Anaya's Creator: This is the second to last chapter!

Kaiba: What a relief.

Anaya's Creator: Here the reviews:

Adele S:

You're going to Japan for 3 months? I hate you. I wanna go there. Please try to review. It would be heavily appriciated.

Setoglomper:

Oh, yeah, his birthday was Tuesday, wasn't it? (Glomps him) As to the fan-girls, he's just so hard to resist.

Anaya's Creator: (gives reviewers cookies) I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Inu-Yasha or Harry Potter.

Chapter 17: Night of the Dark Mark

Leaning against the wall in cautious silence, Seto and Sakura stood near the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor with Stitch watching the deserted corridor (1) with them. They had been keeping watch for an hour and Draco Malfloy still hadn't come out of the Room. In one of Sakura's hands was her D.A. coin ready to activate and the other held her wand. There was a creek and the door to the Room opened. Malfloy silently slipped out, holding a shriveled arm that made Sakura's stomach squirm by just looking at it. "Boo," she said plainly when Draco looked their way.

Malfloy's hand plunged into his pocket and threw a powdery substance into the air. Instantly, everything went crow feather black. It was now definitely the worst-case scenario.

"Stitch, follow them," Sakura ordered as she activated her coin and slipped it into her pocket as it heated up. She could hear several footsteps clamoring down the hall.

"Lumos," Seto said.

"Don't waste your breath," Sakura told him. After groping around in the darkness for a while, she found his hand and began leading him out of the darkness (banging into a suit of armor and a few statues along the way).

"What happened back there?" Seto asked her as they reached a lighted corridor.

"Malfloy used Peruvian Darkness Powder. No spell could light that hall up." She took a huge sniff in the air. "They're headed to the Astronomy Tower."

"You got their scent?"

"That's right,"

As soon as Seto and Sakura reached a lit up corridor, they ran into Lupin, Tonks, and Bill Weasly, but Sakura didn't stop to chat.

"What's going on here? What are you two doing out of bed?" Tonks demanded as Sakura raced past them.

"Death Eaters in the castle," Seto said, pausing briefly to explain to the adults before following Sakura again. "Sakura's got their trail; they're headed to the Astronomy Tower."

Without any further questions, the wizards followed the teens. When they caught up with Lord Voldemort's supporters, they were at the base of the tower. Sakura saw a big, gangly man with grey whiskers bearing down on Stitch and she slammed him against the wall. "Pick on someone your own size for once, Greyback," she growled.

"Oh, like you?" he snarled back, pushing her off of him and pinning her down to the floor with his bony knees digging into her thighs. His clawed hands tore at her robes.

Sakura tried to punch him, but he seized the arm, twisted it and forced it to the ground, and with a sickening crunch, he had broken it.

A complete donnybrook broke out amongst the Death Eaters and those loyal to Dumbledore. Death Eaters cornered everyone severely outnumbering Seto, Sakura, Bill, Tonks, and Lupin until more help arrived moments later.

Seto tried to force his way through the crowd to get to Sakura, still trapped on the floor by Greyback. One of the werewolf's hands was at her throat and one of her arms lay unmoving at her side. He had to help her.

"Impedimenta!"

Kaiba was two paces from the demon girl and Greyback when he was thrown against the wall.

"You're not going anywhere, handsome," jeered a stocky woman whose head came to about Seto's shoulder.

Even with a broken arm, Sakura still struggled beneath the untransformed werewolf. His heated breath made her gasp to find oxygen amongst his foul breath as he leaned down to her face. It smelled of his previous meals of animals and the human blood he had spilt. She had to force herself not to vomit so she wouldn't choke. "It seems Draco was right about you, you do possess some beauty. But since you won't become a werewolf if I bite you, I'll just have to kill you."

Sakura could feel her own transformation coming on as Greyback's hand on her throat tightened. Her pulse was rushing; the familiar pain of her transformation was becoming evident. Greyback raised his other clawed hand, but someone kicked him off her before he could do anything with it.

"Go find someone else to bite, Greyback," Bill growled, aiming his wand at the werewolf.

