/Text/ Spirit to Host

/Text/ Host to Spirit

Chapter 29: Vacation

Yugi was glad he wasn't the only tired one at breakfast the following morning. Neville looked like he was going to face plant right into his oatmeal. Not that he could blame him. He and Ryou stayed in the Great Hall well past midnight, and both Neville and Ginny were still partying in the center of the Hall with some of the older students when they finally called it quits. At that point, most of the school had already gone to bed. The Weird Sisters had switched from their more upbeat rock to slower ballads considering everyone refusing to return to their dormitories was just too tired to keep up with the faster beat.

He lost track of what happened to Harry or the others, but after Luna partnered up with Neville for a few dances while Ginny had both himself and Ryou, he guessed Harry might have left the ball early. Ron spent the entire time with Lavender and some of her giggly friends, and they left shortly before he did. Hermione had slipped back into the Great Hall, but he didn't see her again for the rest of the night. And the common room was completely deserted when they made it back to Gryffindor Tower – even Seto had gone to bed before they did.

"We missed you at the party," said Yugi, to Hermione, as she sat down between him and Seto. "What happened to you last night?"

Hermione frowned and did a quick glance around them. Harry and Ron had yet to arrive. "Oh. I left early."

"I guess it wasn't what you thought it would be, huh?" asked Ryou.

Hermione shook her head and sighed, propped her chin up on one arm, and poked at her scrambled eggs with her fork. "Cormac wasn't how I thought he'd be," she muttered under her breath.

Seto gave a questioning glance her way before returning back to The Daily Prophet.

Hermione managed a small bite of her food before she looked back up again and forced herself to smile. "Did you guys at least have fun?"

Ryou nodded. "I thought, after all of the stalking and gift-giving that happened these past few weeks, that I'd be pestered for attention all night, but surprisingly that wasn't the case. We stuck around with Harry and Luna, and Ginny eventually got both of us out onto the dance floor for a good while."

"It was fun," said Yugi, "And the Weird Sisters are a pretty cool group. I've never really paid much attention to wizard music before."

"The Weird Sisters were here during the Yule Ball too," said Hermione, thinking back. "I remember some of their hits. But I'm glad you had a good time."

Yugi smiled as Harry and Ron made their way to their area of the Gryffindor table. "And now it's pretty much smooth sailing. I'm so excited to see Grandpa and the others, and in just a few hours, too!"

Seto turned the page of The Daily Prophet and reached for his second cup of coffee. "It's going to be a bit longer than you think it will."

Yugi pouted. "Really?"

"What's gonna be longer than you think?" asked Harry.

Seto rolled his eyes. "Think about it. The train ride to get here took about six hours, so we're not going to make it back to London until mid-afternoon. And then there's a twelve hour flight to get back to Japan, and time will be moving against us heading home."

Ron scrunched up his face as if he swallowed something unpleasant. "So we're gonna sit around for an entire day? That stinks – what are we supposed to do for that time?"

Hermione purposely didn't look in Ron's direction, but her eyes lit up. "Oooh, think of the schoolwork we can get a head start on before the next term begins!"

Ryou groaned. "But we don't have any homework yet!"

"But there will be so much time! We all know what Umbridge is going to have us do, so we can start the next couple of chapters in that book, or start reading up on the theory behind some of the more advanced spellwork for Professor Flitwick or McGonagall."

Yugi wasn't listening, but tallying up hours off his fingers. "…So we may not see anyone…until tomorrow? We're going to miss a whole day?" The previous burst of excitement in his voice was long gone now.

"Why not use a Portkey, like how we first arrived? Think of all the time it would save," said Ryou.

Seto spared him a quick annoyed glance before returning to his newspaper. "I've already said on more than one occasion that I don't trust Portkeys. And I've been flying to and from Domino since the semester began. I can't begin to tell you how full my work schedule is once I get back. It appears that anyone and everyone has been harassing the office to find out when I would be going home, and it would look rather odd if I don't return the same way I left."

Ryou waved his fork at him, curiously. "What about us? We didn't fly to Ron's house when we left."

Seto didn't bother to look up again. "How lucky for you two that the only people who knew you left town were your quiet little circle of friends, and not corporate partners, investors, a good couple hundred employees, and some all-around nosy people."

He didn't lift his head back up until he finished reading the Prophet. Folding it back together, and passing it to Hermione, he leveled them all with a hard stare as he got up from the table. "You didn't have to come home with me. My travel arrangements have been set for at least a week. It's not my fault you didn't think of how long it would take to get back to Domino until now. So unless you're going to try and wrangle something else in the last hour we get to spend here, then I would bring something to do for the flight."

"What are you gonna do then?" asked Ron.

Seto snorted. "I've got work to do."

Harry watched him leave the Great Hall and turned to Yugi. "Does he ever not have work to do?"

Yugi shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it."

"I've been on long flights before," said Ryou, "Sometimes they play movies to keep you entertained, or you can bring a book to read, or even just take a nap."

Ron blinked. "What's a movie?"

Ryou scratched at the back of his head. "Oh...right, you wouldn't know what that is. Well, I'll show you when we get on the plane."

"Why don't you bring a chessboard or something?" asked Hermione. She happened to look towards the door to see Cormac walk in and meet up with some other seventh-year boys, and paled slightly.

Harry looked to Ron. "We could…."

Yugi looked to where Hermione's eyes were drawn and frowned. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Hermione shook her head a little too quickly. "Fine. I just remembered I have to pack something. I'll meet up with you later."

Yugi sighed as he watched her get up and leave the Great Hall, taking the completely unnecessary route around the Ravenclaw table to do so.

