Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Harry Potter
Okay, I'm just putting the facts straight. Seto still has Obelisk the Tormentor, Yugi still has Slifer the Sky Dragon, and Malik still has his Millennium Rod and the Winged Dragon of Ra. Oh, and Isis still has the Millennium Necklace. Got it? Yami Bakura has the Millennium Eye, though, and he's still in the Millennium Ring, which Ryou still has. Okay, just clearing misunderstandings~ Enjoy this chapter!
/Blah/ Yugi talking to Yami Yugi //Blah// Yami Yugi talking to Yugi
:Blah: Ryou talking to Yami Bakura ::Blah:: Yami Bakura talking to Ryou
*~*~*~*~*~*
Professor Snape strode in shortly after they had all found seats, which was rather hard to manage because all of the girls wanted to sit by Seto. He looked even more menacing than usual, and was clutching his left forearm for some reason. He started off by taking attendance. Then he told the class, "For the first month we will be reviewing all of the previous potions we have covered. Today you will be making a Strengthening Solution. Instructions," he waved his wand at the chalkboard, "are on the board, begin now."
He left them alone after that, and Harry found that making his potion was a lot easier without Snape prowling about and making nasty comments. So after they had all added the proper ingredients, they put their cauldrons away to sit for two days, as required, and talked a little bit before class ended.
"So Bakura, you've lived in England before?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Yes. I lived here until I was twelve," Ryou replied. "Then I moved to Domino."
"Why?" asked Ron.
"Er, I forgot." The truth was, he had to move because of his Yami. But since Ron didn't know about Yami Bakura, he couldn't really tell him.
Seeing that Ryou was in a sticky situation, Yugi broke in.
"I don't think that this class was all that bad. It was rather interesting," he said.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron glanced at each other.
"You haven't even seen the real Snape yet. I wonder why he's acting like this."
Yugi sighed in relief in his head. They had changed the topic. Obviously this was good subject for them to stop at.
"It could be...You-Know-Who," said Hermione quietly. "Look, he's still rubbing his left arm. Isn't that where the Death Eaters' marks are?"
The conversation changed, they talked quietly until the end of class, and then headed for dinner.
*~*~*~*~*~*
After dinner, they walked up to Gryffindor tower together and Malik went to the Slytherin common room.
They had been working on the essay Snape had assigned them, one on the different properties of bezoars and how it was used in potions, when Malik strolled casually through the portrait hole.
"What're you doing here?" Ron yelped. Many of the other Gryffindors had noticed, too.
Malik shrugged. "It got too boring with the Slytherins," he said matter-of- factly.
"How did you get in?" a seventh year demanded.
"It was actually quite easy," Malik replied, smirking and glancing at Yugi, Ryou, and Seto, who looked at each other with understanding. "The fat person in the frilly pink dress just needed a little...persuasion..."
*~*~*~*~*~*
It took twenty minutes to assure the rest of the Gryffindors that Malik wouldn't do any harm and that he wasn't a spy for the Slytherins. Then he joined Yugi and Ryou and they started doing their homework together.
It was a while before Yugi noticed that Seto was gone. But the mystery of this was soon solved when he stepped through the portrait hole an hour later.
"Where've you been?" asked Hermione. "It's almost time for bed, and you still haven't done your homework yet!"
"Professor Dumbledore wants to see me every other night for something," Seto replied. Harry noticed that he wasn't giving them any specific information.
"But what about your homework?" Hermione persisted.
"Most of it's due after tomorrow, and at any rate, I'm already done with mine."
Ron dived for Seto's bag, and sure enough, his homework was all done. It looked like he had even written a foot more than the requirements for all of his essays. His handwriting was even smaller and neater than Hermione's, if that was possible.
"No way," Ron breathed. "I'm not even done with that essay that Binns gave us, and Hermione's just finished hers. How did you get everything done so fast? You must've cheated or some-"
"Seto didn't cheat!" a defiant voice said. Ron looked down, and saw Mokuba. "Seto's just used to finishing everything really fast because he used to have schoolwork and regular work at the same time! This is nothing compared to what he-mmph!"
"I think it's time somebody went to bed," said Seto, Mokuba dangling from his arms.
"Hey! Stop it, Seto! I'm eleven already!"
Once Mokuba had gone, Seto just pulled out his laptop and started working again.
"So, are you going to tell us how you're doing that?" asked Harry. "And the cell phone?"
Seto sighed. He looked tired out for some reason. "Fine. Okay, I've installed a special computer chip incorporated with a magic. It's custom made, and is worth about four million U.S. dollars. It works on all KaibaCorp technology, so I was able to put it in my laptop and cell phone."
"Does that mean that it'll work on the Duel Disks, too?" asked Malik.
"Yes, but don't expect me to give one to you," he replied shortly. "Now if you'll excuse me, it's getting a little too loud down here. Good night."
And with that, he strode off towards the boys' dormitories with Nefertari hovering over him.
"Is it just me, or is Seto really grumpy tonight?" asked Malik.
"So that's what he's been doing," a voice said thoughtfully at the same time.
"Aack!" Malik had pulled a struggling Mokuba from behind the sofa.
