Wooh, another chapter. This one's tying up some loose ends, and like I predicted, Bakura's Hogsmeade weekend thing is coming up NEXT chapter.
Thanks for the filler ideas guys! I went searching through my harddrive and found random chapters that I wrote when I was bored, so yeah, I got some filler ideas now! Hurray!!
Ooh, this hasn't been beta-read yet. (eep) So forgive me. I knew you guys were disappointed with my last update, so I've been working hard to get this one better. It's still tying up loose ends though, so don't get to excited.
Wah! I left Ron out for so much of this story! It's so hard writing his sort of personality! (GRR)
Hmn....oh yeah. Replies to reviewers (Hug, lick, kiss: I love you all!)
Yuki Tsukihana: Hmn, yeah, I know about the Japanese names too. Rishid/Lishid Ishtal is in the dubbed version, Odeon or Odion Ishtar. He is, as oftened hinted and foreshadowed in the anime, Malik's "brother" because he was adopted by Malik's parents before Malik was born. Supposedly, if Malik wasn't born before his twelfth birthday or something, Rishid would've been a Ishtal and would have had the scars upon his back. But Malik was born...and yeah, Rishid got somewhat jealous that he couldn't belong properly in the family and had to be a servant instead, but there are so many times that Malik insists on calling him his "brother". Hope that cleared things up!!
...I wanna use the name "Malik" now, instead of "Marik". Bah. Stupid dubbed voices!
Gatogirl1: Yeah, I got somewhat confused about this too, but there is one episode that Bakura supposedly disappears into the Shadows too...he was having his duel with Yami Marik and his entire body was dissolved into the Shadows, so I really have no idea how that happened. Of course, there's my theory that Bakura WANTED to be sent to the Shadows and that's why he didn't allow his conciousness to disappear...(shrugs) Eh, works with this. Don't be embarrassed about your YGO knowledge! Heck, I didn't know much when I first started this thing!
---yeah, we all love the angsty type. (beams) (counts) Yami Marik, Malik Ishtar, Bakura, and even possibly Ryou Bakura! (hints at White Angel Chan's 'Mutilation')
Koriaena: (Grins) You have any idea HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO THINK THAT NAME UP? I mean, gods, "whitey" kept on floating to my head for some reason...(winks) Yeah, I'm estatic that White Angel Chan has finally updated. Go, White Wings!! (dances) I just thought of sonething Ryou-ish and thought, well, how would it sound if I went, "Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and White Wings present.." XD
oooh, tha's all for now. White Angel Chan's update gave me the sort of inspiration to do the entire chess scene thing...plus I was re-reading Philosopher's Stone at the same time.The idea had been lingering long in my mind already, and I sort of thought, well...there's no point in having a shadow game there...since....the figures are already ALIVE...hee hee (evil thoughts)
Bwah, yes, I've also joined the authoress bandwagon Hee hee, now I have an authoress bishie muse closet as well! It's called "Aphrodite's Lair of Bishie Molestation." XD Erik (Phantom of the Opera) has been my latest addition to the series of...er....eccentric spirits, souls, pirates, and prisoner of Azkabans. XD
Yeah, yeah, enough rambling. Disclaimer? Man, do I really need to do it?!
READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 200 HITS!! faints at the numerous reviews she already has I didn't know this thing could be that popular that fast...o.o
Chapter Eighteen: Memories Forshadowed
Moaning, Ryou tried to sit up, his head quite dizzy. Standing up, he realized he had to somehow find something to balance upon, for the floor seemed to be warped and the surroundings hazy.
/Weakling/ sneered Bakura with a derisive snort.
/Yami...not helping,/ moaned Ryou weakly as he tried to steady himself. Finally catching his proper conciousness, he slowly looked around him.
Where the heck am I?
He seemed to be in a dark corridor, a very dark corridor, with very a melancholic atmostphere lingering in the gloomy presence of the darkness. Tentatively, Ryou stepped forward, wary of his newest surroundings.
/...how did I get here?../
/If I didn't know better/ growled Bakura warily as he too, also began examining his host's newest apparation, /...I'd say you'd hit your head on that metal basin you just went through./
/Metal basin?/ repeated Ryou, hesitantly taking another step forward. He looked around, reaching out, trying to feel with his fingertips. /Yami...I can't feel anything.../
/Eh?/
/It's...like, as if...everything's an illusion.../
/Then go explore, baka,/ retorted Bakura, frowning. He didn't like this place too much.
Wincing, Ryou began to do so. He took one step down, then the next...
He went down the corridor, feeling a tense, twinging sensation up his spine. Something about this place was wrong. It was definately some sort of dwelling...a house, a mansion, anything...but something about it just made it unnerving, depression...frightening.
For each wall, there were rows of stuffed-elf heads. Ryou had met face to face with one of them and had jumped back in fright at the mutilated beings, promptly soaring through a troll's leg that was balanced upright near the door, as though an umbrella stack.
It is an illusion, he thought.
But what illusion? The last thing he remembered was tripping on the metal bin with the silvery swirling colors...
The house seemed quite literally empty. The carpet was squishy beneath his transparent feet, and the walls were cavernous and gray. Paintings were left alone, undusted, with their occupants sleeping. Ryou hesitantly reached out a hand to ask a question, when his hand merely slipped through the wall and stayed there.
