Yuugiou!
A New Generation of Priests
Okay, so there goes my daily updates. XD Erm... just take into account the longer chapter.
CHAPTER SEVEN – THE ROGUE BLUDGER
The Saturday following was the first Quidditch match of the year: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Harry woke up that day looking rather sick; not only was he to be going up against a team that had someone on it who was teetering back and forth on whether or not he should be a friendly "good guy" or not, but said team was also using the greatest and fastest brooms available. The way he felt right now, it would be a miracle if he would be able to stay upright on his broom.
Malik looked over to him from where he was making his bed, tossing him a grin. "Aw, c'mon, Harry," he said. "Lighten up. It's just a game; win or lose, the point is to have fun."
"Easy for you to say," Harry replied weakly, waiting for him to finish, before heading downstairs with him. "You've never played this game."
"Hey, all games are the same in their own respects," the Egyptian replied, giving him a rather sagely nod… before he suddenly panicked. "Yuugi! What are you doing!"
Harry followed Malik's gaze, to see that Yuugi and Atemu were plopped down on a couch before the fire, eyeing the three remaining (and glowing) Millennium Items spread out before them on the coffee table. The Gravekeeper looked about at the other people in the common room, before dashing over to the two of them.
"I seriously think having the Items out in the open like this is a bad idea," he hissed as Harry caught up to him.
Yuugi just waved a dismissive hand. "Half of Gryffindor has figured out that we have these anyway," he said, pointing to the Items as Malik fumed. "Look at this. The Eye isn't glowing as brightly as the Tauk and Ankh."
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"I think it might mean that whomever is to obtain the Eye next isn't that close, but still in this building," Atemu explained. "However, the future owners of the Tauk and Ankh are very close. Maybe even in this roo—"
"Oh, how pretty!"
Before Atemu could finish, the four of them were staring at an empty spot where the Tauk had been. The pharaoh's head shot up, eyes widening as he saw Hermione holding up the necklace, looking it over. His mouth was opened to protest, though what he wanted to say died quickly…
…the Tauk had stopped glowing…
Hermione let out an "Hmmm…" noise as the glow dimmed away, the four boys staring at her like she had grown another head.
"Can I try it on?" she asked suddenly.
"Sure…" Yuugi said weakly as Malik discreetly shuffled behind her…
No sooner had she fastened the clasp about her neck, did the Tauk start glowing again. Hermione's eyes widened, obviously seeing something that they could not. A moment later her legs shook, and she fell back, landing in Malik's waiting arms. He let out a sigh, picking Hermione up in his arms as Harry looked at her worriedly.
"Is she going to be all right?" he asked.
"Should be," Malik replied. "I'll stay here with her until she wakes up."
"I'll ask Bakura to bring you up some food," Atemu said. "I don't think he'll have a problem with stealing something."
"Of course not," Malik said, a smirk tugging at his lips. "He probably hates being so domesticated."
"Domesticated?" Harry asked as the Gravekeeper went over to sit down on a chair. Malik just grinned, waving toward Atemu, who turned a rather vivid red.
-.oOOo.-
Bakura held up a platter loaded down with breakfast foods, fixing the portrait of the fat lady in a pink dress that guarded the entrance to Gryffindor tower. The painting did not like him, at all, probably because he had a habit of visiting during the late night hours. Hey, he had his needs to; he hardly got to see Atemu this year, even though him and Ryou shared a class. So what if he went in sometimes to watch him sleep? There was nothing wrong with that!
"C'mon," he growled, "I gave you the password several times already. So what if I'm in Hufflepuff? Open the damn door!"
The lady opened her mouth to protest, when the portrait swung open on it's own, revealing Malik on the other side.
"Thanks, tomb robber," he said, reaching for the platter, which Bakura more than happily handed over.
"Take it easy, Gravekeeper," he replied, crossing his arms. "I can't believe this… first Draco, now Hermione… Why can't those damn things just leave people alone?"
"Dunno…" Malik replied. "Just gotta… let it go, watch, and see what happens I guess."
Bakura nodded, returning the Gravekeeper's wave and watching as the portrait swung close.
"There, see?" he sneered at the painting, turning and heading off, sniggering as he heard her start to grumble under her breath.
He went all the way down to the school entrance, where he saw Atemu arguing with Filch, who had been rather irritable since his cat was petrified.
"I tell you, I'm waiting for someone!" Atemu exclaimed.
"Sure you are…" Filch growled, looking like he was going to grab the pharaoh by the ear and drag him off. Bakura decided to slip in before that could happen, coming up beside Atemu and wrapping a possessive arm around him as he gave the caretaker a, "don't touch what's mine" look.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, love," he purred, shuffling Atemu off before Filch can get in two words.
