Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed your long weekend! (If you live in Canada) And Happy Independence Day to all of you Yankees out there (I think that's how you say it).

Once again, I would seriously like to thank The Amber Raven. We had a nice long chat last night about my plot and she helped me work out some major kinks. Props to her, because without her my story would be crap. Everyone mail her a cake, please.

More Bakura in this chapter. I just loved writing him so much, I couldn't resist.

-blah- = mind link

Blah = people speaking Japanese

I do not own a thing!

Enjoy everybody!

Chapter 10

Bakura silently slipped into the room that he shared with Yugi and Malik. Fools, he thought. Neither of them had stirred one bit at his disappearance and arrival. They were both still sleeping away, Malik snoring, as though nothing had happened.

But something had happened. Bakura climbed back into bed, and retreated to his soul room where he could think properly. He didn't understand why the boggart had shown him Ryou's dead body. He also didn't understand why it had bothered him the way that it had.

He also didn't understand why he couldn't get the image of Ryou's body out of his head, and why his hands were shaking violently.

Bakura closed the door to his soul room, and instantly noticed that something was amiss.

It was brighter in here.

Not by much. Nobody else would have noticed it. But this was Bakura's soul room, and every minute detail was his to notice.

The room was a reflection of the cave where he had witnessed the massacre of his village, and his family. Of course, the cauldron, platform and people were all missing. To anyone else it was quite unremarkable, but Bakura could never forget the scene of his worst memory.

It was usually very dark in here, the only light coming from a few torches spaced periodically on the damp stone walls. But it was lighter today. It was as if the flames burnt brighter than usual. Bakura's shadow was less pronounced.

Bakura's footsteps echoed loudly as he walked in, the slapping noises reverberating throughout the room. He did not try to be quiet. He was not afraid of what was in here, he encouraged it to come out and fight him. He could use a good fight right about now to distract himself.

But nothing came. He waited, and looked in every nook and cranny of the cave. There was nothing there.

Bakura perched himself on a flat rock that he had grown accustomed to sitting on. His back was to the wall, so if anything were to come it could not sneak up behind him.

It was here that he began to think.

Ever since Ryou had received the Ring from his father, Bakura had possessed him, abused him, and ridiculed him. His hikari's feelings and wellbeing had never been an issue for him. He had hurt him many times, and he reveled at the fear in his yanodoushi's eyes every time he looked at him. It made him feel powerful.

Bakura would even hurt his host's friends. He had caused him to be expelled from many schools, inexplicably causing his schoolmates to fall into comas. Of course, he had really been defeating anybody who foolishly agreed to play a game with him. They had unknowingly agreed to Shadow Games. The comas could never be pegged directly on him, but everyone believed it to be Ryou. His classmates would always end up blaming something else on Ryou to get him expelled. His hikari had never had anybody to call a friend until Yugi. His mother and sister were dead, and his father couldn't bear to look at him for fear of being reminded of the lost child and wife that Ryou resembled so much. He had always felt so alone, because he knew that his darker half would hurt anybody that incorporated themselves with Ryou, just to make his hikari miserable.

Bakura had toned down his malice lately, but Ryou still believed him to be just as capable of horrible acts. Even now, with Yugi and Malik to keep him in check, Ryou was afraid to make new friends because of Bakura.

His hikari had suffered horribly for years because of him.

He felt a pang of guilt. The experience was unfamiliar to him. Bakura had never felt anything but pure rage in millennia. What was happening to him?

The torches on the wall flickered out.

Bakura's head snapped up. They came back on within seconds, but when the flames resumed their dance in the torch brackets, it was brighter still in here.

What was happening to him?

xxx

The next morning, Ellie got up early. Ignoring the ache from the big bump on her head, she shook Hermione awake. Ellie pressed a finger to her lips and gestured at Ginny, miming that they must not wake her. Hermione nodded, confused, but still ready to oblige. The pair dressed silently, and slipped out of their room.

Ellie glanced at the transfer's bedroom door. It was very close to theirs, and Ellie did not want to be overheard.

"What happened to your head?" Hermione pushed Ellie's bangs back, noticing the egg on her forehead.

