Gotc: I'm never making promises again.

Ace: And two weeks later you finally rear your ugly head.

Gotc: I'm going to let that one slide, only because I know you're cranky from lack of exercise. I plan on fixing that.

Ace: Oh lucky me….

Gotc: Yep. Now I'm sure you all read in the last chappie how I'm gonna start adding in the songs that give me the kick in the pants needed to write some more. No they're not going in the fic. Yes they will be in the disclaimer for you to see if you agree with the appropriateness for the particular chapter. If you think of a better one, let me know and I may revise my song choices if I agree. This chapter's song: Real World by the All-American Rejects.

Ace: You need to work on your taste in music.

Gotc: Says the idiot who pretends to be on American Idol while taking a shower.

Ace: You're bluffing. You did not see or hear anything.

Gotc: Sure did. Squeaky has video evidence. Right Squeaks?

Squeaky: Squeak! (Yep. So while that particular tape is uploaded to the internet, please enjoy the fic while keeping in mind Gotc owns neither Harry Potter nor any music by the All-American Rejects.)

Gotc: Enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Rising Dragon

CHAPTER 21: Shifting Suspicion

Harry knew he should have waited for Yugi and Ryou, but his hand was burning terribly from Umbridge's awful quill, and he still couldn't seem to shake the chill that had seemed to settle around him from her touch. Right now, his only concern was to get as far away from that horrible woman as he possibly could, and the faster the better.

It was only when he was about halfway back to the Gryffindor Tower did he slow down. Harry stopped next to one of the torches that dotted the hall and gingerly looked his hand over. The skin was still red raw, and burned to the touch, but at least he couldn't make out the lines he'd been forced to write over and over. He suppressed a shudder at the thought of holding that quill again the following night, the back of his hand slicing open with every stroke...

"Isn't it a little late for you to be walking the castle Mr. Potter?"

Without any sound to alert him, the voice was enough to almost stop Harry's heart in his chest. Nearly jumping out of his skin, Harry spun around to come face to face with Professor Cooper. Like the night before, the muggle didn't look cross or upset for finding a roaming student like any of his other teachers would have. Instead, he wore the same mildly amused smirk that seemed to come more from Harry's reaction to his presence more than anything.

"I…I had detention Professor," Harry stammered, trying to rein in his pounding heart.

"Umbridge?" He asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Harry sighed.

"Hmph," the Professor snorted, before glancing off in the distance and walking next to Harry, "I sense you and my colleague aren't exactly the types to co-exist, and I have the distinct feeling that this isn't the last time I'm going to see you taking a late night walk back from her office."

Now it was Harry's turn to look away. He wasn't ashamed for his actions that had landed him in detention in the first place. He wasn't about to just roll over and let that evil witch just tell him that the only reason he kept seeing Cedric Digory die at the hands of a madman was because he was delusional, or desperately needed attention from whoever would give it to him. But the thought of more long nights with her was almost an equally unbearable thought, and for someone so new to the castle to make that kind of observation about him so quickly, it made him feel more depressed than he'd already been.

"Don't look so down," Professor Cooper said, noting the fallen look on Harry's face, "I was only making an observation, not criticizing you. And if I could give you some friendly advice-"

"No offence Professor," Harry sighed, "But I've already gotten the 'Keep your head down' speech from Professor McGonagall."

"And it's a useful thing to remember," Cooper said, "But not quite what I had in mind."

Harry's brow furrowed in confusion, having fully expected to been read the Riot Act for the second time in two days.

"You pick up any history book, wizard or muggle, and every time you'll find it's not the people who kept their heads down who changed the world," Cooper said with a warm grin, "It's the ones who stuck to their guns, and fought for what they knew was right."

Definitely not the Riot Act. Harry was a little tongue tied at how to respond to that, since it was hardly the type of advice he'd been expecting to get from anyone, much less a professor. Maybe Dumbledore would have, but seeing as how he appeared to stay as far away from him as possible these days, it wasn't likely he would get it.

"That being said," Cooper cautioned him with a hard stare, "There's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. You've threatened her, and that means she'll be looking for any excuse to break you."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Harry sighed, a little too tired to deal with cryptic advice.

The only answer he got, was a firm pat on the shoulder and a light chuckle.

"I've heard enough about you to know you've a bit of a knack for getting around the rules here Mr. Potter," Cooper said continuing on his rounds, "I'm sure you'll find a way to rally something."