"What're you doing now?" asked an exasperated Malik.
"Not sleepy," replied Mokuba.
"Wait, what were you saying, Mokuba?" asked Harry quickly. "What's Seto been doing?"
"Well, after Diagon Alley, he started reading a bunch of books. And I mean a LOT of books. He ordered quite a few rare ones from some kind of wizarding thingy. Then he shut himself in his lab for days in a row, not eating anything or even sleeping. I think he was developing something...he started talking about improving the prototypes of something. And then, about a week before we were supposed to come here, he finished with something. He didn't go to his lab again, and became all normal until September 1," Mokuba finished.
"So this is how he's been using Muggle technology at Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, I think so. It's got magic in it, too, and so I think that neutralizes the magic around us, or something. I read quite a bit of Hogwarts, A History, too," he added. Then he went on. "Either that, or the spells are so powerful that the magic here has no effect on it." At the sight of their faces, he said, "Yup, there's more than one spell. It's supposed to be really complicated, spells intertwined and woven around each other."
"Wow," Ron said. "He must be a super genius or something! And what's with that attitude?"
"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet," Mokuba promised. "But please try being nice to him. He's already starting to change, especially when Nefertari's around, but I think that he just needs...somebody else..."
"Somebody else?" questioned Ron.
"To love, I suppose. Where's Ryou, anyway?"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Ryou was also up in the sixth year boys' dormitories. He didn't know why, but I just felt like going to bed early. He thought that it'd be rude to leave, but took his chance when Seto also retired early. He was pulling off his shirt to change into his pajamas when he was tackled back onto the bed.
:'wha?:
His bare chest was being attacked by somebody with spiky white hair and brown, narrowed eyes, not to mention every other part of his body that Yami Bakura could reach.
"Bakur-" Hot lips devoured his own mouth, and he was silenced. The bed curtains were drawn by some invisible force, and then the full assault began.
:'Kura? What're you doing?: Ryou managed to ask breathlessly.
::Happy birthday, Ryou.::
*~*~*~*~*~*
They quickly settled in and found that Hogwarts wasn't all that bad. On the second morning, a huge flock of owls swooped down on Seto. It seemed that all of the girls had decided that he wasn't dangerous and started taking action. He was getting pelted with fan mail every day. Although Malik had taken advantage of this the first day, and teased Seto nonstop, he soon learned that this did not affect him in any way. Seto just calmly blew all of the letters into nothingness with his wand. Many of the other boys were gaping at him with shock. If they had received that much mail from girls, they certainly wouldn't blast it away.
Ron seemed to be thinking the same thing when this first happened.
"Is he...popular?" he whispered to Dean.
"Very."
"Oh."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Pretty soon Yugi, Malik, and Ryou had admirers too. On Tuesday, they each got a stack of fanmail, too. But this was soon discouraged, as they also threw all of it away or burned it up.
Ron still looked confused.
"They're already taken," Seto explained.
This caused him to look even more confused.
"Who-?" But Seto just gave him a slight smile and returned to his coffee.
In Malik's case, he just vanished it with some kind of weird spell. It just disappeared with what looked like a cloud of hazy purple smoke. For some reason Yugi was glaring at him for the rest of the day and telling him in a deep voice (that was very uncharacteristic of Yugi) not to waste his Shadow Powers-whatever they were-for something as trivial as that.
There were more confused people.
*~*~*~*~*~*
On Thursday morning, Yami Bakura ran into the Great Hall carrying something golden and shiny and long in his hand with Malik hot in pursuit, shouting, "Give it back, Tomb Robber!"
On the way to the end of the hall, he grabbed Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and cackled evilly, saying, "Yes! Now I have FOUR Millennium Items in my possession!"
Everybody was watching their little chase. Malik chased Yami Bakura halfway up to the table where the teachers sat before there was a flash of light from the Millennium Puzzle and Yami Bakura slowed down due to some invisible force.
Malik took this chance to grab one side of his Millennium Rod while Yami Bakura still held the other. In one graceful swish, he pulled out the dagger hidden within and made a swipe at Yami Bakura. He slashed the dagger in an arc around him and Yami Bakura let go of the other end of the Millennium Rod, dodging out of its way. He nearly made it, but at the end he dropped to the floor, clutching the other side of his arm.
Madam Pomfrey was almost fainting with shock. Yami Bakura had looked up at Malik and removed his hand from his arm to reveal a huge gash. Blood was running out of it and staining everything red. Yami Bakura was just acting calm and collected, while his shirt turned red and his blood dripped slowly to the floor. He smirked.
"Not bad, for an amateur," he commented. But Malik ignored him-he was doing a kind of strange and crazy victory dance.
"Hah! In your face, Tomb Robber!" he sang, sticking out his tongue at the end. Students were looking terrified. How could the quiet, innocent, always smiling Ryou be this crazy person who looked like he was bleeding to death? And why did Malik nearly kill Ryou? What did Ryou do to deserve this?
Seto, however, had vaulted over the table (he was sitting on the other side of the Gryffindor table) and hurried towards Yami Bakura.