/I think this rivalry between Ron and Hermione has taken a turn for the worse./

/I think so too. The only reason I could see her wanting to go with McLaggen to the ball last night was to annoy Ron. Obviously, something backfired yesterday, because she's really uncomfortable whenever he's around. I hope she's okay./

Yami leaned against his side of the wall in their corridor. /We could go after her. She may not have wanted to talk in front of the others./

/Maybe later? I don't want to feel like we're prying. Hopefully the change of scenery back home will mend some friendships. I don't want this vacation to be awkward for anyone…./

Ryou nudged Yugi's arm, oblivious to his mental conversation. "…Or we can play Duel Monsters," said Ryou. "What do you say, Yugi?"

Yugi blinked. "Uh, yeah, sure!"

"So long as you don't shuffle the deck, Ryou, that's fine with me," said Ron.

Ryou hung his head and tried to stifle a laugh. "Come on, that was months ago!"

"I'm glad we can leave the trunks here," said Ryou, as they walked the path leading from the carriages up to the train platform. "Lugging those things stink."

"Yeah, though I was worried I wouldn't fit everything in my bag," said Ron, "Usually I'd just go home for Christmas, and all my stuff is back at the Burrow. I haven't had to pack for a two week vacation in a few years."

Yugi looked up and down the platform. "There's not a lot of students here," he said, "You don't think we're one of the last people to get on, do you? I hope there's an empty compartment."

"I snuck a peek at the sign-up list to stay on for the holidays," said Harry, "It was fairly long, which both makes sense…and is weird at the same time. A lot of people are freaking out now, so you'd think they'd want their kids home as much as possible. But…at the same time, Hogwarts is still one of the safest places in Britain, so it also seems reasonable that they'd want them staying for Christmas." He shrugged. "Oh well. I'm just happy that I'm not going home to Privet Drive."

"Have you ever gone back to your aunt and uncle for the holidays?"

Harry quickly shook his head. "Oooh, no. Our Christmas gifts to each other are not having to go home to see them until the summer. And even then, it's just for a few weeks until I end up at Ron's place."

They found an empty compartment and shuffled inside. Hermione hurried up the aisle to join them and closed the door behind her.

"Where's Kaiba?" asked Ryou.

"I think I heard him mention a call or something on the carriage ride over," said Yugi, shrugging. "So I bet he went off looking for an empty room."

Harry was honestly surprised at the idle chatter that continued as the train started moving out of Hogsmeade Station. The last time all of his friends were able to sit around and have a casual conversation without anyone erupting into an argument felt like so long ago, and in a way it was, because Ron and Hermione's fighting had come to a boiling point once the Christmastime ball had been announced. Over a month ago. Were Ron and Hermione speaking amiably to each other now? …Not really. But they weren't fighting, so that was a plus.

But he didn't add too much to their conversation – his mind was currently elsewhere, replaying the bit of conversation he had heard between Malfoy and Snape over and over again.

"I need your thoughts on something," he said finally, drawing all their eyes to him. "So…I overheard Malfoy talking at the ball last night…."

Hermione's shoulders slumped. "Harry…."

Harry held up his hands. "Wait. Just, please, hear me out. I heard Malfoy and Snape talking. What's an Unbreakable Vow?"

Ron tilted his head. "An Unbreakable Vow? You're sure that's what you heard?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Snape made one. He didn't say what for though."

Ron shook his head. "It couldn't have been one."

Yugi looked between them, curiously. "Why not? Why couldn't it have been an Unbreakable Vow? What's so special about one, anyway?"

"Well you can't break an Unbreakable Vow," said Ron.

"I think we caught onto that, oddly enough," Ryou said. "So what happens if…"

He trailed off, looking to the compartment's door with a raised eyebrow. The others turned to see what he was looking at. Yugi and Harry both wore confused faces, Ron's somewhere between smiling and cringing, and Hermione simply glared.

On the other side of the door, in the hallway, stood Lavender Brown. She waved to Ron and mouthed 'I miss you!'

Ron's eyes flitted to Hermione for a brief second, as he smiled uncomfortably at Lavender.

Lavender held up her hands, formed her fingers into a heart and smiled back through the door. When it seemed clear that Ron wasn't going to get up, she leaned forward and breathed heavily onto the door. Raising a finger to the foggy glass, she drew another heart, and placed an 'R + L' inside, with a few smaller hearts around it. When she was done, she breathed all over the glass again so everyone inside could see her artistic handiwork, smiled back at Ron, and allowed herself to be ushered away by some of her giggly Hufflepuff friends.

Hermione quickly got up from her seat and reached for her bag in the bin along the top of the compartment. "I think I'm going to go vomit."

Yugi cringed as she slammed the door shut behind her.

Ron slumped down into his seat and watched Lavender's artwork fade off of the door. "Not that I don't mind the affection, but lately all she wants to do is kiss and cuddle me." He leaned towards Yugi and Harry on the other side of the compartment. "See? My lips are all chapped."

Harry held up his hand to block him. "Oooo-kay, I'll take your word for it."

Ryou cleared his throat, awkwardly. "…Uh. Anyway…what happens if you break an Unbreakable Vow?"

"You die."

Harry tapped his fingers against the seat. "I wonder why Snape would make one. Sure, Malfoy's his favorite student, but still…."

"You're certain that Snape made an Unbreakable Vow?"

Harry nodded. "I heard him say so. Somehow, he's mixed up in whatever Malfoy's been plotting."

