Hey guys! Lot's of good stuff ahead. Be excited.

Warning: This chapter has bits that are pretty disturbing. It's still rated T, but it's a very strong T. I tried to make it as least graphic as possible, but I figured I should warn y'all anyways. Especially since this story started off with a K rating. XD

Disclaimer: You guys all know the deal by now. Well, hopefully you do. You really should, though. So yeah, nothing is mine, and it probably isn't yours either. Right. Hopefully someday something will be mine, and I won't have to write these disclaimers anymore. But until then, it isn't. Uhh . . . I'll shut up now.

I switched the hikari/yami talking method. It used to be -blah-, but now I'll just italicize it. I was having a problem with people interrupting them, since that's usually signified with a hyphen as well. It just looked weird, so I figured I would change it.

So, yeah. New hikari/yami mind link = blah

Enjoy!

Chapter 23

When Bakura hit Ryou with the shadows, he instantly blacked out from the strangely real body he occupied while dwelling in his mind. The body was real enough to feel pain, and he sure as hell felt pain from this attack. It hurt. A lot. Ryou felt as though he had just been hit with a truck.

He was floating through the pain, blinded by the shadows. He screamed loudly. It seemed that the pain and the blindness would never end. All he wanted was to plant his feet on firm ground.

Ryou honestly had no idea how long he had gone through that, only that it was a very, very long time.

But, eventually, the pain had stopped. All of Ryou's fears just forgotten.

He went from one extreme to the other, with no clue how or when it had happened.

Just seconds ago, he was screaming in agony, but now he suddenly felt better than he had in a long time. He felt better than he had ever felt. Even before his mother and sister died. Even before his father left. He suddenly felt better than ever.

Suddenly, he was kissing Ellie.

How he got into this situation, he had no idea. But he certainly wasn't complaining. They were in his old living room, completely alone. Ryou was laying on top of her on his mother's old couch.

It was so much better than he could have ever imagined. She was so soft, so pretty, so feminine. And this close, Ellie smelled like the prettiest flowers. It was a smell that was familiar to him, a scent that brought him a strange sense of security and comfort. His smile widened even further into her lips, and he felt her smile back.

"What are you so happy about?" Ellie giggled, pulling back slightly and looking into his eyes. Ryou groaned softly at the loss of contact, he was already missing her taste. But her hands ran up his back and into his hair, meaning he couldn't stay disappointed with her for long.

Cupping her cheeks gently, Ryou gave her one soft kiss before responding. "You," He said simply, before leaning in to kiss her even deeper than before. He didn't know where his confidence had suddenly come from. He just suddenly knew what he was doing, even though he had never kissed anyone before. Especially like this.

Ryou's hands slowly ghosted down her neck, and he could feel goose bumps erupt from her soft flesh. Ellie elicited a soft moan into his mouth, and he immediately got a rush from the power that he held over her.

He chuckled softly, and allowed his hands to continue southwards. They glimpsed over her chest and down the side of her waist, finally taking refuge on the back of her thighs. He pulled her legs up, inviting her to wrap them around his body. She arched her back, allowing them to finally be pressed so tightly against each other.

They were both still fully dressed, but in that moment it was kind of like they weren't.

Leaving one hand on Ellie's hip, Ryou used the other to slowly trace it's way back up the path it had just taken down. This time, however, he stopped at her chest and began firmly kneading the soft mound of her breast.

Ellie took one hand out of the tangled mess that was now his hair, and placed it on his chest, where she pushed back slightly. "Ryou . . ." She whispered, but he didn't let her finish her sentence. He leaned back in, and used his lips to force her mouth open, rendering her incapable of finishing her sentence. Taking her slight intake of breath as the means he craved to continue, Ryou moved his other hand from her hip back so it rested on her behind, squeezing and rubbing her through the fabric of her trousers. This time, he was the one that moaned.

He felt Ellie's legs unwind themselves from around his midsection, and the hand that was still in his hair joined the one on his chest, and they forcefully pushed him back. "Ryou," She said firmly. Her face was flushed, and she was panting. Ryou thought that she had never looked more beautiful. "We've gone far enough."

He frowned, but did not move his hands from their positions on her chest and rear. "But we were just starting to have fun," He argued, leaning in for another kiss. He didn't understand why Ellie wanted to stop. Couldn't she see how much he wanted her?

