One week later...
***
Two figures were to be seen prowling about the shadows in the dungeons in which the Slytherin common room was located. One was moving stealthily, while the other wasn't doing so great and was glancing back over his shoulder every few minutes.
"You wouldn't do too well in the stealing business," commented the first one, his brown, almost crimson eyes practically glowing in the darkness. "Well, it's just like what I say. Once a pharaoh, always a pharaoh. Why did you wear leather anyway?"
"Be quiet," snapped the second, glaring at his companion. "We could have just used Shadow magic and gone through the Shadow Realm. Or just used our spirit forms so that nobody would see us."
"Yeah, and have our lights sense us? No chance - Ryou'd kill me. Besides, you can do practically nothing in spirit form. You can't even touch most solid objects."
"Whatev-" His mouth was suddenly covered and he was dragged further into the corner of the wall.
"Shh." came the almost inaudible whisper.
Just moments later, Mrs. Norris walked past, ignoring them only because of a weak cloaking spell that Yami had used at the last second.
"You have no guts," muttered a disgusted Yami Bakura, and crept along the wall until they were in front of a damp stone wall. The entrance to the Slytherin common room.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Yami Bakura in annoyance, looking back at Yami. He had gone rigid and hadn't moved at all. "You do want to get revenge, don't you?"
"Yugi's awake," Yami answered in a hollow voice.
"So? Scared of your own hikari? He probably woke up 'cause you used that stupid spell. You probably don't even know how to cover your aura during a spell. Just put him back to sleep and hurry up."
Finally, after ten long minutes, they were looking at the wall again.
"Malik said -" Then the hidden panel in the wall slid open, and Malik stood, beaming at them.
"Welcome!" he said cheerily. "We hope that you will enjoy your stay here. Come on in!" He ushered them inside.
"To the left you will see some wonderful decorations that my wonderful fellow Slytherins have put up in celebration of 'We Hate Mudbloods Week.' And on the right, feel free to warm yourself up with the cold coals in the fireplace."
They followed him to a set of stairs. "Now we will enter the sixth year girls' territory. Feel free to levitate yourself with Shadow Magic so that you won't get killed trying to get up the staircase. Hint hint, it might save you a bit of time. Don't forget to hide all traces of spells unless you want your hikaris to sense you. We're getting quite powerful, you know."
Yami Bakura leaned over and muttered something in Malik's ear.
"And if you don't know how, we'll help you." He and Yami Bakura exchanged a look that Yami couldn't read. Yami Bakura just rolled his eyes. He touched two of his fingers to Yami's forehead and chanted some words. "That should hide your powers for about 30 minutes," said Malik. "Ready, everyone? Then up we go!"
They ascended, or rather, floated on black, purply fog platforms, up to the correct door.
"Now would be an absolutely fantastic time to use your Shadow Magic to go through the door!"
They were on the other side of the door now, looking at five identical beds with green and silver bed hangings all drawn up.
"There's your target," said Malik, closing his eyes and yawning. He was pointing at the bed in the center of the arrangement. "You may now begin whatever you like with the specimen. Begin now. Have fun." He curled up on the floor and started snoring.
"Ah, revenge is so sweet."
Fifteen minutes later they all three were standing in front of the 'Death to Muggles' club notice board.
"Let me sleep in your dormitory? The nice red and gold Gryffindor one?" pleaded Malik.
"No."
Malik turned to the other one. "Pwease, Yami-wami?"
"Sorry. You can come over first thing tomorrow."
Malik pouted, and then said sulkily, "Fine, you meanie butts. You've had your moment, now I'm going back to bed. You still owe me big, though."
He rubbed his eyes, and then levitated up to his own dormitory. There was just a slight hint of purplish-blackish-bluish fog around his outline.
"He doesn't realize that he's floating, does he? He must be at least four inches above the ground."
"Nah, he's just tired. It's kind of an instinct that causes him to do that. Let's go."
They were on their way back to the Gryffindor common room. Yami Bakura was keeping to the shadows from habit, but Yami was walking in plain sight. They didn't notice this, of course, because they were too busy bickering over some pointless topics.
"No, but a plush is still a plush! It's not like the inside changes-"
"-Popsicles aren't dangerous! Ice cream is!"
"You idiot. Everyone knows that flashlights are radioactive-"
"They are not!"
"-No, boxers are evil!"
There was a sigh of frustration, then a gasp of terror.
"Who's there?" someone had growled out of the darkness. Footsteps were coming closer, and the beam of the lamp was almost upon Yami.
I know what some of you are thinking. 'Run, Yami, run! Run like the wind!' Or something like that, right? Anyway, he couldn't run. Yup, he was paralyzed, just stuck there. Like a deer in headlights. Actually, exactly like a deer in headlights. Let's just say that he wasn't used to that kind of thing.
The light was two inches away from Yami's form, when he felt someone grab his hand and swiftly lead him along a secret passageway behind a tapestry of exactly how Frank the Frank got executed. He was guided through a series of confusing turns, weaving in and out of pillars and sets of armor, and escorted through countless sets of doors.
They were suddenly on the seventh floor. He didn't know why, but the danger of Filch was gone, and they were standing right in front of the corridor where the Fat Lady was.
