Yuugiou!
Episode Nine and Three Quarters

Sorry about the delay. It... has not been a good week.

Also, to the moron who was nice enough to tell me that I "neglect" my characters: take your condescending additude and shove it. I'm not in the mood for people telling me how to write my stories. That goes for the other people who've begged me to change the pairing to something else, or to add a pairing. Knock it off: I'm not going to fulfill your requests.

CHAPTER SIX – HALLOWEEN

The look on Malfoy's face when a tired but happy Ron and Harry walked into the Great Hall the next morning we beyond priceless. They flopped down at their respective seats along with Yuugi and Malik, Harry filling the other three in about the grubby package that the dog might have been guarding. They concluded that it could be really valuable or dangerous, or even both, but could not deduct what it was without more clues.

Hermione overheard them as they talked about what they had done the night before, and looked positively scandalized.

"You could have been killed, or worse, expelled!" she exclaimed. Malik sweatdropped.

"Um, Hermione, I think you have your priorities backwards there…" he said.

"It's really none of your business anyway," Ron replied, giving her a dull look. "Go away."

"Ron!" Yuugi exclaimed accusingly. Ron shrugged as Hermione huffed, going back to her breakfast. She refused to speak to them again, though she was such a bossy know-it-all that most of them saw this as an added bonus.

Just as they were about to start plotting on how to get back and Malfoy for his deception, Bakura slunk over to their table, flopping down next to Yuugi and greeting him with a, "Hello, your worship." Harry's eyes snapped to Yuugi, watching him like a hawk. At first, nothing happened… but after a moment, Yuugi seemed to grow a noticeable inch, his hair becoming a little wilder than it was already. Harry's eyes widened, and he tried to get Ron's attention to point out the change, but the other boy was too preoccupied with his cornflakes.

"What do you want, tomb robber?" Atemu snapped, annoyed. The fact that he could tell Malik was trying not to crack up beside him did not help his mood.

"What, I can't pay my favorite pharaoh a visit?" Bakura asked, a very fake smile on his face.

Atemu was about to snap at him irritably, when owls suddenly flooded into the Great Hall to deliver that day's mail, and a large parcel carried by six screech owls caught everyone's attention. Atemu and Bakura turned in their seats just in time to see the owls drop the parcel before Harry, knocking his bacon to the floor. Another owl flittered by with a note that Harry, fortunately, opened first, as Atemu saw when he handed it off to him, Malik and Bakura pressing close to read over his shoulder.

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want
everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want
one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field
at seven o' clock for your first training session.
Professor M. McGonagall

"You've got a bro—"

Bakura was cut off as Atemu smacked a hand over his mouth.

"Yes, he does," he replied, letting go of the tomb robber and wiping his hand off, like he had touched something disgusting.

The five of them got up from the table as soon as Malik and Ron were done stuffing their faces, anxious to unwrap the broom in private before their first class. That was cut a bit short as they ran into Crabbe and Goyle on the way upstairs. Malfoy pushed his way between them and snatched the parcel in Harry's hand, feeling it.

"A broom!" he exclaimed, throwing it back at Harry. "You'll be expelled for sure this time, Potter. First years aren't supposed to have them."

Ron could not resist. "It's not just any broomstick, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand," he said. "What did you say you had at home, Malfoy? A Comet Two Sixty?"

"Shut up, Weasel, you couldn't even afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped.

Before Ron could bite off a comment back at him, Professor Flitwick appeared, clapping Malfoy on the elbow.

"Hello, lads!" he squeaked. "Not arguing, I hope?"

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, professor," Malfoy said quickly, before anyone else could get a word out. He was denied bragging rights on "one upping" Harry, though.

"Ah, yes, Professor McGonagall told me about the special circumstances," Flitwick said, Malfoy's expression turning from surprise to horror. "What model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," Harry answered, trying not to laugh. Bakura was outright sniggering.