Sakura scrambled off the ground and went over to help Seto. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Malfloy run up the stairs and Neville Longbottom running after him and decided to follow.

"Where are you going?" Seto demanded, blocking a curse.

"Following Malfloy and Neville,"

But as soon as Longbottom reached the stairs, a few seconds after Malfloy had, he was thrown up into the air. Well, can't take that route, she thought. Spying a window, she whistled to Stitch, clumsily dodging a curse that burned a hole in her robes. As soon as Stitch had climbed through it, she carefully followed latching her unbroken arm around her pet's middle. Since she was considerably less than three hundred times his size, Stitch easily carried her up the side of the tower (2). It took a while longer than simply taking the stairs would have, but since Malfloy put some sort of barrier at the base of the stairs what other option did she have to choose from?

Quite a scene greeted her gaze when she looked into the Astronomy Tower. The Dark Mark shone in the sky above the turret like a sickly green constellation in the sky and inside was Dumbledore held at wand point by Malfloy with a small crowd of three Death Eaters behind him, Greyback, the woman who had been fighting Seto, and a man that could have passed for her brother, a lumpy, brutal-faced man. She had seen downstairs fighting the others; they must have come up the stairs while she and Stitch were climbing. She could also catch a whiff of Harry, but couldn't see where he was. He must be under his Invisibility Cloak, she thought.

"Now, Draco, quickly!" demanded a brutal-faced man angrily.

As her gaze traveled to Malfloy, Sakura noticed that he was shaking so violently, it looked as though his wand would slip out of his hands before he could even utter a spell. The very thought of doing whatever he needed to do seemed to petrify him.

"I'll do it," Greyback snarled impatiently, ready to pounce as soon as the word was given.

"I said no!" shouted the brutal-faced man, blasting the werewolf off his feet.

"Draco, do it or stand aside—" screeched the woman who was standing behind the brutal-faced man. At that exact moment, a newfigure joined the party, Severus Snape.

"We've got a problem, Snape," the brutal-faced man explained. "The boy doesn't seem able—"

"Severus," interrupted a soft voice.

Sakura's jaw dropped when she realized who had said that. For the first time, her uncle was pleading. Suddenly she realized what was going on: Dumbledore's life was hanging in the balance; it was all hanging on Snape's next move. As much as Sakura wanted to interfere, to say something that might put a stop to this, her voice seemed lost in the depths of her throat. Her body was frozen to the window she was clinging to thanks to her fear and the cold atmosphere of night. She couldn't do a thing.

Snape said nothing, but shoved Malfloy out of the way and gazed at Dumbledore.

Sakura read his expression perfectly. Every time she ran into Lucius Malfloy he looked at her with the same glare, one of revulsion and hatred. She instantly knew what was going to happen and she was too petrified to stop it.

"Severus... please..."

But Snape took no notice of the headmaster's pleas. He raised his wand and said the dreaded words: "Avada Kedavra!"

"NO!" Sakura screamed.

A jet of green light lit up the tower, but when it had cleared, it wasn't Dumbledore who was lying dead, it was Stitch. He had jumped from the window to block the curse. And Snape was looking right at Sakura. "We need to get out of here, now!" he ordered.

"I trusted him," she murmured darkly as Snape retreated, stepping down from the window.

"We all made that mistake, my dear," Dumbledore said comfortingly.

"Then why are we letting him and the other Death Eaters escape?" Harry said, finally throwing off his Invisibility Cloak.

"Good point," Sakura replied and she and Harry stormed down the stairs. "Petrificus Totalus!" Sakura cried, hitting the first Death Eater she saw, not caring who it was.

Dust filled the pair's nostrils as they jumped the final ten stairs. Half of the ceiling was now littered across the corridor and the battle Sakura had left was still going on.

"It's over," shouted the voice she now hated to hear. "Let's move!" That voice fueled her to run even faster.

"Sakura, what happened up there?" Yugi asked as she passed by.

"No time to chat," was her answer as she kept sprinting through the maze of allies and foes, not pausing for anything. That is until she realized she didn't know if the Death Eaters were headed for the seventh floor or the entrance hall.