"You okay? Hello, Earth to Pharaoh-dude!"
Yami just looked at Yami Bakura strangely.
"Why,,,..?"
Yami Bakura shrugged. "Everyone needs to change at some point, right? You were looking like you were about to die - guess you just weren't used to that kind of stuff. And... I was just feeling friendly or something."
Oddly enough, he didn't say or mention anything about the incident. He didn't make fun of Yami at all.
Yami smiled, slinging his arm around the other's shoulders like a friend would. Yami Bakura only stiffened a little, then relaxed.
"You know what, Tomb Robber?" Yami said, as they walked up to the Fat Lady, "You're okay. There's hope for you yet." (At this point, Yami Bakura rolled his eyes) "Turn into spirit form, I'm feeling risky right now. Besides, I don't want to listen to the Fat Lady's lecture."
Yami Bakura raised his eyebrows, but complied, and together, they floated into the Gryffindor common room.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Don't wake him up! He looks so kawai!" Who was that? He definitely recognized the voice...
"Hai, so does Yami-wami!" Whispered someone with glee. There was a chorus of murmurs agreeing with him.
"They must have forgotten to get back into the items," mused another voice.
"Good morning, everyone! Where's Seto?" This voice was different, a girl's voice.
"SHHH!!!" came three different people all at once. There was a shuffling of bodies to hide him.
Yami Bakura didn't even bother opening his eyes. He just transported himself into his soul room to get some more rest. Actually, he went into Ryou's soul room, because the bed was nicer. But he needed the sleep, anyway. After all, they had been out until nearly three the previous night and he usually slept quite a lot during the day.
"Umm... So what's going on, guys?" asked Hermione. Behind her were Ron and Harry. They had decided to put 'Operation Get Closer To New Students So That We Can Find Out More About Their Weird Ways' into action. It was just too bad there were only two vowels in the whole thing. They couldn't make a secret acronym for it. (By the way, it would've been Operation G.C.T.N.S.S.T.W.C.F.O.M.A.T.W.W. - Not exactly something that you'd want to remember.)
"Nothing," Yugi lied, looking up at them with cute puppy eyes. Whoever first said that he was innocent obviously didn't know him that well.
"We were just talking about...uh...our friends! Yeah, that's it," said Malik.
"Come to think of it, how are Joey and Tea doing?" asked Ryou. "We haven't heard from them at all yet. Yugi, your grandfather is supposed to be sending their letters to us, right?"
"Well, that could be another problem." Yugi looked sheepishly at the others. "He might not have figured out what to do with Keket. I sent her to him a couple of days ago. She should be back, right?" The shrieks of fan girls told them of a certain someone approaching. "Oh, hi Seto. Where've you been?"
Seto had just walked in, with a grim expression on his face. He ignored them completely and gathered up all his homework, then exited the dormitory. They could hear the fangirls again. The sound soon faded, they had followed Seto out of the common room.
"Weird," commented Ron.
"Yeah. Let's just hope that he's only in one of his mood swings and that it's not something serious," said Malik. "His mind sure felt tense. Maybe something came up at the company."
"Uh, what did you just mean by 'his mind felt tense'?" asked Harry, springing at the chance. He hoped that he sounded uncertain.
"Oh, that," Malik said, glancing at Yugi and Ryou. "We're all kind of close, so it's like we can almost feel what someone else is thinking. Let's go down and eat - I'm hungry." And the discussion was closed, just like that.
They left breakfast early, because of some commotion near the huge doors that led to the outside grounds. An announcement had been made not to exit the school earlier that day, and many students were peering out of windows or trying to sneak a look through the main doors. Finally, Professor McGonagall had to shoo them away, threatening to give the next student to open the doors a week's worth of detentions.
Even so, every available window was occupied by at least ten students. The six made a break for the Gryffindor common room, which was blessedly empty. Malik sealed the portrait hole with some kind of spell that they didn't recognize.
"You sure you're allowed to do that, mate?" asked Ron.
"Who cares. They've already sealed all the other windows. If they get up here, we won't find out what Seto's doing," Malik replied, and Yugi and Ryou knew at once that he had probed McGonagall's mind upon passing.
"Come here, you guys," Harry said suddenly. He was looking intently at something down on the grounds. They all rushed to the window and gazed outside.
The view was normal enough...well, as normal as it could get with a huge field of bare dirt, still left over from their duel. The Forbidden Forest looked even more menacing, even with half of the trees gone. The lake was still only half full, there still wasn't a single blade of grass to be seen, and the absence of the many trees that usually dotted the green landscape made the grounds seem bare and empty.
In the middle of it all stood Seto. His eyes were closed in concentration. Nefertari was at his shoulder.
"The ground...." Hermione gasped.
The ground was rumbling, dirt clods were flying straight up several feet. It was as if something was tossing it up. Dead roots, little pebbles, and branches were also being blown away. If anybody had been out there unprotected, they would have ended up with a lot or cuts and gashes. There was some kind of transparent bubble around Seto, though, leaving him perfectly safe. Only at a certain angle could they see a flicker of blue sparks dance around the frame. The dirt and other rubble just rebounded off it, leaving little blue ripples where it made contact.
