Kitty: Christmas Eve, and all's well...
Yugi: I can'tbelieve your first day of Winter Break is Christmas Eve! That's so not fair!
Kitty: Definitely.
Lina: Well, let's get this chapter started...
Harry: R&R!
Chapter Two:
Madness in the Mutou House
"Harry-kun, wake up! It's morning!"
Harry rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. "Geez, this time switch is confusing…"
"You don't know the half of it," said Yugi, "You're talking to someone who's been to Britain, Russia, Egypt and here, all in one school year…"
Kitty poked her head into Yugi's room. Today she was dressed in a black and white Victorian style dress with high-topped black boots and long fishnet sleeves that went up to her wrists.
"Yugi-chan, should I go ahead and open the shop?" she asked.
"Alright, kitten," Yugi yawned, "Just don't bother my mom, she's expecting company sometime today."
Kitty nodded, before going down the stairs into the game shop.
Harry stretched. "What's up with your mum, anyway? Does she just not like magic or something?"
Yugi shrugged as he searched his closet for something to wear.
"I told her I was going to a boarding school for famous people," he explained, "I mean, when she first caught me with Atem-kun, she fainted… and almost fell down the stairs."
Harry sweatdropped. "God…"
Yugi nodded. "Picture what she'd do if I told her about Hogwarts."
"Likely she'd fall out a window," Harry muttered as he pulled on some large jeans and an over-sized T-shirt.
Yugi looked at some of the clothes Harry had packed in his suitcase with a frown.
"Does nothing you have fit you?" he asked in a teasing tone.
Harry blushed. "Most of the stuff the Dursleys give me belonged to Dudley, and he's huge."
Yugi shook his head. "How do I know that when Mai-kun sees you wearing something too big for you, she'll freak and drag you to the mall?"
Harry laughed. "I hope Joey can save me in time…"
Yugi and Harry came down the stairs as Kitty lifted one last box onto one of the shelves.
"Is she ready to sail, First Mate Kitty?" Yugi asked with a teasing grin.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Kitty replied with a fake salute, "She's all ready to go."
"All hands on deck!" Yugi barked like a sea captain, "Raise the gangplank! Let go F line! Let go G line!"
Kitty laughed. "Didn't you see me do that stuff already, Captain? Just tell me to set the sails."
Yugi pecked her cheek. "Alright, missie, set the sails."
Kitty went over to the door and turned the "Closed" sign over so that it read "Open," before sitting down in a chair behind the desk.
"This is the most boring part," Kitty said as she put her head on the desk, "Waiting for customers to come in."
Yugi laughed. "Just hook up the video game system on the TV, Kitty. I need to beat you at Soul Caliber!"
Kitty smirked. "Yeah right, Mr. King of Games! Your Queen shall never lose at Soul Caliber!"
"That's what you think!" Yugi replied, before looking at Harry, "Wanna help me beat Neko-chan?"
"Sure," Harry said, "But can I watch you guys play first?"
"Certainly," Kitty said, "You can watch me kick my boyfriend's rather handsome ass again…"
Yugi stuck his tongue out at Kitty, before turning the game on.
Kitty played with a female kung-fu warrior called Taki, and Yugi played with a black-armored knight called Siegfried.
Taki was very thin and quick, and whenever Yugi tried to attack her, Kitty would make Taki jump out of the way and hit him from behind, until…
GAME OVER"NOOOOO!" Yugi cried in anguish, pretending to faint, "I've been killed by a skinny little whore…!"
"I win again!" Kitty laughed, "MWAHAHAHA!"
Kitty looked at Yugi. "What did I tell ya?"
Yugi didn't move.
"Yugi-chan?" Kitty poked him.
Yugi still didn't move.
"This isn't funny, Yugi-chan!" Kitty muttered.
Yugi suddenly jumped up and began to tickle Kitty. Kitty screamed, trying to get Yugi off of her, but it was no use.