"Shh, not here. I need to tell you something. Where can we talk?" Ellie had only just arrived last night, and was not yet familiar with her surroundings.

Hermione led Ellie up a winding staircase. They passed two floors until they reached a small alcove with a dusty bench in front of a moldy window. It was completely out of the way, as there were no bedrooms in use up here. Nobody had any reason to come up here and overhear them.

"What's so important, El? And what about your head?" Hermione asked, taking a seat. She angled her body away from the window, shivering at the cold early morning draft that was drifting through.

Ellie sat down next to her, and looked out the window. It actually had a beautiful view. Number 12 Grimmauld Place towered above the surrounding houses. They could watch the sun rise, as it was only just beginning to peek out from behind the horizon. It was going to be another scorcher.

She sighed. Where to start?

"I'll tell you about my head in a sec. Let me start at the beginning. So, a few days ago, before the dementors attacked us, Harry had another vision."

Hermione nodded nervously. Her and Ellie were the worriers. Harry and Ron usually forgot about the visions soon after they happened, so Ellie knew Hermione was the one to tell about this.

"He said that Voldemort was after someone. A boy. I guess he demonstrated some sort of power-"

"Yes!" Whispered Hermione excitedly. "That was Ryou. Remember what he told us last night?"

"Yeah. Harry reckons that Voldemort wants to control him."

"So Harry must have known before the Order, then."

"Yes, he did." Ellie bit her lip. "We shouldn't tell the transfers that he knew. They might get suspicious. Besides, we don't know if we can trust them. . ." She trailed off. The implications of what went unsaid were obvious. If the transfers betrayed them, then Harry would be the first to know.

"There's something else." Ellie told Hermione about her catching Ryou trying to leave the house last night.

Ellie's best friend instantly understood what she was worried about in this situation.

"What was he doing in the drawing room in the middle of the night?"

"I don't know. He must have been snooping for him to have found that boggart."

"Then he tried to leave headquarters?" Hermione gasped.

"Yeah. He said he needed fresh air, but I don't know. What if he's spying on the Order? It didn't even cross my mind last night, but the more I thought about it, the more suspicious it looked. He had this ancient lock pick. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. And get this," Ellie stood up and tiptoed to the top of the stairs, and peered down to check if the coast was clear. Satisfied, she resumed her perch next to Hermione. "There was something . . . Off about him. I don't know. He was scary. He pushed me into the wall." She pointed at the bump on her head.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Ryou did that?" It was hard for either of them to believe that sweet, innocent Ryou had shoved a girl, let alone do it unprovoked.

"I blamed it on the boggart, and I still think it could have been the boggart. He didn't know what it was. It's only natural that it would put him in a nasty mood."

"Ellie, that's not a nasty mood. There's something wrong there."

Ellie shrugged. "I don't know. He just seemed off. Besides, Dumbledore trusts them. He invited them here to stay with us, and he's protecting them at Hogwarts."

Neither of them wanted to say it, because they were both wholeheartedly loyal to him, but they were thinking that Dumbledore didn't have a lot of reason to trust the transfers yet.

But then again, when had Dumbledore ever shared his reasons for trusting people with them? Look at Snape. The man screamed evil, yet Dumbledore trusted him enough to let him be in the Order, and teach at his school.

After a few moments of silence, Hermione spoke up. "Are you going to tell Harry and Ron?"

Ellie thought about this. She thought that she was just being paranoid, and didn't want to burn bridges before they were even built. "No. Not unless they give us more reason to not trust them. I'm just paranoid, I suppose."

Hermione nodded in agreement.

They both looked out the window again. The sun was now up almost all the way, and the shadows were creeping along the road, slowly stretching towards Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

xxx

Ryou woke up that morning as the sun's rays slipped out from behind the thick curtains and landed on his face. He groaned tiredly, and rolled over. He glanced at the clock, and was shocked at the time. He had slept that late? Apparently he was more tired than he had thought. Yugi and Malik were both gone, Malik's bed unmade, whereas Yugi's was so smooth you could bounce a coin off of it. He smiled at the simple ways in which his friend's personalities shone through.

