Of Wizards and Duelists …
XO'MagickMoon'OX
A/N: Hey everybody! Fast update, huh, considering my new, hectic schedule? Although, yes, this chapter is a little short compared to the others, but I'm sure you're all happy about that. This is a breath chapter, one that leads into the first climax of the story. And … guess what? No more dialogue from the OotP! Everyone cheer: wa-hoo! Yeah, anyway … I just wanna acknowledge some people before we continue here:
Jazhira gets a cookie for being the first to review chapter 10! Hah, not only that, but her reviews are awesome! She writes some of the more thorough reviews I receive, and for that I am very thankful. -has a feedback fetish- haha, anyway … so thanks a lot! Ooh, and those who have not already, check out her stories! "Yugioh Gets Charmed" and "Hate" … among others … are awesome! I am telling you, tendershipping fans, she is AMAZING with Bakura! She has this uncanny ability to keep him incredibly IC … read "Hate" and you'll know what I mean.
And Kitsuna Katt, thanks for bringing to light the fact that I have not given translations for what little Japanese I have in my story. I'm sorry!
Well, for those who don't know, let me explain:
Yadonushi – this is what Bakura refers to Ryou as, and means "host" or "landlord".
Koe – this is what Ryou refers to Bakura as. It means "voice" … which would come, I assume, from the fact that Bakura speaks to Ryou through their mind-link, so Bakura's like this little voice in Ryou's head.
Aibou – this is what Atemu refers to Yuugi as, and means "partner".
And just for good measure:
Yami – dark
Hikari – light
Are we all good? Yae, now on with the chapter!
---
---
As the group playing Wizard's Truth or Dare dissipated, heading up to their rooms, Harry hung back with Hermione. Once he was sure that everyone was gone, he said, "All right, out with it Hermione."
Hermione began sliding her books into her bag, having finished all of her homework due on Monday. "Out with what?" she asked, feigning naiveté.
"Why did you silencio me during the game?" Harry thought he knew the answer, but he wanted Hermione to admit it before he jumped to conclusions.
Hermione dropped her now-packed bag on the floor, meeting Harry's emerald gaze squarely. "Because I didn't think you'd want the answer to that question unveiled to those guys just yet," she said honestly.
"How …" Harry paused. "How … did you know what the answer was going to be?"
"Oh Harry, come on, this is me you're talking to. Did you think it was a total secret?"
"What? Did I think what was a total secret?" Harry prodded earnestly.
His friend seemed taken aback. "You mean … you don't know?"
Harry's fists clenched furiously. "Know what?" he hissed. He bit his lower lip, his gaze straying to the hearth, where the fire was beginning to die down. Quietly, he said, "Hermione, what's wrong with me?"
"Oh Harry …" Hermione laid her hand over the raven-haired boy's trembling fists, which immediately ceased to tremble and relaxed, palms spreading flat over the tabletop. "There's nothing wrong with you. Why would you think that? Just because you fancy Malfoy –"
"There's nothing wrong with that?" Harry said incredulously, turning to look Hermione in the eye. "Hermione … he's my enemy! He's a coldhearted, cruel, arrogant prat. Remember, you punched his face in two years ago … he's the son of a Death Eater … a Death Eater!"
"But he's not a Death Eater –"
"No doubt he will be someday," Harry muttered bitterly.
"You don't know that."
Harry let out an exasperated sigh, dropping his head into his hands and raking his fingers through his hair. "You act as if the past five years of bitter resentment and rivalry mean nothing. Don't you remember what he's done to us? What we've done to him? Let's say that … I did maybe fancy him … just a little … how can that just happen … after all of that? After all of those years? It's not logical, it's not sensible!"
"It doesn't have to be. And though I still might hate Malfoy, I can't change how either of you feels –"
"How either of us feels?" Harry laughed. "You make it sound like he'd feel the same way about me."
Hermione shrugged, but couldn't hide her grin, even in the dying firelight.
Green orbs narrowed suspiciously, but Harry didn't say anything on the matter. Instead, he voiced his other concern. "Well, even if – IF – we could somehow … come to a truce of sorts, we're still both guys! And I'm not gay!"
Hermione clamped her hand tightly over her mouth to keep herself from bursting into laughter. Once she'd collected herself, she gasped, "You're not gay! After this whole little discussion we've had, how can you sit there and say that?" Hermione sat back, her expression suddenly melting into one of a more thoughtful manner. "And, why do you have to label it?"
"What?"
