Hey hey! Another chapter for you guys. The first half is kinda heavy, so I gave you a treat for the second half. But it's a surprise, so read on to find out. C:

I own nothing! Not Harry Potter, Yu-Gi-Oh, Hogwarts, Quidditch, or any form of Duel Monsters that may or may not pop up in this story.

Enjoy!

Chapter 19

Malik didn't care about dinner, and the second that he wiped Umbridge's memory of the whole event, he made a beeline straight for the boys dormitory.

Since he had left Yugi in the dust, and everyone else was down at dinner, he was left alone in his thoughts.

There were three of them plaguing his mind at the moment.

The first was that Umbridge was completely out of line, and they had to keep an eye on her. She seemed pretty desperate to find out the real reason why Malik, Ryou, And Yugi were at Hogwarts, and they could under no circumstances let her find out who they really were and what they could do.

It was pretty clear that she took a sick pleasure in exercising her authority over her students, abusing it and them in the process.

She was dangerous.

The second was his shock over hearing that Ryou had a sister.

Not only that, but she and their mother had died in some sort of accident three years ago.

Poor Ryou. Malik had known that his family was never around, but he just assumed that his mother was off working somewhere, like his father. Ryou never spoke of it, so Malik had naively assumed that it didn't bother him. But judging by Ryou's outburst to Umbridge, and the way he had paled the second she had mentioned his family, it bothered him. A lot.

Malik's third thought was that something was severely wrong with him.

He had been denying it for too long, but there was no getting around it now. Marik was getting stronger. And Malik knew that it was the magic in Hogwarts. He could feel him just feeding off of it.

Luckily, Malik was sure that Marik was still safely imprisoned in the deepest recesses of his mind.

But certain aspects of him were shining through. Like yesterday, when Ellie was explaining the potions homework to him. They told him that she explained it to him already, but he had no recollection of it. And then he got mad. He got so mad.

He had just hated them for making him feel so stupid, until he just snapped and yelled at Hermione. Of course Malik knew what was happening, but he couldn't stop it. He couldn't calm down until they had dropped the subject and Ellie had nervously explained it to him for the second time.

He then went on to pretend that nothing had happened, and had even brushed off Yugi and Ryou's questions later that night when they were alone. He didn't want to draw any attention to it, because he was in denial.

But after he had attacked Umbridge, there was no denying it. Hogwarts was making Marik stronger.

With a sigh, Marik rolled off his bed and peeled off his robe and his uniform shirt, walking over to the mirror and turning so that he could examine his back.

The scars looked the same as ever. They were faded, yet still obvious enough to make sure that Malik never, ever, forgot.

It was strange, though. Malik felt as though they should be inflamed, or even seeping fresh blood. The day that he had gotten these scars was the very same day that Marik was created, and it seemed wrong that they should remain so insignificant when Marik was once again rising to power.

He reached his arm around and ran his fingers over the raised scars. The puckered skin that he hated so much had grown to be a part of him, and he wondered who would he be had he not been born the eldest Ishtar boy?

The door to the dormitory banged opened just then, and Malik desperately grabbed his robe to cover his bare back. He didn't make it in time to cover up, but it didn't matter because the intruders were Yugi and Ryou.

"Oh," He said, throwing the robe across the bed and flopping down onto it. "It's just you."

Ryou averted both of their gazes and made a beeline for his bed, where he immediately yanked his curtains shut.

Malik wasn't really in the mood to try and draw him out at the moment, so he left that to Yugi and sat back and watched.

"Ryou! Come on, I didn't go to all that trouble to find you just to have you hide again," He pleaded, following him over and opening the curtains. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Malik sat up in order to see Ryou's face better.

He was indeed very pale, a lot paler than usual. He wouldn't meet any of their eyes, and looked like he was thinking very hard about his answer.

"I didn't thin-" He sighed. "I just don't like to talk about it."

Neither Malik or Yugi wanted to prompt Ryou for more information, but he could obviously sense that they were desperate to know what had happened.

"My mother and Amane died in a car crash," He whispered.

"I'm sorry," Malik said.

Ryou didn't say anything.

There was a horrible silence for the next few minutes. Nobody wanted to break it by saying the wrong thing.

"Thank you," Ryou finally said, looking up at first Malik, then Yugi.

"For what?"

"For sticking up for me. For us."

