Thanks for the reviews and someone mentioned Ryou's dad denying him magical education… that will be addressed but it's not what you all are thinking, ok? I am going to explain things from Haru's point of view. (That does not mean I'm defending him! He's going to get what's coming to him!) I think that you all should see why it's happening the way it is. It might come up this chappy or next… depends on how long the other scenes take.
Ok, I got inspired to write by a story on . HP and the Darkness's Light. I'm not trying to promote it, but I loved the end of the second chappy just because they're being so funny. ^^ It really cheers me up. And seriously, I need to know if you guys want Malik in here because I just want to write him right now. Have an idea to get him in here to.
Hermione watched her cousin as he shuffled up the stairs not hiding the limp he seemed to try and ignore before. 'How could he do that to Ryou? It's horrible!' her mind screamed at her and couldn't figure out how Ryou could say it was his fault. It just doesn't work. Ryou had done nothing wrong and he still forgave his father for doing that… there was just something wrong in that picture.
Harry was faced with similar thoughts about this strange albino cousin of Hermoine's. His uncle had abused him, occasionally to the point of hitting but that was more of Dudley and he had been starved occasionally and Harry knew that was neglect. And he hated his 'family' for it every time he thought about it. But Ryou… his own father called him a demon and he didn't do anything. He hit him – twice! – and dragged him by his hair, nearly thrown him and accused him of killing people. Not to mention that they hadn't spoken in three years because his father was 'busy with his work'. That was pure neglect! How could Ryou say it was his fault? And especially how could Mr. Bakura do that?
Ryou, for all his slow pace and losing to his thoughts, was soon around a corner and out of sight no one knowing quite where he was going. "How could he say that? How could he say it's his fault?" Ginny asked quietly not understanding it. It was his own father saying those things and hitting him. She tried to picture her father when he was angry, usually when Fred and George had done a particularly nasty prank, but even then he only told them to knock it off and clean up their mess. Maybe give them extra chores or take away their brooms for a week. But Ryou had done nothing as far as she could see and his father hadn't even talked to him in three years! It just didn't make sense. He'd even called Ryou a murderer and he didn't deny it. Why? How could he accept that? Why did he take the blame for his father's horrible treatment? How could his father do and say those things?
Fred and George came up on either side of her and gave her a two sided hug trying to comfort their little sister while Hermione slowly turned around looking away from where her cousin had disappeared to sit on the stair and try to explain it to even herself. She rubbed her temple trying to work out the one question. How could he say it's his fault? "Ryou was always really self sacrificing even when we were really little and after his mother and sister died his dad blamed him for it because he was the only one to survive the car crash. I knew things were strained between them but I didn't know it was so bad… and he probably just wants to hold onto the little family he has left." She thought aloud making everyone think of the comment about them not speaking for three years.
It was silent for a few moments while everyone tried to see how it worked and it did; but to this extent? That he didn't mind if his father hit him just so they could talk? Harry crossed over to the banister and leaned against it carefully hoping it wouldn't break. "Hermione, you said you didn't know where your cousin was because your dad moved him during our first year, right?" Harry tried to fit the pieces of this strange family together. Hermione looked up towards him from her position on the stair below him and nodded her head slightly. "Yes, that's correct. I didn't know where he was until we picked him up from the airport." She confirmed but didn't say where so Ron asked in the usual fashion. "Well where was he?"
Hermione glared at him slightly for his lack of tact but ignored it in favor of her cousin. "He was in Japan." Which raised more questions in everyone's minds. Didn't his dad live in Egypt because of his work? Bill had talked all about how Haru Bakura was brilliant and a great mentor if not a little too focused on his work but some people were just workaholics like that. But, Ryou had lived in Japan. Why would he live in a different country from his father? Hermione frowned hard at the idea. Ryou had truly been abandoned but that was ridiculous. His father was on a different continent even!
"Japan, Hermione?" Harry asked obviously in disbelief and Hermione just nodded her head and sighed. "I know. My uncle is originally Japanese so it would make sense that he was there if his dad was there too. But Ryou didn't even speak Japanese back then!" Hermione shook her head in exasperation at her uncle's actions. It hit her then what that really meant. When Ryou was 13, a year after he got to Japan at the most, he was already living on his own. Or that was at least the last time his dad had bothered to call. Hermione hung her head slightly in shame. All this had happened to her cousin and she didn't know. And Ryou acted like it was his fault that had happened. Hermione made a decision in that moment that she would find out more about Ryou and what had happened. How had he survived? Did his friends there know about this? How did he get money for clothes, food, and school? What about his education? Kanji were supposed to be extremely difficult to read.