"It's thanks to Malfoy that he has it too," Atemu replied off-handedly as they started off to the Gryffindor dorm again, leaving a red faced Draco behind.

They bolted into the Gryffindor common room – the fat lady complained about Bakura's presence again – and ran straight up to the first year boy's dorm. Harry set the parcel on his bed, before wrappings went flying as the five boys unwrapped it, leaving the new broomstick resting on the bed. Bakura whistled softly in appreciation. It was sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle and a long tail of neat, straight twigs. The words "Nimbus Two Thousand" was embossed in gold on the handle, topping it all off nicely.

As much as they wanted to drool over the broom all day, they had classes to get to shortly. Harry carefully stuffed the broomstick under the bed, before hurrying off with the others.

-.oOOo.-

Perhaps it was because they were all so busy with classes and homework, and the boys going to watch Harry and the Gryffindor team practice three nights a week, but Yuugi and the others could hardly believe they had been at Hogwarts for two months. It seemed like a dream, with everything happening in the classes, and the castle was beginning to feel like the next best thing to home.

Individual talents were starting to come out as well by now. Yuugi was showing a great knack at Transfiguration and apparently, that transferred over to his other half, because Atemu threatened to send Bakura back to Japan as a matchbox the last time the tomb robber laid a hand on his rear end. Ryou had taken to Charms quite well, as once Bakura cast a Cheering Charm on the pharaoh in retaliation for a smack (that he deserved). It was an accomplishment that Flitwick had been impressed with when he found out about it, even though it had been rather overdone to the point where the pharaoh had to see Madame Pomfrey to have it removed.

"Well, you looked like you needed to laugh a little!" Bakura had exclaimed when Atemu had him by the collar of his shirt once he got out of the hospital wing.

Malik was showing quite a bit of talent at Potions, despite Professor Snape's obvious dislike for anyone outside of his house, which earned him a few glares when he "out-potioned" Malfoy or any of the other Slytherins. Neither of them had heard or seen much of Kaiba outside the Great Hall; he still did not have his computer, which either meant he did not know about the charm to make it work, or Professor Flitwick refused to cast it on the laptop.

Yuugi and Malik had never been one for Halloween festivities, but when they awoke to the smell of baking pumpkins, it was clear that it was quite a popular celebration in the Wizarding world.

"I guess it's because of the way things are, especially nowadays," Yuugi said as they walked down to breakfast. "Wizards and Witches could probably dress up in their normal robes, and everyone will just think they're in costume."

Malik grinned in amusement as they plopped down at their seats, reaching for their food of choice. Bakura stalked over to the table a moment later, flopping down beside Yuugi… who changed again. Harry had already told Ron that he thought something was strange about Yuugi any time "Ryou" was around, but the red-head had yet to notice a difference, and was starting to think that Harry's extra work load with Quidditch was making him stark-raving nuts.

"Tomb robber, don't you have anything better to do?" Atemu snapped irritably. "Like tormenting the people in your own house?"

"Nah, R—I'm friends with them," Bakura replied, barely catching himself in time.

Atemu gave him a dull look. "Since when did that matter to you?"

"Hey, I like the way I'm standing, and I know you know what I mean," Bakura replied, voice dropping to a dangerous tone. A glaring contest between the two of them happened after that, neither of them budging until they had to leave for classes.

"I don't get it," Ron said to Harry privately as they made their way to the first class of the day. "I've talked to some of Ryou's friends, and they say he's really nice. Shy even. The only time they've ever seen him act like he does around Yuugi is when someone harasses him."

"I'm telling you, Ron," Harry replied softly. "There's something funny about them. I know they're our friends, but there's something they're not telling us. Malik obviously knows about it; I've seen him cringe every time Yuugi and Ryou are together."

"You think they're possessed?" Ron suggested.

"I dunno…" Harry answered. "Would Dumbledore let a possessed student into the school?"

They both exchanged helpless looks; Professor Dumbledore was such an odd old man, it was hard to tell what he would and would not do.