/An apparition,/ muttered his yami vaguely.
/Like the Shadow Realm?/ inquired Ryou, drawing his hand back and staring at it quizzically.
/No...the Shadow Realm, depending on how you were sent...you can feel everything that's happening to you. Though it really IS an illusion, in your mind you think it's real...but this.../
Ryou turned around and saw his darker half materialize behind him, frowning deeply. His Darkness had always a strong sense of intuition, and a sense of detecting power...was he sensing a presence that was familiar?
/What's wrong?/ asked Ryou.
/Nothing/ replied his yami. /Better get out as fast as you can, ahou. I doubt this is the happiest of places to be./
Ryou nodded, and tried his best to find a way out. But how could that happen...when all he did was drift through solid objects, and his voice was wilted in the ignored presence?
Slowly, the wary feeling at the back of his mind beckoned him to turn around...and when he stared at the opposite wall that moments before, was behind his back...
"The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black
Tou jour pur"
"No...way...."
He was in...Sirius's home!
He ran to the tapestry, utterly unsure of what was played before him. Surely it was an apparition, surely it was! Though he could not feel anything, he reached out and ran his fingertips across the tapestry, fingering the lines of descedants and utter amazement; his finger lingered for quite some time at the black burn mark where he knew Sirius's name was once embroidered...
It was true. This was the exact same tapestry in Sirius's soul room...
Blinking in wary bemusement, Ryou took a step back, suspicious of the phantom scene before him. How the heck did he manage to land himself into Sirius's home?
/Ryou/ said Bakura suddenly. Ryou turned around insantly, and felt his darker side gesture to the floor above them. /Check them./
/Why can't you?/ breathed Ryou mentally, his heart feeling slightly jittery.
/I'm not the one Sirius would jump and squeal with joy at,/ snapped Bakura, but there was a sort of flatness at his cold tone, as though he didn't truly mean to be that sardonic at the moment. /Go./
Bakura's simplicity made Ryou nervous. It was only in unfamiliar and perhaps very dangerous situations was Bakura ever this serious, this determined, to find out the source that he was not familiar with. Motivated by his darker half's urgent attitude, Ryou quickly skitted up (or rather, bounced and floated up) the stairs to the next landing.
He turned around the corner when he reached the top, checking each door that he passed. Finally, faintly, he heard a voice, a soft, singing voice, at the end of the tunnel. Ryou bit his lip and gently floated towards the sound, the faint, singing sound...the voice sounded awfully familiar..
Just before he reached the door, the singing stopped. He leaned his ear against the door before he softly knocked.
No one answered.
Pressing his ear against the door, Ryou was more shocked to finally recognize the familiar voice.
"How's that, Buckbeak?"
Ryou blinked. No..way...this only confirmed his suspicions....
"Sorry about that...here, I'll wrap this around your leg...hold still, will you?!" A bark-like laughter shortly followed, sounding somewhat sad and melancholic.
Biting his lip even deeper, Ryou gently pressed himself through the door, and his jaw fell open.
"No idea who would do this," muttered Sirius, a dark look upon his face as he wrapped a white strip of cloth around the Hippogriff's horse-like calves. "...'course, it could be that idiot Kreacher...once I get my hands on him..."
Ryou blinked at Sirius's dark and gruff nature.
"Um...Sirius?" he asked timidly.
The Prisoner of Azkaban paid him no heed, as though he was not even there at all, as he continued bandaging the Hippogriff's leg.
"Wish someone would come here once in a while," said Sirius distantly, as though he was talking more to himself than the Hippogriff. "Remus obviously can't, with what he's doing at the Ministry with Bill...Arthur and Mungdungus are at the Ministry also...and Tonks, and Shacklebolt..." Sighing, Sirius stood up, a grim, rueful smirk across his face. "Heck, I'd even ask for Snivellus to be here now...certainly a lot more interesting to torment him alone."
Ryou raised an eyebrow. Torment? That wasn't nice.
But he didn't forget how Sirius really was capable of murder. How grim Sirius could be, how angry he could get. But...Snivellus? That didn't sound too nice.
A high pitched crackle emitted behind Sirius, and Ryou noticed smoke drifting behind the Prisoner of Azkban. Sighing, Sirius turned around, and his expression turned even grimer.
"Speak of the devil. What is it now, Snape?"
Snape? The Potions Master?
Hurriedly, Ryou drifted himself next to Sirius, who was still not paying him any heed. He blinked and saw that Sirius was frowning at the fire in the fireplace...and Snape's head was afloat among the flames!
"I will cut to the chase, so to speak," said Snape icily. "I assure you, that I do not wish to do this more than you do. I can find better things to do in my time than informing you about..."
"Cutting to the chase," said Sirius dryly, sneering. "Although I spend ludicrous amounts of time in my mother's house---" at this he dripped heavy sarcasm, "---I do daresay that I also, have more interesting things to do than to hear you blab, Snivellus. What the hell's wrong?"
"Want something to do now, don't you, Black?" said Snape coolly, though a sneer was evident in his voice. Sirius's face turned rather ugly. "Thought so."
"Spit it out, Snivellus."
"It's a matter of urgency," said Snape, somewhat quickly, though he still had his cold, calm poise. "You see your godson..."