Ryou got up and dressed. As he slipped the Millennium Ring on, he noticed that the spirit was absent from his mind. Bakura must be in his soul room. That was strange, as Ryou knew how much he hated it in there. Why he hated it, he did not know. His yami usually sat in the back of Ryou's mind, quietly observing everything he did, with the occasional comment.

Ryou was still glad to be relatively alone for a few short moments. He reveled in his short-lived freedom.

He made his way down to the kitchen, which was empty except for a pink haired Tonks. She seemed very happy to see him.

"G'morning Ryou! Are you hungry? I can whip you up some breakfast!" She eagerly waved her wand, and instantly some eggs flew out of nowhere and cracked themselves onto an already hot pan (one missed and landed on the floor). "Oh well. I'll clean that later. How do you like your eggs?"

"Oh, anyway is fine, thanks." Ryou replied quietly. He sat down at the table, far away from Tonks. She meant well, but sitting around her while she was cooking was not advisable.

She bustled over and poured him a glass of pumpkin juice. "How did you sleep?"

Ryou was surprised. She was friendly to everyone, but Ryou was not used to almost-strangers being so nice to him. It was nice. "Good." It was true. He had slept like a rock, didn't even wake up once in the middle of the night. Which was weird, because he had slept in so late. He smiled at her. "And you?"

"Oh, I didn't. I was on guard duty." Tonks finished the eggs, and slid some toast onto his plate as well. She placed the dish in front of him and sat down across the table.

This perked Ryou's interest. "Guard duty?"

Tonks face instantly fell. "Oops. I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Her head fell down onto her hands. "I don't suppose you would mind keeping that to yourself? Mad-Eye would murder me if he found out I let that slip." She raised her head suddenly, a huge smile overtaking her face. "Or I could wipe your memory! Would you mind?"

"Uh, I won't tell anyone. No need to wipe my memory. . ." Ryou hastily began shoving food into his mouth, eager to finish before Tonks got any more ideas.

But his mind was whirling. Guard duty for what? Harry was here, with a handful of Order members on hand at all times. She couldn't have been talking about him. So what were they guarding?

"Err," Tonks was clearly eager to leave before she could get into more trouble by putting her foot in her mouth. "I suppose. . . I suppose I should get home now. You know, get some sleep."

"Okay. Thank you for breakfast, Tonks."

Her face exploded into a huge smile. "You're welcome, Ryou! And remember," She tapped her nose and winked, "Don't tell anyone!"

She walked out the door of the kitchen, leaving Ryou alone with his thoughts and his breakfast.

It was weird not having the spirit around. Even though he was afraid of him, and abused by him, he was always there. Ryou decided that he wasn't enjoying being alone as much as he thought. If the spirit was there, he would have had someone else to speculate about what Tonks was guarding with. Though they didn't talk much, it was comforting to Ryou that he was always there.

Ryou finished his breakfast and placed his dishes into the sink. He set out to find the rest of the house's occupants. After a few minutes of searching, he found them in the drawing room.

Everybody was wearing masks, and had a spray bottle of something in their hands. When Ryou walked in, he noticed Ellie and Hermione exchanged a meaningful glance.

"Oh good, you're up!" Mrs. Weasley pounced on him before he could think about what that glance could have meant. She thrust a mask and a spray bottle into his hands. "Put this on. We're about to take care of this Doxy infestation." Mrs. Weasley explained what to do, and soon everybody was happily spraying away at the curtains.

Ryou was amazed at the vicious little Doxies. They looked like something straight off of a Duel Monster's card. One look at Yugi's face told Ryou that he was thinking the same thing. The mask covered his mouth, but his eyes were crinkled up, betraying his smile.

Time ticked by, and eventually Ellie and Ryou ended up side by side. He was very much aware of their closeness. If the air wasn't full of Doxycide, he imagined that he could have even smelled her.

Ryou snuck a glance at her face. She had obviously tried to wrestle her hair into a ponytail to keep it off of her face for the occasion, but it was just too unruly. The look still suited her though, he thought.

Ellie stepped even closer to him still to avoid a two pronged Doxy attack, which Hermione helped her block. Their arms brushed, and Ryou instantly got butterflies in his stomach. He was suddenly very aware of his breathing. He didn't want to look stupid in front of her by breathing too loud.