It took them a while to realize that Malik was struggling with his Millennium Rod. It was glowing and was trying to float out of Malik's grasp. Finally, he flung it under a huge stack of books and rushed back to the others.
"Damn item, I have no idea what's been wrong...it's been acting up lately...look at the grass!"
No sooner had he said those words, a loud roaring filled their ears.
Now little blades of grass were shooting up from the ground. It was like they were watching time fast forward. The grass gradually filled the whole expanse of brown ground, a huge storm cloud billowed in and started dumping rain onto everything while lightning flashed and thunder boomed, then went away just as fast as it had come. Saplings sprouted everywhere. They watched the young trees' branches lengthen and fill up with leaves. A second round of rain came and went. Flowers were blooming everywhere now. The lake was almost full. The Forbidden Forest's trees had grown so much that they were once again the dark old trees.
"Seto's doing all this," Yugi cried out over the noise. They all looked over at Seto again. It seemed impossible that he was behind this extraordinary feat, yet it was true.
During all this chaos the blue sphere had repelled everything. There were so many blue ripples on it they could just barely see Seto through the near translucent layer of the force field.
Finally, it all ended. The sound and wind dissipated, the sun came out. The lake was full with sparkling water, birds were singing on the trees, and there were still drops of dew on the grass. It was as if nothing had happened at all. Seto fell down onto his knees and the shield flickered, then vanished. Nefertari gave him an awkward push, but he didn't get up.
"There's no way... how could he have gotten so much power?" asked Yami Bakura.
"It's anyone's guess," said Yami. Then he noticed someone exiting the castle. It was Dumbledore, and he was making his way towards Seto with his wand stretched out. A beam of white light hit Seto, and he slumped forward.
"A resting spell infused with sleep," muttered Yami.
"Wait! I'll bet Dumbledore was training him for this!" said Ron excitedly. "That's why he was disappearing to Dumbledore for the past three weeks!"
"But that could've killed him," said Malik, retrieving his Millennium Rod from under the stack of books. "That much power can easily overcome an ordinary mage."
"What if he isn't..." said Harry slowly. Yami, Yami Bakura, and Malik exchanged a dark look, but said nothing.
"But that's just not like Dumbledore!" Hermione said in frustration. "He'd never put any student in danger."
"She's right," said Harry. He looked at Yami, Yami Bakura, and Malik. "You know Seto the best, what do you think happened?"
"I'll bet the stupid fool wanted to do this," said Yami quietly, almost to himself. "It's just like him. He likes pushing himself."
"Ack! I'm so confused!" exclaimed Malik. "Why don't we just ask him ourselves, he's coming up anyway!"
"What?" they said in disbelief, looking at Malik.
"Yah, you heard me! They're coming up here right now, and if they catch us as the ones locking the portrait hole, we're going to be in a whole lot of trouble, folks!"
"They probably didn't come to check because of the other crowd control problems," said Yami Bakura, glancing across the room at the entrance to the common room. He punched out his hand and sent out an unlocking spell.
"Quick, up to the dormitories, pretend that we were doing something else the whole time!" instructed Harry.
::That's got to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard...::
All the same, they frantically bolted up to the boy's dormitories. Hermione dived behind a curtain, while the rest of them flopped down on their beds. Ryou, Yugi, and Malik were pretending to show Harry and Ron how to duel when they heard voices coming up the stairs. Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey walked up, with Seto suspended in midair, unconscious. Nefertari was following them agitatedly.
"Oh no, what happened to Seto-kun?" asked Yugi worriedly. He was VERY good at acting, too.
"He just needs rest," said Dumbledore reassuringly, but he didn't answer Yugi's original question.
They gently laid Seto down on his bed.
"Are you quite sure that you don't want him in the Hospital Wing, Albus?" asked Madam Pomfrey, fluttering around Seto and tucking the covers in.
"Yes, Poppy. I don't want the other students disturbing him. You may go now, I'm sure that his friends will take good care of him." Dumbledore turned and looked at the rest of them.
"As you may have figured out already, Seto here has been under my instruction for the first few weeks here are Hogwarts. He's already exhausted all of his physical and mental capabilities, and needs to rest for while. Please do not question Seto when he wakes. He does not need to be put under any more strain."
He saw the guilty look that they shared, and then said, "Yes, I am aware that you have witnessed what just happened outside. He does not wish for his younger brother to know anything about this either. Please refrain from speaking about it to the other students or talking when you might be overheard. You will find out everything soon, but for the time being, be patient. As for you two," he said, surveying Ron and Harry, "it is up to them to decide about revealing more." That was all he said. On the way to the staircase where Madam Pomfrey was waiting, he gave Yugi, Ryou, and Malik a knowing look.
Hermione came out of her hiding place and rushed to the bed in which Seto lay. Nefertari was now singing bits of phoenix song, and they were calmed by the warming melody.
"He looks so... vulnerable," whispered Hermione. "Nothing like when he's awake."
It was true. Seto looked completely unguarded. His face was peaceful, not expecting anything. Dark lashes cast long shadows over his face, making him look even more tired than usual.