Ryou sighed. "I don't see how you're going to find out. Even with your invisibility cloak, it's not like you can stalk his movements all day long. You have classes and things to attend to."

"You think he's spilled any information of his plan to maybe Crabbe or Goyle? Or even Pansy Parkinson. They're always with him," said Yugi.

Ron snorted. "Good luck trying to weasel anything out of them."

Harry looked up thoughtfully. "There is a way…."

Yugi blinked. "How?"

Harry grinned in Ron's direction. "Remember second year with the Polyjuice Potion?"

Ron groaned and slumped back against the window. "You've got to be kidding, mate."

"Why? What's Polyjuice Potion?" asked Ryou.

"It transforms you into someone else," said Harry, "We used it to sneak into the Slytherin common room to find out if Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin." He suddenly looked excited. "Could always do it again to find out what Malfoy's up to…."

Ron shook his head. "Reality check, mate. Unless you're gonna make it on your own, you're going to need Hermione's help, and you know she's not going to brew that again."

Harry shrugged. "She might."

Yugi frowned. "I don't know, she hasn't really been into your suspicions about Malfoy so far…."

"I mean, I suppose you can ask her," said Ryou, "The worst thing that can happen is that she says no."

"Well, I'm glad someone is in my court on this," said Harry.

"Sneaking up on people like that though is more or less something that my spirit would be into, but if you think that Malfoy is really up to something dangerous, it would be better to find out what it is and stop it before something bad happens to anyone else," said Ryou.

"Just one problem," said Ron. "Some of the ingredients to make that potion came from Snape's storeroom, remember? You really think we'll make off with them again without getting caught?"

Harry nodded. "I thought about that." He turned to Yugi and Ryou. "You guys still have those extra classes, right?"

Yugi nodded. "I think we're almost done with Herbology, but we do still have Potions."

"I can sneak in while Snape's busy with your extra class and get what we need. He won't see me under the Invisibility Cloak."

"Yeah?" said Ron, "Are you going to brew it? For a month?"

Harry's face fell.

.

Hermione ducked into the compartment, slid the door shut, and pulled the little curtain over the door the instant Cormac McLaggen walked past.

Seto caught the slightest glimpse of McLaggen passing by before turning back to his computer screen. "Hiding from someone?"

Hermione sank down on the seat opposite him and curled up by the window. "He's so…ugh. I don't think I've ever had such terrible judgement before."

"I could have told you that taking McLaggen to the ball was a terrible idea."

Hermione glared at him. "Then why didn't you?"

"He came up to me in the common room last night while waiting for you, apparently under the impression that it was I you were trying to make jealous. Until then, I hadn't the slightest idea – or care – to who you decided to take." He clicked to send his email off and lowered the laptop lid slightly. "What were you thinking, anyway?"

Hermione sighed. "I was just…so tired of Ron's jealous..." She waved her arms, trying to come up with the right words. "…Jealous fantasy that he had cooked in his head for the thousandth time that I acted on it. He wanted to believe that I would rather go with someone who he thought was more successful or popular, or whatever than him? So I found someone that fit the bill."

Seto reached for his coffee mug. "You probably could have asked anyone and it would have been enough."

Hermione scowled. "If you weren't so opposed to going in the first place, I would have asked you."

Seto rolled his eyes and checked his watch. "Thank you for leaving me out of it."

Hermione quietly huffed and looked out the window. The cloudy sky was starting to darken. They were probably going to hit a storm before making it back to London. "Well. All he wanted to do was talk about his family's amazing relationship with Minister Scrimgeour and other high-officials in the Ministry of Magic, or how great he was at every Quidditch position, and how Harry chose Ron out of favoritism during tryouts, even though he completely butchered his last trial."

Seto crossed his arms. "You mean how confunded he was?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Are you really going to sit there and tell me that you didn't place a Confundus Charm on him for his last save?"

Hermione's gaze dropped down to her lap, and then back out the window again. Having been behind Seto and Ryou, she didn't think anyone had seen her slyly cast the spell and slip her wand back into her jacket. Well…there was no point in denying it now, and she didn't want to damage the odd friendship she made with Seto by lying to him as well. "…Are you going to tell Harry and Ron?"

Seto snorted. "Tryouts were months ago. If I was going to rat you out, I would have."

Hermione hugged her arms to her chest. "I think I was punished for it last night."

Set phased out of the Millennium Rod with a concerned look on his face. "Why? What happened?"

Hermione shook her head, noting that while Set was still visible to her on the train; his form was more translucent than back in the castle. "It's nothing."

Set tilted his head. "Obviously it is, or it would not be upsetting you."

"What did he do?" said Seto.

Hermione let out a silent snort. "You'll have to be more specific."

Set and Seto exchanged looks.

Hermione settled back into the corner of the seat and drew her knees up closer to her chest. "I should have known better, really. After the lewd-ish looks during Quidditch tryouts, and some of the overheard comments throughout the year, it would have been...a bad idea to hook up with Cormac, even if it was just for the one evening…."

"Yet you did it anyway," said Seto flatly.

"It didn't seem to have any effect on Ron at all," she said hotly, "Except maybe push him away. And Cormac…" she shuddered, "…pretty much just wanted to treat us like the entirety of Ron and Lavender's relationship."

Set narrowed his eyes dangerously and tightened his grip on his transparent Millennium Rod. "He didn't…"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No…but the night went downhill, and I just – oof!" She had to brace her arm against the window as the train suddenly lurched to a stop. Seto threw an arm out to keep his laptop from teetering over the edge of the small foldout table as she righted herself and tried to look out the now frosted-over window.