"What's happened to him?" demanded Sirius suddenly, falling to his knees so that he and Snape were at same face level. Ryou noticed that Sirius's dark eyes were glittering with anxiety, and his pale face was rather ashened. "Tell me, damn it!"
"Patience," whispered Snape coldly. "Patience, Black. It's one of the things you must learn in parental decisions."
"You will leave my duties as godfather out of this!" said Sirius, his voice rising with anger. "Just tell me what's wrong with---"
"Coincidently, the Dark Lord has finally penetrated his mind," said Snape, finally deciding to rush his story. "He had an image of you being tortured at the Ministry of Magic, and he's on his way now."
"No!" yelled Sirius angrily. "Why didn't he try to contact me?!"
"He did," snarled Snape, at Sirius's outburst. "But that damned house-elf of yours---"
"KREACHER!" Sirius bellowed. Ryou cowered at Sirius's outburst also, shrinking away from the black-haired man. Snape suddenly reached his arm out and grabbed the hem of Sirius's robes, directing his attention to the main damage at hand.
"Shut up," growled Snape lowly. "He'll be running to Narcissa soon, now. At any rate---"
"Where is he now?" demanded Sirius. "Where is my godson now?!"
"On his way to the Ministry of Magic," snarled Snape back. "No doubt playing the hero and the pawn...he'll be able to get the weapon for the Dark Lord now!"
Sirius swore, his fists clenched in angry balls. "I have to be there!"
"Lupin, Tonks, and some other members of the Order are already going after him," snapped Snape. "You be a good boy and stay here..."
"I will not!" snarled Sirius back vehementaly. "He's my godson and I will take care of him! I will keep my promise to Lily and James and damn well save ---"
/Baka!/ cut in Bakura suddenly. Groaning frustratedly, Ryou kicked at his other's soul room door.
/What now, Bakura? I was just about to hear the godson's name!/
/This is not the time to be watching flimsy soap operas!!/ snarled Bakura. /Someone else is here./
/Someone else?/ blinked Ryou. /We'll just stay here then! Please Yami! Please! I just want to find out more about this!/
/You really have a death wish, don't you, hikari?/ asked Bakura spitingly.
/Please Bakura?/
There was a silence at the other end of the line.
/Please, Bakura? If something bad really does happen, can't you cover for me? Just this once?/
/Fine,/ snapped Bakura. /Just this once. Now hurry! I don't want Snape to suddenly appear out of nowhere to give me a reason to banish him to the Shadows./
Ryou whipped back around, but he had already missed most of the conversation. Sirius, apparently, had managed to convince Snape to go to the Ministry, and was looking very vicious as he stormed out the door.
"KREACHER!"
Wincing still at Sirius's harsh tone, Ryou hurriedly followed the Prisoner of Azkaban. He gasped in surprise when he saw Sirius grab a small house-elf by the loin cloth and threw him into the house.
"Stay here, Kreacher!" Sirius snarled angrily.
"Kreacher did nothing wrong sir!" squeaked the little old house -elf, but even despite Ryou's soft heart for seeing the good in people, even he could not help but recoil at the house elf's malicious tone.
"I told you to---"
Suddenly, the little elf gave a high, hysterical laugh. Soon the elf then began to use it's own magical properties to send the stuffed elf heads on the wall hurling themselves at Sirius, seemingly trying to take his own head. Sirius instantly blocked the attack with a whip of his wand, growling in anger, and through the commotion Ryou could barely hear the disturbing elf's next words.
"Master did not tell me to say the truth to Harry Potter sir!" squeaked the elf hysterically. "Master is not even Kreacher's real Master, not worthy enough to wipe slime off his mother's boots, no, Master is not! Kreacher serves a new master now!"
"Damn you and my cousin Narcissa!" snarled Sirius, hurling a particular stuffed elf head with a pointy nose and a Father Christmas beard on its chin at Kreacher. "When I come back ---"
"Kreacher will be gone, sir!" squealed the deranged house elf, jumping madly. Ryou, despite his horror, felt even his own darker half twitch at the temptation of snuffing the little thing's soul to the Shadows.
"I will be back," growled Sirius, with a menacing canine tint in his voice. "Stay here! And don't move a muscle at all, Kreacher!"
"Oh, Kreacher won't," assured the mental elf sweetly, each gagging tone heavily dripped with red-blood honey. "No, Kreacher won't....Master..."
Growling, Sirius flung on a cloak and instantly Apparated.
Harry shook his head gingerly, knowing full well where he was, and how he was going to get out. It was just this certain memory was the thing that was worrying him.
Grimmauld Place.
No no..this couldn't be. If Ryou was here and saw everything that happened...
Harry had to prevent himself from hurling himself at Kreacher. He had just witnessed Kreacher and Sirius's dispute, and although his godfather's attitude was nothing compared to normal, Harry also felt his own rearing hatred towards the despicable elf. Thank God he was dead now...
Gritting his teeth, Harry pounced up the stairs, hastily turning his head this way and that for any sign of a white-haired boy. Dang it! How hard was it to find an albino, seriously? Especially when you were in a metal basin for heaven's sakes!
Finally, he caught a flash of white and pelted after it.
"Ryou!"