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was only a matter of time before the mad fan girls realized that Seto hadn't been in any of his classes that day. They had stormed up, or tried to, to the Gryffindor boy's dormitories during their lunch break. Yami, Malik, and Yami Bakura put another simple illusion up. This one allowed anyone but the fan girls get into the dorm normally. As for the fan girls, they would run into an endless corridor until someone figured out that it would be impossible to get to Seto. As an added bonus, all sound was filtered, and the shrieks of crazy fans just didn't make it through the test.
"Boy, I'm sure glad that you three know all these cool spells," said Ron. He checked the door again. They could see out, but the fan girls couldn't see in. There was still a mob of around twenty people out there. He didn't even know how the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff people had gotten into the Gryffindor common room.
"The next thing you know they'll be scaling the castle walls," commented Harry. His mind felt a lot better, due to yet another miracle spell of Yugi's. Everything was all cleared up and orderly up in his head. They had been dismissed from their classes by Dumbledore to watch over Seto for the day.
Then they heard the scraping of a grappling hook.
"No. Way," said Ron in disbelief. He ran to the window, opened it, and nearly got his eye poked out. "There's another crowd of people! When will they stop?"
"Get outta the way," ordered Yami Bakura through a mouthful of sharp- looking throwing knives.
"No, Ryou," gasped Hermione. "You can't throw those at them!"
:'Kura! No! If you do that, then... then I won't like you anymore!:
::Fine, I won't throw knives.:: The knives disappeared.
But before Ryou could stop him again, Yami Bakura had flung a mass of Shadow magic out of the window. The purplish bluish blackish cloud floated down, engulfing everyone in its way. It deposited them on the newly grown grass just outside of the Forbidden Forest. There was mass unconsciousness.
"Let's see what kind of stuff happens to them," grinned Yami Bakura evilly.
"You can't do that, Bakura," said Yami. He made as if to transport them back, but then growled and looked at Yami Bakura.
"Hah. There's still so much more that you don't know about magic. I thought you were supposed to know more than us, Pha-"
:Bakura! Be careful...:
"Yeah, well, anyway, I disabled you. Just forget about all of it."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave each other puzzled looks, but they ignored them.
"Frankly, I'm surprised they've even thought of attacking the dormitories," said Malik, yawning. "I didn't know fan girls were that smart. The ones stalking me are always pretty stupid."
"Er, do all of you have these fan girls following you?" asked Ron.
"Yup. People like me because I'm a sexy, gorgeous demigod; they go for Ryou 'cause he looks like he's just an innocent boy. You know, nice chocolate eyes, innocent posture, sissy choices for clothing - hmm... better make that a very feminine boy-"
"Shut up," said Yami Bakura, glaring at Malik.
"Okay, okay, he's very attractive, too. Just positively stunning, I tell you, with his long white hair, fair complexion, and girly ways. Anyway, Yugi's just normal. People like him because he's good at duel monsters and can get cuter than a chibi."
"Right..." There was an uncomfortable silence. Uncomfortable for Harry, Hermione, and Ron, at least. Trying to find out more about the new students was harder then they'd thought.
"So, how're you doing in Slytherin, Malik?" asked Hermione, breaking the silence. She'd noticed that he never talked about what he did in Slytherin. She wasn't even sure if he even did anything with them.
Malik just shrugged.
"They're all idiots." Then he thought for a moment. ". well, maybe not all of them. There's this one kid who seems okay. He's in our year. We've had a few chats and tell each other stuff. Actually, I think we're kind of friends. He doesn't seem very popular with the other Slytherins."
At this, Yami raised an eyebrow. Malik had made a friend? Now there was one for the record books.
/Stop it, Yami! Malik's nice!/
//.no comment on that.//
/Really! Gosh, won't anybody listen to me?/
"Anywhoosle," Malik started to continue, and all of them sniggered, spirits included.
"What? Haven't you ever heard me say 'anywhoosle' before? It's a common word, you know!" Malik said indignantly.
"Go on, we're sorry," said Hermione, being the first one to compose herself.
Malik humphed.
"As I was saying. er. what was I saying again?"
"You were talking about your new friend," Ryou supplied.
"Oh yeah! Anywhoosle," and this time nobody sniggered, "his name's Draco Malfoy."
Malik crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself.
"What?!?!?!" exclaimed Ron.
"Malfoy's your new pal? How can anybody even like that creep?"
"He's alright, in my opinion," said Malik casually. "Has his head on straight, and doesn't think he's better than anyone else just because he's in the snake thingy. What was it again? Slythery, right? Slythingly, Slithers, Slythering, Sly..."
"How can...Malfoy...what..." Ron was in shock, while Malik was still trying to figure out how to say his house name.
"Of course! He's nice!"
"Nice?" Yami snorted. "You've never called anyone nice before."
"Exactly," Malik answered. "Here, I'll introduce you to him sometime. Right now...I'm hungry. Let's go eat lunch."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Strange, huh? Well, I typed it in record time, so sorry for the lameness. I had to end the chapter rather abruptly. Check back later and I might have actually completed the chapter! Please tell me if I made any mistakes or anything, 'kay?
Thank you everyone who reviewed for the last chapter! It wasn't as much as I'd expected, but at least I got some reviews! I think I'll try to make it to 110 before I update again, so... bye for now!