"Don't let Ryou gain control again, he's not going to be able to handle it!" Yami Bakura rolled his eyes and tried to wiggle out of Seto's grasp. Seto was holding Yami Bakura's injured arm with one hand and trying to restrain him with the other.
"Stay still until I tell you to change back! You're weaker in this type of environment, and so is your magic!" he said exasperatedly. He placed his both hands over the gash that was still bleeding and muttered something indistinguishable. Nerfertari alighted on his shoulder and crooned in his ear, and then phoenix song drifted through the Great Hall, filling it with warming music. Seto's hands glowed momentarily blue before he removed them from Yami Bakura's arm. The people who were still watching gasped. The wound wasn't there anymore. All that they saw was pale, unmarred skin. Madam Pomfrey was also speechless.
"But...how...?" she managed to choke out.
"Change back," reminded Malik in a singsong voice. Yami Bakura glared at him one more time, and then Ryou was laying unconscious in Seto's arms. His left side was still stained crimson, and the floor was still wet with his blood, but the there was certainly nothing on his arm, not even a scar.
"He's lost a lot of blood, I'm taking him up to the dormitory," Seto told Malik. "And you're coming with me." He gave Malik a look that nobody else could interpret.
Then he turned to the other people gaping at them. "What're you staring at?" he snarled at them. They immediately turned back to their breakfasts, but the hall was quiet as Seto and Malik walked back into the Entrance Hall.
Yugi also bounded up from his seat and went alongside them. It wasn't until they were well out of earshot before the chattering and whispering started. Nobody wanted to be with either Malik or Ryou anymore. But Seto, on the other hand...
"He was sooooo coool!" squealed a girl at the Hufflepuff table.
"Yeah, he really cares for everybody and everyone..." sighed her friend.
"Something weird is definitely going on with the new students," Hermione said.
"Especially Bakura," added Ron. "He was bleeding to death and acted like it was nothing!"
"And we can't forget Seto, and how he healed Bakura's arm better and faster than what Madam Pomfrey could have done. He didn't even use a wand!"
Yup. The new students seemed full of surprises.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Seto continued to disappear for about an hour every other evening. He never told them where he went, and always finished his homework before he went. But when he came back, he always seemed more tired than usual.
Harry had been made Quidditch captain, and his flying rights had been given back to him, as well as his Firebolt. He had arranged for Quidditch team try-outs after the O.W.L.s, so that it wouldn't interfere with their studying.
They received a bit of a surprise one day when Dracilla was teasing Mokuba in the hall.
Mokuba had actually talked back to her. While all of the first years looked on with admiration, the female Malfoy was seething. A first year? Talking back to her? She was going to make him pay! But this plan did not work. As soon as she had lifted her wand, Mokuba had told her, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Oh, and why is that?" she had sneered back.
"Because then he wouldn't like it."
Dracilla turned, expecting to see a teacher behind her or something like that. But there were no teachers.
"What're you talking about, you mudblood? There's nobody there. Don't think that you can fool me." She raised her wand again, but no sooner had she done so, a something poked its head out from behind Mokuba. It was a tiny dragon, only a baby, but it was still a dragon. It let out a roar that was impressive for its size, and started chasing Dracilla, Crabbe, and Goyle down the stairs, sending tiny balls of blue and white lighting after them. (sound familiar yet?)
Mokuba was a hero that night in the Gryffindor common room. But he still didn't tell them where he had gotten the dragon, or where he was keeping it.
"C'mon, Mokuba, tell us where it is!" a second year said eagerly.
"We just want to see it, honest!" his friend added.
"Where did you get a dragon, mate?" asked a third year.
"What's going on?" demanded a voice that commanded respect. Seto had just ducked through the portrait hole. Oddly enough, he hadn't been with Mokuba when the dragon had made its appearance. Most people had learned that Seto wasn't a person to mess with, and had fallen silent.
"They want to see my dragon, Seto," Mokuba told him in an innocent voice. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, though.
After the crowd had dispersed-with the help of a certain CEO who had certain CEO powers, of course-they started doing their homework again.
Harry had noticed a change in Seto's character over the past few days. He seemed a little less tense, and was even cracking a smile or two. He also had taken to helping the rest of them with their homework, having somehow always finished his own. And the Gryffindors were used to Nefertari now. The first time she had appeared, people tried to catch her, and were immediately knocked unconscious by the Stunning Spell. (by Seto, of course)
Now, they just kept a good distance away from them, and nothing like that ever happened again.
*~*~*~*~*~*
On the way back to the Gryffindor common room from dinner one day, Seto asked Harry, "Who's that?" He indicated an Asian girl with sleek black hair at the Ravenclaw table who was looking appreciatively at him.
"Oh, that's Cho Chang," Harry replied. He had gotten over her a long time ago.
"Looks like a slut," Seto commented, then turned away to stride back up the staircase.
Malik surveyed her critically. "Yup, definitely a slut."
She was still looking hopefully at Seto, like all of the other girls in the whole building. (The ones that weren't obsessed with Yugi, Ryou, and Malik already)
Harry just smiled. He was glad, for some reason. He just couldn't put his finger on it...
"What're you looking so happy about?" asked Ron grumpily. "We still have McGonagall's essay to finish, not to mention another star chart to fill out."