His classmate froze and turned around, chocolate eyes wide with apprehension and even fear.
"Harry!"
"Look, we have to get out of here," said Harry urgently, grabbing Ryou's wrist.
"But ...why?" asked the foreigner, glancing a few more times at his surroundings.
"It's...it's dangerous!" Harry lied. Well, it wasn't really lying...it would be dangerous for Ryou to know anything that had to do with Grimmauld Place and the Order...
"How do we get out?" The lie seemed to be enough to convince Ryou to get out, for his eyes were truly pulsing with fear and worry.
"Just hold on!" yelled Harry, and promptly yanked the paler boy upwards.
Both of them were soaring through the swirling contents of the Pensieves, many different memories flashing by. At some point, Harry noticed that Ryou's eyes were dazed, as though he was rather dizzy. Gritting his teeth, Harry thrusted himself upwards to the surface of the basin...
...again, that rather sickening feeling of being turned upside down bombarded Harry's head and stomach, causing him to drop his grasp on Ryou's wrist momentarily so that he could balance himself out. Ryou was lying of the stone floor of the dungeon, looking also, rather sick.
Harry was worried about what Ryou found out. Order..that was strictly Hogwarts business...Ryou couldn't know about it..
...and Sirius...Harry was sure Sirius had mentioned him...
Biting his lip and taking advantage of the situation, Harry gently leaned Ryou against the wall, who seemed to be unconcious. He needed to get help...where the heck was Snape when you really needed him?
"Obliviate!" yelled two voices.
Harry swirled around and nearly avoided a combination of two wands' worth of memory-wiping spell as white sparks shot themselves at the white-haired boy. Looking up, Harry saw Hermione and Ron at the door, their wands upright.
"Couldn't have come at a better time, eh?" said Ron, nervously putting his wand away. "Oi, that sure didn't feel right."
"We had to," said Hermione crisply, though she herself was looking guilty at Ryou's still form.
"You didn't mind wipe all of him, did you?" asked Harry anxiously. "Not that I'm not thankful, but..."
"No, no," assured Ron. "Too advanced for us to be mind-wiping an entire's life's worth of memories. He'll probably just forget most of what he saw when he went through that...basin..thingy.."
"How did you guys know...?" asked Harry, still anxious about the unconcious foreigner.
"We went to the Owlery first...Ron got a letter, we wanted to tell you...we met Marik on our way down here," explained Hermione. "He said that Ryou had a detention with you...and we thought that...well..."
"We really didn't want to do that, mate," sighed Ron, scratching the back of his neck. "But..""When we found out that you weren't there," whispered Hermione, "and the Pensieve was just standing there...."
"We could see you two inside Grimmauld Place," said Ron. "It didn't take an idiot to find out that that was not good."
"What did you guys want with me, anyways?" asked Harry.
"We have Luna's article," said Hermione in a hushed voice. "She met us along the way when we were trying to find you and gave us the files. She said to give them to Yugi."
"But Yugi wasn't in the common room," said Ron simply. "And we knew that Ryou was sharing a detention with you..."
"So we came here."
Harry's head felt very very groggy. "Where's Snape?"
"Muttering about someone setting off an alarm and went to Dumbledore..." answered Ron, pullling Ryou up by the shoulders. "Where should I put him?"
"Oh, Ron!" exclaimed Hermione. "He's not a rag doll, maybe we ought to bring him back to the common room..."
"And say it was an accident? Get off it, Hermione! We don't even know how much damage we did!"
"I'm fine," said Ryou suddenly.
Ron pratically dropped Ryou onto the floor. Hermione and Harry both instantly took a step away, somewhat shocked at Ryou's sudden conciousness. Weakly, Ryou glanced up...and Harry noticed something different about the foreigner.
Harry wasn't sure what or why...but Ryou's eyes were more narrow, and his hair a lot sharper. His normal warm eyes were now hard and cold, and his voice was slightly lower.
"Er...Ryou...are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Bakura off-handedly. Damned Potter boy!
"Er...what happened?" asked Ron, his voice somewhat loud. Hermione got the gist immediately and tried to back up Ron's intentions.
"Yes, Ryou, what happened?" she asked.
"I...don't know..." muttered Bakura, faking thought. "I just...I was running ...Harry told me to look out...and then I ...I guess I hit my head on that thing..." He pointed at the Pensieve. "And the next thing I knew, I woke up with Ron holding me up."
"You don't remember anything else?" Harry prodded.
Bakura, hiding his smirk, shook his head. "No, no, nothing else."
Hermione looked somewhat relieved. "At least you're alright," she said.
"Hmn, yeah," muttered Bakura off-handedly.
There was an awkward silence between the four of them, Bakura, obviously knowing what they've done. Suddenly, much to Bakura's relief, Marik appeared, bursting through the doorway, ignoring the fact that a couple of floating jars had shattered at his appearance.
"Bakura!" he said, smiling. Harry caught a flash of gold behind Marik's back as he stopped short in front of the white-haired boy. "There you are!"
"Hello, Marik," smiled Bakura back, quite relieved that Marik had created some sort of diversion. "And what, may I ask, have I done to be honoured by your presence?"
Marik snorted at the thief's casual sarcastic greeting and continued. "Yugi was looking for you, by the way."