Malik's stomach lurched. Ryou didn't realize. Ryou didn't know that he had completely lost all sense of himself because Marik was getting stronger.

Of course he didn't realize. He was kind of preoccupied at the moment.

But Yugi did. Yugi was staring at him with that gaze that told Malik that Yami was right there, speculating along with him.

"Anytime," Malik said.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Ryou looked up, his pale face taking on a tiny bit of color at his request.

"Of course not!" Yugi said. "Malik wiped Umbridge's memory. You can forget about what happened tonight."

Ryou shook his head, smiling sadly. "I don't want to forget." He said, standing up and walking over to his nightstand. He opened the drawer and pulled out a box.

The box looked as though it was full of paper, but Ryou rifled through it to the very bottom and pulled out a pair of cracked glasses, a golden locket, and a photograph.

"These are hers," He said, showing them the glasses and the locket. Ryou actually looked happy, as though holding these small trinkets of his past could bring her back.

Ryou then held up the photograph. "This is her. She was 11." Malik got up off of the bed and walked over to get a closer look.

And he understood as soon as he saw the girl in the photograph. "Oh."

XXX

The next afternoon, Ryou was sitting around the fire with Yugi, Malik, Harry, Ron and Hermione. He was trying not to think about how he had opened up so much to Yugi and Malik yesterday, but he had to admit that he did feel a lot better, and a lot closer to them.

The tension between them and Harry and Ron had lessened considerably, and they could now all sit together without breaking into constant fights.

"Um, Harry?" Ellie approached them, an anxious look on her face.

"Yeah?" Harry looked up from his potions essay, seemingly glad for an interruption. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong with me. . . Have you talked to Angelina yet?" Ellie was anxiously fiddling with a lock of her hair, and glancing around the common room.

"No, why?"

He didn't need Ellie to answer his question, though.

"Oi! Potter!" An angry girl approached, and stood next to Ellie.

Harry scowled. "What now?"

"I'll tell you what now! How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"

"Angelina, it's not his fault, she really was wretched-" Ellie jumped in.

"I don't care whose fault it is, Ellie!" She snapped, and then rounded on Harry. "Do you know what's this Friday, Harry?"

Harry's face took on the look of somebody who had just received some really bad news. He groaned. "Keeper tryouts!"

"Now he remembers! Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn't I tell you that I booked the Quidditch pitch specially? And now you've decided that you're not going to be there!" Angelina then proceeded to demand that Harry get his detention switched (which was really unreasonable in Ryou's opinion, considering that it was Umbridge) and stormed off.

"What's Quidditch?" Yugi asked eagerly, ignoring the tortured look on Harry's face. "Is it a game?"

"Blimey! You've never heard of Quidditch?" Ron gasped, eyes wide. "It's only the best game ever invented!"

Ryou somehow doubted that, and by the look on Yugi's face, so did he.

But nonetheless, the transfers prompted for more information.

"It's quite dangerous," Hermione explained, with a small eye roll.

"Oh, come off it, Hermione. Just because you can't play-"

"It's a sport played on broomsticks," Harry interrupted Ron and Hermione's bickering.

"Like, in the air?" Malik asked, eyes lighting up.

Ryou agreed with Hermione. This did sound quite dangerous, indeed.

"How do you play?" Yugi asked, his homework long forgotten.

"Well, there's two teams," Ellie started, "Seven players on each."

"Two beaters, three chasers, one keeper, and one seeker." Ron continued. "The beaters knock these little balls called bludgers around with bats and try to knock the other team off of their broomsticks."

Ryou was liking this game less and less.

"Then you have your chasers," Harry said. "They play with the Quaffle. Their job is to get the Quaffle through the opposing team's goalposts. Each score gains their team 10 points."

"The keeper defends the goalposts for his team," Ellie said, pulling a scrap piece of parchment towards her and began to draw an oval with three sticks with circles on each end. "That's what the pitch looks like."

"And what does the seeker do?" Yugi asked.

"The seeker's job is to catch the golden snitch. It's absolutely tiny, and flies around the pitch." Ellie replied. "The game can only end when it's caught. The seeker who catches it earns his team 150 points."

"Who is Gryffindor's seeker?" Ryou asked nervously. He hoped it wasn't Ellie, because that sounded like the most dangerous position out there. The seeker had to be the biggest target.

"I am," Harry said.