"No!" Ellie leant back and turned her head in order to keep her mouth away from Ryou's lips. She wiggled away as much as she could while pinned down under Ryou's body, in an attempt to get him to move his hands.

But this only irritated him. Why was she trying to get away? He had been waiting so long for this, he had dreamt about it, fantasized about it. Why did she want to stop? He deserved this.

But, no. Ryou sighed. He had to stop. He didn't want Ellie to feel pressured in any way, and Ryou couldn't bring himself to upset her anyways.

Ryou went to remove his hands, but with a jolt of horror he realized that he couldn't. His hands were now moving of their own accord.

"Stop it!" she cried, a panicky look suddenly overtaking her face. "Let me go!"

Ryou didn't know what was happening. One minute they were acting like the couple Ryou always wished that they could be, and the next Ryou's body was being manipulated. He felt as though he were a puppet, and the puppeteer was laughing at his sad attempts to stop himself.

All Ryou could do was watch the fear in Ellie's eyes as his hands reached up in order to pin her arms over her head.

He felt his lips curl into a sadistic smile before he leaned in to devour her mouth with his. The gentleness that he had exercised earlier was gone. This was more of an animalistic passion that could only lead to one thing.

Ellie screamed into his mouth, but that only spurred him on more.

He felt a sick pleasure in the pit of his stomach at her fruitless attempts to escape. It was true, Ellie was a lot smaller than him. And a lot weaker. He really only needed one hand to keep her arms pinned, leaving his other free to explore . . .

All Ryou could do was watch in absolute horror as his body continued it's assault on the girl that he was so hell bent on protecting. However, the pleasure that his body began to feel was so obviously not his own. He was disgusted by his own actions.

He distantly felt his body's arousal growing as both his and Ellie's clothes were ripped off. She continued screaming and pleading with him to stop.

Ryou just wished that she knew how he was waging the very same war with his body at that very moment.

Tears streaked down Ryou's face. At the very least Ryou just wanted to be able to close his eyes, so he wouldn't have to watch.

The fight that Ellie had been putting up had turned to a silent acceptance, her eyes looked dead as she lay under him, looking away from her attacker. It was worse, in a way, the fact that she wasn't fighting anymore.

She had just given up.

He had turned into a monster.

And still, he half enjoyed it. His mind was hating every second, screaming at his body to stop, allowing the tears to roll down his face and onto Ellie's. But his body was thrilled at the contact and the movement. It wanted more.

You're enjoying this, aren't you? A familiar voice sounded in his head. Bakura.

But, no. It was wrong. Very wrong. His voice was distorted badly, as though he were speaking through a cheap microphone.

Ryou was too distraught to answer, as his body had just forced Ellie past the point of no return. She screamed once again, this time in pain.

But he couldn't stop.

He was enjoying it. Ryou was under the impression that if he had suddenly gained control of his body back, he wouldn't be able to stop anyways.

You love it. The power you have over her. Listen to her scream. The voice cackled manically inside his head. It's all your fault, little Ryou. You made us want her.

Ellie had come out of her catatonic state in order to fight him again, but to no avail. All her fighting and thrashing was only making it more enjoyable for him.

Ryou never really realized that the voice was referring to itself as more than one person.

He fruitlessly continued his fight with his body, desperate to stop hurting Ellie. He would do anything to get rid of the look of pain on her face. He couldn't stand it, especially since it was mixed with fear, betrayal and absolute hatred. All aimed at him. She was looking directly at Ryou's face, and he was looking at hers, so he was getting blasted with her emotions full-on.

But he couldn't stop.

When Ryou finished, he gave Ellie a particularly rough bite on the neck. It was his body's natural instinct to mark his territory. He dressed quickly and stalked out the door, leaving Ellie's abused form laying on the couch.

He regained control of his body at the very same time in which the door dissolved behind him. Ryou desperately wanted to go back and check on Ellie. Take care of her, apologize, anything, but his path was blocked. There was only one way to go, which was forward.

And forward led to a familiar looking car.

Ryou climbed in, with his thoughts whirling. The tears still lined his face, but they had stopped flowing. He somehow had the sense that none of this was real.

But that didn't make what just happened any less horrifying. It felt real enough to him.