Harry soon caught up with her, skidding on the blood that had splattered his shoes as he did so. He pointed out a blood print on the floor that showed the Death Eaters were headed to the front doors.

Sakura nodded and mounted the banister as Harry went down a shortcut. At the end of the stairs, she launched herself off the railing with her good hand and rolled across the floor and onto her feet. She'd probably have a bruise there from the hard landing. She could feel her body aching to transform, but she fought that instinct and forced herself to stay human. As she flew out onto the grounds she could see two of Voldemort's supporters ahead of her and Harry running ahead of them. A gigantic figure lumbered out of the hut on the grounds, Hagrid had joined the chase as well.

A streak of light burst from one of the Death Eater's wands and hit Harry. He fell to the ground, but didn't stay there. Rolling over, he cast a counter jinx that stopped bothand was back on his feet, chasing after Snape and Malfloy.

Fire burned in Sakura's chest, her legs, feet, and broken arm had gone numb and so had her head from focusing so hard on not transforming. The scent of blood filled her nose, her blood; one of the blood vessels in her nose had burst from her concentration. Her legs refused to run anymore, no matter how much she willed them to. One of her feet hit her shins and she went down and, unlike Harry, she stayed there, face down in the grass, no longer possessing the strength to get up. This was too much, if she pushed herself any more, she would become a full-demon and all would truly be lost. She could only listen to bits and pieces of what was going on as she struggled to stay conscious.

The sound of something being set a flame filled her ears. "Fang's in there, yer evil—!" she heard Hagrid shout.

"Cruc—"

"No Unforgivable Curses from you Potter! You haven't got the nerve or the ability,"

There were more shouts of spells, Hagrid's yells, the wild, desperate yelps of Fang. This reminded her of the night when she fled Hogwarts with Hagrid the previous year in the middle of the Astronomy O.W.L. There had been so much shouting. So many bolts of light, Umbridge and her lackeys were trying to stun her and Hagrid as they fled. The night had been so dark, as black as a crow feather, just like now.

"DON'T CALL ME A COWARD!" she heard Snape cry.

For a few moments, all she could hear was the crackling of a fire until Harry shouted "HAGRID! SAKURA!" Then all was black in her little world.

Warmth, soft tender warmth was being rubbed over her cold hands. Fingernails were running through her hair. She was lying on something enormously comfortable. An impossible thought entered her mind as a smile teased the corners of her mouth. "Mom?" she murmured. "Dad?"

"Not quite, my dear," a soothing voice told her.

Slowly, and with much effort, Sakura opened her eyes. One of Professor Dumbledore's hand was on her head, his fingers flowing through the strands of hair that had fallen out of place and his other was stoking her freezing hands. His blue eyes were soft upon her. For a moment, she was ten years old again, lying in her bed at their cottage, and he was soothing her after a nightmare she had dreamt. "Please tell me that this was all just another bad dream," she begged. "Tell me it wasn't real." Her throat was dry and every part of her body ached from the strain she had put it through.

"I wish I could, my dearest, I truly wish I could," he murmured. "Madam Pomfrey fixed your arm and you're going to have a few bruises up your side, on your arm, and your neck for a little while until they heal, buthow are you feeling otherwise?"

"I don't know," she answered vacantly. Now that everything was slowly coming back into focus, there were thousands of emotions raging within her. It was hard to decipher which emotion she felt more. Rage? Sorrow? Betrayal? Horror? Disgust? It was all too muddled together. "How are the others?" she inquired.

"Bill's not doing so well, he and Greyback went at each other wand and paw after he forced Greyback off of you. He'll survive and won't become a full werewolf, Madam Pomfrey says, but he'll have some of the characteristics. Neville Longbottom was taken care off and the same with everyone else. They're all back with their classmates. Bill is the only one still here. Mr. Kaiba wanted to remain here until you awoke, but I persuaded him to go back to Gryffindor tower until you awoke so I could talk to you privately. The whole school knows what happened, not the fine details, of course, but they know why the Dark Mark was over the school and why we no longer have a Potions Master."