Things brightened up when they got to Charms class, and thoughts of their foreign friends being possessed left Harry and Ron's minds. Professor Flitwick was going to show them how to make objects fly, something everyone had been anxious to do since he made Neville's toad zoom about the classroom. It clearly was not easy though; they had been practicing the swish and flick wand movement required for ages, but it did not seem to help. Malik and Yuugi had gotten paired off, and no matter how many times either of them preformed it.

"I think our feather's broken," Malik muttered, poking the white owl feather they were supposed to levitate as Yuugi giggled.

Ron had the misfortune of being paired off with Hermione, and they could hear it from where they were sitting.

"It's Win-gar-dium Levi-o-sa," Hermione instructed. "Make the gar sound nice and long."

Ron slammed his wand down. "You're so clever, you do it then."

"Humph," she replied, rolling up her sleeves, before swishing and flicking her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Almost immediately, the white feather rose up into the air. Professor Flitwick clapped excitedly, drawing everyone's attention to the floating feather, and putting Ron in an even worse mood.

"'It's Win-GAAR-dium Levi-OOO-sa'," he mimicked as they made their way to their next class. "Honestly, she's a nightmare! It's no wonder she hasn't got any friends!"

Yuugi was nearly knocked over as someone barreled past him. It was Hermione, trying to hide her tear-streaked face behind her bushy hair. Malik smacked Ron on the back of the head.

"Nice going," he said dryly.

Ron looked about as uncomfortable as a boy his age could get after just insulting a girl. It got worse when Hermione did not show up for class the rest of the day, and even more so when they overheard Parvati Patil telling one of her friends that Hermione had been in the bathroom since Charms and wanted to be left alone. Marik glared at Ron afterwards, making the boy squirm where he stood.

As soon as they entered the Great Hall, however, all thoughts of what Ron said about Hermione were dashed from their minds. Thousands of live bats fluttered about the room, covering the enchanted ceiling in a black cloud of squeaks and flaps. The floating candles had been replaced with floating jack-o-lanterns, the flames from the candles inside flickering due to the bats and casting an eerie light on those below. The boys raced over to their table, arriving just as their food appeared. Meats and potatoes and pumpkin juice and something that screeched when you tried to grab it; it was a true Halloween feast.

Ron had been just about to stuff his face with a potato when Professor Quirrell dashed into the hall, his turban all askew and a look of absolute terror on his face. All eyes were on him by the time he got to the Professor's table, gasping for air as Dumbledore stood up.

"T-t-t-troll!" Quirrell wailed. "I-i-i-in th-the d-dungeon! Th-thought you'd a-all l-l-l-like to know…"

There was a thump as Quirrell passed out. Silence reigned for a long moment, before the whole Hall erupted in a symphony of panicked shouts. Malik had an arm over Yuugi, trying to protect him from Gryffindors that were trying to get out of their seats at once. Glancing over his shoulder, he was also able to see Kaiba very calmly get up from his seat and exit the Hall, while Bakura was active at the Hufflepuff table, barking commands to chill out at Ryou's friends, who were trying to grab their food and run. It took several loud bangs erupting from Professor Dumbledore's wand before the Hall quieted down again.

"Prefects," he said, once he had everyone's attention, "lead your houses to your dormitories immediately. Supper will be sent up shortly."

Ron's eldest brother at the school, Percy, jumped up almost immediately, running to the head of the table and shouting for Gryffindor house to follow him. Harry and Ron had gone a bit ahead, leaving Yuugi and Malik scrambling to catch up to them in the crush of people. They were just passing a group of confused Hufflepuffs when Malik felt a hand on his arm stopping him. He whirled around, surprised to see the pharaoh there.

"Hermione," Atemu said, worry obvious on his face, "she doesn't know about the troll."

"What can we do?" Malik asked.

Atemu gave him a look, like he couldn't believe he would ask that. "Find her, of course. C'mon."