"Yugi?" scoffed Bakura. "And what does the Pharoah's bra---Yugi, want with me?"
"He wanted to know when your detention was over," smiled Marik evilly, "because he has found the most interesting room on the third floor."
"The third floor?" repeated Ron suddenly, his face screwed up as though trying very hard to remember something.
"Interesting," smirked Bakura. "I must see whatever that is intriguing the Pharaoh on the third floor."
"He says you'll like it," snickered Marik. "I'm not sure exactly what it is, but he says you'll probably like it."
"And why so?"
"He just said...well, he just said he liked a challenge."
"Another Yami no Game, I suppose?" inquired Bakura carefully, his dark brown eyes glinting at the Japanese reference of a Shadow Game. Marik, also smirking secretively, nodded.
"The third floor?" asked Harry suddenly, the memory strucking him. "Er...Hermione..."
"Maybe we should come with you!" said Hermione, slight urgency in her voice. "We need to find Yugi anyways. Luna has the files that Yugi wants."
After a moment's hesitation, (and exchanging glances with Bakura) Marik said, rather reluctantly, "Oh yeah...sure."
The five of them headed out the door, Hermione making sure that the dungeon was in its perfect state, and promptly went to sought out Yugi.
They found the tri-colored hair boy peeking curiously through a crack in the door on the third floor. The door was awfully familiar...at least, to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Uh oh," muttered Ron suddenly. "Harry---"
"I don't think Fluffy's there anymore..." muttered Harry back. "Are we allowed to go in there?"
"I really don't want to have my head bitten off," said Ron. "But lucky we didn't panic, remember? The Devil's Snare?" At this he looked rather proud.
All three of them gazed at the old door warily. They hadn't been here in five years already...the last time they had been through the exact same door was when they were trying to stop Voldemort and Quirrell from getting the Philosopher's Stone..
"Yugi!" called out Hermione. Yugi looked up, eyes wide and big.
"Yes, Hermione?"
"Um..Luna has the reports, if you want," said Hermione, handing Yugi a floppy package wrapped with brown wrapper, hoping it would stall for time. Yugi beamed.
"Thanks!"
"Er....Yugi?" asked Harry, stepping in between them. "What are you doing?"
"I've found a really cool room!" said Yugi eagerly. "I was going back to the common room and I started to explore..."
"You really don't want to do that," said Ron, "someone once got lost in a closet before, you know that?"
"...and I found this room!" Yugi said, ignoring Ron's statement and looking very pleased. He gestured to Bakura, who tried his best to control a twitch. It felt very odd to be challenged by someone who was more than five inches shorter than he was. Especially when he was this happy too.
"Pharaoh, what is this about?" asked Bakura, crossing his arms over his chest. Immediately, there was a sharp glow from beneath Yugi's robes, as the exchange took place.
"Go and take a look yourself," smirked Yami, as he opened the door. Raising an eyebrow, Bakura slipped in, shortly followed by Marik and Yami himself. Harry and Ron however, lingered in the back, trying their best to put in edgewise that this wasn't a good idea, but Hermione merely shushed them.
"It's okay," she whispered. "Fluffy isn't there anymore...."
"And the Devil's Snare?" whispered Ron harshly. "Hermione, have you gone mad?!"
"We burned it," said Hermione back. "And Quirrell's not here anymore either..."
"Then what IS still here?" asked Harry. "What's still here that Yugi's so excited about?"
"You're sure we're allowed here?" asked Ron, glancing at Harry's watch. "It's almost nine now...the sixth years get to stay up until ten. Even if we can go in there, how are we going to get back out?"
"Fly?" suggested Hermione. "Like we did last time?"
"Let's just hope there's not another troll down there," muttered Ron.
"OI!" yelled Marik's voice. "Look, it's only dark in here! Scared of the dark, are you? Now, are you guys coming or not, or do I need to get a nightlight?!"
"Who are you calling scared?!" yelled Ron back, and instantly slipped through the door. Sighing and shrugging, Hermione and Harry followed.
They slid through the trap door, climbed down the tentacles of the burned Devil's Snare, and followed Bakura, Marik and Yami, who seemed either rather eager or unafraid of the dark at all.
The three foreigners stopped short in awe when they came through the third doorway, and Ron, Harry and Hermione had to crane their necks to see exactly that had bemused the three foreigners so.
Bakura looked at the newest surroundings in sadistic delight.
"I thought you might like it," smirked Yami. "It gives us a break from duelling, doesn't it?"
Bakura snorted, but he couldn't help but agree as he watched Marik climb up one of the stone figurines.
The entire room was made and built like a chessboard; each life-like piece was standing monumentally on their square, looking proud and defensive.
"Do you think they still move?" asked Ron. Bakura, Yami and Marik all whipped around, caught by the echo of Ron's voice. Ron turned slightly red at the ears.
"They move?" gawked Bakura. "Are you serious?"
Harry nodded. Ron was looking rather fondly at the knight that Marik was trying to climb upon, since Marik was rather shorter than the red-haired wizard.
"You're serious?" echoed Yami, his crimson eyes flashing interest. "They can move on their own accord?"
"Unless you order them to," said Ron, matter-of-factly.
"You've been here before, I suppose?" shouted Marik from his perch on the knight's horse.