"It's nothing."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Seto made his first big mistake on Saturday. He had thrown on a random working outfit, and it turned out to be the hot purple one (you know, one that he wore when Isis gave him Obelisk?), gone to the common room, opened his laptop, ...and had gotten run over by fan girls at once.
Yami Bakura, Yami Yugi, and Malik had been laughing for days afterward.
Meanwhile, Mokuba had persuaded Seto to put his specially modified computer chips into Yugi's, Ryou's, and Malik's duel disks.
They had watched in fascination as Seto came down the steps with a variety of strange tools that they had never seen before, taken a tiny piece of metal out of a tiny platinum-coated box. He then took something that looked like a laser pointer out and directed its beam in a specific place on Yugi's duel disk. They heard something click, and he moved to the next place.
When he removed the top of the duel disk, they saw how complex everything was on the inside.
"And he made all of this?" Harry murmured to Hermione in awe.
He took the computer chip and placed it somewhere they couldn't even see, and then connected it with an even smaller laser device. He showed them the tiny computer that was networked to his satellite system, and all of the records of duels fought with that specific disk that he could access. Finally, he ran some checks on the overall performance of the duel disk, and then connected everything back together.
As soon as the last click was heard, Yugi's duel disk flashed to life. Even Hermione was amazed with the "flashing rainbow colors" on the duel disk. Seto repeated this complex process on Ryou's and Malik's. As soon as he got his, Malik whooped and made a wild dash for the portrait hole.
"Come on, people! We have duels waiting!" he called over his shoulder.
Seto shook his head. "Nope, I'm not activating yours today. I think I'll do it...how about sometime tomorrow?" He flipped a small silver control box up into the air and expertly caught it again, then walked back up to the dormitories.
Malik walked reluctantly back, muttering a bunch of expletives under his breath that had many people going red, and then started complaining loudly once he got to the rest of the group.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Back in the dormitory a little while later, Malik was lounging on Harry's bed, Yami Bakura and Ryou were both out on Ryou's bed, & Yugi and Yami Yugi were busy making out. Harry and Ron were still in the common room, and Seto was somewhere else.
"You know, you could always use the Millennium Rod on him," Yami Bakura commented lazily, running his fingers through Ryou's hair. Ryou was dozing. He had been a little weak for a few days after the, uh, incident at breakfast.
"Nope, I've already tried. For some stupid reason it doesn't work on him."
Yami paused long enough to say, "It's probably because of his past. I'm surprised you still even have the Millennium Rod. It's supposed to be his, you know."
"Yeah, but he won't accept it yet," Malik replied, serious for once. "But when he does, his magical powers will be reawakened, and he might even be more dangerous than before."
After this mysterious comment, everyone looked at him strangely.
"Is it just me, or did Malik suddenly seem smarter?" asked Yami Bakura.
"Oh, yeah, I overheard Isis one day," Malik added.
"Nope. Sorry, you were wrong," Yami said to Yami Bakura, as Malik got up and stretched.
"Well, better get ready for dueling tomorrow! I knew that bringing my duel disk was a good thing!" He took out his dueling deck and began shuffling through it.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day was a clear day. Malik had dragged the rest of them outside and commanded Seto to activate their duel disks. They first decided on a tag team duel, no safety restrictions, but since Yami Bakura didn't have a God card, it was going to be unfair. By now a crowd had formed, and even a few teachers were there.
"C'mon, let's just do it anyway!" an exasperated Malik cried. He had missed dueling so much that he just wanted to start. So, it was Malik and Bakura vs. Yugi and Seto. They all looked very impressive, and were all in their Battle City attire. They were going to duel with the Battle City rules, too-just not the card taking thing at the end.
They inserted their decks and activated the duel disks. Then they shot out their hologram projectors. A lot of people gasped.
"Let's Duel!"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Sorry if the romance is going really slowly. It's supposed to be an eventual YM/M, YB/B, YY/Y, and a mystery couple. If you want any HP romances, just tell me in your reviews!
Um, sorry about all the sappy stuff-I really suck at writing romance (an all other types of stories, for that matter). I hope you liked the extra bit that I added in during their breakfast time. If you don't, I can take it out, but that only depends on how many people protest.
And I made a new character! Dracilla is going to be the new "bad Slytherin", but can you figure out what's happening with Draco? Nope! I won't tell you, you'll just have to wait!
So, please review and tell me how you like it so far! Suggestions are welcomed, and if I make any mistakes on anything, please tell me so that I can correct it!
Thanks to all of my reviewers so far!
Sapphire Saire: *evil cackle* And now I'm going to force you to type another chapter so that I can get all of the glory!
Silver: Mmph! *gagged and tied up in a corner*
Sapphire: Anyway, bye!
