Gotc: Ok, I know that the last chappie wasn't the best…..BUT PLEASE STILL REVIEW! Your feedback makes me feel loved…

Ace: Well-

Gotc: Don't. Anyhoo, back to more pressing matters: SQUEAKY!

Squeaky: Squeak! (Come on people! Places! Let's get this chappie movin'! JK owns the book, Takahashi owns the anime, and Gotc owns the psycho.)

Ace: WHAT-

Gotc: Later. Chappie now. Have fun! FYI: this is gonna be a long chappie to make up for your wait!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Rising Dragon

CHAPTER 8: New Acquaintances

Something was off. The rough stone walls all seemed to turn to alabaster under Yugi's hand, as he crept along the hall. He no longer felt the urge to run, but rather to keep as quiet as possible as he made his way towards the raised voices at the end of the tunnel.

"I want him here and now!"

"But Lord Akunadin! He bested twelve of my men! They won't go anywhere near him!"

Yugi peered around the edge of one alabaster pillar, and into a ornately decorated room. It wasn't nearly as large as a throne room should be, but his gaze was drawn by a aged old man menacingly advancing on the Guard Captain. In the flickering light of the torches that lined the room, he could see his face contorted in total rage as he advanced on the younger captain.

"One man. You mean to tell me one man made it though twelve of Egypt's elites, and halfway to the king's throne before you managed to subdue him?!"

The captain took a half step back, beads of nervous sweat running in thin rivulets down his brow.

"You will bring him before me." The priest said simply, though his tone promised dire consequences should his demands not be met.

The captain gave a shaky bow, and hurried out of the room as fast as he could without breaking into a dead run. Yugi watched carefully, crouching down even further, as he heard the captain bark an order to one of the waiting guards. He stole a quick glance back at the High Priest, only to find him standing stock still waiting for the guard's return. A commotion caught Yugi's attention and drew it back to the main doors, as a dozen guards came through the entrance. Each held a long spear, and had it pointed at one man in their midst.

He might have been a prisoner, but he certainly didn't act like one. The man seemed to be completely unaware of the spear points resting at his back, as he strode into the room with an air of dignity and power. Yugi squinted at him too get a better look, but there didn't seem to be enough light to make out many details about this new stranger, and he didn't dare to creep any closer for a better look.

"Who are you?" Akunadin bellowed at him, "What is your name? And what purpose have you in the Land of the Pharaoh?"

"I am who I am," The man said easily, "My name is no concern of yours. I have come to this land to request an audience with your king."

"Why?" Akunadin growled, "Egypt's enemies are many as of late, of both man and shadow. How do I know you are not some assassin? You attacked the Palace Guard not half a cycle ago to gain entrance to the palace grounds."

"If I were an assassin, your 'guards' would be dead and not simply unconscious," The man said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "I told you I came to seek an audience and I will have one, by force if necessary."

"And just what is it that you are so desperate to discuss with the Pharaoh that you chance execution for?" The High Priest asked.

The man reached into the folds of his clothes, his gaze never diverting from the priest before him. The guards behind him all tensed and gripped their spears a little tighter, no doubt afraid of another attack. But the man made no move to attack anyone, and instead pulled out a gold encrusted, leather bound book, bearing the unmistakable Eye of Horus.

"Because I might have a way to turn the Shadows that plague this land on the enemies that would wish to see it destroyed…"

A sudden rush of cold water jerked Yugi out of his sleep, and back to the realm of reality. His vision swam before his eyes, as he sat straight up in his bed. For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was, but then his memories came rushing back to him in a flood. The shop, the wizards, Yami… Yugi immediately tried the link, and gave a great sigh of relief to find it was open once more.

/Yami?/

/Nhgg…Ra…My head…/

Yugi couldn't help but smile to himself. He'd let Yami recuperate before he tried to talk to him. The next order of bussiness was finding who had doused him with ice water. He didn't have to look far before to find a smirking Malik holding a dripping pail in his hands.