"Yep!" hollered Ron back. "And that's MY horse you're sitting on!"
"Well excuse me!" retorted Marik back. "But it's kinda hard to tell me that now!!"
Yami and Harry both shook their heads at the teasing scene. Bakura was still eyeing the entire chessboard with much interest, perfectly imagining how pretty it would all look in an RPG game.
"Shall we come back here some time, Tomb Robber?" asked Yami, his eyes glinting still. "I've been waiting for a strategic challenge for some time."
"You're on, Pharaoh," snickered Bakura eagerly as an echoing sound of clanging swords bounced off the walls. Ron and Marik, however, seemed to be quite already caught up in their own little duel; the both of them had swiped swords from the pawns and were swordfighting across the chessboard.
"The thing is, though," piped up Harry, "is that you have to actually BE one of the pieces."
"One of the pieces?" repeated Yami Yugi. "Like as in...taking the piece's place?"
"That makes things all the more interesting," smirked Bakura, folding his arms across his chest. Yami gave him a look.
"We've been here, and done it before," explained Hermione. "But I don't think we should play chess now...I mean, it's really dangerous, and plus, we should all get to bed, it's Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow."
Both Yami and Bakura looked rather disappointed, but from his soul room, Yugi agreed. Sighing, Yami agreed also, and hurried Marik and Ron up. Ron had just managed to throw Marik's sword from his hand, and triumphantly pointed the blade toward's Marik's throat.
"HA! I have you now!!"
"What exactly started this?" asked Marik, holding up his hands in defeat.
"YOU TOOK MY HORSE!"
Snickering, Marik suddenly ducked under Ron's arm, picked up his own sword, and in one swift movement, swirled Ron's sword out of his hand, causing a loud, chamberous CLANK as it fell to the marble ground.
"I have only one thing to say to that," said Marik, smirking triumphantly.
"Oh? And what is that?" asked Ron, raising an eyebrow.
Marik stayed quiet for a moment, at which Ron had the opportunity to regain his own sword. Suddenly Marik took off, laughing maniacly towards the door.
"PONY-BOY!!"
All of them had trudged up back to the common room; Ron of course, occupied with both Marik and Bakura's snide remarks about his fondness of being a knight, that by the time they had actually reached the common room, Ron's ears could've been mistakened for turnips.
Laughing, the six of them clambered into squishy armchairs, Marik and Bakura starting another round of duel monsters. Hermione and Ron (ears still red) watched with interest, while Harry and Yugi pored themselves over Luna's files.
Yugi would've liked to look at them in private, but he felt as though he really did owe Harry something. After all, Harry had been watching out for them ever siince they began their life at Hogwarts, and by all means, if Harry was interested in the clues to Yami's past, maybe he should see them.
He was bound to find out sooner or later, anyways.
The ex-pharaoh had indeed, managed to convince himself that Harry was not a threat. However, he still did not approve of Harry knowing everything...not yet, anyways. But by all means, if Harry wanted to learn that badly, then sure...
"I can't read any of this," muttered Harry under his breath as he squinted in the light of the fireplace, trying his best to decipher some random hieroglyphics.
"I can't, either..." murmured Yugi, squinting also. The package was large; sheets of parchment paper were all neatly clipped together, however, the actual files were a different story. Each document held large, barely decipherable scribbles, random, disorganized notes, and strange sketches. Yugi wasn't exactly sure how he was going to read though all this; there were so many coded words and notes that even Yami had difficulty finding meanings for. Scribbles, doodles, sketches and ink sprawled across the sheets, and the parchment papers were laden with at least a millimeter of dust...
"How long has Luna KEPT this?" muttered Harry, adjusting his glasses. Yugi shrugged.
"HA!!" Marik's triumphant voice rang across the empty common room, thrusting his fist in the air, while Bakura looked very very very pissed.
"Rematch!!" demanded Bakura.
"No," said Ron. "I'll play against Marik."
Marik regarded him with a funny look. "Fine. Your funeral, pony-boy."
"Watch who're calling pony-boy!" said Ron heatedly as he drew five cards from Bakura's deck. Bakura leaned back, arms crossed, and progressed to watch Ron and Marik duel. However...he was barely concentrating...his mind drifted back to the conversation in the dungeon. They had mind-wiped Ryou; and Bakura would not stand for that. Of course, it wasn't physical harm..but all the same...
Ryou had finally awakened, weary and tired, in his soul room. Bakura immediately interrogated his memories, and found that indeed, the incident of Grimmauld Place had been wiped from his mind. Growling, Bakura tried his best to remind his host, but Ryou had some difficulty remember every exact detail, especially when Bakura didn't see much of the Pensieve's thoughts himself. Eventually, after a couple of long minutes' worth of feeding Ryou his own memories of Grimmauld Place, Bakura finally triggered a spot and it stimulated Ryou's memories. However, Ryou's memories were very vague...
/Yami...do you really think it has something to do with Harry?/ he asked softly.
/No doubt,/ snapped Bakura back. /Or else why would they want to mind-wipe you?/
/Perhaps it's something we shouldn't get into/ suggested Ryou.
Bakura agreed. He didn't care anything for the Potter boy and really wouldn't want to, anyways.