Her newfound closeness allowed Ryou to see a bump on her head that hadn't been there the day before.

"Hey, Ellie, what happened to your head?" He asked her, blasting a particularly nasty Doxy in the face.

Ellie stopped spraying completely, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Beg pardon?"

"This bump on your head," He tentatively reached out and touched it. "What happened? That wasn't there yesterday."

Hermione, apparently had heard, because she too had stopped spraying and was listening to the conversation.

An odd look crossed both of their faces. "I fell, Ryou." Ellie said finally.

She was lying, he knew. It wasn't that she was a bad liar, but she wasn't particularly believable, as her and Hermione's previous behavior and her body language gave her away.

"Ouch," He finally replied. He wasn't going to question her. He didn't know her enough to accuse her of lying, yet.

Ellie and Hermione exchanged another glance. What was going on?

"How did you sleep, Ryou?" Hermione asked him nonchalantly.

Ryou was even more confused. Why was everyone asking him how he had slept? "Well. I slept well. And you two?"

"Like a baby." Ellie replied, once again sharing a glance with Hermione.

What was going on here?

xxx

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Ellie demanded, once her and Hermione were on their own. They had run up to their room to change into clothes that weren't covered in Doxycide.

"He gave you that bump, and can't even remember it? How can you not remember pushing a girl into a wall not 5 hours before?" Hermione replied.

"Something is up with him. I think it's time that we told Harry and Ron."

"I agree."

xxx

That night, after dinner, Ellie and Hermione walked into Harry and Ron's room.

"OI! Can't you two knock? I was changing!" Yelled a flustered Ron, as he yanked his trousers up.

"Nothing we haven't seen before, Ronald." Ellie said dryly. Harry and Hermione laughed while Ron turned scarlet.

"Still!" He protested.

"We need to talk to you guys," Hermione said, softly closing the door. "It's about the transfers."

Ellie took a seat next to Ron on his bed, and her and Hermione explained the incident with Ryou last night, and how he didn't remember it this morning.

"And then he said that he slept well!" Ellie finished, exasperatedly.

"What in Merlin's name is up with them? I knew that they were bonkers." Ron said, tactful as ever.

"Remember, this was just Ryou. There's nothing suspicious about Yugi and Malik." Hermione scolded him.

"Just association," Harry muttered. "I can't believe that prat pushed you!"

Ellie shook her head darkly. "He doesn't even remember it."

"And here Harry and I thought that he liked you!" Ron blurted.

Ellie blushed profusely, and shook her head quickly. Ryou couldn't like her.

Harry nodded earnestly. "Just the way he looks at you, El. I didn't think much of it at first, but I would watch your back. Don't go anywhere alone. He could be-"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Malik poked his head in. Harry shut up quickly.

Malik obviously sensed that he had walked in on a private conversation. "Oh. Right. We just needed help with our homework, but if you guys are busy. . ."

"Oh sure!" Hermione replied, a little too chipper. "You guys can come on in if you want. We'd be glad to help."

Malik nodded slowly. "I'll go get Yugi and Ryou." He disappeared with a flash.

Hermione exhaled loudly and dramatically. "Harry's right, Ellie. Don't go anywhere alone. Not until we find out what's up." Her voice pitched up a few octaves on the last couple of words.

The transfers walked in a few minutes later, and settled in around the four. Ryou, Ellie noticed, perched as far away from Ellie as possible. He was even quieter than usual, letting his two friends ask all of the questions.

Ellie caught him staring at her again when he thought she wasn't looking.

She made sure that her wand was close by.

xxx

"So what? Everyone was asking how you slept." Malik said, lounging on his stomach, reading the Monster Book of Monsters. Ron had showed him how to read it without losing his fingers earlier. He rhythmically stroked the spine. "They're just being friendly, silly."

"No! I'm telling you, something's up!" Ryou protested from the other side of the room. He was pacing, while Yugi and Malik did their homework. At this rate, he was going to fall behind very quickly.

"Was it Bakura?" Yugi asked quietly, emerging from behind The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 2. "Maybe he had a midnight stroll and didn't tell you about it."

Ryou stopped pacing immediately. That had to be it. The relief at figuring out the mystery instantly turned into pure dread as he realized the implications of that. Bakura had been absent all day. It had to be him.