"Thanks…" the pharaoh murmured once they were out of earshot.
Bakura just grinned. "Of course. Wouldn't want him getting his hands on you." His grin faded a bit though; Atemu seemed rather… preoccupied… "Are you okay?" he asked softly.
Atemu attempted to give him an annoyed look, but it fell rather flat. A moment later Bakura was forced to a stop: the pharaoh had latched himself around his waist.
"Now I know something's wrong," he said, prying him off a bit. "What is it?"
Atemu sighed, before… "Bakura, am I… cramping you?"
The tomb robber gave him a blank stare. "Are you what?"
"It's… stupid," he replied, unwrapping himself from him. "Malik said you've been domesticated because of me. I just…"
Bakura rolled his eyes, grabbing him and holding him close. "Pharaoh, don't be like that," he stated. "If anyone's 'domesticating' me, it's Ryou. And trust me, I'm far from domesticated."
Atemu's lip crept up to a smile. "Sorry for being so silly…"
"S'all right," Bakura said, starting off with him again toward the Quidditch field. "I expect you to be silly every now and again."
That earned him a punch in the arm, but Atemu hardly effort behind it. He snuggled close to Bakura as they came up to the stadium, walking up the steps together and parting a moment to make their way to the Gryffindor stands. Just as they came to Yuugi and the other's row, the whole crowd let out a gasp of horror. Bakura craned his neck up to the player's above…
"Uh-oh," he muttered.
"What is it?" Atemu asked, squinting up at them as well.
"Harry's in trouble again."
-.oOOo.-
Harry was hovering above the field as always, trying to ignore Malfoy, who was ignorantly showing off the speed of his new broom. He was so engrossed in trying to find the Snitch that he did not notice the Bludger coming toward him. It was more like he sensed something was wrong, and upon acting on that sense he was able to just barely dodge the flying black ball. Harry straightened his broom out as it sailed by him, letting out a sigh of relief as he did so.
"All right there, Harry?" George asked, hitting the Bludger off toward one of the Slytherin chasers.
"I'm fine!" Harry shouted back.
He was not going to be fine for long, though, as the Bludger suddenly looped around and headed straight for him once again. That time he nearly fell off his broom trying to avoid it. Fred came up as the ball soared by him, whacking the offending object right toward Malfoy, who was more than ready to dodge it. The pale boy did not have to, however; he stared in shock and surprise as the Bludger spun around in mid air and headed straight for Harry for a third time.
Harry did the only thing he could think of then. He shot off about the stadium at full speed, the Bludger trailing dangerously close behind. Fred and George followed as quickly as they could, trying to keep the insane ball from killing him.
"Someone's fixed this thing!" Fred exclaimed, smacking it away, only to have it fall in line behind Harry again. The young seeker was not paying attention though. He had caught sight of something near Malfoy, who was too busy watching their efforts to avoid the Bludger to notice it. Something small and gold…
Without warning the Weasley twins, Harry shot off toward the Golden Snitch, making it look like he was purposefully leading the ball toward the snobbish rich boy. Malfoy let out a shout of surprise before dodging out of the way just in time. He caught sight of what Harry had truly been after, however, and a growl escaped from his mouth before he flew after him, quickly pulling up to him with his superior broom. Harry hardly noticed, though; he was too concerned with catching the Snitch and ending the game before he got killed.
The Golden Snitch led them down into a long trench that surrounded the entire field. It was a dangerous area to fly through, with maze of supports that helped hold up the stands crisscrossing it, not to mention with a rogue Bludger on their tail and pulling off the speeds they were doing. Each time Malfoy would gain a lead on the Snitch, somehow Harry would pull off some odd maneuver or put out just enough speed to pull even with him.
After a moment, Draco looked back, trying to see what the Bludger was doing. It was closing in on Harry at a very fast rate. The only problem was, the stupid scar-head was so focused on the Snitch that he did not even notice it. He swore under his breath, hardly believing what he was going to do. He slammed into Harry, pushing him out of the way.
"You catch that Snitch or I'll rip your bloody throat out!" he managed to shout, before hitting the brakes. Harry soared ahead while he fell back… right into the Bludger.
Things seemed to go slow at the moment. Draco could see the Bludger smash through the tail of his brand new broom. He felt himself lurch up, and he tilted to the side, trying to get it so he would not hit a beam as he was tossed up into the air like catapult ammo. He sailed through the air, narrowly missing a support before he landed on the sandy ground above. The last thing he heard was the sound of something cracking in his arm before he promptly passed out.
Down in the trench, Harry gripped the handle of his broom, gritting his teeth. He knew what Draco had done for him; he could not believe it, but he was aware of it. Just his luck, now he owed him one. He pushed the thought out of his head for the moment; the Snitch was heading up out of the trench and back to the open field. He followed it, so close he could almost see the intricate carvings that decorated it. Holding onto the broom tightly, he reached out an arm…
WHAM!