"There's no way we're back in London," said Seto.

Hermione shook her head, got up, and poked her head out of the compartment. A few other students did the same out of their own booths, but it didn't seem like anyone was willing to leave their seats to figure out what was going on.

Eventually, an Auror that Hermione recognized as one of the Hogwarts guards, entered the car, and moved his way towards the other end of the train.

"Stay in your seats," he said gruffly. "We'll be moving again shortly."

"What happened?" asked one of the Hufflepuffs in the next compartment. "Why have we stopped?"

"Never you mind," said the Auror. "It's being handled."

"I heard there were dementors nearby," a Slytherin said loudly from the other side of their train car.

"I heard Death Eaters," said one of the second year Ravenclaws, frightened.

"Enough," said the Auror, "It's a minor delay. Back to your seats!"

"People are speculating," said Hermione, returning inside. "But the Aurors on the train aren't saying anything, probably so they don't freak everyone out."

"I doubt the train's broken down, I'm sure this thing – like everything else in your world – runs on magic, if only partly," said Seto. "And if the Aurors aren't saying anything, they either don't know…or don't want to cause panic. Both of those aren't very comforting."

Hermione shook her head, and then nearly jumped in her seat as their compartment door slid open, admitting Yugi, Ryou, Harry, and Ron.

"There you are," said Yugi to Hermione, "We came looking for you when you never came back."

"Oh…sorry," said Hermione, though she didn't quite sound it at all.

The frost on the window continued to grow, and a cold chill started working its way into the compartment. Through the glass, they could see the sky continue to darken as a few rain droplets hit the window, signaling the start of foul weather.

Ryou rubbed his hands together as the lights in the compartment flickered twice before going completely out, leaving the only artificial light in the room coming from Seto's reopened laptop. "I have a bad feeling…."

"Me too," said Harry, drawing his wand from his pocket. The temperature had considerably dropped, and his breath was visible in the air. "This was just like in our third year."

They heard the sound of glass shattering from somewhere nearby, and both Yugi and Harry moved back towards the compartment door. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going to sit here and do nothing," said Harry, "Someone might need help."

Neville suddenly ran past and skidded to a stop when he spotted Harry and the others in their compartment. "Hey – I've been looking for you everywhere! We need you, Harry."

"What's going on?"

Neville pointed out the window. "Dementors were spotted nearby. Apparently they've been roaming this area since Death Eaters ravaged a nearby Muggle village, and some of them moved towards the train, so that's why we stopped. The Aurors didn't want them chasing it all the way back to London."

"Are the Aurors doing anything about it?" asked Ryou.

"Yeah, but I've been trying to rally the rest of the DA to help. We could use another couple of good Patronuses out there."

Harry nodded. "On it." He looked to Ron and Hermione. "You guys coming?"

"Of course!" said Ron. Hermione nodded.

"Can we help?" asked Yugi.

Hermione bit her lip. "We haven't gone over Patronus charms yet."

"That's the only spell you can use?" asked Ryou.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I guess…just stay put, we'll see if we can help."

Yugi frowned, but nodded. If they weren't able to cast the spells, then he didn't want to get in the way of anyone who could. He slumped down onto the seat as Neville led Harry, Ron, and Hermione down the corridor. "I don't like being helpless like this. I wish there was something we could do."

Seto paused typing for a moment. "Can't stand not being the one to save the day for once, can you?"

Yugi sighed. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to help others."

The clatter of fingers flying back over the keys started up again. "What about helping yourself? You run headfirst into every problem, and where has that gotten you in the past?"

Yugi felt Yami scowl from within their mind link. "Not all of that was our doing. You can't say that I went looking for Marik or Pegasus or any of that. Trouble found us!"

Seto didn't respond to him.

Ryou tried to look back out the window. "It's almost impossible to see what's going on. We must be on the wrong side of the train. I hope everyone's alright."

Yugi nodded. "There were only a couple of Aurors on the train with us. I don't know how many Dementors there were, but hopefully that's enough to keep them away."

"It's chilly in here. I hope we can get moving soon." Ryou made to reach up into the luggage bin above him, but paused, frowning. He had forgotten – this wasn't the compartment they had first settled in on the train. "Oh, I left my jacket in the other booth."

Yugi shrugged and got up. "I'll go get it. I want to stretch anyways."

"Just be careful," said Ryou.

Yugi nodded and headed back down the corridor towards their original compartment. He was nearing the door leading into the next train car when he stopped and rubbed at his arms, feeling the sudden burst of cold air in the hallway. The end compartment was open and empty. The window had blown out.

"I guess that was the glass breaking that we heard before," said Yugi.

Yami agreed. /I wonder how it broke. These windows are usually pretty sturdy./

/Do you think a Dementor got onto the train?/

/I don't know. Let's just find Bakura's jacket and get back to the others./

The seats in the next car were almost just as empty. Yugi didn't remember passing by so many empty compartments when they all went looking for Hermione when the train stopped. Maybe people went off in search of their friends, or to find the conductor or the kind food trolley lady to figure out what the delay was.

Their old booth looked just how they had left it, other than the large accumulation of ice over the window. Yugi found Ryou's jacket in the top of the bin. He peered across both luggage bins for anything else that might have been left behind.

The train seemed to get colder and colder the closer he got back to where Ryou and Kaiba were waiting. Yugi reached forward for the door handle, eager to get back to the next car. But once the freezing door swung open, Yugi let out a surprised yelp and staggered backwards.