A familiar laugh tinkled to his right, starting Ryou out of his thoughts, and causing him to completely forget about what had just happened.

Ryou had assumed that he was the only one in the car, but when he looked over he saw that he was seated next to Amane, and in front of her in the driver's seat was his mother.

He gasped.

"Did you hear that, Ryou? Father is getting off work early tonight so we can all go to the fair," Amane said. She looked to be about eleven years old, and looked as healthy as could be. Her glasses were crooked because she would never stop fiddling with them, and her favorite golden locket dangled from her neck. It was a gift from their Grandmother, before she died many years ago.

"Yeah," Ryou smiled at her, and reached over to hold her hand. "I heard."

He couldn't stop staring. He was terrified that the sight of his live baby sister would be taken away from him again, so he wanted to drink it up as much as he could. He squeezed her hand, feeling that somehow she could anchor him in this fantasy that he knew wouldn't last.

Amane's curly hair was a mess - as usual. She sat up straight, an act that Ryou knew made her feel taller. She was tiny, even for an eleven year old. And she had the same pale skin and blonde hair that both of the Bakura children shared, making her look positively innocent.

Their mother was talking on her cell phone, driving down the highway. It was just as well, Ryou missed his mother dearly but he only had eyes for his sister. He was staring at her so much that he didn't even notice the car swerve.

"Mommy!" Amane screamed as they crashed into the guardrail. Ryou had never even gotten the chance to see what had caused them to swerve, but his memory from the original accident told him that it was a little boy chasing after a ball.

The entire driver's side of the car was mangled beyond recognition. Ryou's mother was slumped over the steering wheel, eyes staring blankly ahead. Her blood was splattered everywhere.

She was dead.

In real life, this scene haunted him equally as much as the death of Amane. But for whatever reason, an unknown force drew his attention away from his mother's mangled body and onto his baby sister.

Still clinging to her hand, Ryou saw that she was still alive. Her small body was wedged in between the twisted door and her mother's seat. The guardrail had sliced through the car and was sticking straight into her chest. To add insult to injury, she was bleeding copiously from a gash in her forehead, and the blood mingled with her tears as it dripped down her face.

"Ryou, help me!" She sobbed weakly, looking through her cracked glasses at the injury that would soon end her life. "It hurts."

Ryou wanted to scream when he realized that his body was not his own to control again. He couldn't move. All he could do was squeeze Amane's hand, and watch with absolutely horrified eyes as her blood was pumped out onto the backseat.

"Amane," He finally managed to say. "Please. Don't go."

"I'm dying," She said. But her voice was off. It was completely different, yet still very familiar. "You did this to me, Ryou."

And then, it was as though someone had pushed a fast-forward button, and Amane was growing up before his very eyes. It was one of the creepiest things that Ryou had ever seen. Her soft, childlike features thinned into those of a teenager, her flat chest expanded, her eyes changed from brown to blue, and the tangled mess of curls on her head tamed slightly to resemble the beautiful curls that he instantly recognized.

To Ryou's dawning horror, Amane was Ellie, and Ellie was Amane. She had tears streaking down her face and her lips were rapidly darkening into a powdery blue color.

"Ryou, help me," she whispered.

Ryou realized that he was crying, too. "I can't, Ellie. I'm so sorry."

"Ryou?"

He clutched her hand with every ounce of energy that he had. "Don't go."

It was even worse than before. Now Ryou was watching Amane die and couldn't do a thing to stop it.

He was watching Ellie die and couldn't do a thing about it.

He squeezed his eyes shut to block it out.

"It's working." He heard, and was instantly confused. That wasn't Ellie's voice.

"Come on, Malik," Another voice said. "I know you can do this." That was a guy talking. A familiar one.

And he recognized that name. . . Malik. His friend, Malik.

Yes, it was all coming back to him now.

Bakura had attacked him.

Bakura had sent him to his own personal hell.

Bakura had done this to him.

He opened his eyes. He was no longer in the car, but in his own bed in his dormitory.

Ryou blinked at the bright lights, and all the people surrounding him for a moment. He ignored the sighs of relief that he heard. His eyes searched around until they found their mark. When they did, Ryou flinched. He was terrified by the mere sight of his yami, regardless of all the others surrounding them.