/But...Sirius..that was Sirius' home../ said Ryou, struggling to remember. Bakura gritted his teeth. Damn himself for not blocking that spelll sooner! He hated feeding Ryou back his memories.
So..why was he doing it?
/Harry knows about Sirius' home../ contemplated Ryou slowly. /So.../
/Don't hurt yourself, baka,/ sighed Bakura flatly. /I'm sure you'll find those memories again somewhere./
/Maybe I can buy one,/ said Ryou suddenly. /Maybe I can buy a Pensieve./
/And what would be the purpose of that?/
/Well, then maybe I can see my memories better...clear them up...and so can you!/
/I don't need a metal toilet to relive my memories, thanks, hikari/ said Bakura succinctly. Ryou immediately fell silent.
/Yami...?/
/What?/
/...do you...do you want to talk about your ...memories? From the Dementor?/
/No,/ replied Bakura crossly.
There was a soft sigh at the end of the link.
Wearily, after a minute celebration with the fact that Ron had actually beaten Marik, the six of them gathered their things and trudged to bed. Ryou had taken over and was nursing his head, which felt extremely thick. Finally looking up from the sheets of parchment, Yugi stretched his mouth in a comically wide yawn. Hermione peered over the young boy's shoulder, scanning her sharp eyes across the documents.
"Hmnph, like mother like daughter," Yugi heard her mutter. He looked up quizzically.
"Hermione doesn't believe much of what Luna says," explained Harry, also yawning. "Found anything interesting, Hermione?"
"Not really," replied Hermione crisply.
"I can't read this," muttered Yugi sadly as he pointed to a series of detailed drawings.
"You can ask Marik to help you," replied Hermione. "I'm sure it's Egyptian."
Yugi looked up at the Gryffindor perfectionist, sighing. "Yeah...I suppose."
"Yugi, can I have that after you?" cut in Harry. Yugi looked round and slowly nodded. Yawning again, he shuffled the papers together, tucked them underneath this arm, said goodnight to Hermione, and stumbled up the stairs.
"What?"
"Has your hearing gone with your memories Pharoah?" snarled Bakura in the dark.
"Be quiet, tomb robber!" snapped Yami back, his crimson eyes flashing with alarm. "Just get to the point."
The three new students were sitting on the stairs that led to the dormitories. While everyone else in the Gryffindor tower remained asleep, the trio had slipped out and were conversing in the secret of the night. A clear, glass sphere glinted in the dark dimness, casting feeble rays of light across the faces of the three Egyptian shadows.
"So I was right," said Marik dully. "Snape really is a Death Eater."
"I really don't know if he's a Death Eater or not," said Yami quietly, frowning at the glass sphere. "What can really indicate that he's a Death Eater at all? Why would Dumbledore hire him as a teacher, if he was one?"
"Let's not be dim, Pharaoh," said Bakura, twirling the sphere between his fingers. He was leaning against the cold stone wall, a dark, cross expression upon his face. "Why else would Snape have a prophecy about Battle City?"
"All the same, Dumbledore hired Snape," argued Yami patiently.
"We knew that he had hired some Death Eater before...that Mad-Eyed Moody guy," said Marik darkly, his lavender eyes flashing in the darkness. "What means are there to say that Snape didn't fool Dumbledore?"
"For more than a decade?" asked Yami incredulously. "I seriously doubt Dumbledore would've ignored his past at hand until now. He's a wise wizard. The best of England, or so everyone says."
"All the same...the prophecy," said Marik sternly.
"A question," spoke up Bakura from the shadows. "What prophecy IS this, may I ask? I don't quite remember any prophecy made during Battle City."
"Mostly because you were out most of the time," muttered Marik under his breath. To Bakura, however, he said, "It's the one Ishizu had, I imagine. The one with Yami Yugi and my darker half, how the world was going to come to a destruction."
There was a soft, delicate silence lingering for a few moments, two spirits and a host pondered this newfound information.
"I know this is off-topic, but I really don't think Ishizu was right about that prophecy," stated Bakura bluntly. Marik regarded him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Bakura snorted. "The world shall be shrouded in darkness if the Pharoah doesn't save the world. Okay. So what? Now it's probably going to end up like that again, with Voldemort or Volmedork or something running around."
"Isn't it cliche?" said Marik lightly, raising one knee towards himself. He was sitting on the stone steps, his legs apart, one higher than the other. The ex-pharaoh was sitting somewhat the same way, except in more of a demure fashion, four steps below the Keeper.
"Perhaps Snape is on Dumbledore's side," hypothesized Yami just as wisely. "Dumbledore knew of our powers and even pointed it out us that Voldemort would be after us for them. Perhaps Dumbledore is merely asking Snape to recover any more information that can benefit him."
"Benefit him?" snarled Bakura deadly. "And what are we now, child pawns? Locked up in this dingy dungeon called a school, so that Shadow Magic can be used at his expense whenever he wants it?"
Yami frowned darkly. "He's probably just trying to keep us safe, Bakura."
"Safe?" repeated the thief dangerously. "And what, may I ask, Pharaoh, do you think we need to be safe from? You and I have met with challenges beyond comparision. What difference would it had made for us to come here?"
"I wouldn't feel damn well 'safe' if you ask me," said Marik distantly from his perch, though there was a hard tone in his voice, "if Snape knew about the prophecy. Especially if there's rumors he was once a Death Eater already."