"Why do you have to label it? Love, that is. Love is love, Harry … it has no gender. Straight, bisexual, homosexual … it's all just an attraction between two people –"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa … hold it." Harry sat up. "'Love'?" he echoed. "Are you serious? Who said anything about love? All I said was that I might just fancy him a little." As the words tumbled out of his mouth, Harry groaned, dropping his head into his arms that were folded across the tabletop. "This is insane! We're enemies … we're both guys … enemies!" he began mumbling.
"Well, if you ask me, Malfoy is pretty hot."
Harry's head snapped up. "Please tell me you did not just say that."
"What? Don't tell me you haven't noticed."
"Well … I …" Harry stuttered, blushing.
Hermione grinned. "You are so crushing on him. It's not just a little Harry. You flatout fancy the boy."
Harry frowned. "How do you know all this?"
"Woman's intuition," Hermione replied, standing.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked, also standing.
"To bed, Harry. It's nearly two o' clock."
"Oh, right." As if the revelation made him weary, Harry yawned. "Goodnight, then."
"Goodnight. Sweet dreams." At that Hermione grinned impishly and went off to the stairwell leading to the girls' dorms.
Harry glared half-heartedly at her retreating form. What was she implying …?
Harry gathered up his things and made for the stairwell to the boys' dorms. What a night, he thought as he stifled another yawn.
Atemu and Bakura watched the boy go, both grinning broadly. This sounded very promising.
Maybe one of them wouldn't have to suffer, after all.
---
Ryou awoke the next morning to an empty room. Everyone else had no doubt went down to breakfast already; judging from the bright rays of sunlight, however dimmed by the winter clouds, streaking across his bed, it was late morning. He had overslept. Who wouldn't after staying up late playing Wizard's Truth or Dare? But he also vaguely recalled something plaguing his sleep, something rolling uneasily through his subconscious, something, some truth, waiting …
… to be released …
Ryou shook his head, running a hand through his mussed, white locks. He slipped out of bed and grabbed the book he'd been reading for the past few weeks off of his nightstand. In nothing but his gray flannel pajama bottoms and button-front pajama shirt, he left the room and started down the staircase. He caught a glimpse out the window on his way down and saw white, pristine flakes drifting lazily to the ground. Already everything was powdered with a thin layer of snow.
Finally making it to the common room where there was a warm fire burning in the hearth, he spotted Yuugi curled on one of the couches. Apparently he, too, was skipping breakfast, opting instead for the solitude of the empty common room.
"Good morning, Yuugi," Ryou said quietly as he came up behind the small boy, going to sit in one of the armchairs across from the couch his friend was on.
Yuugi looked up. "Hey, Ryou."
Ryou smiled, settling into the chair before opening his book, A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare. He was a sucker for classic literature, particularly ones about romance.
Yuugi tilted his head, squinting at the title. It still amazed him that he could now read English. However, the distance between the two of them at the moment prevented this. So, he asked, "What's that, Ryou?"
Ryou glanced up from his book. "This? Oh, it's Shakespeare. I've been meaning to read it for a while. I brought it with me, but until recently I didn't have much time to spare."
Yuugi nodded. "I know what you mean. So which play is that?"
"A Midsummer Night's Dream." Upon receiving an inquisitive look from Yuugi, Ryou added, "It's about four young lovers who get lost in the woods outside of Athens. Two of them, Lysander and Hermia, are eloping because Hermia's father wants her to marry Demetrius, and forbids her to marry anyone else. Demetrius claims to be in love with Hermia, and Helena is in love with Demetrius. Eventually, I think the faeries that live in the woods get involved with the four lovers and end up messing things up. It's supposed to be a comedy."
"Oh, sounds interesting. I heard Shakespeare's hard to understand, though."
"Not once you get used to reading it," Ryou said.
"I suppose that makes sense." Yuugi laid his head back down on a pillow and closed his eyes, leaving Ryou to read in peace.
"(Enter Helena.)
Hermia:
Godspeed, fair Helena. Whither away?
Helena:
Call me "fair"? That "fair" again unsay.
Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair!
Your eyes are lodestars and your tongue's sweet air
More tunable than lark to shepherd's ear
When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear.
Sickness is catching. O, were favor so!
Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go.
My ear should catch your voice, my eye your eye;
My tongue should catch your tongue's sweet melody.
Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated,
The rest I'd give to be to you translated.
O, teach me how you look and with what art.
You sway the motion of Demetrius' heart!