Silver: *magically free of bindings* Sorry about Sapphire, she's my other side...sort of like a Yami. (See? I'm just like all the other people crazy about Yu-Gi-Oh! I have my own yami, too! Well, actually, she's not really a yami, but....who cares! Unlike other weird people, I'm not insisting on owning a Millennium Item) You still have to listen to Sapphire, though, okay? Bye! *runs after Sapphire*
Okay, I'm just putting the facts straight. Seto still has Obelisk the Tormentor, Yugi still has Slifer the Sky Dragon, and Malik still has his Millennium Rod and the Winged Dragon of Ra. Oh, and Isis still has the Millennium Necklace. Got it? Yami Bakura has the Millennium Eye, though, and he's still in the Millennium Ring, which Ryou still has. Okay, just clearing misunderstandings~ Enjoy this chapter!
/Blah/ Yugi talking to Yami Yugi //Blah// Yami Yugi talking to Yugi
:Blah: Ryou talking to Yami Bakura ::Blah:: Yami Bakura talking to Ryou
*~*~*~*~*~*
Professor Snape strode in shortly after they had all found seats, which was rather hard to manage because all of the girls wanted to sit by Seto. He looked even more menacing than usual, and was clutching his left forearm for some reason. He started off by taking attendance. Then he told the class, "For the first month we will be reviewing all of the previous potions we have covered. Today you will be making a Strengthening Solution. Instructions," he waved his wand at the chalkboard, "are on the board, begin now."
He left them alone after that, and Harry found that making his potion was a lot easier without Snape prowling about and making nasty comments. So after they had all added the proper ingredients, they put their cauldrons away to sit for two days, as required, and talked a little bit before class ended.
"So Bakura, you've lived in England before?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Yes. I lived here until I was twelve," Ryou replied. "Then I moved to Domino."
"Why?" asked Ron.
"Er, I forgot." The truth was, he had to move because of his Yami. But since Ron didn't know about Yami Bakura, he couldn't really tell him.
Seeing that Ryou was in a sticky situation, Yugi broke in.
"I don't think that this class was all that bad. It was rather interesting," he said.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron glanced at each other.
"You haven't even seen the real Snape yet. I wonder why he's acting like this."
Yugi sighed in relief in his head. They had changed the topic. Obviously this was good subject for them to stop at.
"It could be...You-Know-Who," said Hermione quietly. "Look, he's still rubbing his left arm. Isn't that where the Death Eaters' marks are?"
The conversation changed, they talked quietly until the end of class, and then headed for dinner.
*~*~*~*~*~*
After dinner, they walked up to Gryffindor tower together and Malik went to the Slytherin common room.
They had been working on the essay Snape had assigned them, one on the different properties of bezoars and how it was used in potions, when Malik strolled casually through the portrait hole.
"What're you doing here?" Ron yelped. Many of the other Gryffindors had noticed, too.
Malik shrugged. "It got too boring with the Slytherins," he said matter-of- factly.
"How did you get in?" a seventh year demanded.
"It was actually quite easy," Malik replied, smirking and glancing at Yugi, Ryou, and Seto, who looked at each other with understanding. "The fat person in the frilly pink dress just needed a little...persuasion..."
*~*~*~*~*~*
It took twenty minutes to assure the rest of the Gryffindors that Malik wouldn't do any harm and that he wasn't a spy for the Slytherins. Then he joined Yugi and Ryou and they started doing their homework together.
It was a while before Yugi noticed that Seto was gone. But the mystery of this was soon solved when he stepped through the portrait hole an hour later.
"Where've you been?" asked Hermione. "It's almost time for bed, and you still haven't done your homework yet!"
"Professor Dumbledore wants to see me every other night for something," Seto replied. Harry noticed that he wasn't giving them any specific information.
"But what about your homework?" Hermione persisted.
"Most of it's due after tomorrow, and at any rate, I'm already done with mine."
Ron dived for Seto's bag, and sure enough, his homework was all done. It looked like he had even written a foot more than the requirements for all of his essays. His handwriting was even smaller and neater than Hermione's, if that was possible.
"No way," Ron breathed. "I'm not even done with that essay that Binns gave us, and Hermione's just finished hers. How did you get everything done so fast? You must've cheated or some-"
"Seto didn't cheat!" a defiant voice said. Ron looked down, and saw Mokuba. "Seto's just used to finishing everything really fast because he used to have schoolwork and regular work at the same time! This is nothing compared to what he-mmph!"
"I think it's time somebody went to bed," said Seto, Mokuba dangling from his arms.
"Hey! Stop it, Seto! I'm eleven already!"
Once Mokuba had gone, Seto just pulled out his laptop and started working again.
"So, are you going to tell us how you're doing that?" asked Harry. "And the cell phone?"
Seto sighed. He looked tired out for some reason. "Fine. Okay, I've installed a special computer chip incorporated with a magic. It's custom made, and is worth about four million U.S. dollars. It works on all KaibaCorp technology, so I was able to put it in my laptop and cell phone."
"Does that mean that it'll work on the Duel Disks, too?" asked Malik.
"Yes, but don't expect me to give one to you," he replied shortly. "Now if you'll excuse me, it's getting a little too loud down here. Good night."
And with that, he strode off towards the boys' dormitories with Nefertari hovering over him.
"Is it just me, or is Seto really grumpy tonight?" asked Malik.
"So that's what he's been doing," a voice said thoughtfully at the same time.
"Aack!" Malik had pulled a struggling Mokuba from behind the sofa.