"I GIVE!" Kitty screamed through her laughter, "I GIVE!"
Yugi stopped tickling her, and nuzzled her cheek. "I win."
"Cheater," Kitty teased.
"Love you too, Neko-chan," Yugi teased back, kissing her nose.
"Yugi! Quiet down, will you?"
Yugi's mother was at the top of the stairs, dressed in an unusually practical dress and carrying a tray of purple cupcakes.
Yugi groaned. "Sorry, mom…"
"My friend Matsu will be here any minute!" Yugi's mother snapped as she put the cupcakes down on the table, "If you bother us or embarrass me with that…clone of yours, you'll be sorry!"
"Yeah, yeah, Mom, I know," Yugi muttered.
He tried to take one of the cupcakes from the plate, only to have his mother slap his hand away.
"Those are for Matsu and I," she hissed, "You can make your own…if your clone is safe around the oven."
"Ah, Mura!" came a voice from the doorway.
A woman pranced into the shop like a first class show dog, and Yugi's mother automatically greeted her.
"It's so nice to see you again, Matsu," she said in a sickly sweet tone as she picked up the platter of cupcakes again, "How was your flight?"
"Oh, it was exhausting," Matsu complained, "Not to mention all the little brats around me kept screaming to their so-called music…"
"I know, children's sense of style has really decreased in rank this last century…"
The two adults headed upstairs, and Harry looked at Yugi with a very disgusted look on his face.
"Friendly much?" he said sarcastically.
Atem appeared in his spirit form next to Yugi, looking quite sour.
"You really have to tell your mother that I'm not your clone," he growled, "I'm a Pharaoh, and she aught to respect that."
Kitty frowned. "Definitely. I mean, not liking me is one thing, but disrespecting a Pharaoh like that has to be against the rules."
"Why doesn't she like you, Kitty?" Harry asked.
Kitty shrugged. "Partly because of my gothic style, partly because of my unorthodox literary creativity, and partly because of my reserved nature."
Harry shrugged, and decided to change the subject. "So…can I give that game a shot?"
Kitty grinned. "Sure, let me hook it up-"
Right then Kitty froze.
"What?" Yugi asked.
Kitty pointed at the door. "Guys…I think we have a customer."
The two boys turned around, and stared at what was in the doorway.
A little creature was standing there. It had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes that resembled tennis balls and seemed to be wearing an old pillowcase.
"Uh…may I help you?" Yugi finally found his voice.
But the creature was staring at Harry avidly, and didn't answer Yugi's question.
"Harry Potter…" it whispered, "Such an honor it is."
It gave a little bow, and Yugi and Kitty exchanged a suspicious look.
"Th-thank you," Harry said awkwardly, "Uh…who are you?"
"Dobby, sir," the creature replied, "Dobby the house-elf."
"A house-elf?" Kitty repeated with wide eyes, "I read about them in one of those magic books I got last year. Shouldn't you be with your master?"
Dobby sighed, his ears drooping. "Dobby is supposed to, miss, but Dobby isn't."
"Did your master ask you to come here?" Kitty asked.
"Oh no, miss," Dobby moaned, "If they ever knew Dobby was here…"
Kitty gave Dobby a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry to hear your masters are that cruel."
"Thank you kindly for that sympathy, miss," Dobby said, before his green eyes widened, and he muttered, "That was an awful thing to say."
He ran over to the desk, and began hitting his head against the wood, muttering, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
"Dobby!" Yugi said in alarm, "Shh! Dobby, shh! Stop it, Dobby, my mom's upstairs, she'll hear you!"
Dobby finally stopped, looking rather dizzy, and shook his head to clear it.
"I forgot," Kitty said, "House-elves aren't supposed to speak against their masters…I'm so sorry, Dobby."
Dobby's eyes filled with tears. "Miss is very kind to little Dobby, but she needn't bless her concern on a simple house-elf, miss."