Hermia:
I frown upon him, yet he loves me still.
Helena:
O, that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!
Hermia:
I give him curses, yet he gives me more love.
Helena:
O, that my prayers could such affection move!
Hermia:
The more I hate, the more he follows me.
Helena:
The more I love, the more he hateth me.
Hermia:
His folly, Helena, is no fault of mine.
Helena:
None but your beauty. Would that fault were mine!
Hermia:
Take comfort: he nor more shall see my face.
Lysander and myself will fly this place.
Before the time I did Lysander see
Seemed Athens as a paradise to me.
O, then, what graces in my love do dwell
That he hath turned a heaven into hell!
Lysander:
Helen, to you our minds we will unfold.
Tomorrow night when Phoebe doth behold
Her silver visage in that wat'ry glass,
Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grass
(A time that lovers' flights doth still conceal),
Through Athens' gates have we devised to steal.
Hermia:
And in the wood where often you and I
Upon faint primrose beds were wont to lie,
Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet,
There my Lysander and myself shall meet,
And thence from Athens turn away our eyes
To see new friends and stranger companies.
Farewell, sweet playfellow. Pray thou for us,
And good luck grant thee thy Demetrius. —
Keep word, Lysander. We must starve our sight
From lovers' food till morrow deep midnight.
Lysander:
I will, my Hermia.
(Hermia exists.)
Helena, adieu
As you do on him, Demetrius dote on you!
(Lysander exists.)"
Ryou suddenly looked up from his book as a memory besieged his mind. "Yuugi?"
Eyelids opened to reveal amethyst slits, before opening all the way. "Mmm?"
"You like Yami?"
Yuugi started, sitting up. He made sure to promptly close his mind-link, and Ryou, thinking along the same lines, did the same.
"Uh … yeah," Yuugi replied, blushing.
Ryou smiled. "That's wonderful."
"Ryou?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't just like him, I think … I think I love him."
"Oh." Ryou stood from his chair and went to sit beside his friend on the couch, the cushions dipping with the added weight.
"I'm so stupid." Yuugi buried his face in his hands.
"Why are you stupid?" Ryou wondered, aghast.
"Because he doesn't feel the same way about me. I'm just his host, his friend … nothing more."
"Don't think like that. You don't know for sure … he might like you … or even love you –"
"Ugh … it's just so complicated. Even if we could be together … how would we … you know … kiss?"
Ryou bit his lip. "That would be a problem." He suddenly felt guilty for thanking God time and time again that that little barrier existed between yamis and hikaris. If it didn't, he could only imagine what evils Bakura would commit. And here was his friend, wishing with all his heart that he could somehow touch his yami, wishing that they weren't two souls in one body, but rather, two separate people.
He didn't know what else to say. What other comfort could he offer? No words, surely, would help his friend, so instead he just wrapped his arm around Yuugi's shoulders and hugged him. Yuugi gratefully leaned into it, bidding his tears away.
---
The weekend passed in a flurry of snow, and by Monday the grounds were blanketed in a good foot or two. Draco found himself strolling along the corridor around the courtyard early that morning after breakfast before classes. Lately he hadn't had any more dreams of Harry dying, however the memory was still vivid in his mind.
He ducked his head out of the corridor and looked out into the courtyard, soaking in the purity of the snow. He took a deep breath, the coldness of which stung his nose, and exhaled a silver vapor, watching it snake through the air up to the sky.
His heart leapt into his throat.
Something about the sky, the thick, pearly gray clouds, stirred a vague sense of dread in his mind. Why? The sky was no different than it had been that winter. Why did it seem so terrifyingly familiar?
He was pulled from his thoughts as he heard the students running along the previously-deserted halls towards their classes, reminding him of his own he needed to attend. He shifted back into the warm corridor and hurried down the hall.
As he went, a pair of pale, lifeless green eyes haunted his mind.
---
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Yuugi, Ryou, and Malik settled into History of Magick. Atemu and Bakura drifted to the back and stood, watching the students with vague interest. The six friends sat in a row near the back: Hermione, Harry, Ron, Yuugi, Ryou, and Malik from left to right, with Ryou contently resting his head on Malik's shoulder. Professor Binns fazed through the blackboard and, without so much as acknowledging his class, opened his book and began to speak.
"Today we're going to begin learning about how different cultures have affected magick throughout the ages. The Greeks, for example, were among the first identify many of the magickal creatures we know about today. The Chinese created many methods of divining the future, many of which are still used at present, and the Native Americans were very in-tune with Nature and the spirits. We'll be going over these ancient cultures, as well as many other Native tribes."