"Rally something?" Harry thought as he watched the odd Professor disappear around the corner. Right now he didn't even feel like he'd even be able to rally himself for another evening with Umbridge. Still, maybe he'd be able to think clearer after a good night's sleep. Heaven knows he needed it…

Yugi almost wasn't even able to think straight. In the back of his mind he could vaguely hear Yami telling him to calm down, but that wasn't about to happen any time soon.

"Ok, so what if Harry saw the Puzzle?" Ryou tried to reason, "It's not like he knew what he was looking at. I mean seriously, outside of someone who's actually had an Item, how many people do you think know anything about them. Or even what they are for that matter?"

"Ryou, we're currently living in a giant castle where young kids go to learn about magic," Yugi said, rubbing his temple, "We use and have been using some of the oldest magic on the face of the planet. How hard do you think it will be for them to find out?"

((Very.)) Bakura said calmly, his transparent form appearing next to Ryou, ((After the Pharaoh over there lost his memories, most of the information we know today about the Millennium Items was either destroyed or lost.))

/By friends of yours, Thief?/ Yami asked appearing next to Yugi.

((I wish, Pharaoh,)) Bakura all but spat, ((If they had been friends of mine, I would have already been king of this realm, with all seven Items in my possession. As it stands…))

/You do not. And will not, so long as I have a say in the matter./ Yami said, leveling a glare at the Thief King, /That being said, I think it's safe enough to assume that we're in no immediate danger of any of the wizards discovering the Items, or what they really are at the least./

"It might not be the wizards we need to be worried about." Malik's voice said from the adjoining corridor, Kaiba in tow, "We would have found you guys sooner, but you had already left detention by the time we got there."

Neither Yugi, Ryou nor their respective spirits particularly liked the tone of worry they detected in Malik's voice, or the wary stride both he and the CEO seemed to have adopted in the last few hours. Kaiba kept stealing quick glances over his shoulder, while Malik joined the conversation.

((What exactly are you talking about, Keeper?)) Bakura demanded.

"Your housemates weren't the only ones to witness our little excursion last night," Malik said, "Professor Cooper saw the whole thing. Magic, monsters and all."

"How do you know?" Ryou asked, feeling all the color drain from his face.

"Because I was there," Kaiba growled, "I was on my way back to my dormitory, when I about ran into him in the hall. He saw the whole thing, start to finish."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Yugi said, shaking his head, "If he saw us, then why'd he distract Harry and the others from seeing any more than they did?"

Yugi looked at Malik and Kaiba questioningly, only to meet with solemn faces that offered no comfort to the situation.

"It gets worse doesn't it?"

"Right before he saw you three," Kaiba started, "I saw him talking to someone just outside one of the castle windows. I couldn't really see much from where I was, but he was in a big hurry to cover it up once he heard you three coming."

"Did you catch what they were talking about?" Yugi asked

"Not a word," Kaiba shook his head, "It was some ancient gibberish I couldn't make heads or tails of."

"How do you know it was ancient?" Malik asked.

"You could just tell," Kaiba snapped, not liking the fact he for once had no better explination, "The fact he's hiding something, and covering up for us worries me."

/He's a man who's not supposed to have any knowledge of this world,/ Yami agreed, /His lack of action should be cause for alarm./

"Maybe he just thought he was seeing things," Ryou suggested.

((Don't be stupid yandoushi,)) Bakura huffed, ((He doesn't strike me as the type that believes in hallucinations. He knows what he saw.))

"He's a Death Eater." Yugi said quietly, "We know they're looking for us, following us. It only makes sense they'd have someone watching in here too."

"I doubt anyone would suspect a muggle," Malik agreed slowly, "They've got magic, so he's not really a threat."

"Except to us," Ryou pointed out, "So what do we do?"

"First, you and Yugi get your housemates on our side," Kaiba said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "We can't watch out backs while keeping our eyes in front of us at the same time."

"They're not going to listen to us Kaiba," Yugi said, "Harry maybe, but Ron and Hermione have been watching us like hawks all day. They know something is up."

"Look Yugi," Kaiba said, his voice quickly taking on the no-nonsense growl it had when he dueled, "For years I've heard you and your little friends do nothing but preach to me about friendship and how great it is to have people on the sidelines cheering for you. If you can't change their minds, no one will. And let me make this clear: We can't fight two wars at once. Either they're with us, or this year is going to end badly."