***
Two figures were to be seen prowling about the shadows in the dungeons in which the Slytherin common room was located. One was moving stealthily, while the other wasn't doing so great and was glancing back over his shoulder every few minutes.
"You wouldn't do too well in the stealing business," commented the first one, his brown, almost crimson eyes practically glowing in the darkness. "Well, it's just like what I say. Once a pharaoh, always a pharaoh. Why did you wear leather anyway?"
"Be quiet," snapped the second, glaring at his companion. "We could have just used Shadow magic and gone through the Shadow Realm. Or just used our spirit forms so that nobody would see us."
"Yeah, and have our lights sense us? No chance - Ryou'd kill me. Besides, you can do practically nothing in spirit form. You can't even touch most solid objects."
"Whatev-" His mouth was suddenly covered and he was dragged further into the corner of the wall.
"Shh." came the almost inaudible whisper.
Just moments later, Mrs. Norris walked past, ignoring them only because of a weak cloaking spell that Yami had used at the last second.
"You have no guts," muttered a disgusted Yami Bakura, and crept along the wall until they were in front of a damp stone wall. The entrance to the Slytherin common room.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Yami Bakura in annoyance, looking back at Yami. He had gone rigid and hadn't moved at all. "You do want to get revenge, don't you?"
"Yugi's awake," Yami answered in a hollow voice.
"So? Scared of your own hikari? He probably woke up 'cause you used that stupid spell. You probably don't even know how to cover your aura during a spell. Just put him back to sleep and hurry up."
Finally, after ten long minutes, they were looking at the wall again.
"Malik said -" Then the hidden panel in the wall slid open, and Malik stood, beaming at them.
"Welcome!" he said cheerily. "We hope that you will enjoy your stay here. Come on in!" He ushered them inside.
"To the left you will see some wonderful decorations that my wonderful fellow Slytherins have put up in celebration of 'We Hate Mudbloods Week.' And on the right, feel free to warm yourself up with the cold coals in the fireplace."
They followed him to a set of stairs. "Now we will enter the sixth year girls' territory. Feel free to levitate yourself with Shadow Magic so that you won't get killed trying to get up the staircase. Hint hint, it might save you a bit of time. Don't forget to hide all traces of spells unless you want your hikaris to sense you. We're getting quite powerful, you know."
Yami Bakura leaned over and muttered something in Malik's ear.
"And if you don't know how, we'll help you." He and Yami Bakura exchanged a look that Yami couldn't read. Yami Bakura just rolled his eyes. He touched two of his fingers to Yami's forehead and chanted some words. "That should hide your powers for about 30 minutes," said Malik. "Ready, everyone? Then up we go!"
They ascended, or rather, floated on black, purply fog platforms, up to the correct door.
"Now would be an absolutely fantastic time to use your Shadow Magic to go through the door!"
They were on the other side of the door now, looking at five identical beds with green and silver bed hangings all drawn up.
"There's your target," said Malik, closing his eyes and yawning. He was pointing at the bed in the center of the arrangement. "You may now begin whatever you like with the specimen. Begin now. Have fun." He curled up on the floor and started snoring.
"Ah, revenge is so sweet."
Fifteen minutes later they all three were standing in front of the 'Death to Muggles' club notice board.
"Let me sleep in your dormitory? The nice red and gold Gryffindor one?" pleaded Malik.
"No."
Malik turned to the other one. "Pwease, Yami-wami?"
"Sorry. You can come over first thing tomorrow."
Malik pouted, and then said sulkily, "Fine, you meanie butts. You've had your moment, now I'm going back to bed. You still owe me big, though."
He rubbed his eyes, and then levitated up to his own dormitory. There was just a slight hint of purplish-blackish-bluish fog around his outline.
"He doesn't realize that he's floating, does he? He must be at least four inches above the ground."
"Nah, he's just tired. It's kind of an instinct that causes him to do that. Let's go."
They were on their way back to the Gryffindor common room. Yami Bakura was keeping to the shadows from habit, but Yami was walking in plain sight. They didn't notice this, of course, because they were too busy bickering over some pointless topics.
"No, but a plush is still a plush! It's not like the inside changes-"
"-Popsicles aren't dangerous! Ice cream is!"
"You idiot. Everyone knows that flashlights are radioactive-"
"They are not!"
"-No, boxers are evil!"
There was a sigh of frustration, then a gasp of terror.
"Who's there?" someone had growled out of the darkness. Footsteps were coming closer, and the beam of the lamp was almost upon Yami.
I know what some of you are thinking. 'Run, Yami, run! Run like the wind!' Or something like that, right? Anyway, he couldn't run. Yup, he was paralyzed, just stuck there. Like a deer in headlights. Actually, exactly like a deer in headlights. Let's just say that he wasn't used to that kind of thing.
The light was two inches away from Yami's form, when he felt someone grab his hand and swiftly lead him along a secret passageway behind a tapestry of exactly how Frank the Frank got executed. He was guided through a series of confusing turns, weaving in and out of pillars and sets of armor, and escorted through countless sets of doors.
They were suddenly on the seventh floor. He didn't know why, but the danger of Filch was gone, and they were standing right in front of the corridor where the Fat Lady was.