"Professor?"
Binns looked up lazily, his dull, phantom eyes resting on the speaker. "Yes, Mr. Ishtar?"
"Will we be going over ancient Egypt?"
The professor sighed and turned back to his book, flipping through the pages. "No, I don't believe so."
At this, Atemu and Bakura perked up.
"Why not?" Malik persisted.
"Well, I don't see them in my lesson book, which means that ancient Egypt didn't contribute much to the world of magick as we know it today."
"WHAT!" Atemu and Bakura shouted at the same time, though no one but their hosts heard their outbursts.
Without even asking, Bakura took over Ryou. Atemu, however, did ask and, upon receiving consent from his hikari, possessed Yuugi's body.
Bakura jumped to his feet. "That's bullshit!" he shouted at the teacher.
"Mr. Bakura, I will have to ask you to refrain from using such language in my classroom," Binns drawled, sounding as if he didn't really care but felt it his duty as a professor to say so.
"The ancient Egyptians contributed a lot to the world of magick!" Bakura continued in the same heated tone. "How dare you say otherwise!"
Binns, still looking down at his book, idly flipped a page and said, "Care to explain yourself, Mr. Bakura?"
"Bakura, don't do anything stupid!" Malik urged as Bakura pushed out of Ryou's seat and marched to the front of the class. Atemu followed wordlessly, although he, too, was seething.
They stood on either side of Binns' podium. For once, the ghost looked up to acknowledge the two. "Please return to your seats," he said.
"Not until we've proven out point," Atemu replied. "The ancient Egyptians were the first to discover Shadow Magick and learn to conjure the monsters that lived in the Shadow Realm. Not only that, but we learned to control the monsters and use them to duel for power and glory. Some attempted to take over the world using Shadow Magick, and if it hadn't been for me locking away the secrets of Shadow Magick, then no one would be sitting here right now! And you say that that's not important?"
"What he said," Bakura added.
"Mr. Bakura, Mr. Mutou," Binns said wearily, as if speaking to two troublesome children, "I can assure you that there is nothing about that written anywhere in the records of the History of Magick. I must say that you two have very active imaginations. Mr. Mutou, not only do you claim to have saved the world from Dark forces, but both of you claim to be Egyptian, when I know that you came from Japan. Please go back to your seats, or I'm going to have to give both of you detention."
"'Active imaginations'?" Bakura echoed angrily. "You senile old bastard! If we were making it all up, would I be able to do this?"
The Ring began to glow. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malik, as well as the spirits of Yuugi and Ryou, who were standing behind Atemu, started. Malik jumped up and ran to the front of the class as a dark mist began to fill the room.
"Bakura, you idiot!" he shouted.
But it was too late. Already a swirl of violet and ebony was swirling above the chalkboard, the atmosphere pulled taut with energy. The Ravenclaws looked scared out of their wits, while the Gryffindors, although frightened, had a better idea of what was going on. The Ring's glow cut through the dark fog, and Atemu's Puzzle had joined it. Purrs and growls and screeches sounded from the portal, as well as human-sounding shouts and giggles.
"Koe, please stop!" Ryou was tugging on his yami's sleeve, scared and trembling. Every experience he'd ever had with the Shadow Realm in the past had been terrifying, to say the least, and in the hands of Bakura, he knew just how out of hands things could get. Not only that, but the Pharaoh, the voice of reason, the level-headed one of the two yamis, was working with Bakura to open the Realm and prove his point. Yuugi was working just as hard on reasoning with his other half as Ryou was … and failing just as miserably.
The students were now on the edges of their seats, some preparing to run, some already halfway to the door. Others were sitting shakily, watching everything unfold with bated breath. Murmurs rang through the room, mingling with the eerie sounds wafting down from the portal.
That was when something fell forward out of the swirling abyss. The students screamed, although they really had nothing to fear from this being.
The Dark Magician.
He stood with his arms folded, landing gracefully on the ground, soon followed by his companion, the Dark Magician Girl. She cocked her blonde head and giggled, blowing kisses to some of the boys in the room. The students stared in awe at the two beings, Atemu grinning proudly at the monsters.
Then, there was a heavy beating of wings and a bird-like screech as a huge, black reptile swooped out of the void, going to circle the room. Everyone again screamed, and this time their screams didn't abate. This monster, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, truly frightened them. It's eyes, glowing like embers, zeroed in on the young witches and wizards below it. It let out another screech before disappearing back inside the portal.