"Rise and shine, Rip Van Winkle! Told ya' I could wake him up." The Egyptian grinned, looking at a disapproving Ryou.

"That wasn't what I meant…"

Yugi threw his wet pillow at Malik, and smiled in satisfaction when it made contact with a wet slap. He stiffly swung his legs over the side of the bed, stretching his aching body. He rubbed his bleary eyes, trying to adjust them to the light, but the pounding in his head was making it rather difficult.

"How long was I out?" Yugi asked, stifling a yawn.

"A little over a week," Ryou said, "We were starting to worry about you. Some of the Order thought that those Death Eaters must have done something to your mind-"

"Wait," Yugi stopped him, "What?"

"Yugi was passed out when we were rescued," Malik said, smacking the back of Ryou's head, "Remember? He has no idea what you're talking about."

Yugi opened his mouth to say something, but his stomach beat him to the punch with a loud and obvious growl.

"Maybe we could discuss this over some breakfast?"

Yugi followed behind Ryou and Malik as they gave him a quick rundown of the last week while he'd been out of commission, as well as the events in Domino after he'd passed out. Ryou and Malik kept talking as they continued down the hall, but immediately shut up when they came within sight of a large curtain hanging on one wall. Malik pressed a finger to his lips, before making his way past it. Yugi looked at Ryou questioningly, but followed suit as the other teen crept silently behind Malik.

"What was that all about?" Yugi whispered once they were past, still feeling the need to be as quiet as possible.

"That was plan 'B' if the water didn't wake you up," Malik grinned maliciously, "Trust me, I'd rather go to the Shadow Realm before braving that terror again."

At last the little entourage reached a great stone dining room, dimly lit with the rays of a newly risen sun, just peaking over the horizon. A long wooden table occupied most of the space in the room, while dust and grime seemed to fill the rest. Kaiba sat at one end of the table with a mug of coffee and several different newspapers all strewn about him, and the latest issue of the local Domino paper in his hand. Mokuba was under that table, holding a feather, while a massive ginger cat swatted at it playfully. Both brothers looked up at the new arrivals as they entered the room and took a seat at the table.

"Yugi! You're up!" Mokuba said happily, "But why are you all wet?"

"Ask Malik," Yugi said taking a seat and futilely trying to wring out his clothes.

"About time you woke up," Kaiba said to Yugi, before gruffly returning to his paper.

"Glad to see you're in a cheery mood this morning," Malik scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"No phone, no laptop, and no other way of sending a message to the outside world except by a bird?" Kaiba snarled in a controlled rage, keeping his voice low enough so that no one else would overhear, "How in the hell am I supposed to run a company if I can't get a hold of them?!"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Malik said completely unconcerned, reaching for the bowl of fruit in the middle of the table and tossing an apple to Yugi, "We're usually the first ones up, so that'll have to hold ya' until Mrs. Weasley wakes up."

"So where are we exactly?" Yugi asked through a mouthful of apple.

"Number Twelve Grimwauld Place, London." Ryou said grabbing an apple for himself, "But where that corresponds to the rest of the world is anyone's guess. They haven't let us outside since we got here."

"Well this is supposed to be a secret headquarters, right?" Yugi asked, "It's not like they want their cover blown."

Ryou shrugged and took a couple more bites out of his apple, before speaking again.

"So what happened to you and Yami back in Domino?" He asked.

Yugi was quiet for a moment. He hadn't exactly had the time to process what had happened back at the shop. Then again, he wasn't sure how to process it either. He'd never felt anything like that before, even if it had been second-hand.

"I'm not sure…" Yugi sighed, "There was just this cold feeling, then it was like…a part of me had been ripped away. Almost like a Shadow Game, but this had more….I don't know…. finality to it. "

The entire room had gone quiet, and even Kaiba had set down his paper to listen to Yugi's recollection. Malik sat with his brow furrowed, probably talking with his Yami, while Ryou leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"Yugi," Malik said, breaking the silence, "Do you still have your deck with you?"

