A/N: Ha! Look, an update. The story will become a little darker from here on out.

Warnings for this chapter: some Angst

Chapter 7
The Lingering Rain

"Welcome to Domino City, Gaming Capital of the World. Day one of Battle City Tournament is coming to a close as the last battles of the day are being played. Who will advance to the next round, who has already collected all six locator cards and more importantly who will… oy!" Harry broke off his commentator voice to rub the back of his head. "What was that for?"

The Wizard stared up at Ishizu who was standing behind him with a smug expression on her face. "I don't know what you mean," she said with an amused smile and she stared out towards the darkening sky. Her playful expression was replaced by something more intense and troubled as she stared at the first stars which appeared in the sky. The Egyptian was obviously troubled by something, but Harry remained silent, crouching on the roof of his home.

While the day had been a little hectic, Harry had actually quite enjoyed himself running around the city and watching Ishizu play. The raven head still found the game disturbing, but he had seen quite a few duels between duelists who knew that they were handling more than just cards. This brought a strange kind of peace to his worried soul and caused him to relax slightly. He had been able to eat dinner tonight mainly because of this. Yahya teased him mostly throughout dinner when he had been pouting about the fact that Yugi had refused his offer to dinner, but they had both enjoyed teasing Seto Kaiba when the man had joined them for dinner. Not that anyone had been able to see or hear the Spirit. The Jackal was still too weak to produce a more corporal form, but Teddy had fixed his gaze just passed his Godfather's shoulder quite a few times during dinner.

Teddy and Mokuba had found each other in their equal love for games. Sure Mokuba preferred Capsule Monster Chess before Duel Monsters, but he had been a very patient twelve-year-old while dealing with a hyper seven-year-old. The two boys played until Teddy spend most of his energy. The little Metamorphmagus was out like a light and Harry all but begged Mokuba to return tomorrow for another 'play-date'. The twelve-year-old flat out refused and the Kaiba siblings promptly left, promising to meet up again tomorrow during the Tournament. Seto had let slip that he would be joining in on the fun, confident that he would be able to secure six locator cards in one day. Harry didn't doubt the CEO for one second and had wished the man luck with his endeavours.

"What's it like?" Ishizu asked. The Wizard looked at his employer to see what she meant. Her eyes were fixed on the scene below.

Andromeda, Ron and Hermione were currently sitting in the garden, drinking their tea and enjoying the last moments of sunshine. Harry looked at the Egyptian questioningly. "To find family in friends?"

Shrugging his shoulders the raven head continued to observe his friends from above, a tender smile gracing his face and his eyes softening a little. "I've never had any real friends before," Ishizu continued, observing Harry while he was observing them. "I grew up in the Tombs, like all of my family before me. It wasn't until Marik longed for the outside world that I was really confronted with other people outside of my family. Even when I started wearing the Tauk and when I became involved in the museum I was never one for making friends. I was always far too busy with my duties towards the family, the Pharaoh and the museum to even think about making friends. All I have are acquaintances."

Harry watched as Andromeda wished husband and wife good night, glanced up to nod at Harry and retired for the night. "I grew up in my Aunt's family," the Wizard said with a tired sigh. "And while I was allowed out of the house and to go to school with children my age, I never had any friend before going to Hogwarts. I ended up in a world where blood relations are everything; it was why I was placed with my Aunt when my parents died. You're supposed to look after your family and while they did take me in and let me live with them, I was always aware that I was not wanted."

The Egyptian looked at him with something akin to pity and understanding in her eyes, but Harry simply shook his head. "I know what they did was wrong, my Aunt and her husband and son I mean, but what the people who left me on their doorstep did was wrong as well. They shouldn't have left me with them without knowing all the facts. Without knowing I was wanted or not. All they left me with was a letter explaining that my Aunt's sister had been murdered and that they should be looking after me now, as was their obligation as my only living family members. They should have thought it through, or at least sat down with them and talked about it."

Dumbledore, in all his greatness, had made a lot of bad mistakes in his life. Not only for the Wizarding World in a whole but also to individual persons like Tom Riddle and him. "But it is too late to be bitter about it now," Harry continued. "The Dursley's were the main reason for me to search for my own family and I found them at Hogwarts in the form of friends who went to Hell and back with me."

Ron and Hermione continued to sit quietly, much like Ishizu and Harry, until they too disappeared inside. He glanced at Ishizu. "Maybe it is time that you search for your own family as well. Together with your Rashid and your brother when this is all said and done."