"What's going on!" someone in the crowd shouted, their voice ringing with terror.
"Stop it!" another pleaded.
"Koe!" Ryou tried again.
"Bakura, Pharaoh … please stop it!" Malik begged, gripping Atemu's shoulder.
Both yamis were in a sort of daze as they focused their power, watching with reverence as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon slipped back into the Shadow Realm, absorbing the energy and magick they had conjured. They were barely conscious of the pleas erupting around the room. But finally, as Malik reconnected the Pharaoh to his surroundings by grasping his shoulder, Atemu snapped out of his spell and looked around, the Puzzle's glow immediately dying. The violet haze lifted a little. He shook his head, tri-colored spikes shifting, and turned to Bakura. He hurried towards the tomb robber, gripping his arms and shaking him. The Ring's golden flare was extinguished, and the last of the mist disappeared, the portal closing, but not before the two Magicians quickly slipped back inside.
Everything was still.
Then, Malik turned to Atemu. "What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded, his voice ringing clearly throughout the silent classroom.
Atemu blinked. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. So he closed it and shook his head.
Malik glared at Bakura. "And what were you thinking? I can't believe you two!"
"Oh save it, tomb keeper," Bakura growled, folding his arms across his chest. "It's not like we were hurting anyone … just giving a little demonstration."
"'A little demonstration'? You're completely insane!"
"And you're completely insufferable!" Bakura rejoined.
"Bakura, he's right," Atemu chimed in. "What did we do?" He scanned the class, looking from terror-stricken face to terror-stricken face, all of whom were now staring down at the trio incredulously.
"Pfft, I don't know what you're talking about, but I was enjoying myself until I was so rudely interrupted."
"That's the difference between you and the Pharaoh, tomb robber: he has a conscience and a heart; he's not some cruel monster like you," Malik snarled.
Bakura smirked. "In case you'd forgotten, tomb keeper, not too long ago you yourself were trying to kill him!"
Malik paled. "That … That was different!"
Bakura's smirk widened. "Tell yourself that all you want, Malik, but deep down, you're just as much of a monster as me."
That was it. Malik jumped at the tomb robber in a fit of fury, tackling him to the ground. He pinned Bakura to the cold, stone floor by the shoulders, straddling the other's waist. His usually calm, violet eyes were bright with anger, his fangs bared as he glared down at Bakura, breathing heavily.
Bakura continued to smirk up at the young Egyptian. "Well," he said, "if you wanted to ravish me, all you had to do was say so."
Malik's eyes grew wide with surprise, and, before he could react, Bakura bucked his hips. Malik gasped in mixed surprise and pleasure and felt a blush rise in his cheeks as he was sent flying forward until he was lying flat on top of Bakura. A gasp resounded through the classroom as Bakura then proceeded to reach up and grab the back of his blonde head, pulling Malik's mouth down on his. Malik made to protest, struggling against the thief's grip as Bakura moved his lips against the young Egyptian's.
Ryou gasped and felt tears fall down his phantom cheeks as he watched Bakura pull Malik into a bruising kiss. Bakura had done some very low things before, but this, by far, had to have been the worst.
Heart racing with panic, Malik bit the tomb robber's lower lip – hard. Bakura yelped and released his captive. The Pharaoh rushed over to help Malik to his feet as Bakura stood, wiping the blood from his mouth.
Malik glared heatedly at the tomb robber, looking furious. "You bastard!" he spat.
"Fuck you," Bakura growled in return.
"Damn you to hell."
"No need; I've already got a spot reserved."
Professor Binns sighed audibly. "Boys, I'm afraid I'm going to have to give all three of you detention for disturbing my class and behaving most inappropriately." Again, Binns seemed to be simply acting upon his duty as a teacher, although even he'd admit that this was the most interesting class he'd ever had.
The bell rang then just as Ryou and Yuugi were transitioning back into their bodies. Ryou's eyes immediately flooded with tears. He turned on his heel and ran out the door without a single word, robes flaring around him as he fled.
"Ryou!" Malik called after him. He took off after his boyfriend, Yuugi following close behind.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione pushed past the crowd, and hurrying after the trio. This did not seem to be going in a very promising direction. As they passed through the doorway, they just glimpsed Yuugi disappearing down the corridor that lead to the courtyard. They caught up quickly, following Yuugi and Malik as they followed Ryou into the snow-blanketed yard. They pushed past a group of Slytherins who were standing in the same cool, sunlight-flooded hallway.