"But why were you hitting your head against the desk?" Harry asked.
"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," Dobby explained, "Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming here later."
"That's terrible," Yugi said, "Why don't you just run away? Escape?"
"Oh no, sir," Dobby whispered, "A house-elf must be set free, sir. And the family will never set Dobby free…never, never…"
"Geez, and I thought living with the Dursleys was bad," Harry muttered, "Can't anyone help you? Can I?"
Almost at once, Dobby began to wail.
"Shh, Dobby!" Yugi tried to quiet him, "Shh!"
"Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby!" Dobby howled, "Dobby had heard of Harry Potter's greatness, but of goodness, Dobby never knew…!"
Harry went red. "Whatever you heard about my 'greatness' is a load of crap. I'm not even the best student, that's Hermione…"
"Harry Potter is humble and modest," Dobby said reverently, his tennis-ball eyes glowing, "Harry Potter speaks not of his triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-"
"Voldemort?" Yugi snorted.
Dobby clapped his hands over his ears. "Ah, speak not the name, good sir! Speak not the name!"
Yugi shook his head. "There's no reason to be scared of him…"
Dobby ignored Yugi's last comment; instead, he jumped onto the desk to look Harry in the eyes.
"Dobby heard tell," he said in a hoarse voice, "That Harry Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time, just a little while ago…and with his friends, Harry Potter escaped yet again."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, that's true…but without Dare, I don't think I-"
Dobby's eyes filled with tears again. "Ah, sir…Harry Potter is valiant and bold! He has braved so many dangers already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn him, even if Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door later…Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."
There was an awkward, confused silence only broken by a little bit of muttering from upstairs.
"Wh-what?" Harry stammered, "But I've got to go back, term starts September 1st. And I don't belong with the Muggle world…I belong in your world…at Hogwarts."
"I mean, I love Kitty and all my friends," Yugi added, "But Harry and we all need to go back…if we know magic, we can protect those we love even more…"
"No, no, no," Dobby squeaked, shaking his head fervently, "Harry Potter must stay where he's safe. If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger."
"Why?" Kitty asked in concern.
"There is a plot," Dobby whispered, "A plot to make most terrible things happen…"
"What terrible things?" Yugi asked, "Who's plotting them?"
Dobby made a strange choking sound in the back of his throat, and then started banging his head on Yugi's Playstation II.
"Alright!" Yugi cried, snatching the Playstation out of the house-elf's grip, "I understand, you can't tell! But why are you warning Harry in particular?"
Harry's eyes widened as a sudden, unpleasant thought struck him. "Hang on, this doesn't have anything to do with Voldemort, does it?"
Dobby cowered at the sound of the Dark Lord's name, and then slowly shook his head.
"Not…He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir…"
But Dobby's eyes were wide as he said this, almost as if he was trying to give them a clue.
"He doesn't have a brother, does he?" Harry asked, completely lost.
Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever.
"Well, Dobby, I can't really think of anyone else who would have a chance of doing 'most terrible things' at Hogwarts," Yugi muttered, "I mean, Dumbledore-sensei would make sure nothing would happen after last year…"
"Oh, but sir," Dobby whined, "There are some things that even the grand Professor Dumbledore wouldn't be able to do…"
"Well, even if Dumbledore-sensei couldn't stop it, which is unlikely," Yugi growled, "We can."
"Dobby admires your bravery, sir," Dobby squeaked, "But no decent wizard would be able to beat the threat…"
"Let me just assure you, Dobby," Yugi whispered, looking down at the ground so that his eyes were in shadow, "That I am no decent wizard."
When Yugi looked back up, Atem was in his place. "No matter who is planning it or what threat there is, we will defeat it."
Dobby bowed his head. "Oh, but Pharaoh, even with all your memory, you could not win against it…"
"Of course we-" Atem froze, and his scarlet eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute…how do you know about my lost memory?"