In his way was a monstrous figure, taking up the entirety of the doorway from the floor to the ceiling of the train car. Its face was hidden beneath the hood of its ragged, black, tattered cloak. It didn't seem to have much of a physical body, but its hands were greyish and scabbed, and looked almost decayed, reminding Yugi of one of the reaper cards in Duel Monsters. There didn't seem to be any feet on it, as it glided through the doorway towards him.

Yugi felt Yami quickly switch places with him as they backed away towards the other end of the train car. The air felt heavy and cold – even colder now, as if the creature was the source of all of the sudden frigidness.

/How are we going to get away from it?/

/Don't panic, Yugi – we'll think of something!/

The door to the other end of the car opened, and Yami twisted his head around to either call for help or tell the person to run so he could dash through to escape, but felt his hopes dash.

A second monster was in his path, effectively sandwiching him.

They both advanced towards him, leaving Yami trapped in the middle with nowhere to go.

/Pharaoh!/ Yugi sounded panicky. /Look – what's going on?/

Yami watched in horror as a part of him seemed to siphon itself away towards the first figure's head, disappearing under the long hood. It wasn't painful, and his body didn't disappear like in his previous Shadow Game against Marik's dark side, but it left him feeling empty, colder than before.

As the second one began gliding across the hallway, another stream phased towards that one.

He had to assume that these were the Dementors Harry and the others had spoken about. Yami remembered Harry and the others say that the Patronus Charm was the only true defense against creatures like this, and his heart fell. Unless someone knowing how to cast one came along within the next several seconds, they were effectively trapped.

He pulled out his wand and cast a quick shield charm, but it didn't seem to repel the creatures at all.

Yami gasped. As the front one came closer, he began to hear echoes in his mind. Voices, memories of some of his – and Yugi's – worst experiences.

"I'm done playing your games, Pegasus!"

"My dear, Yugi-boy, you don't have a choice! You've lost our little game, and now you'll see the full extent of my Millennium Eye!"

/Noo…/ Yugi slumped against the wall next to his soul room's door, and pressed his hands against his forehead, trying to drown out his memory of his grandfather teetering over the edge of their couch, falling soulless to the floor in their living room. /…Not this…/

/You have to fight it, Yugi!/

The first Dementor was within arm's reach now, and Yami slapped his wand down at its rotten wrist before it could grab him. Surprisingly, red sparks burst from his wand, and the Dementor backed off, only briefly.

A burst of Joey losing consciousness at the end of his duel against Marik in Battle City flashed before his eyes and tried to shake his head to clear the memories from his mind, but it was no use. The closer both of the Dementors got to him, the more he felt everything except despair and fear sucked out of his body.

Both of the Dementors reached him now, and Yami stumbled. His vision of the train car was fading out, and all he saw was the green hue of a dark magic he had tried very hard to put behind him.

"Time for you to pay up, Pharaoh."

"No! Pharaoh, I won't let this happen to you!"

Yami weakly lifted his head. The Dementors were no longer there, just Yugi, enveloped in the green glowing circle.

"Yugi?" he cried. "No!"

/Pharaoh…./

"…It only needs one of us, so I'm letting the seal take me instead."

Yami felt himself fall, and saw an odd white flash of light through the Orichalcos stealing away Yugi's soul, and everything went dark.

.

The chill that had enveloped him was gone, as were the visions of Pegasus and the Orichalcos. Yugi opened his eyes, but then shut them again against the warm light from the compartment lamps. After wandering the train in the dark, even the glow of indirect light was blinding.

"Yugi?" asked Hermione, worriedly. Her voice sounded like it came directly above him. "Are you alright?"

Yugi's eyes fluttered open again. He was back in Seto's compartment, sprawled across one of the seats. His head lay in Hermione's lap, and she looked down worriedly at him.

"Ugh…" Yugi moaned, sitting up, rubbed at his eyes, and looked around the compartment. Since he had been spread out across one of the seats, Harry, Ron, and Ryou were on the other side of the booth. Harry and Ron had been looking over some wizarding trading cards, but had put them down when he sat up, and were observing him carefully. Ryou was sitting up, yet slumped against the corner of the bench and the window, which was no longer frosted over. He appeared to be asleep, and Yugi was surprised to see the Millennium Ring shining brightly against the lamplight. The Ring had been hidden when he had left to find Ryou's jacket. Did that mean the Dementors had found Kaiba and Bakura too?

When he had fully righted himself, he felt something slide down his shoulders and land in his lap. Yugi looked down and picked it up. It was Kaiba's suit jacket. A second quick glance around revealed that his rival wasn't there with them. Hermione was seated where Kaiba had been, the laptop was closed, and a large pile of chocolate candy had pretty much overtaken the table. Clearly the trolley lady had been by.

The train car shook slightly, and Yugi's eyes went back to the window. The train was moving again, but most importantly –the sun had set. …How long had he been unconscious?

"It's been a few hours," said Harry, before Yugi could even voice his question. "You've been out the longest. We were really worried about you."

"What happened? Yugi asked quietly. "Those creatures…those were Dementors?"

Harry nodded, picked up a large hunk of the chocolate and handed it to him. "Here, eat. Trust me, the chocolate helps."

Yugi didn't feel hungry, but nibbled on a corner of the bar anyway. "What…what did they do?"

"They're soulless beings," Harry explained, "And they take the happiness and joy out of everything. They feed on the fear and despair of others. That's probably why they were hanging around that Muggle village after that Death Eater attack. All that sorrow was like free food to them. But then they rounded on the train." He shook his head. "Anyway, some of them managed to get on board, but between all the DA members Neville managed to round up, and the Aurors, we were able to send them away."