"Sure," Yugi shrugged, pulling the cards from his belt, "Why?"

"Mind if I see them?"

Yugi handed over his deck, ignoring the snort of distaste that came from Kaiba's direction. Willingly turning over his deck to another duelist was like blasphemy in Kaiba's book, because it was like giving someone a manual on how to pick apart your strategies card by card. Yugi wasn't worried though. He and Malik had dueled so many times in the last few weeks, he could list the cards in the Egyptian's deck in his sleep.

"Yugi…" Malik said slowly, "That monster Yami summoned when we were attacked, it was the Celtic Guardian right?"

"Yeah," Yugi said uneasily, "Why?"

Malik rifled through Yugi's cards one last time, before he pulled one of them out of the stack and tossed it face-down onto the table. Yugi cast Malik a questioning look, before flipping the card over. The opposite side brought back a fleeting memory of his time spent on Duelist Kingdom. The card he held in his hand bore a striking resemblance to the Glory of the Kings Opposite Hand card he had been given at the start of that particular nightmare. The card held no image of a monster, trap, or spell; only a taunting blank, white face. Yugi almost thought the card was a joke, until his eye caught the inscription at the top of the card.

"It…it was meant for me…" Yugi mumbled numbly, setting the card down in front of him and put his head in his hands, "Not him…."

Yami's translucent form appeared just behind Yugi with a solemn expression on his face. He had heard the entire conversation and had come to the same conclusion Yugi had. The Celtic Guardian, a trusted ally, monster and friend, was gone.

There was a moment of mournful silence that spread through the group. Everyone had something the wanted to say to comfort the spiky haired teen, but before they had the chance, there was a loud crack that echoed off of the stone walls of the dining room. Yugi's head jerked up to see two flame headed boys leaning lazily on the table with identical lopsided grins. Of course, that wasn't the only thing that was identical about them, as a matter of fact, he couldn't find anything that would tell the two apart.

"You guys ever like to sleep in?" One of the red-heads joked snatching a piece of fruit from the bowl in front of the group.

"There's a significant time difference between England and Japan," Kaiba answered tersely, "The fact that we're even awake while the sun's up after a week is nothing short of a miracle."

"Well you might want to consider sleeping while the sun's up too," The other twin chuckled, "Cause any more of your bright disposition might just blind us."

"Look here Fred!" The first twin exclaimed, catching sight of Yugi, "The other one's finally awake!"

"You're right George!" The other twin agreed, pushing past Malik and Bakura to shake Yugi's hand, "Fred and George Weasley. Nice to meet you."

"Yugi Muto…" Yugi said a little surprised.

The twins suddenly jerked their heads up at the sound of shouting and rapid footsteps on the floor above their heads. Another wailing voice joined the symphony, screeching something about muggles and traitors loud enough for the noise to echo throughout the entire house.

"What did you two do this time?" Ryou sighed, as the commotion got louder.

"Just a bit of field testing mate!" Fred said innocently, "Have to make sure all of our products are up to snuff before we sell 'em to the general public!"

"A top notch joke shop has to have top notch products," George agreed, before they very clearly heard their names amongst the screams, "Well it's been nice meeting you, but I'm afraid it's time for us to take our leave. Oh and if you would-"

"We haven't seen you," Malik finished, "We know the routine."

"Cheers mate," George said tipping an invisible hat before the two vanished with a crack.

Hardly a second later, a disheveled brunette came charging into the dining room, with murder written on her face. Her eyes scoured the room with an angry fire, before resting on the group of teens casually enjoying the morning.

"Where's Fred and George?!" She demanded in a bossy voice that would have made even Kaiba proud.

"Good morning to you too Hermione" Malik shrugged picking up a section of the paper Kaiba had discarded.

"Oh don't do this today!" She sighed exasperatedly, "Those two set off three dozen of those horrible Decoy Detonators upstairs! They're still going off and we can't get Mrs. Black's portrait closed- Oh! You're awake!"