"Bollocks."

Malik and Yugi exchanged a worried glance. Ryou never cursed. What exactly had the evil spirit of the ring gotten up to last night?

"Ryou?" Yugi asked worriedly. Yami phased out.

"Call him out here so we can speak with him." Yami growled.

Ryou did just that. -Koe?- He asked timidly. Ryou had never called for Bakura before, so he didn't even know if he was doing it right. And he knew that if he was doing it right, then he was in trouble because he knew that Bakura was hiding for a reason, and would punish Ryou for disturbing whatever he was up to.

But apparently it worked, because moments later Bakura phased out in front of him.

"Yes, yanodoushi?"

"I wished to speak with you." Yami said from across the room. He walked towards the spirit, and actually stood in front of Ryou to protect him from Bakura.

This obviously did not go unnoticed by the spirit, who glared at Yami. "You are foolish to believe that you could stop me from getting to my hikari, Pharaoh." He stated simply. However, he made no move towards Ryou.

Ryou took a few steps forward, so he was standing beside Yami, and not behind him. "Koe, what did you do last night while I was asleep?" He restrained himself from asking why he had been hiding all day as well.

Bakura looked as though he had been expecting this question. "I was looking for anything of value." He said this as if it were obvious.

Yugi got off of the bed and stepped forward. "Did you meet anyone along the way?"

Bakura smirked evilly. But it didn't quite reach his eyes, Ryou noticed. He may be terrified of his yami, but he knew him, and something was up. "Yes. I do recall having a chat with the little blonde girl."

Ryou took a few steps backwards and sank onto the bed. What did he do to her?

Yugi voiced his question before Ryou had a chance to collect himself. "What did this chat consist of, Bakura?" He looked just as worried as Ryou.

Malik's face betrayed no emotion.

Bakura's evil smirk turned into a look of annoyance. "She dared to touch one of my most prized possessions. I simply had to take it back."

Ryou's heart sank. There goes any chance he had at being friends with Ellie.

"That bump on her head. That was you." He accused angrily. At this point he didn't even care about how the spirit would punish him. He was sick of him doing this to his friends. "And today I acted like nothing was wrong." He buried his head in his hands. "I should have apologized." He whispered in English.

Bakura laughed meanly again. Even though he couldn't see his yami, Ryou could tell once again that the laugh wasn't genuine.

At this point he didn't care, though.

When Ryou finally looked up, the spirit had phased back into the Millennium Ring once again.

Yugi walked over to Ryou, and laid a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Ryou."

Yami shook his head slowly. "No. I do not wish to be the bearer of bad news, but it is very likely that Ellie will tell her friends about this. I am afraid that we have to be extra careful around all of them now."

Malik got up. "Let's ask them to help us with our homework. That way we can try to keep them from talking to each other alone."

"Good idea, Malik." Yugi nodded firmly. "Go ask them. We're right behind you."

Malik hurried out the door.

"Ryou?" Yugi asked the distraught boy.

"Yeah?"

"It'll be okay." Yugi smiled at him reassuringly.

"I hope so."

"What are you going to tell her?" Yami asked.

"I- I don't know, Yami. She honestly didn't seem too mad about it this morning. I just wish I knew exactly what had happened so I can apologize properly."

It was at that point that Malik came back. Yami phased back into the puzzle, and the three boys trekked into Harry and Ron's room.

Ryou knew that they were too late. As soon as he walked in the door, Harry and Ron started throwing accusatory looks at Ryou, Hermione was acting a little too natural, and the egg on Ellie's head was looking bigger and more painful then ever. Ryou took a seat on the windowsill as far away from Ellie as possible, and did his homework in silence. He didn't really need help anyways, everything seemed really easy to him.

Ryou decided to sneak a conversation with Bakura while he was pretending to be immersed in his work.

-Koe?-

Bakura mentally sighed. -Yes, yanodoushi?-

-What happened?-

xxx

-What happened?-

Ra damn it, Bakura thought. Now he was going to cook up some story to show his damned hikari so he would feel better. Bakura, for reasons that were beyond him, wanted Ryou's guilt at hurting Ellie to stop. Because Bakura was feeling guilty for making Ryou feel guilty.