Yugi nodded and heard Yami sigh next to him. Even the Pharaoh knew Kaiba was right. They were very alone in this alien world, and they needed allies, or they weren't going to survive. Not that it made the task in front of them any easier. In fact, it just amplified the pressure that was already hanging over the whole situation.

"We'll think of something…" Yugi sighed, not seeing any other alternative.

Ryou looked at Yugi a little like he'd lost his mind, but then seemed to resign himself to the idea. Yugi knew he wasn't looking forward to this, not the Ryou was a coward by any stretch of the imagination. After all, anyone who could put up with Bakura 24/7 could hardly be called a coward, but it was the fact he tried to avoid any unnecessary confrontation that had him in such unease. But their situation was anything far from unnecessary, and at the moment, it was hanging by a fraying thread. If they couldn't convince Harry and the others that they weren't working for this evil wizard, they were going to be in trouble.

"So you'll take care of it?"

"Yeah….Hopefully." Yugi added to himself.

The plodding footsteps that accompanied the old caretaker quickly broke up the meeting, and the four quickly split up into the two groups they'd come in. Kaiba looked back over his shoulder as he and Malik vanished into the darkness. Yugi caught the look in his cold blue eyes and couldn't mistake its meaning for anything else: They had one shot at this.

When Harry finally made it back to the Gryffindor Tower, he was a little surprised to see Ron and Hermione still up and waiting for him. Aside from his two friends, the rest of the tower was silent and empty, so his entry could have hardly gone unnoticed.

"Harry," Hermione said quickly, standing up from her seat at the fire place and walking over to him, "We need to talk."

It only took Harry one glance at Ron to figure out exactly what Hermione was wanting to talk about.

"Yugi right?"

"It's not just him," Ron said, "Kaiba came up to us right after you guys left for detention."

"So? He didn't attack you or anything did he?" Harry asked.

"He knows about them," Ron said, "He knew they were out last night, and I think he knows we saw them."

"Which means it's a good bet that they all know we were watching them last night!" Hermione finished.

Harry's brow furrowed. Kaiba hadn't even been with the other three, which meant he had to have been watching from elsewhere in the corridor. Maybe that was why Professor Cooper had intervened… Maybe he'd been watching too, and was stopping them before something really bad happened. Even thinking back on it now, Yugi had seemed a little more than frazzled tonight, and that necklace of his…He'd been in a really hurry to stuff it back under his robes.

"What do we do then?" Harry said, becoming more and more convinced that the exchange students were definitely up to something, "It's not like we can just walk right up to them and say 'We know you guys are Death Eaters'."

"Asking never hurts though."

All three turned on the new voice to see Yugi and Ryou standing there in the entrance way, having heard everything. Ron was the first to act, pulling out his wand on the two and pointing it directly at them. Ryou wasn't far behind him however, taking three steps as Ron had reached in his robes and grabbing a hold of the polished wood as it was aimed at his head.

"I guess Kaiba was right…" Yugi said to himself, as he watched the confrontation unfold. Bakura had obviously stepped in, although Yugi was a little shocked to see the Thief King being so quick to defend his hikari. But it wasn't any surprise when Yami joined his ancient counterpart.

/Are you sure about this Yami?/ Yugi asked worriedly, /They already don't trust us-/

/They trust you. It's the Thief and I that are throwing them. They need to get used to us, or they'll discover everything./

"Knock it off both of you," Yami barked, mainly at Bakura. They didn't need to provoke an already tense situation.

"No," Harry said stepping in, pulling out his own wand, "Not until you tell us what exactly what is going on."

"And just what is it you think is 'going on'," Bakura scoffed, more throwing Ron's wand back at him than just dropping it, "You attacked us."

"You two and Malik were out last night," Hermione said accusingly.

"So?" Bakura scoffed, "We're not allowed to walk in the halls?"

"Not talking about stealing people's souls!" Ron shot back, "We heard you guys talking in Egyptian about it before Professor Cooper showed up. I doubt it's a very common subject in most muggle schools."

"It is when you have family in the Egyptology business," Yami said calmly.

((What are you doing Pharaoh?!)) Bakura was practically shouting at him, while his outside demeanor remained calm as they faced down the young wizards (You're going to give us away!))

/I'm telling them the truth, or at least enough of it so they'll be able to put facts to what they've already figured out for themselves. We'll leave out enough to keep them in the dark about us, but tell them the rest to get suspicion off Yugi and the rest./

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"My grandfather was an Egyptologist for a number of years before he opened his game shop," Yami shrugged easily, "He always said it was the games of the Ancient Egyptians that inspired him to open it."