Yugi figured at once she was talking about him. He wished briefly he could go back to sleep, but got to his feet and introduced himself.

"Yugi Muto," He bowed politely, "Nice to meet you."

"Hermione Granger," She said shaking his hand, "You're friends have told us quite a bit about you while you were asleep…. But umm…"

Yugi rolled his eyes as he caught hers drifting to look at his hair. He might as well get used to it, since he had a feeling he was going to be getting quite a few of those stares once they made it to Hogwarts.

"Yes," He sighed with a tired smile, "It's natural."

"It's your turn to help Malik," Kaiba said unconcerned from behind his paper, as Mrs. Black's wailings grew louder.

"It is not!" The Egyptian began to protest.

"Oh forget it, I'll do it…" Ryou sighed and headed back upstairs, as two boys came trudging into the dining room.

"She's yelling so loud I can't even think straight! I don't know how Ginny can sleep through it !" One with red hair that matched the Weasley twins complained, "I'm gonna kill Fred and George when I see them."

"You have to give them some credit though," The other boy with messy black hair and glasses mused, "Those detonators are brilliant.."

"Harry, Ron," Hermione said, "I'd like you to meet Yugi Muto."

The two boys looked up at Yugi with bleary eyes, and blinked once to make sure they weren't still asleep.

"Wow," The redhead said impressed, "Is that-"

"Yes." Yugi said cutting him off. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear a certain Pharaoh snickering at his hikari.

"Nice to meet you Yugi," The black haired boy said, "I'm Harry Potter, and that's Ron."

Yugi smiled and nodded, and thought for a moment that he caught a glimpse of mild confusion in Harry's eyes, but dismissed the thought as another redheaded woman came in to the room with an exhausted Ryou trailing behind.

"I thought those wretched things would never stop going off!" She sighed with relief, "When I get my hands on those two- Oh Yugi dear! You're awake! I'm Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother, and responsible for those two miscreants as well…How about I get a bit of breakfast going? Harry, Ron you two should go get dressed for breakfast. Poor dear, you look so thin! All that time without a proper meal…"

Her voice trailed off as she hurried to the kitchen, and cooking sounds and smells began to drift through the house. Harry and Ron headed upstairs, while Hermione began to set the table. Mokuba jumped out from under the table where he was playing with Crookshanks to help her with the stack of plates. Mrs. Weasley was only gone for a few minutes, before she returned holding several fat envelopes in her hand.

"Letters have arrived everyone!" She declared happily, "I suppose that means I'll be needing to make a trip to Diagon Alley then. Hermione, would you be a dear and take these up to Ron and Harry? I'm sure they'll be wanting them."

A sudden pang of realization hit Yugi when he saw Mrs. Weasley with the parchment envelopes. They had all left Domino with little more than the clothes on their backs. Everything they had been planning on bringing with them, including their letters, had been in suitcases in the backroom of the shop, which was now little more than a heap of charred wood and ash.

"And here's letters for you four as well!" Mrs. Weasley said happily, "Dumbledore must have figured you didn't have yours and sent extras here. Wonderful man."

"And where exactly are we supposed to get all of this stuff?" Kaiba asked skeptically, "I doubt many bookstores are going to be carrying…The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, by Miranda Goshawk?"

"Oh we'll be able to find everything you'll need in Diagon alley," Mrs. Weasley laughed , "Don't you worry. We'll have a bit of breakfast, then we'll get you all squared away for school."

Gotc: Blegh…

Ace: You didn't like this chapter?

Gotc: It felt redundant…necessary…but redundant. Not a whole lot on Harry and the gang in this chappie, but this is mainly going to be written from the POV of our beloved YGO chars. Anyway, I promise the next chappie will be better. I mean come on, Bakura in Diagon Alley? That one practically writes itself. Anyway, I'll try to post that one sooner and not make you all wait so long. Thanks for reading, remember to review, and I'll se you all next chappie!