The mad Bludger came out of nowhere, smashing into his outstretched arm. There was a horrible snapping sound as his arm bent back at an odd angle. The pain was excruciating, but Harry somehow managed to ignore it, wrapping the now useless arm painfully around the broom before reaching out with the other arm. He made a mad grab for the Snitch, and he felt the ball in his hand just before he slipped off the broom, falling straight for the ground.
Harry tucked in on himself, protecting both his injured arm and the hand that held the Snitch as he landed on the sandy ground near a semi-conscious Malfoy. He recovered his bearings a moment, holding up the Snitch so Madam Hooch could see it and declare the match a win for Gryffindor. The whistle rang throughout the stadium, and Harry turned his attention to the pale boy, shaking his shoulder slightly.
"Hey, you all right?" he asked. Malfoy looked up at him, bleary-eyed, kind of looking like Harry felt at that moment.
"D'ya get it?" he asked, a bit drowsily. Harry showed him the Snitch and he grunted, as if he was not pleased that Gryffindor won, but grateful the insane match was over all the same. He sat up slightly, nursing his own broken arm.
"I bloody hell never want to do that again," he commented, a bit breathlessly.
"Unh-hunh," Harry agreed as their teams came rushing toward them, the Gryffindor team with the added bonus of his friends. Someone from each team tried to lift their respective seekers, but each of them let out a shout of pain, and the effort was quickly abandoned. There was a clicking sound coming from somewhere, followed by a flash.
"Colin, don't take a picture of this," Harry called out dryly.
"Move aside, everyone, move aside!" an annoyingly cheery voice rang out over the crowd. Everyone parted, to reveal the last person Harry wanted to see. His face went almost as pale as Malfoy's.
"No, not you!" he exclaimed.
Gilderoy Lockhart laughed. "The boy doesn't know what he's saying," he declared cheekily, taking out his wand. "Now, boys. Stay very still while I mend your bones."
Both Harry and Draco winced and turned away as Lockhart started waving his wand about flamboyantly. He uttered some words, and suddenly their arms felt quite strange. They turned back toward their arms at the odd feeling, and Malfoy let out a shout of horror.
"You bloody moron!" he shouted.
Harry could do nothing but stare, and try not to be sick. Sticking out of their robes were what looked like fleshy rubber gloves. Lockhart had not mended their broken bones… he had removed them!
"Ah, yes… Well that can sometimes happen," Lockhart said rather uneasily.
"Bullshit!" came Bakura's voice from somewhere in the crowd.
The professor bit his lip. "Eheh… Well, the point is, the bones aren't broken anymore. That's something to keep in mind."
"They're not even there," Malfoy growled.
Lockhart was really nervous now. "Well… heh… Remarkably flexible, isn't it?"
Both Draco and Harry looked like they were going to kill him.
-.oOOo.-
Malik was idly nibbling on a piece of toast when Hermione suddenly jumped awake on his lap, flailing a bit in confusion. He held her carefully, murmuring assurances until she calmed down, finally focusing her gaze on him. She reached up shakily, touching his face and hair.
"It's just you…" she finally murmured after a moment, flopping against him in relief as Malik sweatdropped.
"Um… just me, yes…" he replied. "Why, who did you think I was?"
Hermione shook her head. "I… I don't know. Do you have an evil twin?"
Malik made a face. "Sort of. You don't have to worry about him."
She clutched to him. "I guess so…" she murmured, before looking around at the empty common room. "How long have we been up here?"
"Ahh… about an hour or so," he replied. "Hey, if you're feeling better, we should go down to the match."
Hermione's eyes widened a moment, before she bit her lip. "About that… I think we should head down to the infirmary…"
Malik blinked. "Why?"
-.oOOo.-
As soon as the two of them arrived at the hospital wing, Malik and Hermione could hear Madam Pomfrey's angry voice coming from a dark corner.
"You should have come straight to me!" she was shouting.
"We tried," came Draco and Harry's voices, sounding rather stressed.
They walked to the back, where the nurse was tossing the two of them pajamas, before ushering them behind a changing screen.
"Broken bones I can fix easily, but re-growing them is a different case entirely," the nurse continued, taking a bottle of something marked Skele-Gro. Malik exchanged looks with Hermione, eyes widening in surprise.
They waited until the two of them had a cup of the Skele-Gro shoved down their throats before approaching the beds they had crawled into. Draco flopped back onto his pillow, looking annoyed while Harry sunk into his own pillow. It took all of one word to explain what happened, and also to send Malik groaning.
"Dear gods, that guy is a menace," he muttered.
"I'm sure it was just an accident," Hermione replied, though she did not sound too convinced herself.