Was Uncle Haru that determined to keep Ryou away from everyone?
"Why would he send your cousin so far away, mate?" Ron asked so Hermione voiced her thoughts again. "You remember the incidents I told you about?" Ron and Harry nodded but one of the twins – she didn't bother trying to figure out which one was which – asked "What incidents?" Hermione rubbed her temple trying to ward off the headache that was coming. Was it even really her place to say? She ignored her conscious in favor of explaining it to the Weasleys. "When Ryou was about ten a whole bunch of incidents happened around him where his friends would be playing a game and then they would all be lying around the board as if they were dead." Ginny gasped at this point. "I only saw it once but if I had to compare it to something it would be a dementor's kiss.
"My uncle wanted Ryou out of the house more often after the first couple incidents and then there was the car accident. Ryou was the only survivor and my uncle was convinced that he had caused it. He blamed Ryou after that and I wasn't allowed to see him for a while." Hermione frowned at her memories. "After Ryou was finally allowed to have friends over after that it happened again, that was the time I found him. He looked terrified about what had happened but as soon as Uncle Haru got there he sent Ryou to his room and told me to go home."
~Flashback~
Hermione skipped down the street happily. She hadn't been allowed to play with her cousin since the accident but she saw a whole group of Ryou's friends coming over earlier so after she ate her lunch she convinced her mom to let her go play too.
'I can't wait to tell Ryou all about the new puzzle my parents got me.' She thought fondly of the new 1,500 piece puzzle her parents had let her pick out. She was always more fond of books but Ryou loved puzzles and games so it would be perfect to do together.
She crossed up the driveway and went straight in through the garage she'd been here so often. She smiled brightly as she opened the door and snuck around the corner hoping to surprise her cousin by going 'Boo' but she was the one surprised. All of Ryou's friends were lying down like they were taking naps and he was in the corner staring terrified-ly at them. "Ryou?" she asked gently and their eyes met as he began to cry. He ducked his head and curled up into a tight ball.
A bit scared at this point she reconsidered her thought of them being asleep and warily stepped towards them. When none of them tried to scare her she got even more worried and grabbed one of their shoulders. He fell over when she had barely touched him and she would never forget his eyes. The eyes were blank and his face was stretched in a silent scream. Hermione gasped and quickly put her hand over her mouth. Glancing at the others and deciding they probably wouldn't look much better she edged to the wall before scooting to her cousin.
Finally reaching him she gently shook his shoulder. "Ryou, what happened?" she asked trying to be brave for him. Ryou was always the first to cry but also the kindest soul so Amane had always called him an angel. He looked up through tear stained lashes and then back towards them. "We were playing a game but then it was black. Then they were like this…" He stared frightened eyes up to her. "I'm sorry. I'm not evil! I didn't mean to kill them!" he exclaimed softly crying a little more.
'Dead? They can't be…" Hermione looked towards them again. She couldn't see them breathing. "I'm sure their alive Ryou." She said not sounding as sure as she wanted and slowly scooted over to them again and took one of their wrists making sure not to look at any of their faces
…*thump* she felt a heartbeat and breathed a soft sigh of relief."Ryou, he's alive. His heart's beating." She quickly went back to him and took one of his hands in two of hers. "I didn't mean to do it Hermy. I don't know how it happened." He whispered to her and as she was about to reassure him Uncle Haru had walked downstairs from where his office was. "Uncle Haru! Something terrible happened!" she started trying to explain what was going on but she stopped herself from saying anything more when she saw her uncle's face. He was furious and glared at Ryou.
"Ryou, go to your room." He said icily and Ryou almost flinched but none the less he stood up and scurried past his dad towards the stairs. Hermione opened her mouth to ask what had happened but her uncle stopped her. "Hermione, go home. Now." He added the last part after seeing her not leaving right away. She went back to the garage and took one last scared glance at the room where three boys laid lifeless around a game board and it felt cold. Colder than anything she could remember. Catching her uncle's gaze one last time she guiltily rushed through the garage and walked slowly back to her home glancing back towards her cousin's house…
~Grimauld Place~
"After that I overheard my uncle speaking to my parents and discovered this was the third time and that they were going to move because Ryou was 'dangerous'. We kept in contact by phone after that until I got my letter to Hogwarts and they moved again right before I had to leave so I never got to call and tell him good-bye. But, during the first year, my mom and dad wrote me to tell me where Ryou had moved then because the incidents never stopped. They had been moving every third or fourth week it seemed until mid-October when my parents sent me a letter that my Uncle had taken Ryou somewhere and hadn't told them. I would've worried more but then there was the Halloween incident and I never heard about it again."