The pharaoh waited until he was sure Percy would not notice, before grabbing Malik by his robe sleeve and tugging him into the line of Hufflepuffs going the other way. In all the chaos, it was doubtful anyone noticed they were Gryffindors, and they were easily able to slip into a deserted corridor. Unfortunately, they had picked up a hitchhiker along the way…

"Breaking the rules again, pharaoh?" Bakura asked, pushing Malik out of the way and wrapping an arm around Atemu. "You're gonna be a juvenile delinquent soon. I'm so proud."

"I'm surprised you even know what that means," Atemu snapped, pushing him off. He started off down the corridor, Malik lingering behind a bit while the tomb robber was tailing right after the pharaoh.

"And what are you doing exactly, oh your high and mighty-ness?" he asked. "Being a goody two-shoes and going to fight the troll yourself?"

"No," Atemu snapped. "One of our classmates has been in the bathroom all day. She doesn't know about the troll."

"Ohhhh…" Bakura said knowingly. "Slipping off when we're supposed to be going to our common rooms and busting into a girl's bathroom. Wow, you're really sliding down the slope, pharaoh. I'm impressed."

Atemu whirled in the middle of turning a corner, about ready to verbally bitch-slap Bakura for that, when he felt himself whirled back around, a hand over his mouth and an arm wrapped around him tightly. It took him a moment to realize it was the tomb robber that had grabbed him, but before he could struggle, he heard the rush of footsteps that were the reason Bakura had a hand over his mouth. The three of them peeked around the corner just in time to see Snape disappear on his way up to the third floor.

"What's he doing?" Bakura whispered.

"Dunno…" Malik replied.

"Mmmph…" Atemu began, before he reached up and pulled Bakura's hand off. "Do you smell that?"

The Gravekeeper and the tomb robber paused… before looking like they were going to retch as the smell of old socks mixed with a public toilet that no one cleans reached their noses. Malik pinched his, glaring at Bakura.

"Did you fart?"

"He who smelt it, dealt it," Bakura replied dryly.

They both looked down to Atemu…

"Oh, you wish," he snapped.

They tried to turn the corner again… and saw the reason for the horrid smell down the way. It looked like a giant moving boulder; twelve feet tall with grayish skin and a head the size of a coconut plunked on the massive lump that was its body. It plodded along on short, stumpy legs and dragged a large club behind it; it's arms almost as long as it was tall.

"I don't think I dealt that," Atemu replied as the troll eyed an open door down the way, before squeezing itself inside.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you shit that out…" Bakura said, making a face at the mental image.

They started to move away when they heard something that made them skid to a halt: a loud, high-pitched scream coming from the room the troll had disappeared into.

"Hermione!" they exclaimed at once, dashing off for the room.

Hermione was pressed back against the far wall of the room, in hysterics, her screams just bringing the troll even closer to her. It was swinging its club, knocking off sinks left and right as it lumbered toward her. The sound of their feet echoing off the walls made it pause, though, and it turned around to look down at them.

"I think we're outta our league…" Malik gulped, taking a step back.

"A little late to say that now, don't you think?" Bakura growled, also stepping back… but Atemu still stood forward, shaking off his robes.

"Get Hermione out of here!" he exclaimed… running straight for the troll.

"Oy, pharaoh!" Bakura exclaimed, reaching a hand out to try and stop him. "Are you off your fucking nut?"

The tomb robber was too late, though; Atemu took a running leap and latched onto the troll's arm, trying to resist the urge to gag at the smell. The troll swiveled its head down at him, blinking at him as if he could not figure out why he was there, before raising its club and trying to swat at him. Atemu grabbed a roll of flesh on its back, scurrying away and letting the troll hit its own arm.

As the creature wailed over hurting itself, Malik took that moment to dash forward, quickly passing under it and over to Hermione. She clutched at him as he bent over to help her up, clearly terrified.

