Mew: I apologize for being so inconsistent with my chapter stories. I just can't seem to find the motivation to work on them as much as I used to. I really, really, really need to get a deadline kinda schedule of some sort, since I work best under pressure. Heck, I typed up these words right here at exactly 2:33 in the morning. Hopefully dad won't catch me, or I'm screwed.

Draiku: Ooh. I'm telling. –evil grin-

Mew: NOOO!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter. Seriously. If I did, I'd have my own DA gallery right now.

When Houses Collide

Chapter 7: The Necklace

Yugi and Yami sat in the library, researching unique abilities and why they did what they did. Yugi was praying that he didn't see the words "a unique ability moves on to a person that is most like the person previous to their next decision."

"What's wrong?" Yami asked, noticing Yugi's worried expression. Yugi looked up from his book and bit his lower lip slightly.

"I was just thinking. What if a unique ability chooses to go to people that are most like their previous owners or something?" he asked. Yami frowned at him slightly.

"I doubt that. You aren't anything like the Dark Lord. He's cruel and vicious, while you're kind and caring. He doesn't give a crap for other people, while you care about people with all your heart, no matter who or what they are," he said. Yugi smiled at him.

"Thank you, Yami," he said softly. "Just for saying that." He leaned across the small table to plant a gentle kiss on Yami's cheek. Yami smiled and kissed him back lightly, so it tickled Yugi's skin slightly.

"Now, let's get back to researching this. I'm sure that both of us want to know why we have the unique abilities that we do," Yami said softly.

They looked back to their books and read in silence.

"Oh! Hello, you two. Mind if we join you?" Hermione asked just after she walked into the library. Marik, Malik, Bakura, Ryou, Harry, and Ron were behind her.

"Of course not, here's a few seats," Yami said, scooting over a bit to offer Hermione a bit more room. He noticed the necklace in Ryou's hand. "What is that?" he asked.

"Oh, this? I got it from someone, though I don't know who," Ryou replied and held it out for Yami to see. The Slytherin looked concerned. "What is it?" Ryou asked.

"The Dark Lord's symbol is, basically, a green snake, like the Slytherin's symbol. If I were you, I wouldn't wear that at all. It could be cursed," Yami told him.

"I was thinking the same thing, but it seems unlikely. What would the Dark Lord want to do with you guys?" Marik said. Bakura felt worried, all of a sudden. The Dark Lord didn't know that he was in love with Ryou, and he of course didn't want Ryou to get harmed. He hated himself for doing it, but he would lie to Lord Voldemort and persuade him into believing that he had cast a spell on Marik and Yami to make them hate their opposite numbers. That way, no one would get harmed, except maybe himself for lying to his lord. But he'd do anything for Ryou, anything at all.

"What's wrong, Bakura?" Malik asked, looking to him. "You seem kinda concerned about something."

"Nothing. I was just thinking about that necklace," Bakura replied.

"Oh. It makes me concerned too. Same thing with this little band I got. I wonder who sent it to me?" Malik mumbled, staring at the silver ring around his wand.

"Hopefully whoever sent them isn't our enemy," Marik declared. Everyone agreed with him wholly.

-

"The preparations are complete, my lord," said a voice coming from within the Forbidden Forest. "Malik has the silver ring and Ryou has the necklace."

"Good, good. Now, I entrust you to carry out the plans. Bakura will report back to me with any news, and I'll of course contact you with any important information. Now go. I must contact the two who have been betraying me," said the Dark Lord's voice. The one in front of him bowed.

"Yes, my lord." With that, the person walked out of the Forbidden Forest, back to Hogwarts.

-

"Have you seen Marik today?" Malik asked Ryou the next morning, feeling worried. He hadn't seen Marik at all today, not even during the morning. Marik would always wait for him so they could go to their classes together, after all. Ryou shook his head.

"No, not at all. Yugi just asked me if I'd seen Yami, so I wonder if something happened to them. Maybe Bakura knows?" Ryou replied.

"Let's ask him after Potions," Malik said. They went into professor Snape's room and took their seats. The class began to fill up, and finally Snape walked to the front. Today they would learn to make a potion that would trick anyone into believing anything you said.