"You okay? Hello, Earth to Pharaoh-dude!"
Yami just looked at Yami Bakura strangely.
"Why,,,..?"
Yami Bakura shrugged. "Everyone needs to change at some point, right? You were looking like you were about to die - guess you just weren't used to that kind of stuff. And... I was just feeling friendly or something."
Oddly enough, he didn't say or mention anything about the incident. He didn't make fun of Yami at all.
Yami smiled, slinging his arm around the other's shoulders like a friend would. Yami Bakura only stiffened a little, then relaxed.
"You know what, Tomb Robber?" Yami said, as they walked up to the Fat Lady, "You're okay. There's hope for you yet." (At this point, Yami Bakura rolled his eyes) "Turn into spirit form, I'm feeling risky right now. Besides, I don't want to listen to the Fat Lady's lecture."
Yami Bakura raised his eyebrows, but complied, and together, they floated into the Gryffindor common room.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Don't wake him up! He looks so kawai!" Who was that? He definitely recognized the voice...
"Hai, so does Yami-wami!" Whispered someone with glee. There was a chorus of murmurs agreeing with him.
"They must have forgotten to get back into the items," mused another voice.
"Good morning, everyone! Where's Seto?" This voice was different, a girl's voice.
"SHHH!!!" came three different people all at once. There was a shuffling of bodies to hide him.
Yami Bakura didn't even bother opening his eyes. He just transported himself into his soul room to get some more rest. Actually, he went into Ryou's soul room, because the bed was nicer. But he needed the sleep, anyway. After all, they had been out until nearly three the previous night and he usually slept quite a lot during the day.
"Umm... So what's going on, guys?" asked Hermione. Behind her were Ron and Harry. They had decided to put 'Operation Get Closer To New Students So That We Can Find Out More About Their Weird Ways' into action. It was just too bad there were only two vowels in the whole thing. They couldn't make a secret acronym for it. (By the way, it would've been Operation G.C.T.N.S.S.T.W.C.F.O.M.A.T.W.W. - Not exactly something that you'd want to remember.)
"Nothing," Yugi lied, looking up at them with cute puppy eyes. Whoever first said that he was innocent obviously didn't know him that well.
"We were just talking about...uh...our friends! Yeah, that's it," said Malik.
"Come to think of it, how are Joey and Tea doing?" asked Ryou. "We haven't heard from them at all yet. Yugi, your grandfather is supposed to be sending their letters to us, right?"
"Well, that could be another problem." Yugi looked sheepishly at the others. "He might not have figured out what to do with Keket. I sent her to him a couple of days ago. She should be back, right?" The shrieks of fan girls told them of a certain someone approaching. "Oh, hi Seto. Where've you been?"
Seto had just walked in, with a grim expression on his face. He ignored them completely and gathered up all his homework, then exited the dormitory. They could hear the fangirls again. The sound soon faded, they had followed Seto out of the common room.
"Weird," commented Ron.
"Yeah. Let's just hope that he's only in one of his mood swings and that it's not something serious," said Malik. "His mind sure felt tense. Maybe something came up at the company."
"Uh, what did you just mean by 'his mind felt tense'?" asked Harry, springing at the chance. He hoped that he sounded uncertain.
"Oh, that," Malik said, glancing at Yugi and Ryou. "We're all kind of close, so it's like we can almost feel what someone else is thinking. Let's go down and eat - I'm hungry." And the discussion was closed, just like that.
They left breakfast early, because of some commotion near the huge doors that led to the outside grounds. An announcement had been made not to exit the school earlier that day, and many students were peering out of windows or trying to sneak a look through the main doors. Finally, Professor McGonagall had to shoo them away, threatening to give the next student to open the doors a week's worth of detentions.
Even so, every available window was occupied by at least ten students. The six made a break for the Gryffindor common room, which was blessedly empty. Malik sealed the portrait hole with some kind of spell that they didn't recognize.
"You sure you're allowed to do that, mate?" asked Ron.
"Who cares. They've already sealed all the other windows. If they get up here, we won't find out what Seto's doing," Malik replied, and Yugi and Ryou knew at once that he had probed McGonagall's mind upon passing.
"Come here, you guys," Harry said suddenly. He was looking intently at something down on the grounds. They all rushed to the window and gazed outside.
The view was normal enough...well, as normal as it could get with a huge field of bare dirt, still left over from their duel. The Forbidden Forest looked even more menacing, even with half of the trees gone. The lake was still only half full, there still wasn't a single blade of grass to be seen, and the absence of the many trees that usually dotted the green landscape made the grounds seem bare and empty.
In the middle of it all stood Seto. His eyes were closed in concentration. Nefertari was at his shoulder.
"The ground...." Hermione gasped.
The ground was rumbling, dirt clods were flying straight up several feet. It was as if something was tossing it up. Dead roots, little pebbles, and branches were also being blown away. If anybody had been out there unprotected, they would have ended up with a lot or cuts and gashes. There was some kind of transparent bubble around Seto, though, leaving him perfectly safe. Only at a certain angle could they see a flicker of blue sparks dance around the frame. The dirt and other rubble just rebounded off it, leaving little blue ripples where it made contact.