He decided to go with the truth. Or at least part of it.

Bakura showed Ryou the memory, beginning from the knife flying from his hand, to him shoving Ellie into the wall and stalking away. He left out the part where she followed him and told him about the boggart, because that could lead to some awkward questions.

Ryou actually seemed relieved. Apparently he was glad that he had just pushed Ellie, and not actually struck her.

-Thank you, Koe.-

xxx

A few hours later, after the transfers had completed a big chunk of their review packs, Ellie stood up. She stretched and announced that it was time for her to go to bed. She was about to walk out of the room, when Hermione called her back.

"Elizabeth Milton!"

Ellie made a face. Evidently, Ryou thought, she did not like her full name. "What?" Hermione gave her a meaningful look. "Oh. Right. Are you . . . Are you coming Hermione?"

Ron snorted.

Ryou wasn't impressed though, this had been the opportunity that he had been looking for to apologize. He just needed to get Ellie alone. Oh well, this was the best that he could get. He would rather ask Ellie to talk in front of Hermione than Harry and Ron, who looked a lot more intimidating than Hermione. (A/N: Wow, is he ever wrong.)

"I think," He gave a very convincing fake yawn. "I think it's time for me to go to bed as well. Good night everybody." He followed Ellie and Hermione right out the door.

Ryou hurried around to corner in order to catch the pair just as they were about to walk into their room.

"Ellie!" He called softly.

Ellie turned around, eyes wide. Was that fear in her eyes? Oh no.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked. She nodded slowly.

Hermione didn't move.

"Alone?" He elaborated, feeling very rude and blushing slightly.

Hermione opened her mouth, most likely to argue, but Ellie put her hand on her friend's arm. "It's okay, Hermione." She whispered gently.

Hermione gave her friend a shocked look, and then glared at Ryou. Obviously they had discussed last night already and did not want Ellie to be alone with him. When he realized this, Ryou felt a knot form somewhere in the vicinity of his esophagus.

"Fine. I'll be right inside." She looked pointedly at Ryou, clearly trying to send a threatening message. Ryou couldn't bring himself to be threatened by her though, with all that he had been through.

"Thank you." He bowed his head slightly towards her back, and the door clicked shut behind her.

Ellie took a few steps toward him, away from the safety of her room. Ryou was encouraged by this. They were now only separated by a few feet. Ryou took a step forwards as well, closing the gap.

"Yes, Ryou?" She breathed, not breaking eye contact. He was impressed at her nerve. He could tell that she feared him, yet here she stood, inches away from him.

"I just wanted to apologize for last night."

Her eyes widened slightly. Ryou assumed that she had been under the impression that he had forgotten about it.

"You did?"

"Yes. I was- I was. . . Upset. I had just had a bad dream, and I didn't mean to shove you so hard."

The look on Ellie's face told Ryou that he had just said the wrong thing.

"You were upset because you had a bad dream?" She asked softly. Her voice betrayed no accusation, but Ryou felt like there was more to the story than Bakura had told him, and she knew it.

Bollocks.

"Yes." He decided to stick with his story. It was better than changing it, and certainly better than telling her the truth. Besides, whatever had happened could also be chalked up to him being upset over a bad dream, right?

"It's okay. Thank you for apologizing." She smiled at him, but her defensive posture cancelled out the friendly gesture.

Ellie turned around to go back into her room. Ryou reached towards her, and set a gentle hand on her shoulder to stop her. He felt her flinch at her touch, and jerked his hand back.

"I really am sorry, Ellie." He whispered.

She didn't turn around. Ryou watched her head bob up and down in a nod, and she retreated to her room.

Bollocks.

Look at sweet little Ryou, swearing. Isn't he cute? I'm not sure, but I think him saying 'bollocks' constantly is something derived from YGOTAS. I did it subconsciously, then realized I may or may not have stolen it as I proofread it. Anyways, if I did steal it, it belongs to Little Kuriboh. Who is genius.

I had fun with this chapter as well. I cranked it out way faster than the rest of my chapters, and it's the longest one I've written so far. So I really hope that you enjoyed it. J

Review review review!