"What're you doing now?" asked an exasperated Malik.
"Not sleepy," replied Mokuba.
"Wait, what were you saying, Mokuba?" asked Harry quickly. "What's Seto been doing?"
"Well, after Diagon Alley, he started reading a bunch of books. And I mean a LOT of books. He ordered quite a few rare ones from some kind of wizarding thingy. Then he shut himself in his lab for days in a row, not eating anything or even sleeping. I think he was developing something...he started talking about improving the prototypes of something. And then, about a week before we were supposed to come here, he finished with something. He didn't go to his lab again, and became all normal until September 1," Mokuba finished.
"So this is how he's been using Muggle technology at Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, I think so. It's got magic in it, too, and so I think that neutralizes the magic around us, or something. I read quite a bit of Hogwarts, A History, too," he added. Then he went on. "Either that, or the spells are so powerful that the magic here has no effect on it." At the sight of their faces, he said, "Yup, there's more than one spell. It's supposed to be really complicated, spells intertwined and woven around each other."
"Wow," Ron said. "He must be a super genius or something! And what's with that attitude?"
"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet," Mokuba promised. "But please try being nice to him. He's already starting to change, especially when Nefertari's around, but I think that he just needs...somebody else..."
"Somebody else?" questioned Ron.
"To love, I suppose. Where's Ryou, anyway?"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Ryou was also up in the sixth year boys' dormitories. He didn't know why, but I just felt like going to bed early. He thought that it'd be rude to leave, but took his chance when Seto also retired early. He was pulling off his shirt to change into his pajamas when he was tackled back onto the bed.
:'wha?:
His bare chest was being attacked by somebody with spiky white hair and brown, narrowed eyes, not to mention every other part of his body that Yami Bakura could reach.
"Bakur-" Hot lips devoured his own mouth, and he was silenced. The bed curtains were drawn by some invisible force, and then the full assault began.
:'Kura? What're you doing?: Ryou managed to ask breathlessly.
::Happy birthday, Ryou.::
*~*~*~*~*~*
They quickly settled in and found that Hogwarts wasn't all that bad. On the second morning, a huge flock of owls swooped down on Seto. It seemed that all of the girls had decided that he wasn't dangerous and started taking action. He was getting pelted with fan mail every day. Although Malik had taken advantage of this the first day, and teased Seto nonstop, he soon learned that this did not affect him in any way. Seto just calmly blew all of the letters into nothingness with his wand. Many of the other boys were gaping at him with shock. If they had received that much mail from girls, they certainly wouldn't blast it away.
Ron seemed to be thinking the same thing when this first happened.
"Is he...popular?" he whispered to Dean.
"Very."
"Oh."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Pretty soon Yugi, Malik, and Ryou had admirers too. On Tuesday, they each got a stack of fanmail, too. But this was soon discouraged, as they also threw all of it away or burned it up.
Ron still looked confused.
"They're already taken," Seto explained.
This caused him to look even more confused.
"Who-?" But Seto just gave him a slight smile and returned to his coffee.
In Malik's case, he just vanished it with some kind of weird spell. It just disappeared with what looked like a cloud of hazy purple smoke. For some reason Yugi was glaring at him for the rest of the day and telling him in a deep voice (that was very uncharacteristic of Yugi) not to waste his Shadow Powers-whatever they were-for something as trivial as that.
There were more confused people.
*~*~*~*~*~*
On Thursday morning, Yami Bakura ran into the Great Hall carrying something golden and shiny and long in his hand with Malik hot in pursuit, shouting, "Give it back, Tomb Robber!"
On the way to the end of the hall, he grabbed Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and cackled evilly, saying, "Yes! Now I have FOUR Millennium Items in my possession!"
Everybody was watching their little chase. Malik chased Yami Bakura halfway up to the table where the teachers sat before there was a flash of light from the Millennium Puzzle and Yami Bakura slowed down due to some invisible force.
Malik took this chance to grab one side of his Millennium Rod while Yami Bakura still held the other. In one graceful swish, he pulled out the dagger hidden within and made a swipe at Yami Bakura. He slashed the dagger in an arc around him and Yami Bakura let go of the other end of the Millennium Rod, dodging out of its way. He nearly made it, but at the end he dropped to the floor, clutching the other side of his arm.
Madam Pomfrey was almost fainting with shock. Yami Bakura had looked up at Malik and removed his hand from his arm to reveal a huge gash. Blood was running out of it and staining everything red. Yami Bakura was just acting calm and collected, while his shirt turned red and his blood dripped slowly to the floor. He smirked.
"Not bad, for an amateur," he commented. But Malik ignored him-he was doing a kind of strange and crazy victory dance.
"Hah! In your face, Tomb Robber!" he sang, sticking out his tongue at the end. Students were looking terrified. How could the quiet, innocent, always smiling Ryou be this crazy person who looked like he was bleeding to death? And why did Malik nearly kill Ryou? What did Ryou do to deserve this?
Seto, however, had vaulted over the table (he was sitting on the other side of the Gryffindor table) and hurried towards Yami Bakura.