"After the Dementors outside were repelled, we followed the Aurors back onto the train," said Ron, "They went to make sure everyone was alright, and we found Seto and Ryou unconscious, but his Ring was glowing and there were no Dementors here." said Hermione, "But since you weren't here, Harry went looking for you."

Yugi shuddered. "I…I saw terrible things. Memories."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. They do that. When they suck all the joy out of you, all that's left are your worst memories before they kiss you."

Yugi's eyes widened and he dropped Seto's jacket back onto his lap. "They what?"

"The Dementor's Kiss. They suck out your soul and leave you an empty shell," said Harry, "You're not dead…but there's really nothing left to you after that."

"Ryou – well, Bakura said it was like having your mind and soul stripped to the Shadow Realm," said Ron, "Only in this case, you'd still be awake and conscious, just a vegetable."

Yugi looked from Harry to Ron to Hermione. "You three didn't seem affected all that much…in comparison to us, I guess."

Harry gave him a small smile. "Well…don't be so sure. We've dealt with them before, and are able to defend against them. But anyone who's had a lot of darkness or sadness and terrible memories in their life…gets it worse. Until I learned how to fight against them, I was clocking out all the time. They always got to me worse than Ron or Hermione."

Yugi nodded towards Ryou. "Is…is Bakura okay?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah…we think so. When he came to, Spirit of the Ring was controlling him, but neither of them was feeling too great. Ryou's just sleepin' it off now."

Yugi bit his lip. He knew Ryou had a difficult life when he was a child, and sharing headspace with the evil spirit definitely didn't help matters. But they didn't know much about the Dark Bakura. Compounded together, what kind of treat were they for the Dementors?

"Where's Kaiba?"

Ron nodded towards the compartment door. "He's pacing on that fellytone –."

"Cell phone." Harry corrected him.

"…Whatever."

Yugi twisted around to look through the window of the compartment door. Seto was leaning against the wall of the train, his phone held up to his ear in one hand, and his head was bent down, focusing on something in his hand. It was small, whatever it was, with some sort of string attached that was dangling down between his fingers, but from his vantage point, Yugi couldn't make out exactly what he held.

"Not to pry, but you three were like a feast to them," said Harry. "All of the Dementors on the train were heading this way."

Yugi shook his head. "I don't get it. Why would they all come this way? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to try and feed off as many people as possible? Why would they come for just us?"

Hermione glanced at Harry. "Well…while you were unconscious, we were discussing that…."

Harry sighed. "I think someone sent them after you. I just don't get why."

Yugi blinked. "Someone…wanted those things to take our souls?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I thought all of the Dementors had fled Azkaban and joined Voldemort. If Voldemort wanted to get to you – or your Millennium Items, it doesn't make sense to send Dementors. What if they took your souls before he managed to get to you? Once they take your soul, there's no getting it back."

"But who else would have the means to do something like this?" asked Ron, "If not You-Know-Who? I doubt the Ministry still has the same hold over the Dementors as they did in the past."

Harry slowly shook his head. "I…I don't know. I mean…Umbridge sent Dementors after me and my cousin last summer to silence me about Voldemort being back, but…that was different. Aside from Voldemort, you haven't pissed off anyone to warrant this."

Yugi frowned and turned to stare at the Millennium Ring. "Well...you said that the Dementors feed on sadness and despair? Maybe they weren't sent after us specifically…it's just that there has been so much darkness related to our Items that we became some sort of homing beacon to them?"

No one really had an answer to that.

Yugi settled back against the backrest of the seat and closed his eyes. The Pharaoh had been oddly quiet ever since he woke up. He focused himself on their link. Normally, the Pharaoh would hang out either in Yugi's room or their corridor, but he was currently nowhere to be found, and his own door was shut. After a moment's thought, that was not really a new revelation, since the Pharaoh's door was always closed.

Yugi knocked on the odd metal door and poked his head inside. "Pharaoh?"

At this point, wandering the Pharaoh's mind was not a new concept. During the Anubis crisis, he had ran through a good number of all of the staircases and random doors. Thankfully though, he only had to open four doors to find his other half, sitting on the floor against a wall in the dark.

"Pharaoh?" Yugi stepped into the room, leaving the door open so he could still see Yami in the dark. "Are you alright?"

Yami chuckled slightly. "I should be asking you that. You were unconscious for quite some time."

"I'm okay. A little spooked, all things considered, but I'll be okay. You've just been very quiet."

"I know." Yami sighed. "I just want to be by myself for a while."

"They were just memories, Pharaoh," said Yugi, "I'm still here. We're okay."

"You almost weren't," said Yami, "Those Dementors were so close to taking your soul, maybe even both of our souls. It didn't help that that's what I was also seeing at the same time."

Yugi settled down beside the Pharaoh on the floor.

Yami looked over at Yugi. "Despite trying to put that…debacle behind me, that one memory still continues to haunt me." He sighed. "It was only a memory. I know. But still, it's a reminder of what I allowed myself to be."

"You're not that person though," said Yugi.

"I know," said Yami. "I'll be alright Yugi, really. I just want some time to reflect."

"Okay." Yugi nodded. He wasn't entirely convinced that the Pharaoh ought to be alone in his misery, but he wasn't going to push it if he wasn't wanted there. If Yami desired company in his soul labyrinth – or even in Yugi's room, he would let him know.

He separated himself from their shared link as the compartment door opened back up, and Seto slipped back inside, looking both tired and paler than normal. When Hermione scooted over in her seat towards him so Seto could sit down, Yugi finally saw what he had been so focused on in the hallway.