Hermione took a deep breath as she remembered the incident again. Ryou had been so scared… "Blimey that sounds bad." Ron exhaled and everyone there agreed. Hermione looked back to how her cousin was acting since he'd gotten here. When he first saw Lupin it was just like when she found him that day. But then Ryou had only looked up instead of flinching away so badly. But when his uncle hit him he didn't even flinch… 'Has Ryou been beaten before?' Hermione let the thought into her head unbidden and quickly turned away from it but she couldn't keep the image of Ryou's head snapping to the side because of his father's attack out of her head and yet he hadn't made a sound except to apologize… 'What happened?' Hermione wondered harder wishing she knew what was really going on with her cousin. And she would find out: whether he would tell her or not.
It was silent for a few solid minutes while everyone mulled over their own thoughts when Ginny finally brought them off the topic of Ryou albeit, not far. "What do you think happened? During the incidents? she asked softly careful not to disturb the atmosphere. All eyes were glued to Hermione as she took another deep breath. "The closest I can think is that their souls were taken but it's just impossible. There weren't any dementors; I'm sure of that." Harry frowned. "But there isn't another way to lose your soul. …is there?" he asked tentatively and Hermione rubbed her temple again. "Not really, no. I read up on it in first year and especially in third year but it seems that dementors are the only things that can take your soul nowadays. There were mentions of old branches of magic that were used in such a way and stories say that's where dementors come from but it also says that those branches of magic were either destroyed or died out thousands of years ago."
"Well what if your cousin has some of that magic?" Ron asked making Hermione want to either sigh or punch him. "Ron, that magic doesn't exist anymore. Plus, my cousin is a muggle."
"Well what if our magic only detects our magic?" Fred started on Ginny's right the two not hugging her anymore. "And that's why we don't know if Voldemort's new ally has magic or not." George completed the thought. The rest gathered considered the option for a moment but if that was the case… what kind of magic?
As they all contemplated what it could be Hermione stood up. "Where are you going?" Ron asked before he even thought it. "To the library." No one was surprised in the least until they heard her reasoning. "You-Know-Who's new ally looks like my cousin and it would appear both are connected to some form of dead magic. Besides… Ryou probably doesn't want to talk right now…" she looked after where Ryou had gone for a bit before going up the stairs and going the opposite way towards the library. It was just a few seconds later when Harry and Ginny turned up by her side and a moment later, Ron. They all heard a very loud pop and figured the twins had apparated there ahead of them.
~Ryou~
Ryou climbed back to the room he had hidden in earlier and took the room across the hall for it. If someone wanted to find him they'd go there first, not find him, and assume he had hidden somewhere far from there; at least a different floor.
He jammed the door with another chair and sat down against the far wall under a window trying not to think. His father had abandoned him… but, it just couldn't be! It just couldn't! Yet it was. Ryou brought his legs up to his chest and rested his forehead on his knees. "Bakura, why did he do it?"he asked aloud since no one else was there. And he needed someone to tell him. If the car crash was just an accident, and all the incidents were Bakura's fault, then why did he still blame Ryou? Wouldn't it be Bakura's fault?
Ryou felt a wave of guilt wash over him at the thought. He couldn't blame Bakura for this. 'It must be something else. I must've done something…'His thoughts were cut off as Bakura rebuked him in his mind. /Ryou, none of this is your fault. You can hardly help it that he's an asshole. /
"But why did he do it then?" Ryou asked softly and waited for Bakura to answer him. He knew what he would say but he needed someone to tell him anyway. /Because he needed to blame someone. / Ryou dropped his shoulders in defeat. Was he just… someone for his father to blame?
He heaved a sigh and put his head up to stare blankly at the wall in front of him before he felt a tug to his soul room. Not resisting, he soon found himself in Bakura's strong arms and buried his head in Bakura's chest. "It's not right! It's not right! It has to be at least partially my fault! My father can't be that bad! I have to have done something-" Ryou abruptly cut off his ranting feeling Bakura tense and getting the silent message. That wasn't the way it was. The fault wasn't Ryou's and for him that made it all the worse.
Ryou steadily cried some tears while Bakura cherished knowing Ryou was safe in his arms and away from his father. 'I won't forgive him for doing this to you…'he silently swore. Ryou was too soft and forgiving but, he supposed, that's why he needed Ryou and why Ryou needed him.
Ryou silently spilled more tears and Bakura held him close renewing his vow to harm anyone who hurt Ryou twice as bad. After a couple minutes Ryou calmed and just hung onto his yami. "Kura?" he finally asked softly almost enjoying the peace after the storm. He only received a small hum in reply. Ryou smiled softly at the expected reply before pushing on. "Do you think they'll hate me now?" he asked in reference to his cousin and her friends.