Dobby's eyes widened in realization at what he had just done. "Dobby must leave…"
He suddenly darted up the stairs, but Atem rushed after him, Kitty and Harry at his heels.
"Tell me what you know!" Atem yelled after the house-elf as he went into the living room where Yugi's mother and Matzu were talking.
The three teenagers stopped outside of the room before they could be seen by the two adults, but Dobby was just inside the room in front of them, looking at the tray of cupcakes they had left on the counter.
"Dobby, get back here!" Atem hissed.
Dobby looked slyly at the past Pharaoh, before snapping his fingers and making three purple cupcakes float off the plate and above the countertop.
Atem's eyes widened in horror. "No…Dobby, please…She'll kill us…"
"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school," Dobby said.
"Dobby, please don't…" Kitty whispered.
"Say it, Harry Potter!"
"I can't, Hogwarts is my home!" Harry said desperately.
"Then Dobby must do it, sir," Dobby said tragically, "For Harry Potter's own good…"
The cupcakes floated across the room, toward Matsu's head. Atem and Harry immediately snuck into the living room to try and catch the cupcakes before…
SPLAT!
Each of the cupcakes hit the back of Matsu's head, one by one. Matsu screamed in disgust and shock. Yugi's mother looked at Atem, and her eyes narrowed in complete and utter fury.
"Just my half-sons…they're very disturbed, meeting strangers upsets them, that's why we try to keep the both of them busy in the shop downstairs…"
"It wasn't us!" Atem said indignantly, "Dobby-"
The past Pharaoh turned around, looking for the house elf, but Dobby was nowhere to be found.
He was gone.
Atem gulped. -We're in huge trouble…-
And I'm sad to say that he was right. Harry and Atem would be able to even ignore a warning from the Ministry of Magic for using a Hover Charm outside of school when Yugi's mother grounded the both of them, saying that Harry and Yugi wouldn't go back to Hogwarts that year………and that Yugi would never go back again.
Yugi: (wide-eyed) WHAT???
Diana: Oh my god.
Atem: I'm going to kill your mother, Yugi.
Yugi: No,please don't. I'd have that on my conscience forever.
Atem: True.
Kara: Reviews?
Lina: 6 already! Wow.
Kitty: First two are from ANAYAS-CREATER. (shares the pizza and grins) You are a very nice person.
Bakura: (tries to steal some of ANAYAS-CREATER's half)
Kitty: (whacks him with her Whack-a-Mole-Mallet)
Diana: Next is Claire.
Yugi: (blushes)
Kitty: You know him too well! (grins and glomps Yugi) I suppose "Kitty" belongs to both of us, but still.
Lina: And we're positive that your future updates will be wonderful!
Kitty: Now to... Meanae the Thorn! Yes, the Dixie Chicks are one of fav bands, but their songs won't be the only namesakes. I also plan to have saluts to Suzanne Vega, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Don McClean and, my love, Josh Groban!!! (sighs)
Yugi: (clueless) Who are those people?...besides Josh, I mean.
Kitty: Suzanne Vega wrote a song called "Gravestone" for Disney's The Haunted Mansion and Don McClean wrote "American Pie."
Yugi: And Crosby, Stills, Nash and Someone?
Kitty: They're a fav band of my dad's. Besides, doesn't "Drivin' Thunder" sound like a cool title to you?
Yugi: (shrugs) I guess.
Kara: Next...ZeldaAlly!
Kitty: Welcome aboard! It's always nice to meet new reviewers. And thank you most profoundly, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Lina: And finally, Claire's second review.
Kitty: Oopsies! (blushes) I'll have to fix that. I did think there was something different about Melisanne, but I couldn't figure out what it was... I feel silly.
Lina: And her little siblings will make an appearance. I mean, how can you resist little kids?
Kara: Good question.
Kitty: (peace) MERRY CHRISTMAS, ALL!
Yugi: R&R!