"What did you do to me, Koe?"

Ryou, I-

A tug on his hand interrupted Bakura. Like in his nightmare, Ellie was holding his hand in real life. "Ryou, it's okay. He didn't mean it." She said, squeezing his hand again.

What was that supposed to mean? Of course Bakura had meant it. He had been so stupid these past few months, actually believing that his yami had changed. He could never let his guard down, lest he get attacked again.

He shifted his gaze from Bakura to Ellie, the awful truth dawning on him the second his eyes met hers. Her aura was black. Did Bakura succeed in raping her? If so, why was she defending him?

If he did, though, it would probably explain his dream. They were linked, after all.

"No," He whispered, tearing his gaze away from Ellie and onto the man that had caused him so much anguish. "You didn't."

I didn't.

But you would have, Ryou replied sadly.

Bakura didn't respond.

Ryou realized that Bakura was right after all. He had to stop thinking about her, especially like that. His infatuation with Ellie could lead to nothing good. He needed to distance himself from her.

"Ryou, it's okay-" Malik started to say, but he had trailed off when Ryou had ripped his hand out of Ellie's grasp. He steeled his heart when he saw her hurt expression out of the corner of his eye.

Ryou, I'm sorry. The emotions from his yami were trickling through the mind link, and Ryou actually felt deep regret resonating from him. But that didn't change what he did.

Don't.

Ellie reached for his hand again, and Ryou flinched away. She stopped. He didn't want to touch her after what he did to her in that nightmare. She would most likely agree, had she known. He wouldn't let her come near him. It wasn't safe.

"Ryou," Malik said. Ryou was glad for an interruption, because it sounded like this was urgent. Maybe it would allow his mind to dwell on something else for a moment. "This is important. Shadi came to Ellie in a dream."

"What?" He demanded. That was not a welcome distraction. Ryou hadn't wanted anything to do with Shadi since he heard what he was capable of, and the thought of Shadi visiting Ellie's dreams disturbed him almost as much as what he just experienced. Ra knows what he could have done to her.

"Malik!" Hermione and Yugi snapped. They were probably upset that they had told Ryou this, as his protectiveness for Ellie was known by everyone except her.

"He what?" He demanded Ellie. "Did he hurt you?"

That explains her aura, Bakura mused.

Ellie bit her lip, and shook her head. She still looked hurt by Ryou's actions, and his heart broke even more than it already was. He didn't blame her for getting up off of his bed and walking towards the window. Even though he instantly felt cold without her proximity.

She looked so vulnerable, poised in front of the window with her arms wrapped around herself. Ryou thought back to the sight of her dying in the car. He shivered, and fought the urge to get up and go wrap her in his arms.

"What did he want?" Bakura asked her. Ryou felt an honest sense of worry coming out of Bakura, and he was confused. Did he want to hurt her or protect her? He didn't understand.

Hermione, Ryou noticed, had stiffened at this question. She quickly joined Ellie's side, slightly protectively.

When joined by her friend, Ellie's arms came down to rest at her side, and she stood up straighter. Apparently Hermione's presence gave her confidence, and Ryou couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy.

"Well, we kind of lied to you." She began, eyeing Malik.

Ryou then understood. They were both nervous over how he would react. That didn't exactly make him feel better, because whatever they had lied about couldn't be anything that would make him happy.

"Not just to you," Hermione said defensively. "Actually, we lied to everyone about this."

Ryou tried not to show his betrayal at this confession. Because he, along with Yugi and Malik, had all trusted the girls. He kept his gaze fixed on his hands.

"Remember that day we all went to Diagon Alley, and Hermione and I, er, kind of ran into some death eaters?" Ellie asked, sounding nervous.

Oh no. Ryou had a feeling that his fears were about to be confirmed: that they had, indeed, been trapped in the shadow game that Bakura had caused.

"We followed you, and got sucked into that . . . place."

Ryou sucked in a breath, and his gaze jerked up to look at Ellie and Hermione's pale faces. Once again, his yami had been the root of Ellie's anguish.

"You were transported to the Shadow Realm?" Yugi gasped. "How?"

"We were kind of hoping that you'd tell us," Hermione said.

"But the Shadow Realm reveals your soul. There's no way we wouldn't have noticed," Malik said, shaking his head.