"Again, rumors!" said Yami sharply. "We can't trust these rumors!"
"Why are you going against your better judgement, Pharaoh?" asked Bakura, throwing him the sphere. Yami swiftly caught it expertly and examined it. "You've always had good instincts, even though I hate to admit it, but this time you're actually trusting a stranger."
Yami frowned. Bakura was right. But all the same, the injustice of it all...
"I can't believe you're actually going lenient on this Snape," said Marik, focusing his gaze on Yami, who was reading the scratched letters on the sphere's surface. Sighing, Yami threw the sphere at Marik, who snatched it out of the air and ran his palms upon it.
"He's bound to be with Voldemort," said Marik, with a certain finality in his voice.
"Marik..." sighed Yami, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. Marik merely gave him a rebellious, cocky look, and shrugged. "Innocent until proven guilty, Marik."
"That's the one thing I guess I've always forgotten," said Marik sharply. "Isn't it, Pharoah?"
Gently, Yami nodded, knowing full well that Marik was not going to like that answer. Marik of course, wasn't, and promptly threw his hands in the air. "Look. Enough proof, Pharaoh. Look at this thing." He threw the sphere back at Yami. The Pharaoh merely ignored Marik's slight outburst and instead marvelled at how this dark convention was beginning to be something like a Yami no Hot Potato. "We already heard rumors that Snape is a Death Eater. Ron told us before, remember? Their stupid Triwizard tournment and how Snape was friends with one of the Death Eaters there? And now look. Shadi said that there was someone in Hogwarts that was a Death Eater out to get me. Snape is always out to get us. And now look. He has a Battle City prophecy in his hands."
"Perhaps it's still following the flow of fate," said Yami calmly. "If Snape really is a Death Eater out to get you, or get US, more precisely, then what caused it? Dumbledore was the one who recruited us here. He wanted to keep us safe."
"Safe," spat Marik. "I'd be safer at home. Being wary and not using Shadow Magic to protect myself..."
"Maybe he already knew that Voldemort wanted the Millennium Items," said Bakura coolly, his mind following a thief's logic. "And maybe Dumbledore knew. It would've became the perfect trap for us. Under the impression we're here to be saved, when really, Snape was going to destroy us all along."
"He can't," snapped Marik. "Even if he defeated us, he wouldn't get our Items. Only those special can hold them."
"Voldemort, special?" said Yami. "How would that be possible?"
"Exactly my point," said Marik. "There's no way he can get our Items."
"Yes he can," said the thief calmly. "Slim as it may be, perhaps Voldemort does have Shadow Magic. I mean, the Potter boy does, doesn't he? And the school says that he keeps on having seizures in class that are supposedly connected to Voldemort."
"Is that why I couldn't mind-wipe him?" suggested Marik. "Because he shares a link with Voldemort?"
"Ridiculous," said Yami simply. "Utterly ridiculous."
There was another lingering silence. Marik noticed that Yami's red eyes had softened to a more contemplating look, much like when he was thinking up a suspicious strategy. Before he could inquire this though, Bakura broke the silence.
"How did Snape get this, anyways? Ryou's told me something about those spheres. Supposedly they're to be only extracted by those the prophecy is about."
Yami frowned, as did Marik.
"Ishizu didn't make a prophecy about Snape," said Marik, somewhat disgustedly. "How the hell did he get his hands on it?"
"Perhaps someone gave it to him," said Yami distantly. Bakura and Marik both immediately swivelled around, their scrutinizing eyes warily narrowed with mild confusement.
"What?" said Bakura.
Yami gave both of them a grim frown. "Perhaps someone gave it to him. Someone who did have something to do with this prophecy."
"Well, the prophecy obviously had to do with us," said Marik. "The three of us could touch it. Who else could it be about?"
"Anyone who's mentioned in the conquest of the Millennium Items at the time, can be in the prophecy," said Yami. "Indirectly, they're all connected to it."
"Who?" sighed Marik angrily. "I mean really, who would have the motive to do this?"
"Someone who helps fate, I guess," shrugged Yami carefully. "I really didn't want to think so, but perhaps Snape is a Death Eater. Coincidently, perhaps that's how the thing wound up in his possession anyways. Did Snape touch it?"
"Never saw him," said Bakura. "But how else would one have this in their possession? If the prophecy was not about him, then he should've disintegrated into nothingness."
"Oh, the things Ryou can learn from Hermione," smiled Marik, leaning back.
"Well then, who?" snapped Bakura. "Who would be stupid enough to give this damned thing to Snape?"
"Someone who helps fate..." said Yami distantly. "Someone who always points us in the right direction, who manipulates the future so that we can directly face our challenges."
"Dammit, Pharaoh," snapped Bakura again. "Who?"
Sighing, Yami leaned his face against the palm of his hand, looking calculating before he answered.
"Shadi."
Bwah, I know some of you guys are going to HATE me for putting the blame on Shadi, but think about it, he constantly makes people believe he's against them when he's really not. I'm sort of just thinking along his logic! I mean, really! He told Malik that Yami Yugi killed his father! How nice do you think that was?
Anyways, I think Shadi will serve a purpose here soon. He's an interesting person to write about. (beams) Read and review, please!!!