"I'm worried that it won't be enough," Ishizu said softly. Harry looked, really looked, at the woman sitting beside him and not for the first time he saw her venerable side, the side filled with doubt and pain. It reminded Harry of how he had been when the War finally ended. How lost and alone he had felt even if he had been surrounded by his friends. With nowhere to go but the ruined Hogwarts Castle as a home. And yet he had people who were willing to reach out their hand to him, keeping him from falling into the empty abyss which had opened up from underneath him. It was this kindness he was showing his current employer now, to be that comfort in the all-consuming darkness.

"You worry too much," Harry replied with a small smile and he gazed back up at the stars. "Sometimes it's a good thing when you worry about things. Will I be able to keep my job or pay the next weeks rent? Will there be enough food on the table? Worrying about those things is normal. I worry about the people I care about constantly. Is it alright for me to expose Teddy to such violence so soon? Will Ron and Hermione be alright and able to protect Andromeda if I'm not there? Will I be enough to protect you should someone attack us? Will I be able to save those I love and cherish? These are all questions which attack my mind every waking moment. I've learned to tune them out, so to speak. It used to be a lot worse when I was younger and it drove me slightly insane. Insane enough to lead a band of fifteen year olds into a Ministry to save my Godfather from a known madman."

Ishizu gasped softly and she stared at him wide eyed. He could see that she still hadn't gotten over the doubt she had on his capabilities, though there had been a rising respect in her eyes which intensified as the days passed. "To be honest with you, I get tired. So very tired with asking myself these questions every single day that I stopped asking. I know Ron and Hermione can look after themselves and Andromeda isn't some old woman. Teddy, while still young, grew up being taught that there are evil men and women out there and that they could hurt him. But he knows that there are adults around who can and will protect him. He even knows how to defend himself quite well. As for all the other people I love and care for, I cannot be in several places at once so I trust that they know how to handle themselves. That they will call should they need any help, because I will always be there for them. And I am confident in my ability to protect you as well."

The raven head sighed and stretched, making his joints pop. "I think it's about time we went to sleep," Harry said, signalling that the subject had been closed for tonight. Ishizu opened her mouth to protest, saw that there was no point arguing and nodded in a resigned kind of way.

"I guess we had a long day," she whispered softly. "Good night Harry. Don't stay here for much longer."

Harry nodded silently and watched as Ishizu gracefully climbed off the roof and, with one last glance, disappeared inside. Harry shivered slightly when the cool night air seemed to chill his exposed skin. An animalistic chuckle resounded through the night air and the warm presence of the Jackal appeared next to him. He was still translucent and a little blurred around the edges, like the Spirit had a hard time appearing fully next to his partner, the one who he had appeared from. He was clearer in the darkness and shadow than he had been in the light, which didn't suit the Jackal. The proud Warrior Spirit should be bathed in light, shining so brightly that it would blind his opposes. That was the Jackal Harry remembered. The partner who had fought beside him catching bandits and thieves and the greatest threat of all.

"Why?" Harry whispered. The Jackal shook his head at the half-asked question. "Did you expect me to be fully functioning?" the Spirit scoffed. "That only the Pharaoh was the one to suffer in the darkness of the Shadow Realm? I spoke to him to keep him sane and to remind him that he wasn't alone. But all I was to him was a voice in the darkness. Rarely did he speak to me. I even remember the first thing he said to me. He said; 'I must be going mad, speaking to a bodiless voice like you.' Not that I blame him of course."

"No," Harry muttered, his eyes downcast in shame. "The only one to blame for that is-"

"That blasted thief and the abomination named Zorc," Yahya growled. Green tinted blue eyes sparkled dangerously in the dark of the night.

Harry flinched at the reminder of that time, of that battle. His hand travelled to his chest where his heart was throbbing painfully. It wasn't for the first time he felt his heart beat in a clenching rhythm, but not like this. As painfully as now. The raven head winced at a particularly painful throb and coughed just as the first signs of rain appeared in the sky. "You alright?" the Jackal asked. "You didn't get injured again, did you?"

Shaking his head, Harry scowled a little at the remark. "Why does everyone always expect me to be injured?"

"You're seriously asking that?" Yahya replied in disbelief. "I sometimes wonder if you have a universal sign on your back saying; 'hit me, I bounce back even when I break'?"