"We were invisible," Hermione shrugged.

That's impossible, Bakura said dubiously. We would have seen them. Two little girls in the shadow realm would certainly stick out.

Ryou pointedly ignored him.

"How?" Yami asked.

The girls looked at each other, looking very guilty in Ryou's opinion. "There are ways," Ellie eventually said, not taking her gaze off of Hermione.

"But-" Yami began to argue, but Hermione interrupted him.

"Look, that secret isn't ours to tell. I wasn't even conscious long enough to get a good look around, but the point is that Ellie's dreams started that very night."

What dreams? Ryou was liking this conversation less and less. He was beginning to wish that he had never met Ellie at all. It seems that their presence at Hogwarts was causing her a lot of trouble.

"What are your dreams of?" Yami asked calmly.

Ryou looked around at the rest of the group. They all looked calm. Ryou could tell that they were upset for the same reasons as him: that their presence was having a negative effect on both Ellie and Hermione. Even Malik looked worried for them. But he knew that he was the only one that was overridden with this much guilt.

He felt sick.

"Of that pl- the Shadow Realm, you called it? I just dream that I'm falling through it, and I eventually land in the Eye of- that eye." Ellie said, pointing at the Millennium Rod that was still grasped in Malik's hand.

"You know what the Shadow Realm looks like?" Malik asked, surprised. "How long were you awake for?"

Ellie shrugged. "A minute or two? Not that long, really." Ryou gasped. Even he had trouble staying awake that long in the Shadow Realm without the presence of his yami.

"What?" Ellie asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I think that we figured out what Shadi wants with you," Malik said.

Ryou wanted to cry. This was all his fault.

"Huh? What does he want?" Ellie asked.

"Your endurance." Malik told her.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked him, placing a comforting hand on Ellie's arm.

"For lack of a better explanation, the shadow realm is another dimension," Yugi said. "It drains your energy. We can barely survive that long in it without the help of our yamis."

"So you must really be something special." Malik nodded at her. "I wonder what Shadi wants to do with you?"

Ryou couldn't believe that Malik was speaking of Ellie's fate with such indifference. He was on the verge of losing it himself, and it took every ounce of self restraint not to jump up and hide Ellie from the rest of the world himself.

Nothing will happen to her, Ryou. We will keep her safe. Bakura said.

Ryou didn't believe a word that he said.

XXX

A few days later, Malik, Yugi and Ryou were on their way to their very first defense meeting.

Ryou was trailing behind them, as per the norm these days. Ever since he had woken up, the poor guy had been jumping all over the place. He would only speak when spoken to, he's been pale, and Malik knew that he hasn't been sleeping at night.

He flinched whenever someone tried to touch him.

And for some reason, Ryou wouldn't go near Ellie. He would purposely avoid sitting next to her in class or at meals, he would leave whenever she showed up, and he rejected any attempts at conversation she made with him.

Malik didn't know what was worse: Ryou's fearful behavior, or the hurt look on Ellie's face whenever he would reject her. To Ellie's credit, though, she never stopped trying to reach out to him.

"What are we going to do about him?" Yugi asked Malik in a whisper. Ryou was, by now, too far back to hear them.

Malik shrugged. "Wait it out, I guess." He took a discreet look back at Ryou, and leaned down so he would be closer to Yugi's height. "I wonder what he saw to make him like this."

"Yami says that Bakura's attack could have provoked him to see the things that hurt him the most." Yugi tried to let the implications of that one go unsaid, but Malik wasn't one to avoid touchy subjects.

"You mean he saw Bakura attacking Ellie."

"Not just 'attacking' . . ." Yugi said uncomfortably. "He's been distancing himself from her. Could it be to protect her from Bakura?"

"Protect?" Malik asked. He didn't understand the emphasis that Yugi had placed on the word.

"You know . . . protect." Yugi flushed.

"Oh." Malik understood now. "Ryou likes her, so naturally, so does Bakura. I see." This was an uncomfortable topic. "So, you're saying that he saw. . . you know . . ."

Yugi nodded, with his gaze firmly fixed on the floor. "Poor Ryou." Yugi said.

"Poor Bakura," Malik said bitterly. He could relate to having a complete psychopath influencing your actions. "It's not even his fault."