"Don't let Ryou gain control again, he's not going to be able to handle it!" Yami Bakura rolled his eyes and tried to wiggle out of Seto's grasp. Seto was holding Yami Bakura's injured arm with one hand and trying to restrain him with the other.
"Stay still until I tell you to change back! You're weaker in this type of environment, and so is your magic!" he said exasperatedly. He placed his both hands over the gash that was still bleeding and muttered something indistinguishable. Nerfertari alighted on his shoulder and crooned in his ear, and then phoenix song drifted through the Great Hall, filling it with warming music. Seto's hands glowed momentarily blue before he removed them from Yami Bakura's arm. The people who were still watching gasped. The wound wasn't there anymore. All that they saw was pale, unmarred skin. Madam Pomfrey was also speechless.
"But...how...?" she managed to choke out.
"Change back," reminded Malik in a singsong voice. Yami Bakura glared at him one more time, and then Ryou was laying unconscious in Seto's arms. His left side was still stained crimson, and the floor was still wet with his blood, but the there was certainly nothing on his arm, not even a scar.
"He's lost a lot of blood, I'm taking him up to the dormitory," Seto told Malik. "And you're coming with me." He gave Malik a look that nobody else could interpret.
Then he turned to the other people gaping at them. "What're you staring at?" he snarled at them. They immediately turned back to their breakfasts, but the hall was quiet as Seto and Malik walked back into the Entrance Hall.
Yugi also bounded up from his seat and went alongside them. It wasn't until they were well out of earshot before the chattering and whispering started. Nobody wanted to be with either Malik or Ryou anymore. But Seto, on the other hand...
"He was sooooo coool!" squealed a girl at the Hufflepuff table.
"Yeah, he really cares for everybody and everyone..." sighed her friend.
"Something weird is definitely going on with the new students," Hermione said.
"Especially Bakura," added Ron. "He was bleeding to death and acted like it was nothing!"
"And we can't forget Seto, and how he healed Bakura's arm better and faster than what Madam Pomfrey could have done. He didn't even use a wand!"
Yup. The new students seemed full of surprises.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Seto continued to disappear for about an hour every other evening. He never told them where he went, and always finished his homework before he went. But when he came back, he always seemed more tired than usual.
Harry had been made Quidditch captain, and his flying rights had been given back to him, as well as his Firebolt. He had arranged for Quidditch team try-outs after the O.W.L.s, so that it wouldn't interfere with their studying.
They received a bit of a surprise one day when Dracilla was teasing Mokuba in the hall.
Mokuba had actually talked back to her. While all of the first years looked on with admiration, the female Malfoy was seething. A first year? Talking back to her? She was going to make him pay! But this plan did not work. As soon as she had lifted her wand, Mokuba had told her, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Oh, and why is that?" she had sneered back.
"Because then he wouldn't like it."
Dracilla turned, expecting to see a teacher behind her or something like that. But there were no teachers.
"What're you talking about, you mudblood? There's nobody there. Don't think that you can fool me." She raised her wand again, but no sooner had she done so, a something poked its head out from behind Mokuba. It was a tiny dragon, only a baby, but it was still a dragon. It let out a roar that was impressive for its size, and started chasing Dracilla, Crabbe, and Goyle down the stairs, sending tiny balls of blue and white lighting after them. (sound familiar yet?)
Mokuba was a hero that night in the Gryffindor common room. But he still didn't tell them where he had gotten the dragon, or where he was keeping it.
"C'mon, Mokuba, tell us where it is!" a second year said eagerly.
"We just want to see it, honest!" his friend added.
"Where did you get a dragon, mate?" asked a third year.
"What's going on?" demanded a voice that commanded respect. Seto had just ducked through the portrait hole. Oddly enough, he hadn't been with Mokuba when the dragon had made its appearance. Most people had learned that Seto wasn't a person to mess with, and had fallen silent.
"They want to see my dragon, Seto," Mokuba told him in an innocent voice. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, though.
After the crowd had dispersed-with the help of a certain CEO who had certain CEO powers, of course-they started doing their homework again.
Harry had noticed a change in Seto's character over the past few days. He seemed a little less tense, and was even cracking a smile or two. He also had taken to helping the rest of them with their homework, having somehow always finished his own. And the Gryffindors were used to Nefertari now. The first time she had appeared, people tried to catch her, and were immediately knocked unconscious by the Stunning Spell. (by Seto, of course)
Now, they just kept a good distance away from them, and nothing like that ever happened again.
*~*~*~*~*~*
On the way back to the Gryffindor common room from dinner one day, Seto asked Harry, "Who's that?" He indicated an Asian girl with sleek black hair at the Ravenclaw table who was looking appreciatively at him.
"Oh, that's Cho Chang," Harry replied. He had gotten over her a long time ago.
"Looks like a slut," Seto commented, then turned away to stride back up the staircase.
Malik surveyed her critically. "Yup, definitely a slut."
She was still looking hopefully at Seto, like all of the other girls in the whole building. (The ones that weren't obsessed with Yugi, Ryou, and Malik already)
Harry just smiled. He was glad, for some reason. He just couldn't put his finger on it...
"What're you looking so happy about?" asked Ron grumpily. "We still have McGonagall's essay to finish, not to mention another star chart to fill out."