The Wizard rolled his eyes and turned, a remark dying on his lips when he saw something move in the distance. It was subtle, like a ripple in an ocean, barely noticed because of the surrounding darkness. There it was again… a glint of something shiny. Something golden. It was as if the world had become deaf and only Harry was able to hear the low humming of a familiar kind of magic. He sneered and resisted the urge to gag at the foul taste it left in his mouth. The Wizard stood rigidly, squinting through the darkness just as the first few drops signalled the beginning of a rainstorm.

"Careful now," Yahya growled warningly just as he faded away. The Jackal lingered in Harry's mind as he always had, but the fact that the Spirit had faded from view worried the green-eyed Wizard. "Something's not right," Harry muttered, following the blinking gold as it moved through the city below. "Something is rotting, and this time it's not in Denmark. Best leave Teddy home tomorrow just in case."

I didn't think it was a good idea to bring the kid to begin with, Yahya said in his mind. Though he is sharp for a seven-year-old.

"Being sharp won't save him from what's coming next though," the raven head replied. "Best get to bed. I have a feeling tomorrow is doing to be troublesome."

It was raining heavily, soaking his clothing making them heavy enough to start bothering him. It didn't rain quite as often here as it did in Britain, but when it did, it rained hard. It had become difficult to see and his enemies had become shapeless shadows in the distance. At least he didn't have to wear his glasses anymore. He still remembered the Quidditch match played in his third year at Hogwarts when they had played against Hufflepuff.

Shaking his head he cast a quick spell to check on the people ahead. They were seeking shelter in the hills and just one of the bandits was standing guard. A smirk crept to the corners of his mouth and, taking full advantage of the pouring rain, snuck closer to the guard. The man was squinting through the darkness and pouring rain, his hand resting on a small dagger while the other was fingering a flask. The way the man was fingering it nervously made him suspect that there may be something other than water in there. His suspicions were confirmed when a stray creature rushed away, startling the man making him stumble and swear with a drunken slur.

When the bandit threw his head back as he took a swing from his flask, exposing his throat to the world, he struck. In a blink the bandit was dead on the floor, not even making a sound, and he snuck through the darkness towards the gathering of bandits. Instead of a gathering of bandits he found nothing but an empty cave.

Suddenly he was on the floor, being pressed into the hard earth by a force much more powerful than even Voldemort had possessed. It was pure darkness and a burning pain erupted on his back, like a hot knife slicing his skin apart. Just like it had when that blasted thief had defiled him. But he would not scream. He would not give in to the darkness supressing him.

He twisted and turned, all the while clenching his teeth and shielding his heart. Closing off his emotions, his thoughts, his memories. He had to become no-one once more to deal with the pain and the sickness which came because of it.

Just as suddenly as it had come, the pain disappeared. All which remained was an everlasting darkness thick enough to touch. It rubbed against him, pinched him, and squeezed him from all sides making him shiver. He wanted to run, to crawl, anything to get away from this darkness. Than he heard it. They were whispering all around him, reminding him of second year when the student population of Hogwarts had turned on him. Accusing him of attacking his fellow students. This was worse than when they all believed he had entered the TriWizard Tournament. Better falsely accused of entering a tournament than of attacking students.

There was something stifling about it all. Cold and lonesome and awfully dreary. It reminded him of days long forgotten. Of spaces too small for a boy to grow up in, gnawing hunger and never healing bruises. The feeling of being forgotten by the world, forced to never be a normal child. A feeling he hadn't felt since he had started at Hogwarts but seemed to resurface now that he was here. Involuntarily he started to remember painful and terrifying moment of his past. All the times he had been beaten or locked inside of his cupboard. The first time he had killed a man, led his first time friends to danger year after year and finally hunted for being his friend.

Winning the war had not gotten rid of that guilt, but it had eased over time and sometimes even forgotten for a moment the more people he met. Now, though, when it was clear that the Pharaoh no longer recognised him and he knew that he was responsible for this because he had not been able to stop Zorc or Bakura, which guilt returned in full force. And it was that guilt the shadows and whispers were praying on. His inability to keep the man he loved safe from harm. He hadn't even been able to keep his spirit partner from losing his mind.

Harry was shaking in cold sweat. He couldn't have slept more than a few hours, but when he looked at the clock he saw it was almost six in the morning. A trembling hand made its way through his hair, but the green eyed Wizard was barely aware that it was his own. Something wet rolled down his cheek and when Harry brushed away the stray tears he realised that he was not alone in the room. Green mixed with blue stared at him in ill-disguised worry. The Jackal didn't speak, just silently observed him with a sad expression.