Bakura snorted unsurprised that his hikari would worry about something like that. "Koi, from how they were acting before they feel sorry for you." Ryou almost sighed. He wished they wouldn't. Bakura, sensing Ryou's discontentment with this and deciding he needed a distraction pulled away from Ryou and gave him a glinting smirk. Ryou narrowed his eyes warily; that smirk didn't always mean good things. "You know Ryou, you've been awfully lazy since we got to England…" Ryou narrowed his eyes further not liking where this was going. "…and you do have all those knives on you." Bakura finished expectantly.
Ryou full out frowned. "Bakura, I'm not having throwing practice in a house where I'm a guest." He protested even though he did see the good in it. The repetitive motion was calming and gave him room to think about other problems. And he did need to practice…
"The house is already falling to pieces; no one's going to think anything of a few nicks in the wall." Bakura replied even though he could sense his hikari's compliance. Ryou still made a show of sighing as he gave in. "Fine. But as soon as someone starts looking for me practice is over."
Ryou returned to the outside world and grabbed his pocket knife out of his back pocket. Rule of knife throwing: practice with different shapes and weights so any knife will be accurate when thrown. He stood up and held it lightly in his hand as if there was nothing there. He picked a spot along the right wall where there was an impression of a knot in the wood and in one fluid movement he popped the blade open and straightened his arm towards the wall. A dull thunk was heard a second later and Ryou glanced up. The knife was two centimiters to the left of the knot. 'Hmm… I really am getting out of practice…' he thought to himself as he retrieved the knife and faced the wall this time to throw it over his shoulder this time. He was best with flicking his arm but over the shoulder was always the best for practicing aim. Gripping the blade and pulling it back he swung again and another dull thud could be heard. This time the knife was half a centimeter inside the knot. 'Better, but still not center.' Ryou went to retrieve the knife again emptying his mind of thoughts and setting into the routine of practice. 'Bakura was right, I do need to practice.'
~Order meeting~
After Mr. Bakura had abruptly thrown his son out of the meeting he calmly returned to his seat. "I'm terribly sorry; my son doesn't know what he's talking about." Molly Weasley looked personally offended that Haru Bakura had just literally thrown his son out of the room but didn't get a chance to comment as Dumbledore pushed on presumably to sustain the peace.
"His idea does have merit, however. It could very well be that Voldemort" - several flinches went around the room - "wants to terrorize the muggles so when he takes power it will already be established who is stronger. It could also," he started as a few people had shocked and fearful looks on their faces at the prospect of Voldemort wanting to take over the muggle world as well. "it could also be that he wants to test his ally's power well keeping out of sight of the ministry."
The members of the Order relaxed a bit more into their seats at the perfectly plausible explanation of wanting to test someone's power instead of world domination. After a couple more minutes of quiet contemplation Moody spoke out drawing the attention of the whole room to him. "There's something wrong with the kid."
"Alastor?" Dumbledore asked for elaboration. Moody took a swig from the flask he always keeps by his side before finally talking. "My eye. I can't see him. It's like a fog of shadow but that's all there is." Many exclamations of surprise echoed around the table at this. Moody's magical eye was supposed to see through anything but to not see something? No one knew quite how Moody's 'Mad-Eye' worked but it was widely known he could use it to find anything, but; for something to simply not be there? And a person no less.
The mutterings grew in sound until Dumbledore again called for order. "Now, what do we actually know about Hoshech?" He searched along the table with his eyes before finally Dedalus Diggle spoke up. "He's skilled with a sword." Shrinking back a bit from all the attention directed at him he bravely pushed on. "I-I kept trying to hex him but he just deflected it with his sword. He'd have to be well trained to do that." Dumbledore nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"So Hoshech is trained with a sword, looks like Mr. Bakura's son and sometimes goes by the name of Yami or is at least versed in Japanese. And we still don't know why Voldemort" – many flinches went around the table – "is allied with him. Severus, I want you to take extra care to watch him and find out why he talks to Bellatrix." The potions master tilted his head in acknowledgement. "Now, Ms. Rosemerta, what news do you have from Hogsmade?"
I'm soo…. Sorry! T^T I got so stuck on the last scene so I just through a couple things down there and said good enough. ^^ I missed like twenty things I wanted in the last scene but I hate writing order meetings! Up to 5 people? Sure! I can write that! But a whole meeting? And several talks have to be had after this… Most notably (or at least coming next chapter) Molly Vs. Haru Bakura, and Bakura Vs. Snape. Or maybe the second one can wait… in the meantime, I got something out.