"It's nothing."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Seto made his first big mistake on Saturday. He had thrown on a random working outfit, and it turned out to be the hot purple one (you know, one that he wore when Isis gave him Obelisk?), gone to the common room, opened his laptop, ...and had gotten run over by fan girls at once.
Yami Bakura, Yami Yugi, and Malik had been laughing for days afterward.
Meanwhile, Mokuba had persuaded Seto to put his specially modified computer chips into Yugi's, Ryou's, and Malik's duel disks.
They had watched in fascination as Seto came down the steps with a variety of strange tools that they had never seen before, taken a tiny piece of metal out of a tiny platinum-coated box. He then took something that looked like a laser pointer out and directed its beam in a specific place on Yugi's duel disk. They heard something click, and he moved to the next place.
When he removed the top of the duel disk, they saw how complex everything was on the inside.
"And he made all of this?" Harry murmured to Hermione in awe.
He took the computer chip and placed it somewhere they couldn't even see, and then connected it with an even smaller laser device. He showed them the tiny computer that was networked to his satellite system, and all of the records of duels fought with that specific disk that he could access. Finally, he ran some checks on the overall performance of the duel disk, and then connected everything back together.
As soon as the last click was heard, Yugi's duel disk flashed to life. Even Hermione was amazed with the "flashing rainbow colors" on the duel disk. Seto repeated this complex process on Ryou's and Malik's. As soon as he got his, Malik whooped and made a wild dash for the portrait hole.
"Come on, people! We have duels waiting!" he called over his shoulder.
Seto shook his head. "Nope, I'm not activating yours today. I think I'll do it...how about sometime tomorrow?" He flipped a small silver control box up into the air and expertly caught it again, then walked back up to the dormitories.
Malik walked reluctantly back, muttering a bunch of expletives under his breath that had many people going red, and then started complaining loudly once he got to the rest of the group.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Back in the dormitory a little while later, Malik was lounging on Harry's bed, Yami Bakura and Ryou were both out on Ryou's bed, & Yugi and Yami Yugi were busy making out. Harry and Ron were still in the common room, and Seto was somewhere else.
"You know, you could always use the Millennium Rod on him," Yami Bakura commented lazily, running his fingers through Ryou's hair. Ryou was dozing. He had been a little weak for a few days after the, uh, incident at breakfast.
"Nope, I've already tried. For some stupid reason it doesn't work on him."
Yami paused long enough to say, "It's probably because of his past. I'm surprised you still even have the Millennium Rod. It's supposed to be his, you know."
"Yeah, but he won't accept it yet," Malik replied, serious for once. "But when he does, his magical powers will be reawakened, and he might even be more dangerous than before."
After this mysterious comment, everyone looked at him strangely.
"Is it just me, or did Malik suddenly seem smarter?" asked Yami Bakura.
"Oh, yeah, I overheard Isis one day," Malik added.
"Nope. Sorry, you were wrong," Yami said to Yami Bakura, as Malik got up and stretched.
"Well, better get ready for dueling tomorrow! I knew that bringing my duel disk was a good thing!" He took out his dueling deck and began shuffling through it.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day was a clear day. Malik had dragged the rest of them outside and commanded Seto to activate their duel disks. They first decided on a tag team duel, no safety restrictions, but since Yami Bakura didn't have a God card, it was going to be unfair. By now a crowd had formed, and even a few teachers were there.
"C'mon, let's just do it anyway!" an exasperated Malik cried. He had missed dueling so much that he just wanted to start. So, it was Malik and Bakura vs. Yugi and Seto. They all looked very impressive, and were all in their Battle City attire. They were going to duel with the Battle City rules, too-just not the card taking thing at the end.
They inserted their decks and activated the duel disks. Then they shot out their hologram projectors. A lot of people gasped.
"Let's Duel!"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Sorry if the romance is going really slowly. It's supposed to be an eventual YM/M, YB/B, YY/Y, and a mystery couple. If you want any HP romances, just tell me in your reviews!
Um, sorry about all the sappy stuff-I really suck at writing romance (an all other types of stories, for that matter). I hope you liked the extra bit that I added in during their breakfast time. If you don't, I can take it out, but that only depends on how many people protest.
And I made a new character! Dracilla is going to be the new "bad Slytherin", but can you figure out what's happening with Draco? Nope! I won't tell you, you'll just have to wait!
So, please review and tell me how you like it so far! Suggestions are welcomed, and if I make any mistakes on anything, please tell me so that I can correct it!
Thanks to all of my reviewers so far!
Sapphire Saire: *evil cackle* And now I'm going to force you to type another chapter so that I can get all of the glory!
Silver: Mmph! *gagged and tied up in a corner*
Sapphire: Anyway, bye!
Silver: *magically free of bindings* Sorry about Sapphire, she's my other side...sort of like a Yami. (See? I'm just like all the other people crazy about Yu-Gi-Oh! I have my own yami, too! Well, actually, she's not really a yami, but....who cares! Unlike other weird people, I'm not insisting on owning a Millennium Item) You still have to listen to Sapphire, though, okay? Bye! *runs after Sapphire*