"And we're supposed to believe that?" Ron scoffed.

"It's the truth," Yami said, "He was good friends with Professor Arthur Hawkins, a man I think you'd be familiar with even in the wizarding world."

Hermione's eyes widened for a moment as she recognized the name, her mouth forming a little "o".

"He was the one who discovered those tablets that depicted the Fall of Atlantis," She said, recalling an article she'd read some time ago, "He's also credited with the discovery of several…Egyptian..tombs…"

"Well," Ron said, his confidence now starting to falter, "What about you and Malik!?"

"My dad isan Egyptologist," Bakura defended, "He's currently working on translating the hieroglyphics in a newly excavated tomb they found about two years ago."

"And Malik?"

"You're serious?" Bakura asked incredulously, "He lives in Egypt. Hell, his sister is the curator of the exhibit of the Nameless Pharaoh. Why wouldn't he be able to speak Egyptian?"

/Watch it Thief!/ Yami hissed at his anonymous mention, /I didn't say all of the truth!/

((Pharaoh, I cheat, steal, and lie for a living. How about a little faith?))

"So…You guys can all speak Egyptian?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"It's like a second language."

"What about Kaiba? He seemed really upset about you three."

"Seto Kaiba is the CEO of a huge multi-million dollar company," Yami said rolling his eyes, "He's a teenager in charge of thousands of people and has to rule with an iron fist, or he'd have lost the company himself years ago. Unfortunately, because of our…well…history, he sees it as his personal responsibility to see that we don't ruin his reputation by tarnishing our own."

"Then why were you roaming the castle?" Came the question, but this time with none of the animosity that had been packed into the others.

"It's a whole new world to us," Bakura said in such a way that even Yami thought it had been Ryou, "We get enough looks and stares from people who know us already, but here? There's nothing familiar, nothing to fall back on. We just wanted to know what this place was like so maybe it wouldn't be quite so alien to us anymore. When we heard Professor Cooper, we ran for it because we thought we'd wandered somewhere we weren't supposed to be."

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at each other like they had just made some horrible mistake. Harry felt the worst of all, particularly since they had been dragged into detentions with Umbridge for believing him. After all, how could he have forgotten what it had felt like all those years ago when a half-giant had shown up in to that tiny little cottage and told him who he really was? And even then, he was at least in roughly the same part of the world he'd known his entire life. But Yugi and the others? Even without the magic, he could see how everything would be very "alien" indeed.

"Look," Yami said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "I'm sorry we've been acting a little…well, off. But do you think you could bear with us until we get used to things a little more? I don't blame you for being suspicious. In this day and age, there's really no such thing as being too careful, but I promise we're not evil people."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, with an apologetic smile, "If you can put up with me and my paranoia, I think we'll be cool."

"Me too," Ron said quietly, putting away his wand and holding out his hand, "No hard feelings?"

"Nah," Bakura said, grasping it firmly, "I would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes."

"I'm sorry too," Hermione apologized, "I didn't mean to be so judgmental."

"It's alright," Yami grinned, "Maybe you'd like to learn some Egyptian so you won't have to guess at what we're saying in the future?"

"Are you serious?!" Hermione's face lit up," I'd absolutely love it! We'd have to find a day once a week or something when you aren't busy, but- Oh, I feel so bad for suspecting you!"

The conversation continued on all the way up the steps to the dormitories, the shaken confidences on both sides quickly being mended. But for Yami and Bakura, there was still one thing that was nagging at the back of their minds.

((We didn't tell them about Cooper.)) Bakura said stealing a glance at Yami.

/Now might not be the best time to tell them. After all, we don't know much about the situation ourselves./

((True, but waiting could make a bad situation even more dangerous.))

/Or clear an innocent man of suspicion. It only took one incident to make Harry and the others suspicious of us for nothing./

((It wasn't for nothing Pharaoh. However misguided their suspicions may have been, they were right.))

Gotc: Annnnnd, cut! WAHOO! Well, while this chapter isn't quite as action heavy as I'd planned it to be, it has set us up very nicely for the next big twist in our plot bunny's ears. On a completely related note: 200 REVIWES! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YAHOOOOOOO! And a great big Review Cookie to all of you who reviewed last chappie to push this fic over that milestone! Next up is 300, R&R so we can get there even faster!