"Who else is on the team?" Malik asked.

"Well, Fred and George are the beaters, naturally," Ellie said. "And Angelina, Katie Bell and I are the chasers."

Ellie was on the team? Ryou didn't like that at all, Quidditch sounded way too dangerous.

"I want to try out!" Malik declared. "Will you guys teach me?"

"And me?" Yugi asked.

"Can't," Harry muttered miserably. "I've got detention all week. Speaking of which, I should get going before I'm late." With that, he gathered his things and left the common room dejectedly.

"I'll teach you!" Ron beamed, his animosity towards them apparently forgotten in the face of his favorite sport. "And I'm sure Ellie will too, won't you?"

Ellie nodded. "I think the rain's going to hold off, do you want to go out now?"

"Yeah!" Malik jumped up excitedly.

Ryou was torn. He did not want to fly or watch Ellie play this dangerous sport, but he was fascinated by the idea of it.

Hermione gave them all disappointed looks. "We have all this homework to do and you're going to play Quidditch?"

"You coming, Ryou?" Ellie asked, ignoring Hermione and smiling down at him.

He glanced furtively down at his half-finished homework. "Yeah, I guess so." He gave a defeated smile and followed his friends out the door.

XXX

"The first year's usually get flying lessons, but I doubt that you'll be let in," Ron told them, handing them each a broomstick from the school's stash. They looked quite rugged and pathetic next to Ellie and Ron's brooms, but Ryou didn't complain. He doubted that they would go as fast anyway, and that was just fine with him.

"It's lucky that the pitch is empty tonight," Ellie noted, shielding her eyes from the evening sun and observing the sky. "Good conditions, too."

"So, how do I fly?" Malik asked. Out of the three transfers, he was certainly the most eager to get up into the sky.

Ellie laughed. "You have to learn how to control the broomstick, first."

"Well, how do I do that?" He asked impatiently, examining his broomstick's rough handle.

"Put them down," Ron told them.

"How is this going to teach me how to control-" Malik began.

"Just do it!" Ron laughed.

The three transfers laid their broomsticks on the grass. Ellie, Ryou noticed, was grinning hugely. She seemed to be enjoying this.

"Now hold your hand over it, and say 'up'."

Yugi did as he was told, and unsurprisingly, the broomstick flew up into his hand without hesitation.

Malik yelled 'up' a little too enthusiastically, and the broomstick flew up so fast that he couldn't catch it, and it zoomed up into the sky. "Oops." He said.

"I'll get it!" Ron said happily, and zoomed easily into the air to retrieve the broom.

Ryou nervously looked down at his broom. He wondered if it could feel his hesitation.

"Come on, Ryou," Ellie smiled encouragingly at him. He self-consciously felt the eyes of the other three on him, and regretted waiting so long to do it.

"Up?" He said. It sounded more like a question.

The broom twitch a bit, and rolled over, but did not rise an inch off the ground.

"Don't be so nervous, the broom won't work for you unless it feels that you're worthy." Ellie said. "Try again."

Easy for her to say. She'd been flying for years. He was terrified of it. But he did try. Again and again and again, but nothing happened.

"Up!" He called, frustrated.

"Don't be so frustrated, mate," Ron told him. He had long since returned Malik's broom, and Malik had pulled off the trick effortlessly on his second try.

"I can't do it!" Ryou dropped his arm, feeling decidedly embarrassed that he was the only one that couldn't command the broom.

"Yes you can!" Ellie told him. "Stop thinking so hard. Just do it." She stepped up next to him, took his hand and held it above the broom. Ryou felt a slightly annoyed twitch from his yami at the contact, but still blushed all the same. "Try again," She said, letting go and stepping back.

"Up." He said.

Amazingly, the broom rose straight into his outstretched hand with enough force to hurt.

"I did it!" He said, excitedly. Ryou looked up into the smiling faces of his friends, grinning.

"Good!" Ron said, sounding slightly relived that that was over with.

"Now can we fly?" Malik asked, rolling his shoulders.

-That boy is more impatient than a toddler.- Bakura said. Ryou ignored him.

"I reckon they're ready," Ron said to Ellie, who nodded. "Mount your brooms."

They did as they were told, and Ryou was surprised to see that behind the fear, he was actually eager to get up in the air. Bakura was as well.