It took them a while to realize that Malik was struggling with his Millennium Rod. It was glowing and was trying to float out of Malik's grasp. Finally, he flung it under a huge stack of books and rushed back to the others.
"Damn item, I have no idea what's been wrong...it's been acting up lately...look at the grass!"
No sooner had he said those words, a loud roaring filled their ears.
Now little blades of grass were shooting up from the ground. It was like they were watching time fast forward. The grass gradually filled the whole expanse of brown ground, a huge storm cloud billowed in and started dumping rain onto everything while lightning flashed and thunder boomed, then went away just as fast as it had come. Saplings sprouted everywhere. They watched the young trees' branches lengthen and fill up with leaves. A second round of rain came and went. Flowers were blooming everywhere now. The lake was almost full. The Forbidden Forest's trees had grown so much that they were once again the dark old trees.
"Seto's doing all this," Yugi cried out over the noise. They all looked over at Seto again. It seemed impossible that he was behind this extraordinary feat, yet it was true.
During all this chaos the blue sphere had repelled everything. There were so many blue ripples on it they could just barely see Seto through the near translucent layer of the force field.
Finally, it all ended. The sound and wind dissipated, the sun came out. The lake was full with sparkling water, birds were singing on the trees, and there were still drops of dew on the grass. It was as if nothing had happened at all. Seto fell down onto his knees and the shield flickered, then vanished. Nefertari gave him an awkward push, but he didn't get up.
"There's no way... how could he have gotten so much power?" asked Yami Bakura.
"It's anyone's guess," said Yami. Then he noticed someone exiting the castle. It was Dumbledore, and he was making his way towards Seto with his wand stretched out. A beam of white light hit Seto, and he slumped forward.
"A resting spell infused with sleep," muttered Yami.
"Wait! I'll bet Dumbledore was training him for this!" said Ron excitedly. "That's why he was disappearing to Dumbledore for the past three weeks!"
"But that could've killed him," said Malik, retrieving his Millennium Rod from under the stack of books. "That much power can easily overcome an ordinary mage."
"What if he isn't..." said Harry slowly. Yami, Yami Bakura, and Malik exchanged a dark look, but said nothing.
"But that's just not like Dumbledore!" Hermione said in frustration. "He'd never put any student in danger."
"She's right," said Harry. He looked at Yami, Yami Bakura, and Malik. "You know Seto the best, what do you think happened?"
"I'll bet the stupid fool wanted to do this," said Yami quietly, almost to himself. "It's just like him. He likes pushing himself."
"Ack! I'm so confused!" exclaimed Malik. "Why don't we just ask him ourselves, he's coming up anyway!"
"What?" they said in disbelief, looking at Malik.
"Yah, you heard me! They're coming up here right now, and if they catch us as the ones locking the portrait hole, we're going to be in a whole lot of trouble, folks!"
"They probably didn't come to check because of the other crowd control problems," said Yami Bakura, glancing across the room at the entrance to the common room. He punched out his hand and sent out an unlocking spell.
"Quick, up to the dormitories, pretend that we were doing something else the whole time!" instructed Harry.
::That's got to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard...::
All the same, they frantically bolted up to the boy's dormitories. Hermione dived behind a curtain, while the rest of them flopped down on their beds. Ryou, Yugi, and Malik were pretending to show Harry and Ron how to duel when they heard voices coming up the stairs. Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey walked up, with Seto suspended in midair, unconscious. Nefertari was following them agitatedly.
"Oh no, what happened to Seto-kun?" asked Yugi worriedly. He was VERY good at acting, too.
"He just needs rest," said Dumbledore reassuringly, but he didn't answer Yugi's original question.
They gently laid Seto down on his bed.
"Are you quite sure that you don't want him in the Hospital Wing, Albus?" asked Madam Pomfrey, fluttering around Seto and tucking the covers in.
"Yes, Poppy. I don't want the other students disturbing him. You may go now, I'm sure that his friends will take good care of him." Dumbledore turned and looked at the rest of them.
"As you may have figured out already, Seto here has been under my instruction for the first few weeks here are Hogwarts. He's already exhausted all of his physical and mental capabilities, and needs to rest for while. Please do not question Seto when he wakes. He does not need to be put under any more strain."
He saw the guilty look that they shared, and then said, "Yes, I am aware that you have witnessed what just happened outside. He does not wish for his younger brother to know anything about this either. Please refrain from speaking about it to the other students or talking when you might be overheard. You will find out everything soon, but for the time being, be patient. As for you two," he said, surveying Ron and Harry, "it is up to them to decide about revealing more." That was all he said. On the way to the staircase where Madam Pomfrey was waiting, he gave Yugi, Ryou, and Malik a knowing look.
Hermione came out of her hiding place and rushed to the bed in which Seto lay. Nefertari was now singing bits of phoenix song, and they were calmed by the warming melody.
"He looks so... vulnerable," whispered Hermione. "Nothing like when he's awake."
It was true. Seto looked completely unguarded. His face was peaceful, not expecting anything. Dark lashes cast long shadows over his face, making him look even more tired than usual.
