but toad-like croak and collapsed into her jug of water. Hair dripping, face sopping wet, the class swept by her, switiching from clip-clopping noises to more accurate toad-croaking noises.
"What are you looking so happy about?" asked Hermione as they left, since Ron's face was beaming. Umbridge had taken out her lunch during class in boredom from her desk drawer. Seeing her flabby face gouge down food only motivated Harry more to read the book than to watch her eat.
"So I guess the Toady really is a frog," said Ron non chalantly. "Fred and George suggested I do it."
"Do what?" asked Harry.
Ron gave him a sly smile.
"They're not real ones...Fred and George sent me the ones that they made...the look like novelty flies, but when you eat them, they start to wiggle and fly in your stomach."
"What?"
Ron gave them another sly smile.
"Guess she'll never know who put those Flinging Flies in her lunch."
Pleasurably disgusted, the three of them headed towards the common room.
Marik sat outside the common room, outside the portrait, staring at the stairway. Malfoy was next to him, trying to pry some things out of him.
"Tell me, Ishtar," he said. "What happened that night when we duelled?"
"You tell me, Malfoy," replied Marik, clearly bored as he looked around for Bakura, who had gone off to the Owlery.
Malfoy stepped closer, leaning his pale pointed face closer to Marik's own tanned one.
"What did you do?" he breathed. "After I got back inside, I couldn't even remember our duel. Why? What did you do?"
"Don't blame me for your poor memory," snapped Marik irratibly. "I already have enough people forgetting things on me without you becoming another one."
Malfoy seethed and drew back.
"I'm going in," Marik said, soothing the portrait of the Fat Lady. "I don't really care if you're part of Umbridge's Squad, Malfoy. I don't care if she gave you more powers during that night when you ran away from our duel."
"I ran away?" repeated Malfoy incredulously. "Excuse me? It was you who ran away like a simple coward!" Marik clenched his fists and began to approach Malfoy, fuming.
"It's you who's the true recreant," called out a voice from the portrait hole. The portait swung open and Yami's face revealed itself. "Leave, Malfoy. Your presence here is not needed." The pharaoh quickly grabbed Marik's robes and pulled him back; the Keeper disappeared out of sight, his voice muffled as Yami stuffed him through the hole. He gave Marik a fake smile and a wave, and was about to close the door when Bakura crashed right into Malfoy, clutching an envelope.
"Oh, sorry!" exclaimed Bakura, with an uncanny sweetness in his voice much like Ryou's. When Malfoy regained his posture, it was only then when Yami recognized the tomb robber, for then Bakura said, "Oh, it's you. Ok, then, I'm just sorry that I didn't bump you off the stairway."
"You hurt me!" squawked Malfoy indignantly.
"Oh I did?" said Bakura innocently, again like Ryou. "Oh, what a pity, that means you're still alive!"
"Tomb raider..." warned Yami.
"You ought to show more respect to the Malfoy name!" yelled Draco.
"I'll give you the respect it deserves," replied Bakura coldly before slipping behind the portrait. He disappeared for a moment, but then suddenly the door swung out and collided smack on Malfoy's nose, knocking him back. Squawking and rubbing his nose in pain, he saw the grinning faces of Marik and Bakura pop out from the side, before they were sufficiently grabbed by a leather-bound hand by the collars and the portrait door slammed shut.
/Yami, why did you do that?/ moaned Ryou. /I just finished talking to Sirius...imagine my surprise when I find out that you've landed me in another detention!/
/It's certainly not my fault/ said Bakura smoothly back. /Fear not, hikari.../
/Then YOU take the detention, then!/ said Ryou. /I TOLD you not to take over during class time!!/
/Fine fine!/ yelled Bakura back. /Fine! I'll take the detention then..all the more fun torturing the miserable woman../
Ryou seemed to be in shock.
/No no!/ he said hastily. /I can take it for both of us...really, Yami , you don't have to.../
/Too little too late, Hikari,/ snickered Bakura. /I shall see you within a few hours time./
/But Yami--!/
The link was sufficiently closed as Yami Bakura began to dress.
When the clock struck eight, the three of them were in the common room, ready to head for their detention. Harry came down and was slightly surprised to see their change in clothing; neither of the three of them were wearing their robes. Marik was wearing his lavender-pink sleeveless shirt (that exposed his smooth, tanned belly) and black pants with large pockets. Bakura was wearing a stripped blue and white shirt, blue jeans and a green-turqoise open shirt with its sleeved rolled up. Yami was the only one who was wearing something that was a bit more uniformal; he was wearing dark blue pants and a dark blue jacket that looked as though it was clearly a uniform. The uniform was slightly unbuttoned; Yami Bakura was commenting on his attire.
"Why didn't you choose your leathers, pharaoh?"
"Unneccessary," replied Yami, though he looked as though he was wondering why also.
"Hey," said Harry awkwardly, to announce his presence. Yami turned his head to look at him, again, Harry felt that unnerving shudder as though one who was being inspected by nobility.
"Good evening, Harry," responded Yami in return. Harry was about to gawk at 'Yugi's' formal-ness, when Marik distracted them by kicking open the portrait door.
"Oh sure!" called the Fat Lady's voice. "I wait and wait on you and protect you from harm and this is the thanks I get!"
"Shut up, fat hag," muttered Bakura as he slipped out of the hole. The four of them all then trudged towards the office of the Toad.
Lalalalalalaladeedaa....I cannot wait until the Christmas Holidays...lalallaaladeda...REVIEWS PLEASE! I love you all so much! Someone e-mial me when you've reached the 100th review hit! I may draw something for you...check out my Deviantart!
Who liked this chapter? I DID! I loved the Duel Monsters duelling. I'm acutaly not good at stuff like that, so it made me feel proud to counter Marik's attacks like so. (giggles) Oh, I feel so warm.
Ryou is now my FAVOURITE HIKARI and my SECOND FAV YGO character. Haha!! Let's all huggle him!