Yugi made a point not to stare as his rival slipped the cord to his card locket over his head and tucked it back under his dress shirt, but with how much slower Kaiba was taking his work back up, he had to wonder just what it was that the Dementors forced him to see.

The remainder of the ride back to London was in near silence. As if the earlier events had never happened, Seto continued to work away at his computer. Hermione had her nose in a book, Ryou was still asleep, and Harry and Ron were back to comparing wizard cards from their haul of chocolate frogs.

The train pulled into Kings Cross Station well after their initial estimated arrival time, much to their initial dismay.

"We didn't miss our flight, did we?" asked Ryou, as he stepped off onto Platform 9 ¾, and yawned for the third time since the train had stopped.

"On a private plane? Don't be ridiculous," said Seto.

"Are you sure you don't want to Portkey?" asked Harry.

Seto glared down at him.

Harry held up his hands. "Okay, just checking."

A large number of Aurors had been waiting for the train's arrival, which after the excitement of the afternoon, didn't surprise any of them. Harry recognized some of them as ones who had helped clear the Dementors away from the train out in the middle of the countryside. But as the crowd began thinning out as more and more families left through the stone barrier to return home, Harry saw two familiar faces hanging back by the end of the platform.

"Professor Lupin! Tonks!" said Hermione, "What are you doing here?"

"I've told you before, I'm not your professor anymore," said Remus, smiling slightly, "Those days are long gone. You can call me 'Remus' like everyone else does." He looked among the group. "Are you all alright?"

"More or less," said Ryou.

"They took their first experiences with Dementors about as well as I had," Harry explained.

Remus nodded knowingly. "Ah. Have you all had any chocolate?"

"Only Yugi, and it was just a little," said Harry.

"Well, we'll get you squared away soon enough," said Tonks. "Tom is expecting all of us at the Leaky Cauldron. There's a car waiting for us."

Yugi tilted his head. "I thought we were taking Kaiba's plane home?"

"You are," said Tonks, "But your arrival was a good couple of hours behind, and we thought you might be hungry."

Ron nodded. "You thought right."

"Are you going to escort us to the airport?" asked Ryou.

"Not exactly…we're actually heading to Domino with you," said Remus. "We're replacing Sturgis and Hestia so they can spend the holidays with their families. And Emmeline already returned to London this morning."

Seto sighed and reached into his pocket for his phone. "I suppose I'll let the pilot know that there's going to be two more passengers now."

"Are you going to be staying in the house Sturgis and Hestia were using? Or did we have to make arrangements somewhere?" asked Yugi nervously. Thank goodness that his friends were stepping up to help house Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He couldn't imagine finding a place for Remus and Tonks too…assuming Kaiba didn't offer his home. But considering that he didn't mention anything of that sort when they were trying to figure out Harry and the others' accommodations, he was unlikely to do the same for Harry's Auror friends.

Remus shook his head. "Oh, don't worry about that. We're literally swapping with the Order members already in Domino."

"I was going to ask if the escort was really necessary…but we were just attacked on the Hogwarts Express," said Yugi. "So…uh…never mind about that."

Remus nodded. "Once Dumbledore found out about the Dementor attack he asked us to make sure you got home safely."

The ride to the Leaky Cauldron was mercifully short, and the pub was nearly deserted except for one or two straggling guests lingering behind at the bar. Tonks charmed two tables together as Tom brought out some bread and bowls of soup.

Ryou swirled his spoon around his bowl as if he was stirring a potion, not exactly hungry. He felt drained from the day's events, and just wanted to go back to sleep, preferably in his own bed back home.

The Dementors had taken them by surprise, throwing him back to some of the same memories and fears that the Boggart had taken form to earlier in the year. His spirit had managed to wrestle control from him and toss him back into his soul room, and he remembered him banishing one of the Dementors to the Shadow Realm before going under. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but he woke to Ron and Hermione trying to rouse both him and Kaiba from the floor of the train.

The attack must have also had some sort of effect on the Other Bakura, because he hadn't heard a peep from him since waking up. He wasn't haunting the corner of his soul room like he used to do on occasion, so he must have retreated within his own mysterious door. But Ryou didn't dare poke his head in there – there was an unspoken rule that the dark spirit's domain was his alone, and Ryou was certainly not welcome in it. And while there were times he was curious to what was just beyond the strange metal door, Ryou never crossed the threshold. Even after the seemingly long adjustment period with his spirit, he wondered if the reason he never peered inside was just out of respect for the spirit's wishes (even though the spirit didn't keep the same distance when it came to his own room), or fear of what was really behind the door.

Probably a bit of both.

Ryou glanced over to the other side of the table. Yugi seemed to have recovered enough that he was eating and carrying on pleasant conversation of all there was to do in Domino. Kaiba, however, seemed to share in his own lack of appetite, barely touching his bowl and speaking only when he was directly spoken to.

It was only when Remus dropped a small pouch of wizard coins onto the bar for Tom and they were back outside did Ryou's mood pick up a bit. Finally, they were on the way home, even if they had to sit by on a plane for half the day to get there.

"Woah…" Ron's eyes were as wide as saucers. "What is that?"

Seto stepped out of the vehicle behind him, and looked to Ron, eyebrow raised. "That is your ride, which will leave without you if you don't stop staring at it."

"That thing is huge!" Ron gawked. "Are all airplanes that big?"

Ryou tilted his head. "You've never been on a plane before?"

Ron shrugged. "Why should I? We use Portkeys and Floo Powder for everything."

Ryou scratched at his ear. "Oh…right."