Yugi shook his head. "I wonder if Ryou will forgive him."

Their conversation ended there, though, as they had finally reached their destination. They walked through the door that Hermione had directed them to into a room packed with students. They both waved cheerily back at Ellie and Hermione and pulled up cushions next to them, examining their surroundings.

"Hey, Ellie, have you-" Yugi began.

"No!" Ellie said exasperatedly. Ever since Monday morning, Malik, Yugi and Hermione have constantly been at Ellie, wondering if Shadi had come to her again. She insisted that he hadn't however her dreams of falling through the Shadow Realm had persisted. "Just the falling dream. Don't worry!"

The blackness in her aura had faded to almost nothing, but Malik was sure to keep an eye on her. He wanted to catch any weird behavior.

When everyone had finally arrived, Harry got up and started the lesson. The group dubbed themselves the DA, and Harry sent them off the practice disarming spells.

Malik was annoyed to see that everyone else partnered up with their friends to practice. The pairs were Hermione and Ellie, Yugi and Ryou, Ron and Neville, with Harry supervising and giving pointers. This left him as the odd one out.

Muttering angrily towards his friends, Malik allowed Harry to stick him with a big Gryffindor named something Mclaggen. Malik had seen him around the common room, and he seemed very arrogant. On top of that, he very much didn't like the smirk on Harry's face as he walked away from them.

"I think that it's only fair to warn you that I've already perfected disarming, and I'm probably way out of your league." Mclaggen said, puffing his chest out and pulling his wand out of his pocket.

Malik suddenly understood why Harry had been so pleased to stick them together.

He already hated this guy.

Malik shrugged. "Hey, can't argue with that."

"Why not?" Mclaggen looked confused, like he wasn't used to that kind of response.

"If you argue with an idiot, you just stoop to their level. And then get beaten by experience." He clapped him on the back and stepped away to create a proper dueling distance, smirking at the dumbfounded look on his face.

Mclaggen was huge, but Malik wasn't afraid of him. He'd beaten guys much bigger, even without the use of magic. He hadn't been the leader of the Rare Hunters for nothing. He could take him, should the situation arise.

"Hey, you can't just-"

"Just stun me, Chuckles." Malik said, pulling out his own wand confidently.

Malik, Ryou and Yugi had all perfected their Shield Charms shortly after coming to Hogwarts as a safety precaution. So he was confident that he could deflect anything that Chuckles here threw at him.

Mclaggen looked pissed at his new nickname. "You're the idiot," He said angrily. "And a bloody tit! You asked for it, then!" He waved his wand theatrically. "Expelliarmus!"

"Protego," Malik muttered at the weak jet of light that was spiraling in his direction. It bounced off of his shield, and zoomed straight back at Mclaggen. His wand limply fell from his hand. "Nice one, Chuckles."

The rest of the meeting continued much like this, with Malik managing to not only conjure the disarming spell correctly, but causing Mclaggen's wand to go flying further and further each time.

By the end of the meeting, the pair effectively hated each other.

And Malik wasn't in the best of moods, either. He had used every ounce of self restraint that evening to keep himself from simply punching this arrogant twat in the face, wands be damned.

Afterwards, the members were milling around as Harry and Hermione insisted that they leave in little groups as to not arouse suspicion from Umbridge. Malik was kind of peeved at being forced to hang back. He had a mountain of homework to do, and really just wanted to go to bed. But everyone else was excitedly discussing the lesson, so he joined Yugi and Ryou. Malik supposed that he would have enjoyed it more had he been partnered with someone else.

Ryou, it seemed, still hadn't yet come out of his shell. However, according to Yugi, he had mastered the disarming spell on his first try.

"Way to go!" Malik said, slightly sarcastically. He didn't mean it, but he had mastered it on his first try too, yet no one had congratulated him. Luckily, neither Ryou or Yugi picked up on it.

They stayed and talked a bit more as crowd in the room thinned out. Malik wasn't listening to a word. He was keeping an eye on Mclaggen. He wanted to know who he was friendly with, because he felt as though he would need to watch his back from now on.

As Yugi happily talked about his strongest go at the spell, Malik watched warily as Mclaggen approached Ellie. She was alone in the back of the room, gathering pillows. He frowned slightly. Yugi and Ryou's backs were to them, so they didn't see what he saw.