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was only a matter of time before the mad fan girls realized that Seto hadn't been in any of his classes that day. They had stormed up, or tried to, to the Gryffindor boy's dormitories during their lunch break. Yami, Malik, and Yami Bakura put another simple illusion up. This one allowed anyone but the fan girls get into the dorm normally. As for the fan girls, they would run into an endless corridor until someone figured out that it would be impossible to get to Seto. As an added bonus, all sound was filtered, and the shrieks of crazy fans just didn't make it through the test.
"Boy, I'm sure glad that you three know all these cool spells," said Ron. He checked the door again. They could see out, but the fan girls couldn't see in. There was still a mob of around twenty people out there. He didn't even know how the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff people had gotten into the Gryffindor common room.
"The next thing you know they'll be scaling the castle walls," commented Harry. His mind felt a lot better, due to yet another miracle spell of Yugi's. Everything was all cleared up and orderly up in his head. They had been dismissed from their classes by Dumbledore to watch over Seto for the day.
Then they heard the scraping of a grappling hook.
"No. Way," said Ron in disbelief. He ran to the window, opened it, and nearly got his eye poked out. "There's another crowd of people! When will they stop?"
"Get outta the way," ordered Yami Bakura through a mouthful of sharp- looking throwing knives.
"No, Ryou," gasped Hermione. "You can't throw those at them!"
:'Kura! No! If you do that, then... then I won't like you anymore!:
::Fine, I won't throw knives.:: The knives disappeared.
But before Ryou could stop him again, Yami Bakura had flung a mass of Shadow magic out of the window. The purplish bluish blackish cloud floated down, engulfing everyone in its way. It deposited them on the newly grown grass just outside of the Forbidden Forest. There was mass unconsciousness.
"Let's see what kind of stuff happens to them," grinned Yami Bakura evilly.
"You can't do that, Bakura," said Yami. He made as if to transport them back, but then growled and looked at Yami Bakura.
"Hah. There's still so much more that you don't know about magic. I thought you were supposed to know more than us, Pha-"
:Bakura! Be careful...:
"Yeah, well, anyway, I disabled you. Just forget about all of it."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave each other puzzled looks, but they ignored them.
"Frankly, I'm surprised they've even thought of attacking the dormitories," said Malik, yawning. "I didn't know fan girls were that smart. The ones stalking me are always pretty stupid."
"Er, do all of you have these fan girls following you?" asked Ron.
"Yup. People like me because I'm a sexy, gorgeous demigod; they go for Ryou 'cause he looks like he's just an innocent boy. You know, nice chocolate eyes, innocent posture, sissy choices for clothing - hmm... better make that a very feminine boy-"
"Shut up," said Yami Bakura, glaring at Malik.
"Okay, okay, he's very attractive, too. Just positively stunning, I tell you, with his long white hair, fair complexion, and girly ways. Anyway, Yugi's just normal. People like him because he's good at duel monsters and can get cuter than a chibi."
"Right..." There was an uncomfortable silence. Uncomfortable for Harry, Hermione, and Ron, at least. Trying to find out more about the new students was harder then they'd thought.
"So, how're you doing in Slytherin, Malik?" asked Hermione, breaking the silence. She'd noticed that he never talked about what he did in Slytherin. She wasn't even sure if he even did anything with them.
Malik just shrugged.
"They're all idiots." Then he thought for a moment. ". well, maybe not all of them. There's this one kid who seems okay. He's in our year. We've had a few chats and tell each other stuff. Actually, I think we're kind of friends. He doesn't seem very popular with the other Slytherins."
At this, Yami raised an eyebrow. Malik had made a friend? Now there was one for the record books.
/Stop it, Yami! Malik's nice!/
//.no comment on that.//
/Really! Gosh, won't anybody listen to me?/
"Anywhoosle," Malik started to continue, and all of them sniggered, spirits included.
"What? Haven't you ever heard me say 'anywhoosle' before? It's a common word, you know!" Malik said indignantly.
"Go on, we're sorry," said Hermione, being the first one to compose herself.
Malik humphed.
"As I was saying. er. what was I saying again?"
"You were talking about your new friend," Ryou supplied.
"Oh yeah! Anywhoosle," and this time nobody sniggered, "his name's Draco Malfoy."
Malik crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself.
"What?!?!?!" exclaimed Ron.
"Malfoy's your new pal? How can anybody even like that creep?"
"He's alright, in my opinion," said Malik casually. "Has his head on straight, and doesn't think he's better than anyone else just because he's in the snake thingy. What was it again? Slythery, right? Slythingly, Slithers, Slythering, Sly..."
"How can...Malfoy...what..." Ron was in shock, while Malik was still trying to figure out how to say his house name.
"Of course! He's nice!"
"Nice?" Yami snorted. "You've never called anyone nice before."
"Exactly," Malik answered. "Here, I'll introduce you to him sometime. Right now...I'm hungry. Let's go eat lunch."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Strange, huh? Well, I typed it in record time, so sorry for the lameness. I had to end the chapter rather abruptly. Check back later and I might have actually completed the chapter! Please tell me if I made any mistakes or anything, 'kay?
Thank you everyone who reviewed for the last chapter! It wasn't as much as I'd expected, but at least I got some reviews! I think I'll try to make it to 110 before I update again, so... bye for now!