Bakura blinked and smirked to himself. He could use this, hopefully, if it didn't reek like a thousand corpses or change into a sickly green color.

"…And as you can see, the potion has no odor or color. You can put it into anything and no one will notice," Snape told the class. Bakura grinned widely and wrote down every single ingredient as Snape listed them off.

"And by the way, we will not be making this in class, since it is technically forbidden for students to use. Instead, you will all take this pop quiz," Snape said dully, holding up a stack of papers. The entire class groaned.

After completing the abnormally hard quiz, class was dismissed. Malik and Yugi hurried up to Bakura and Ryou.

"Bakura, have you seen Yami anywhere?" Yugi asked.

"And what about Marik?" Malik added. Bakura gasped.

"You mean you haven't seen them?" he asked. They nodded. "I didn't even notice that! I woke up late this morning, so I figured that they had left without me," he mumbled. Malik cursed in a mutter.

"I hope they're alright," Yugi said softly.

-

"You two have betrayed me and the entire pure-blooded race. And you know what I do to traitors," the Dark Lord hissed ominously. Yami and Marik, who were being held down by some Death Eaters, glared at their lord.

"You bastard!" Marik yelled at him, struggling. Yami seemed slightly calm, though.

"Oh, so that's how it is?" Voldemort growled. "First you defy me, then you insult me? You fools.

"Now, according to Bakura, you would do anything for your little Gryffindor boyfriends, correct? You'd even put their life in front of yours?" he asked, leaning towards Marik and Yami's faces. "Well, don't. That's not the Slytherin way. Tie them up so I can lecture them better." The Death Eaters quickly obeyed and did so.

"I'm not going to kill you," Voldemort said calmly, standing with his back towards Marik and Yami.

"Why not!" Marik yelled. He suddenly gasped in horror. "You…Malik and Yugi have nothing to do with this! Leave them alone!" he yelled furiously. He looked to his left, expecting to see Yami glaring at the Dark Lord, but instead he only saw a pile of loose ropes.

"Yes, they do. They play a very big part in all of this. And you two were the ones who got them involved. And remember, once you're involved, there's no running away. Am I correct?" He turned around, only to gasp. "Where are they!" he yelled at the Death Eaters.

"Th-they melted into the shadows!" one replied. Voldemort glared furiously, anger burning in his slanted eyes.

"Find them!" he spat. "Find them now, or I'll kill you all personally!" The Death Eaters immediately searched the area, but found nothing.

Meanwhile, outside of the large building the Death Eaters were located in, Marik and Yami were running through the shadows as fast as they could go. While Voldemort had his back turned, Yami had melted into the shadows and appeared next to Marik. He gripped his hand, enabling him to also come into the shadows with him, and they managed to get out of the house.

"Damn!" Marik hissed. "Where the hell is Hogwarts! They knocked us out before we got here, so where do we go!"

"I have no clue. Let's just get away as fast as we can," Yami replied. They kept running for what seemed like forever until they came upon a small village. Marik gasped and they stopped.

"Is this Hogsmeade?" he wondered aloud. Yami grinned.

"It is! Hogwarts isn't far from here! Let's get going!" They ran towards Hogwarts and stopped at the edge.

"What are you stopping for?" Marik asked.

"Isn't there a curse on the exterior of the school that keeps people from getting in without permission or something?" Yami asked.

"Weren't you listening to Rakara when she said that nothing could stop unique abilities? Just take us inside, hurry!" Marik snapped. Yami blinked, then they ran up the shadowy wall and in through the Slytherin boy's dorm window. Both sighed with relief, now that they were safe.

"They're back!" Bakura's voice exclaimed. Strangely enough, Malik and Yugi were waiting for them. Malik instantly pulled Marik into a tight hug, just as Yugi did to Yami.

"I was worried!" Yugi cried. Malik, however, glared at Marik.

"Where the hell were you! Never disappear like that again, you hear me? And if you plan on doing that again, then you'd better take me with you!" he scolded. Marik blinked.

"O-okay," he mumbled sheepishly.

"You made me worry too much!" Malik added and pulled Marik into a tight, loving hug once more. Marik hugged him back gently, happy that he was back as well. Bakura smirked at him.