It wasn't until the image had all but faded when Harry noticed the second one standing just behind the Jackal. "Wait," Harry called out in a raspy voice like he had recently been strangled and he quickly caught himself when he nearly fell out of the bed in an effort to get closer to the fading image. Because he was sure it had been the Pharaoh standing there, in his room. But the man had already disappeared so there was no way he could be sure that it had actually been the man or just his imagination. He looked pleadingly at the Spirit only to discover that it had faded as well. Doubt filled him for a moment, wondering if he was starting to see things that weren't there.

With a resigned sigh Harry heaves himself out of bed and makes his way downstairs, quickly stopping in the bathroom on the way. In the kitchen he puts the kettle on only to realise that he is not alone. Hermione shuffles into the kitchen in her nightgown, a bathrobe hanging open to fight of the chill, and she smiles softly when she sees him. She frowns though after a good look at Harry face. "Rough night?" she asked quietly, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

A wave of nostalgia washed over him and he vaguely remembers a time he sat here with Ishizu not too long ago. He almost chuckled, wondering if this was going to be a regular occurrence whenever he felt sad or bored. Tiredly he rubbed his face, smiling at his long-time friend. "Do you remember when Danny died?" he asked softly just as the kettle boiled.

She nodded, accepting the offered tea. Hermione remained silent though, waiting for him to speak. And speak Harry did. "I thought I had finally found him, the man I could spend the rest of my days with. After his death I was so lost I barely ate or slept. It wasn't until I realised how much I was hurting Danny's memory that I decided to move on. Much like when Sirius died."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment. How many had died around him? How many had he loved only for them to leave him behind? It was hardly fair, but it was the story of his life and feeling sorry for himself just wasn't his thing. He had to keep moving forward, because life went on whether he liked it or not. "I told you that when I was in Ancient Egypt I was part of the Royal Court. I served the Pharaoh by becoming his protector. I became a trap specialist for him and was even able to complete a maze for one of the pyramids. I spoke about the events which let me to sacrificing my time there and how the Pharaoh sealed himself inside one of the Millennium Items which is now in possession of one Mutou Yugi."

"The Pharaoh is sealed inside his puzzle," Hermione muttered, nodding as she continued to sip her tea absentmindedly. She sighed suddenly, lowering her cup with a sad expression. "I guess that you really love him then. Or loved him."

"Does that make me a pervert?" Harry asked, laughing uncomfortably with a sheepish smile on his face. "He currently shares the body of a sixteen year old."

Hermione rolls her eyes and chuckles softly. "As long as you keep your hands to yourself. You do realise that you have to wait for another two years before you are legally allowed to even touch the boy like that and by that time the Pharaoh might already be free of his 'prison', so to speak."

Harry flushed a little when she spoke of young Yugi like an object of his sexual fantasy. He was quite sure it was just the Pharaoh he liked and loved, but then how could he explain the feelings he had felt when they had met in the game shop? Was that because the boy looked like the Pharaoh or maybe it was because Yugi carried the spirit with him? In any case it didn't feel right to speak about Yugi that way. Hermione did have a point though. What would happen to the spirit when he would be free of his prison? Would the man return to his time and die a proper death like he ought to? It seemed to be the inevitable truth.

Harry turned to stare out of his kitchen window to look at the sun which had fully risen. "It seems to be raining again," he whispered softly, more to himself than to Hermione.

For a moment he felt completely alone, standing in front of his kitchen window staring blindly at the coloured sky while tears continued to roll silently down his cheeks. Suddenly warm arms circled his waist and Hermione hugged him from the back, trying to give him comfort. Because they both realised that, in the end, Harry would again be at the losing end. "I'm sorry."

Harry shook his head. "It's my own fault for falling in love with a man I couldn't possibly be with. Even if I could possibly love Yugi, no," he interrupted himself, shaking his head. "I probably already do. I will still help my Pharaoh not because it is my duty, but because I love him. I couldn't bear to see him suffer like that."

Hermione squeezed him a little tighter and Harry patted her arm in reassurance. "You really are the most selfless person I know," she whispered into his back.

She was wrong though. He was the most selfish person on the planet. All because he wanted the Pharaoh all to himself… and maybe even Yugi too.

A/N: and the end of another chapter. I will try to keep working on this story this time, but I can't make any promises on when the next chapter will be posted. Real life may sweep me away again.