Remus mentioned something about checking the craft over for any sign of malicious intent, and after assuring Seto that they weren't going to damage the plane while doing so, began circling it with their wands out, casting silent enchantments from wing to wing.

Yugi wasn't sure what he was expecting to see. Obviously, it wasn't the same as Kaiba's custom dragon-shaped jet because they all wouldn't fit in it, but this plane seemed smaller than the last one he had seen. Although…the last time he saw one of Kaiba's planes, it had safely crash-landed, thanks to their Legendary Dragons. It was definitely a Kaiba Corporation aircraft though, for he could clearly see the company insignia on the tail.

He remembered Mokuba's account of Kaiba's last plane adventure, and part of him wondered if he was going to be challenged to a duel hundreds of feet in the air.

That didn't seem to be the case though, for once they all got inside Seto settled down and to no one's surprise, opened his briefcase again and began working once more.

"Have you guys flown in a plane?" Ron turned to Harry and Hermione. "What's it like?"

Harry shrugged. "I've never done it. You think the Dursleys would pay for me to go anywhere? But I imagine it's like riding in your dad's flying car, only a lot steadier in the air."

The plane took off not long after they boarded, and as soon as they were able, Ryou grabbed a blanket from one of the overhead bins and reclined his seat all the way back. "Wake me when we get there," he yawned.

Hermione found a seat off by herself, kept the lights above her on, and returned to the same book she had started on the train. Harry was surprised to see it was a subject on defensive magic, but not any one of their previous texts on the subject. He shrugged – only Hermione would find a textbook to use as light reading.

Yugi had curled up in his seat under one of the blankets, phone out, and appeared to be sending messages off to someone.

"My grandfather mainly," he said when Harry asked him about it. "It's still pretty early in the morning where they are, but he'll at least see it when he gets up. That way they know when we're going to land so they can meet us at the airport."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught Remus and Tonks talking quietly across the aisle. Remus caught his eye and nodded his head, as if to beckon him over.

"I received your owl," said Remus, as Harry sat down across from them, out of earshot of everyone else on the plane. "And Kingsley followed up with an agent we sent to Borgin & Burkes."

Harry's eyes widened eagerly. "What did they find out?"

"Well," said Tonks, "From what you were able to see and describe to us…I think what you all might have seen Malfoy interested in was a Vanishing Cabinet."

Harry frowned. The name sounded vaguely familiar – for some reason it rang a bell with Fred and George Weasley. Maybe they pranked someone with one? "A Vanishing Cabinet?"

Remus nodded. "They were very popular during the last war."

"You can imagine why," said Tonks, "If the Death Eaters came to your house, all you'd need is to slip inside and disappear for a few hours. But they're testy, and stop working properly if they're not regularly maintained."

"Huh…" said Harry. What use would Malfoy have for a Vanishing Cabinet? "So what happened to the one at Borgin & Burkes?"

Tonks shrugged. "Nothing. It's still there."

That struck him by surprise. "Really? He didn't buy it?"

Tonks shook her head. "Nope. No one has."

Harry sighed. "Malfoy has to be plotting something. I just know it. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with a Vanishing Cabinet. But I know he cursed Katie Bell, and whatever he's up to has to do with Voldemort."

"Harry…." Tonks began.

Harry cut her off. "Listen – he's been given some sort of mission. I heard him talking with Snape, and Snape offered to even help him. So he has to know what's going on too."

Remus didn't appear convinced. "You-Know-Who has chosen Draco Malfoy for a mission? A boy who's not even of age?"

Harry shook his head slightly. "I know it sounds mad but –"

Remus frowned. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe Snape was simply pretending to offer Malfoy help to find out what he may be up to?"

Harry scowled. "That's not what it sounded like. They mentioned an Unbreakable Vow."

Tonks looked pensive for a minute. "Harry may be onto something, Remus. If that's true, to make an Unbreakable Vow, after all…."

Remus shook his head. "It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgement. He trusts Snape, therefore, I do too."

"But Dumbledore can make mistakes," said Harry. "He's said so himself!"

"You are blinded by hatred, Harry."

"What?" Harry quickly shook his head. "No –"

"Yes, you are!" Remus's voice was sharp. "You are biased against Malfoy, and by extension Snape, and you have been for a long time now. No one is going to deny that you and Snape do not get along, but you need to be able to put your trust in the Order, and in that Dumbledore knows what he's doing."

"Dumbledore has barely been in the castle all year," Harry shot back, "Even now, he's traveling to who knows where for who knows what. And you can't tell me to sit here and trust him unconditionally. This is when we need to be learning the most defensive magic we can. If anything, you should be teaching us back at Hogwarts again, with or without your condition. But instead, we got Umbridge. And you want me to trust that Dumbledore knows what he's doing?"

Seto sent a quick glare their way before turning back to his pile of documents.

Remus leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Listen to me, Harry. People are disappearing every day. This war is different from the last one. We can only put our trust in a select handful of people, and if we start fighting within that group, we're all doomed. Dumbledore is almost always several steps ahead of everyone else, but even he can be blind sighted. None of us saw Dolores Umbridge's reappointment coming, but we have to hope that there is a plan in place to deal with it. There are only so many Order members left, and Snape is one of them. Much of our recent successes against the Death Eaters have come from his involvement. I know it's hard, but you need to put the animosity aside."

Harry glowered. "He's made my life miserable for the last five years."

"Snape and I haven't had the best relationship either," Remus reminded him, "But I owe much to him for both concealing and helping me to deal with my condition. This is a war, Harry, and we're going to all have to put aside our petty squabbles in order to survive this."