"Lean forwards a bit, and just hover. Do not kick off," Ellie said, directing that last bit to Malik, who grinned sheepishly.

"Okay, Mom," He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and laughing.

Ryou was alarmed that they would be flying so soon. Was there no theory to it? He thought that they would have spent the last little bit telling them how to fly, not just sending them off on their way.

This time he didn't hesitate, though. He tilted his weight forwards, and gripped the handle tightly. His hands were sweaty, and he hoped that he wouldn't slide off.

With a small prayer, he lifted his feet.

And just like that, he was hovering.

Ryou's balance was a little bit shaky, but he felt that that was just nerves and he would hopefully get over those. But there was no getting around the fact that he was flying.

Ryou carefully turned his head, afraid that he would topple off. He wanted to see how Yugi and Malik were doing.

Yugi was easily hovering the same as he was, but to be expected, Malik was rising fast.

There was a slight look of panic on his face that told Ryou that he wasn't doing it on purpose.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered, before kicking off himself and grabbing ahold of Malik's broom to pull him down.

Ryou couldn't help but laugh at the sheepish expression on Malik's face when the pair touched down.

"I told you-"

"I know, I know," Malik said to Ellie, laughing. "Can I try again?"

"Well, since you're so eager to get into the air," Ellie rolled her eyes. "Let's go."

With that, Ellie mounted her broom and rose about thirty feet in the air. Ron whooped excitedly and followed her, rising even higher and doing some loops to show off.

"You coming?" He called.

Even Malik looked hesitant after he had just lost control of his broom.

"Come on, we won't let you fall," Ellie said, flying down and hovering a few feet above their heads. "Where's that Gryffindor bravery?" She teased.

That was all the encouragement Malik needed, as he was always desperate to prove that he was worthy of Gryffindor. Yugi was quick to follow, and they rose into the air quite a bit faster than Ryou would have liked.

He started ascending behind them, but quite a bit slower. Ellie rose level with him, and he kept his eyes firmly on her, terrified to look at the ground to see how high he was.

-Don't you dare fall, Ryou.-

-I'm doing my best!- Ryou snapped back.

When the pair finally rose to be level with the other three, Ryou finally allowed himself the leave to look down. He then wished that he hadn't. They had to be at least fifty feet high.

"This is amazing!" Yugi said, beaming.

Despite his fears, Ryou had to agree. Being this high up without any restrictions, he felt freer than he had ever felt in his life. From this vantage point, they could see the sunset perfectly.

Ryou felt his nerves slip slowly away, and he was eager to learn how to really fly.

Ellie and Ron were allowing them a moment to adjust. Ryou's fear came back not only when he realized that they were racing each other around the pitch, but when he saw exactly how fast Ellie was going. She was weaving in and out of the stands impressively, but she was still only a slight miscalculation away from crashing into one.

It was hard to tell who won their race, as the pair zoomed to the group at the exact same time, laughing. Ryou only caught his breath when she came to a halt.

"You guys wanna do a few laps?" Ellie asked them breathlessly.

"I think so," Yugi said, grinning nervously.

Ryou found that once he calmed down a little bit, the broomstick responded to him a lot better and flying was actually quite easy. Within an hour, they were all flying like they'd been doing it for years.

The transfers were racing each other around the pitch, reservations long gone. They were all having the time of their lives dive-bombing each other and seeing who could perform the most risky moves.

Ellie and Ron were focused on the goalposts. Ron had blushingly admitted that he was going to tryout for the position of keeper this Friday and Ellie had offered to help him out.

He wasn't doing too badly, Ryou thought. He only let in about a quarter of the throws that Ellie made, and he let in even less when he thought the transfers weren't looking.

By the time the sun went all the way down and they were making their way back up to the school, Ryou felt confident flying and actually believed he would enjoy playing Quidditch.

XXX

Yeah, the treat was our favorite transfers learning how to fly. I think it was more of a treat to me than it was to you guys, though. xD I wrote it completely out of context this morning just for fun, then tacked it on the first half to make a somewhat eventful chapter. I hope you enjoyed it though. C:

I would also like to thank and give kudos to a few loyal reviews who have stuck by my side and given me feedback for pretty much every chapter I've updated in the last month! Check em out, guys: The Amber Raven, Rubellite Game, YamiBakura1988, Locondra Timbernova and mpl3 !

Thanks for reading and don't neglect the pretty blue box!