"C'mon, move," Malik hissed when she would not get up. "Move!"

His voice caught the troll's attention and it started to turn… so Atemu did the only thing he could think of: scramble up the troll's back and cram his wand up its nose. The creature bellowed in rage, flailing about until Atemu lost his grip and fell off, catching him by the leg as he fell.

"ATEMU!" Bakura shouted, trying to think of something he could do.

The troll reared back, swinging his club mightily, a blow that Atemu just narrowly missed by worming to the side.

"Someone do something!" he shouted, bracing himself for another attack.

Malik ripped his wand out of his robes, shouting the first spell that popped into his head. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The troll had just reared back to take another swing at Atemu, but its club suddenly disappeared. It stared at its hand stupidly as the club floated up, turned over, and landed squarely on the creature's pea-sized head. The troll teetered a bit before falling over with a wall trembling thud, sending the pharaoh flying, arms flailing as if it would help. Bakura raced forward, catching him.

Something… rather odd happened for Atemu at that moment. It was like one of those animated shows his aibou would watch: the person in danger would get rescued, and the scenery would suddenly become a kaleidoscope of colors, focusing on the rescuer's smiling face as they asked if the person was all right. He stared, feeling his heart skip a beat. Right now, Bakura had a rather nice smile and…

What the heck are you thinking

Yuugi's words in his mind, as well as the crack to his skull as he and Bakura landed against the wall, helped bring Atemu back to reality. He winced and held his head, cracking an eye open to see the tomb robber had received similar treatment. Across the way, Malik was helping a trembling Hermione finally get to her feet. They stared at the troll between them, before a quavering voice broke the silence.

"Is… is it dead…?" Hermione asked, clinging to Malik.

"I don't think so," Bakura said, standing up straight and setting Atemu back on his feet. "S'just unconscious. Let's go bef—"

The tomb robber was cut off by a startled gasp. They all whirled or looked up to see Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway, looking absolutely horrified. Bakura muttered something along the lines of, "too late," as the professor struggled to find her words. Snape and Quirrell arrived behind her a moment later, the latter taking one look at the unconscious troll and quickly shrinking away.

"Explain this!" McGonagall finally streaked, pointing to the unconscious troll. The boys exchanged looks; even Bakura was at a loss for a plausible excuse.

"It was my fault, professor," Hermione said suddenly, making Malik jump in surprise. "I thought I could defeat the troll… because I had read so much about them. If… it weren't for the others… I'd probably be dead."

Atemu and Bakura tried to make it sound like this was not new to them, though the tomb robber pulled that expression off better.

"W…well…" Professor McGonagall began as Snape glared at them over her shoulder. "That was very foolish of you! Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this."

Hermione hung her head.

"Now, if you're not hurt at all, Miss Granger, I suggest you go up to Gryffindor Tower."

She left, leaving the boys with the three professors, who found themselves shuffling a little closer to one another, worried about what would happen to them…

"As for you three…" McGonagall began. "Well… I say you were lucky. But… not many first years can take on a fully-grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points will be rewarded to each of you. Now, Mr. Mutou, get your… wand… and go to your common rooms."

They left, not speaking until they were two floors up, and far away from the smell of troll. Bakura stopped where he would have to break off to go to the Hufflepuff common room, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Just five points?" he asked. "We should have gotten more than that."

"We're just lucky to be alive, Bakura," Malik replied. Atemu had been rather quiet since they left, and was making a point of not looking at the tomb robber.

"True," he replied. "Lucky that girl got us out of trouble, otherwise we'd probably be packing our bags. Well, see you tomorrow."

He waved as he walked off, Malik and Atemu heading off a moment later. They gave the password to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung open to reveal a noisy common room, filled with Gryffindor students eating and laughing. Hermione had waited for them by the door, and she looked up at Malik a bit shyly.

"Thank you," she murmured, before hurrying off to get food.

Malik felt a blush creeping up onto his face. "Y…you're welcome…"