"I'm beginning to have second thoughts about who's the real uke between you and Malik, Marik," he said with a grin. Marik gave him a dull look.

"What're you implying?" he asked suspiciously. Malik, however, seemed to not be paying attention.

"Before I forget, what are you two doing here in the Slytherin boy's dorm?" Yami asked.

"Bakura let us in, since he figured that this would be the first place you'd come to when you returned," Yugi replied with a sweet smile.

"Well, now that they're here, where were you guys?" Bakura asked. Yami and Marik looked to each other, and somehow agreed on not telling Yugi and Malik. The two Gryffindors would worry about them too much, and neither wanted that. They hated seeing their boyfriends upset or sad.

"Uh…we were playing hooky," Marik lied. "We stayed in Hogsmeade the entire day."

"No fair!" Bakura whined. "No fair at all!" But he could see in their eyes that they were lying. Something had happened, and it was definitely something life-threatening.

"Really? I can't believe that you didn't get caught," Yugi said. Malik stayed silent. He could see that Marik looked troubled when he first arrived, they hadn't been in Hogsmeade at all. But he would talk to Marik in private, tomorrow, when no one was around.

"Yes, us too," Yami said with a fake smile.

"Well, you two had better leave before someone catches us," Bakura advised. "Tell Ryou that I said 'goodnight,' if he's still awake by any chance."

"Sure. Thanks for letting us in, Bakura," Malik said. Yugi nodded, smiling. Yugi pulled Yami into a gentle hug and kissed him, murmuring "goodnight, Yami." Malik did the same to Marik and they left. Marik and Yami climbed into their beds, glad that they could rest, though not peacefully.

"I had no idea that the Dark Lord was so close to Hogwarts," Marik mumbled to Yami, who nodded in agreement.

"Worst of all, we're in the range of the Imperius curse. All of Hogwarts is. I'm…I'm worried for Yugi's safety, and Ryou's and Malik's," he mumbled back.

"We'll protect them, Yami. We can make sure that they don't get hurt or something," Marik said, trying to assure Yami. "And I think that he'll use the Imperius curse on them, but we know how to stop it, remember?" Yami still looked uncertain.

"What if he uses the Cruciatus curse? Or even worse, what if he uses Avada Kedavra?" he hissed.

"I know that Malik will be safe. I…I gave him my stone. The one that negates the effect of the Killing curse," Marik murmured. Yami gasped.

"That's a good idea. I'll give mine to Yugi. As long as he's safe, I'll be comforted," he said. "But that puts you in danger. What if he decides to kill you?"

"Then I'll die. Simple as that," Marik said. Yami stared at him. "I don't fear death, or the Dark Lord."

"But what about Malik?"

"He'll…He'll move on."

"He loves you more than anyone else, Marik. What if he doesn't move on? What if he thinks that you didn't love him for leaving him, just like that, without any reassuring words? I'd never just assume that Yugi would move on."

"Then I'll stay here as a ghost. I know how to do it," Marik replied. Yami sighed.

"How about just not getting killed?" he said. Marik chuckled.

"Alright, that's easy enough," he said with a grin. "Let's just go to bed." Yami nodded and pulled the blanket to his neck and they fell asleep.

-

The Dark Lord stared into the swirling center of the crystal ball placed in front of him. He concentrated and finally, the one who was the key to his plan appeared in the crystal. He aimed his wand at it.

"Imperio!" he hissed, then smirked. His plan was slowly falling into place, piece by piece. He'd have his revenge, and he'd enjoy its sickly sweet taste.

-

Ryou was deeply sleeping, but Reaper, however, was not. He hopped towards his desk and took the strange, snake-shaped amulet into his beak. He then flew over to Yugi and, with the finesse of a master embroiderer, placed the necklace over his head and around his neck.

The jade snake suddenly began glowing bright green. A thick aura appeared around it and slithered around Yugi's neck and into his partly-open mouth. Yugi coughed violently, then his eyes snapped open, glowing as green as the necklace. He had only one thought.

Kill…

-

Malik awoke from a pleasant, don't-you-dare-awake-me-or-I'll-murder-you dream, thanks to the sound of something clattering to the floor. He grunted a vulgar curse word and opened his eyes, then gasped.