He watched as Chuckles leaned up against the wall in a confident pose, and began talking her up. Malik couldn't hear what was going on, but Ellie's posture screamed that she was not particularly enjoying his company.

She shook her head to something that he asked, and when she began to walk away he moved over so that he was standing in front of her.

Malik almost smiled. He was looking for a fight, and this would provide the perfect excuse. If only Chuckles would cross the line . . .

Mclaggen said something else, and looking exasperated, Ellie shook her head no again and tried to sidestep him. But he grabbed her arm, preventing her from going anywhere.

Yes.

"Excuse me," Malik said to Yugi and Ryou. His tone was perfectly cheerful, so neither of them thought anything of it. Yugi nodded, and continued his description of what Yami had said during his first few attempts at the spell as though Malik hadn't interrupted him.

Malik jogged up behind Mclaggen and grasped the arm that was holding Ellie in place. He squeezed as hard as he could, causing him to gasp in pain and release a grateful looking Ellie. "Problem?" He asked, his tone perfectly polite. But he was sure to put that threatening glint in his eye as he looked up at Mclaggen.

"There will be if you don't let go of my arm," he hissed, foolishly ignoring the threatening look in Malik's eye,

"Well you seemed perfectly pleased with it when you were holding my friend's arm," Malik said. His polite tone was gone by now. He knew what was coming, and he was anticipating the fight. "I suppose you can dish it out to a nice girl like her, but can't take it from a nice guy like me."

He felt Ellie pull on his arm gently. "Malik, forget about it," She said to him. She obviously sensed how keyed up he was, and was trying to prevent the fight. "Let's go."

Not taking his eyes off of Mclaggen, Malik shook Ellie off. "Stay out of this," He said. It came out harsher than he had intended, but he somehow didn't feel bad.

Funny how he should tell her to stay out of it, anyways. He was technically defending her honor.

Somehow, he didn't care.

He embraced the rage that was slowly filling his body.

"Malik, please," Ellie pleaded, grabbing hold of his arm again and pulling, this time not so gently. She sounded desperate now. "He's not worth it!"

Some small voice of reason in the back of Malik's head told him that she was right, and it wasn't worth it. But it was quickly squashed by the rage filling him.

"Yeah Malik," Mclaggen said, wrenching his arm free. He couldn't quite hide the look of pain on his face as the blood quickly rushed back into his arm. "Why don't you listen to her? You don't want to pick a fight with me anyways."

"Maybe I do." Malik used his now free hand to shove Ellie away. He may have been near breaking point with his rage, but he knew what was coming and didn't want to hurt her again.

"Hey, don't shove her like-"

Malik punched him. Hard.

Right in the mouth. How dare he tell him what to do? It was true, Malik was looking for a fight, but the main reason for punching him was to protect Ellie. From him. So he didn't have the right to tell Malik how to treat her.

And Yugi and Malik wouldn't hold this against him. Neither would most of the Gryffindors. It seemed that a lot of people hated Chuckles.

He lunged after Mclaggen's falling body, continuing to hit him in a blind rage that only got worse with every punch.

He didn't register the screams that came from behind him.

He felt Ellie at his back, trying to wrench him away and begging him to see reason. But he wouldn't listen, he just kept punching him. By now, his nose had erupted in blood and it was coating Malik's knuckles. But he just kept punching.

It didn't take long for the weak hands of Ellie to be pried away from him to be replaced by the surly Fred and George, who for once weren't smiling and laughing at him. The room was dead silent, with every set of eyes on him.

Mclaggen slowly got up and wiped the blood from his face. "Bloody nutter," he said, spitting out a tooth. His voice echoed. He glared at Malik, and backed away slowly, allowing a small Ravenclaw boy to siphon the blood off of his face before leaving.

"Oi, haven't any of you seen a fight before?" Fred called to the staring students, to Malik's immense relief.

"Yeah, don't get your knickers in a bunch. We all knew he had it coming." George said. It worked, though. The threat of being called out by Fred and George had everyone resuming their previous activities, sending the occasional curious glance Malik's way.

Fred and George released him, and his rage subsided. Malik suddenly felt very stupid, and very guilty.