They were shuffled out a few moments later by an annoyed Madam Pomfrey, leaving Harry and Draco with nothing to distract them from the stabbing pains in their arm, aside from each other. The pale boy eyed his pillow, punching at it in an effort to make it a bit softer.
"Hey… Draco…" Harry began.
He shot him a look, raising an eyebrow.
"Thanks."
Draco was quiet, before he grunted, curling up on his side and hoping he would be able to get a little sleep.
Unfortunately, his "sweet" dreams of gibberish and glowing red eyes were thankfully interrupted by an angry shout not all that long into the night. He opened his eyes slightly, ignoring the stabbing pain in his arm, looking over to Harry's bed to see that the other boy had a lanky green elf dressed in an old pillowcase by the throat, and it looked like he was going to strangle the poor creature. He shot straight up on his bed, eyes wide.
"Dobby!" he hissed. The elf's head swiveled around, green eyes widening in shock. He struggled in Harry's grasp, trying to get away, but Draco bolted from his bed, grabbing the creature by the ear.
"Oh, no you don't!" he exclaimed. "What the bloody hell are you doing here!"
"Is this your house elf?" Harry asked. "He came to my house this past summer to warn me about trouble at Hogwarts. And guess who fixed that Bludger?"
"But Harry Potter must leave Hogwarts!" Dobby the house elf exclaimed before Draco could act on the murderous look in his eyes, both boys urging him to lower his voice. "Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay at Hogwarts, now that history is about to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is opened once more—"
Dobby cut himself off, a look of abject horror on his face. He wiggled out of Harry's grasp, going over as if to pound his head on the footboard of his bed, but Draco grabbed him by the ears again, hauling him up to his eye level.
"So is open again?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice down. "Who's doing this? I know you know, Dobby!"
"Dobby is bad… Dobby is very bad… don't make Dobby say…" was the only response they got out of the house elf. Harry took over then, gripping the elf by the shoulders.
"C'mon, Dobby!" he hissed. "Why do I have to leave Hogwarts? I'm not the one that's muggle born!"
"Sir, ask no more of Dobby," the elf pleaded. "Dangerous deeds are planned in this place. Harry Potter must go home."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Harry snapped. "Half of my friends are muggle born. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I went off to hide and just left them here!"
That brought tears to Dobby's eyes. "Oh, Harry Potter is braver than they say!" he exclaimed. "Risking himself to save his friends! So noble, so valiant!"
"Will you lower your voice!" Draco hissed, looking around, almost expecting Madam Pomfrey to appear at any moment.
The nurse did not appear, however, they did catch the sound of hurried footsteps rushing toward the infirmary. Dobby disappeared from Draco's hands, but neither of them really noticed as they dived for their beds, plopping down in them and pretending to still be asleep. Not a moment too soon, either; Dumbledore came into view, holding one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared shortly after, holding the feet, and with a grunt of effort, the two of them managed to lift the object onto a bed.
"Get Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore ordered, and McGonagall scrambled off to comply, rushing past Draco and Harry's beds. Neither of them dared to even breath as she returned a moment later with the nurse, afraid of what would happen if they were caught awake.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking down at the statue in dismay.
"Another attack," Dumbledore replied dismally. "We found some grapes around him. He was probably on his way here to visit Mr. Potter."
Harry paled, almost afraid to see who it was. They both sat up slightly in bed, catching a ray of moonlight that fell directly on the face of what they previously assumed was a statue.
It was Colin Creevey, his eyes wide and a look of horror on his face. His arms were stuck out before him, clutching his camera as if he were trying to take a picture with it. The two of them exchanged looks, hardly believing what they were seeing.
"Maybe he took a picture of his attacker," McGonagall suggested as Dumbledore wrenched the camera from Colin's stony grasp. The elderly headmaster opened up the casing, only to have a gigantic spark burst out from the back. From where they were lying, Harry and Draco caught the distinct smell of burnt plastic.
"Melted," Dumbledore announced, setting the remains of the camera on the stand next to Colin's bed.
"Albus, what does this all mean?" McGonagall asked.
Dumbledore sighed. "It means, Minerva, that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened once more."
Harry swallowed, almost afraid to breathe. They all knew that the Chamber did indeed exist? Why did they not do anything about it?
"Who could have done this?" Madam Pomfrey asked, but Dumbledore shook his head.
"The question is not who. The question is how…"
The two of them waited, watching as Madam Pomfrey pulled up a shade about Colin's bed, before the professors and the school nurse left. They got up again then, creeping over to his bed to peek in on him, before exchanging looks.
"If my family's house elf is giving you warnings, then my father must have done something to get the Chamber unsealed," Draco hissed softly. "But how…?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm sure we'll find out…"