Yugi stood above and beside him, pointing his wand at him. Malik blinked.

"Yugi what're you doing--!" he started, but, to his horror, was cut off.

"Avada Kedavra!" Yugi stated. Malik gasped and the bright green light hit his body. He let out a cry of pain, but he was still alive. He gasped in and out, surprised by the shockwave of pain that had shot through his entire body, but thankful that he had the stone Marik gave him in his pocket. He kept it with him at all times, just in case.

"Yugi! What the hell are you doing!" he yelled, awaking most of the boys in the room. "Where'd you learn that spell!" Yugi didn't answer. He stared at Malik through soulless eyes, ones with no emotion or thought.

Kill…kill…kill…kill…kill!

Malik glared at him, then gasped, noticing the necklace around Yugi's neck. Strangely enough, his skin was literally growing over it as Malik watched! Finally, the necklace was completely embedded in his skin and there was no way it was coming off.

"Dammit, Yugi, why'd you put that on!" Malik demanded, getting out of bed and grabbing his wand. "Expelliarmus!" Yugi's wand shot out of his hand and clattered to the floor. Ryou was now awake and he quickly grabbed Yugi's wand before his comrade could pick it up. Ryou pointed Yugi's own wand at him dangerously.

"I'm really sorry, Yugi, but you can't just try to kill Malik like that. You know that Avada Kedavra is unforgivable!" he said. Yugi simply glared at them.

"Yugi, wake up! You're either sleepwalking or controlled! So get a hold of yourself!" Malik commanded. Reaper cawed loudly, as if he was laughing.

"Wha's goin' on?" Ron slurred, rubbing his eyes. Yugi suddenly grabbed Ryou's wand from Ryou's bedside table and pointed it at Malik again.

"Avada Kedavra!" he yelled again, and Malik was hit by the beam.

"No!" Harry cried, watching as Malik was thrown back against the wall. Malik let out a cry as his back came in contact with the wall and he glared, standing up.

"Dammit, Yugi! Now I know that something's wrong with you!" he growled. Harry and Ron, along with the other boys, stared at him in awe. Malik smirked, noticing Yugi's confused expression. He took out the small, jade stone and held it up so Yugi could see it.

"Recognize this, Voldemort?" he said, grinning. "You can't kill me with that spell." Yugi glared, looking furious.

"You're kidding! He's under the Imperius curse?" one boy exclaimed. "He's being controlled by You-Know-Who!"

"Exactly," Ryou said. "I knew this as soon as I saw the necklace from my desk missing and those odd shapes on Yugi's neck. It's under his very skin. And it looks as if the necklace is 'programming' him to kill Malik first, then possibly me, and maybe even Harry, but I'm guessing that Voldemort wants Yugi to capture him so he can do that himself. We know what's going on, Voldemort, if you're listening."

"We're lucky that he doesn't know to turn around and attack you, Ryou," Malik said, relieved that Voldemort had inserted a "program" into the necklace. "He won't attack anyone but me. Go on, Yugi! Attack me!" he said, grinning.

"Avada Kedavra!" Yugi yelled. Malik let out yet another short cry, but he was still alive.

"Someone, get Dumbledore or someone!" Neville said quickly. Harry and Ron nodded and ran out of the room.

"Everyone stay down," Ryou commanded, still holding the wand at Yugi. "Expelliarmus!" he said, and the wand flew out of Yugi's hand. Ryou quickly snatched it out of the air and slipped it into his pocket. Yugi growled murderously and charged at Malik. Malik gasped, and aimed his wand at Yugi.

"Uh…uh," he stammered, then a word, a horrible, horrible word popped into his mind. "C- crucio!" Yugi let out a cry and fell to the ground, twitching and screaming. Malik gasped and pulled away his wand at once, and Yugi stopped twitching. "Oh, gods, Yugi, I'm sorry," he stammered, hurrying to the side of his friend. Yugi snarled and grabbed Malik's neck with both hands, trying to choke him. Malik gripped Yugi's arms, trying to pull them off, but his grip was surprisingly strong.

Tigerwings immediately hissed, flapped up, and flew straight at Yugi's face, spitting and growling. He scratched him multiple times until Yugi let go. Ryou walked over and murmured a spell that froze Yugi stiff. Malik breathed in and out erratically, but Tigerwings comforted him by nuzzling him and licking him.