"Malik," Ellie said. There was an exasperated groan in her voice. Now that his initial anger was gone, Malik hoped that she wasn't mad at him. Hoped that she would realize what he already knew: Marik was once again causing him to lash out. "You really shouldn't have done that."

Yugi, Ryou, Hermione, Harry and Ron all quickly joined them.

Malik just shrugged.

Ellie sighed. "Let me see your hand," She said, holding her palm out. Confused, Malik complied. It wasn't until their hands made contact that he felt the pain, and realized that his knuckles were broken.

He refused to show his pain in front of Harry, though, so he didn't make a sound.

"Episkey," Ellie said, tapping her wand on his broken hand. It hurt a bit more for a second, but then the pain melted away. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He needed to get Ellie to teach him that one.

Malik wiped his now healed hand on the inside of his robes, and steeled himself for the inevitable flurry of questions that he knew was on it's way.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked, sounding more amused than shocked. If he only knew, Malik thought. He felt a pang of pleasure from Marik.

-Oh, piss off.- He thought to him pointlessly, as Malik knew that he couldn't hear him.

"Mclaggen insulted me," Ellie said quickly, shocking Malik. She was lying for him? He was flattered that she cared so much. Malik didn't want his secret getting out, and apparently Ellie was going to help him protect it. He wanted to hug her. "And Malik, being the gentleman that he is, defended me." He caught the sarcastic note that she added in on the word 'gentleman'. It was clear that she was implying she was anything but, and Malik couldn't suppress a grin. He felt a bit better, but the guilt was still gnawing away at his insides.

Fred gasped. "He didn't call you a, a mu- you know."

"No," Ellie shook her head quickly. Malik wondered what Fred was about to imply, but didn't ask. He wanted to protect the lie. Ellie blushed and looked to the ground. "When I wouldn't go out with him, he called me an, erm," she lowered her voice to a shamed whisper. "A lady of the night."

Even through his guilt, Malik wanted to burst out laughing. But he painstakingly kept his poker face in place as each member of the group expressed their horror at this new development. Who knew that Ellie could lie so well?

Yugi, Ryou, and Hermione weren't fooled though. With the exception of Ryou, they all eyed the pair suspiciously. But with the others present, they didn't dare question the true motives of the fight.

When the group finally cleared, leaving Malik and Ellie alone with Yugi, Ryou and Hermione, Malik sighed and turned to Ellie. "I think I owe you an apology. And a thank you."

Ellie looked surprised. "Why do you owe me an apology?"

"For using you as the means to pick a fight," he nervously fiddled with a golden bangle on his wrist, not meeting Ellie's eyes. "I mean, I saw him harassing you, and my first thought was that this was a perfect opportunity to have a go at him."

Everyone in the group frowned. "So that's what really happened?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Mclaggen was hitting on Ellie again, so you used it as an excuse to go and punch him?"

Feeling like he was being reprimanded by Isis, Malik shrugged, feeling very ashamed of himself.

"So he didn't really call you that?" Ryou asked Ellie, speaking out of turn for the first time in days and shocking everyone.

Stunned, Ellie shook her head. "No," She said. "He didn't."

"He'd better not have." Ryou said fiercely, before turning around and leaving the room, once again shocking everyone.

XXX

By a show of hands, is anyone else afraid of Ryou/Bakura/Zorc right now? *raises hand*

Okay.

By another show of hands, who all feels horrible for Ryou? And Bakura? *raises both hands* Yeah, thought so. I feel sososo bad for doing this to him. To them. I mean, I am the author and all, but he's my baby and I'm putting him through hell. D:

My account of the car crash was manipulated and shortened slightly to fit this chapter, but a full account of how it really happened can be found in my up and coming one-shot. It's about 40% done, and should be posted … soon. Ish. (Don't pressure me. I don't have motivation like I used to)

Any who, let's shift our attention to Malik now, shall we? I found myself comparing him to Bakura a lot in this chapter. And not only because they're my favorite characters in the series. So, I guess my point is that his time is coming. By this point, Marik is very very strong, and I want you all to keep your eyes on him from now on!

As I'm sure you all know, school starts back up next week. (ugh) This will most likely limit my writing time, so don't expect updates as often. I will try my hardest to keep up, but I can't make any promises!

Reviews keep my burning passion for writing going, so please don't be afraid to hit me up my sweet little angel faces!