Ryou ran. He ran as fast as he could, as far as he dared to go, his breathing ragged and coming through his tear-constricted throat in painful gasps. But he didn't stop. He needed to escape, escape from Bakura. He knew that running was foolish, as there was no amount of distance that he could put between himself and his yami. Still, he ran. He darted through the courtyard, stumbling down the snow-covered stairs and getting back up again, not bothering the warm his frozen hands, wet with melted snow. His locks were matted with water, slowly chilling the scalp beneath, running down his face in icy rivulets, but still he didn't stop. His legs ached with the task of hurrying through the foot-or-so-deep snow, but it didn't slow him any.
Still, he ran.
He ran through the archway that led out to the grounds surrounding the school. He didn't know where he was going, but anywhere other than where he seemed to be at that second was fine, as wherever he was at that second, Bakura was, too. Needless to say, he didn't stop running, as no amount of distance he covered seemed sufficient enough to sate his need for comfort and security. He stumbled again, snow clinging to his frozen skin, matted locks, and damp robes. He was shivering, he was cold and wet, he couldn't breath and he ached all over. His legs didn't want to go any further, but his mind outweighed the need to stop. His vision was blurred, but he saw something not too far off. It was a tree … and then another tree … and more trees …
The Forbidden Forest.
Completely disregarding any warning delivered in the beginning of the year by their wise Headmaster, Ryou deemed that his destination. He needed shelter, and the peaceful darkness of the Forest seemed more welcoming then than it ever had. Was Ryou losing his mind? Maybe, but still, he ran. Straight into the Forest.
He was barely aware of the calls of his friends behind him, barely aware now of his frozen, aching limbs, his strained breathing. His heart still ached; surely he wasn't safe yet. The ever-present threat that was his yami still hung over him like a vulture, laying in wait for Ryou to drop dead. He couldn't, he wouldn't, stop. Not until he was safe.
Ryou wasn't thinking straight. He both accepted the fact that he would never be free of Bakura and the fact that he needed to get as far away from the tomb robber as he could, which ultimately led him nowhere but into danger. The Forbidden Forest. However welcoming it seemed to Ryou's disoriented mind, it was full of menace and darkness, and his friends knew this all too well, hence, they didn't cease their chase. They followed the boy right into the trees and mist, hoping to reach him before he strayed too far.
This, however, didn't happen. Ryou still ran. He ran deeper into the forest until his surroundings blended into each other. The trees looked the same, the snow-covered forest floor looked the same, the bare traces of sky above the canopy looked the same as every other bare trace of sky. He lost track of where he was. He wasn't conscious of much, in fact, except the dizzying of his mind and the unbearable aching of his legs. Once his mind could no longer convince his body to move, he stopped, and promptly passed out, falling into the snow with a soft "pmf".
---
"Hey!" Blaise shouted as Harry, Ron, and Hermione pushed passed him, knocking him into Draco.
Draco's gaze followed the trio as they darted through the courtyard, pursuing Malik and Yuugi who seemed to be pursuing Ryou. Where were they going? Draco ducked his head into the courtyard and squinted into the distance.
"Damn!" he hissed, bounding forward into the yard.
"Oy! Malfoy! Where the bloody hell are you going?" Blaise called after him. When Draco didn't respond, but rather, kept running, he sighed and took off after his blonde friend. Catching up with Draco, he asked again, "Where are you going?"
Draco kept his metallic gaze fixed straight ahead, but replied, "Potter! He and his … nutter friends are … heading towards the Forbidden Forest!" the blonde panted.
"And why exactly are we … following them?" Blaise wondered.
"Because … I promised myself … I'd protect him."
---
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All right everyone, say it: FINALLY! I know I haven't incorporated much puzzleshipping thus far … and I think I added some sufficient puzzleshipping-ness. Yes? Well, I promise there'll be more towards the end … but I'm a sucker for angsty tornshipping-ness, in case it wasn't obvious. I just love the MalikxRyouxBakura triangle! Although, I know it's all probably getting old. Well? Still TBC. Remember people, I have a feedback fetish! Tell me what you thought, seriously! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you thought could've been better or should've been different! I WELCOME critiques! I WANT critiques! Gimme, gimme, gimme! P-l-e-e-a-a-a-s-e-e!
Oh, and Kitsuna Katt, I want my cookie.
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