Sakura felt her face contort in anger. "Why?" she demanded, an infuriated growl in her voice. "Why did Snape betray us? Why did he try to kill you?"

"Malfloy was trying to do so all year on Lord Voldemort's orders. I believe Snape tried to finish the job for him so he wouldn't be harmed by Lord Voldemort. Granted, Voldemort will be furious with both of them for not finishing the job."

"Seto was right the whole time. He never trusted Snape. He kept telling me over and over that Snape was trying to steal the Jewel from me and that I shouldn't trust him."

"It's not your fault, dear heart, you felt safe to give him your trust because I did. We were all fools."

The albino was quiet for a few moments until she remembered what else had happened on the tower. "What about Stitch? What did you do with him?"

"His body is now in a box of honor in my office. It's up to you as to what happens to it. I thought since he was your companion, you should be the one to decide."

"He'll start to stink up your office if we just keep him in that box," she pointed out blatantly. "So I think I'll just have a private bonfire for him once I'm out of here. We can bury his ashes back at our house."

"Also, do you want to go through what you and I have been discussing these past few months when I've been here?"

"Yes, it would make things less dangerous for us all."

-8-8-8-

"Uncle, where were you and Harry last night? Why weren't you here?" Sakura asked as she and Professor Dumbledore stepped into his office after Madam Pomfrey had discharged her that evening once supper was finished.

"That is a long story, my dear, one that is too long for now," he answered, handing her a box made of mahogany.

Sakura did not need to lift the heavy lid to know what was inside; she knew this was Stitch's coffin. "Well, it's a long walk down to the grounds, you can tell me then and..." she paused, finding it hard to finish her sentence.

Dumbledore put an arm around her shoulders. "I'll tell you once we're outside. Stitch deserves a few moments of silence," he told her and the two of them walked out of the office in revered silence.

Out on the grounds, Sakura and Dumbledore built an altar of sticks and other kindling, set the box upon it and together, put it ablaze. Fawkes sang a soft mournful tune as the box and body slowly burned to smoldering ashes and Dumbledore told his niece the story of what he and Harry had done the night of the Dark Mark.

He told her about the cold and wild waters they had to swim across to get to the vicious cave. Of the treacherous lake full of dead bodies they had to cross. About the emerald potion he had forced Harry to force fed him that had made him to envision his worst nightmares and feel the excruciating pain within them. How the bodies had risen from the lake as soon as Harry had touched the water when trying to fetch him something to drink. And how worried he had been when the Dark Mark had appeared above the school.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them once the story had concluded. As her uncle took a deep steadying breath, Sakura could see just how old he had become since the start of this year. His eyes were less intense; his wrinkles had become more prominent, they cast a spider web of intersecting shadows across his pale face; and most of all, his left hand was still black and unhealed.

They allowed the fire to burn out then gathered the ashes and placed them in an urn Dumbledore had produced from within his robes. It was the same color of Stitch's fur, adorned with gold trimming with a few sapphires set into it.

"Are you coming to bed?" Dumbledore asked when they had finished.

"In a little while, I want to stay out here for a bit longer," Sakura answered, gently cradling the urn in her hands, watching the fading rays of the sun playing on the surface of the jewels and hiding in the gold etchings.

Her uncle kissed the crown of her head. "It's going to be all right," he told her soothingly. Then he took his leave.

"Come out, Seto, I know you're there," Sakura declared when the headmaster was out of earshot.

"My scent?" Seto replied as he stepped out of the shadows of the castle.

"How could I miss it?"

Seto didn't answer, just wrapped his arms around her.

After a few moments, Sakura broke away from his embrace. "Seto, there's something I need to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Would you still love me if I became human?"

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

(1) Stitch can see in the dark. This is in the movie.

(2) This is in the movie also, Stitch can lift things three hundred times his size.

Anaya's Creator: Another cliff hanger! Oh, question: do you want a sequel? The more reviews I get, the more likely there will be one! Just press the purple review button, damn it!