"He's not the Yugi that we know any more," Ryou murmured, kneeling next to his frozen friend. "That necklace is definitely cursed. It has to come out if we ever want to see him as he normally is—the kind, caring Yugi that we know. Malik, how'd you learn how to use that curse?" Malik shook his head, still shaken.

"I remember reading of the unforgivable curses, and that was one of them," he whispered. "Gods, it was like it was a reflex!" He tucked his legs to his chest.

"Don't worry, we won't tell a soul," Ryou assured him. "You didn't mean to do it, and if nobody knows then nothing will happen." Malik thanked him. Suddenly, Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall rushed into the room. Following them were Harry and Ron.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Yugi's frozen body on the ground.

"He went berserk!" one boy piped up. "He was using the killing curse on Malik!"

"Then why," Snape started, sauntering into the room and in front of Malik, "is he still alive?" Everyone looked to each other and shrugged. Malik gulped slightly. Snape noticed the small bump created by the stone in Malik's pajama pocket. He instantly reached into it and yanked out the stone. "Ah-hah. So this is why you're not dead," he murmured, looking over the stone. Malik glared.

"Th-that stone was a gift!" he yelled.

"Oh really. From who?" Snape replied coolly. Malik gulped.

"A man I met one day while in Diagon alley. He helped me find the correct cauldron size, then he gave me this stone. He had a hood over his face, so I never saw what he really looked like," he lied.

"I see, I see. You do realize that this stone is in the shape of the Dark Mark!" Snape yelled, loudly enough for the world to hear. That made the boys in the room gasp, obviously surprised.

"I-I've never seen this 'Dark Mark' thingy," Malik said nervously.

"It is the sign of the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Surely you know who he is, correct?" Snape growled. Malik nodded.

"Now, Severus, calm down. He obviously didn't know what the Dark Mark was, but let him keep it. We know that he isn't a Death Eater already, and he's a new student. Go easy on him," Dumbledore said kindly. Malik sighed with relief. "And besides, if that was the thing that protected him from the killing curse, then by all means it's a good thing and whoever gave it to him must have been an Aura or something." Snape's eye twitched.

"Fine," he hissed and tossed the stone at Malik, who quickly caught it.

"Now then, what happened to little Yugi here?" Dumbledore said. Ryou told him everything, leaving out the bit about Malik using the Cruciatus curse on him. "I see, I see. Well, we'll take him to madam Pomfrey, she'll be able to remove that necklace."

"Thank you, sir," Malik and Ryou said gratefully. Dumbledore just smiled and picked up Yugi.

"Now all of you go to bed. Tomorrow you'll be going to Hogsmeade," he said. They nodded and climbed into bed. Ryou looked to Malik, slightly worried.

"I don't think that a spell will remove the necklace," he said softly. Malik blinked.

"Why do you say that?" he replied.

"Because, well, think about it. If Voldemort's as smart as people say he is, then he must have cursed it so a spell can't remove it," Ryou said.

"Then maybe surgery would work?" Malik replied with a shrug.

"Madam Pomfrey has relied on spells and magic though her years of medical care and such. She wouldn't have studied surgery. It might be a while before we get to see Yugi again," Ryou said.

"Oh…now I see," Malik mumbled. "Poor Yugi! I wonder how Yami will take this, although," he added.

-

Yugi was strapped to the bed and unfrozen. He struggled to get away, then laughed manically. Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall stepped out of the room, all a bit freaked out at the sound of his erratic laughter.

"Kill-ing, kill-ing, mud-bloods die-ing. Dark Lord laugh-ing, laugh-ing, laugh-ing!" he sang in a strange, high-pitched tone. "World is pure, world is clean! Af-ter Mug-gles leave the scene!" He repeated this over and over again, his eerie words echoing throughout the dark, empty room.

TBC

Mew: -sweatdrops- Okay, that really creeped me out. –hides from Yugi-

Draiku: Coward! Come out and face him!

Mew: NOOO! –screams and thrashes about-

Yoko: -sweatdrops- Uh…R&R, please! And ignore Mew's screaming while you do so as well.