"Are you sure?" Yami asked. "Are you completely positive?"

"It's fortune-telling, Pharaoh, not an exact science," Yami Bakura answered in a condescending tone. All this was more problems he just didn't need. He seemed to notice the blood trickling down from his bit lip for the first time and hastily wiped it away with the back of his hand before continuing. "You and I both know that it's not out of the question. But Malik is not the only possible outcome."

"Well, what else could it be?"

"You remember that dark wizard everybody talks about? The one who killed the mortal boy's parents?"

"The name escapes me, but yes, I do," Yami answered.

"Well, Ryou's read a bit about the guy, and I think this could just as easily be him." Yami Bakura said. "Tarot reading can be very imprecise. Wizards use wands, so the King of Wands could have stood for him instead. He's from these people's past. They're already worried that he's coming back. But..."

"But what?" Yami asked, growing impatient again. He liked facts, and all this speculation was aggravating him to no end. Couldn't Yami Bakura just tell him what was going on so he could do something about it?

"I automatically read the cards to mean Malik, even though the simpler reading would have been that dark wizard."

"So which is it?! Quit making observations and just tell me something I can work with!" Yami demanded.

"Don't shout your orders at me! We're not in Egypt anymore. You being pharaoh means nothing here. This is not the sort of thing where I can just give a straight answer. It's more complicated than that. You have to look at it from every angle, take everything into consideration... Just think of it as one of your intricate strategies."

Yami sighed heavily and was not happy. "Fine. Get on with it if you must."

Yami Bakura ignored Yami's attitude and began pacing. "Alright... Ryou and I both got a sense from those cards. A strong feeling of dread. Ryou couldn't even flip the cards, though he told himself that it was because he was too nervous. Ryou doesn't have as much experience as I do, but he's more sensitive, so I trust his feeling."

"Please elaborate on this 'feeling'." Yami said. "I am not a seer and never claimed to be, so I don't know."

"It's a premonition. A feeling or idea about something you have no way of knowing about. I suppose the closest thing you've experienced would be the effects of the millennium tauk. Only this isn't just something you see a vision of. It affects all your senses in ways that simply cannot be explained. You can only understand it once you've experienced it. You can't understand it, and frankly, I didn't expect you to."

Yami did not appreciate this superior attitude Yami Bakura was getting and his expression showed it even if his words did not. "So we should just warn Malik, even if it isn't him your 'prediction' showed." Yami Bakura shook his head. "Well, why not?" asked Yami impatiently.

"We can't act on it, at least not directly, or we may inadvertently trigger the domino effect that starts this whole mess," Yami Bakura said, growing tired of having to explain everything. "Fortunes, especially bad ones, have a habit of making themselves come to pass. You know how Malik is; he's twice as likely to get into trouble if he expects it. If he gets paranoid, he'll be on edge and then it won't take much to send him careening off the deep end."

"And if it's the other guy?"

"If it's the other guy, then it's the wizards' problem. We've got enough problems without adding theirs to ours."

"So you'll just leave."

"You have a better idea?"

"But you're not going to leave if it turns out to be Malik's other personality? Or even Malik himself?"

Yami Bakura hesitated before answering, contemplating how to phrase what he wanted to say. "I said to both Ryou and Malik that I would watch his back. I try to keep my word."

"You know, I don't get you sometimes," Yami said, shaking his head. "You're a thief, why on earth would you care about keeping your word?"

"There is such thing as an honorable thief, you know."

Yami scoffed. "Indeed." He couldn't believe Yami Bakura considered himself to be 'honorable.' But he let the subject drop. "So what can we do about all this? Anything we can do to prevent it?"

"All we can do is be observant. If you and I keep an eye on Malik, that may be enough. I still think he will be the root of all this. We just need to let him know that he has allies. Heh...It's funny almost. That's what Ryou's wanted me to do from the start. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe his sense IS stronger than mine. Perhaps that nervous feeling he's been getting is more than just stress or anxiety. He did get it right before he dealt. His sixth sense may be developing from him being exposed to all this new magic."

"That's all well and good, but it doesn't change the fact that your fortune isn't helpful in the least." Yami Bakura angrily narrowed his eyes at Yami's criticism, but Yami ignored it. "You've basically just told me that there is about to be Hell on Earth, but there's nothing we can do about it but keep our eyes open."

"Fortunes aren't meant to tell us what to do," Yami Bakura defended. "They only serve as a way to prepare us for what's to come."

"Well I'm not even sure I believe all this," Yami said leaning almost casually against the castle wall. "Is it entirely inconceivable that you're wrong? That you're blowing the whole thing out of proportion? And even if worse comes to worse, why does it suddenly bother you? Used to be you'd be thrilled at the prospect of so much possible death and destruction. You'd welcome chaos with open arms. Even if everything in your reading is true, what if it isn't Malik or the dark wizard? What's to say it isn't you?"

Yami was taken by surprise at the speed at which Yami Bakura moved. In the blink of an eye, Yami Bakura grabbed Yami by the front of his robes and pulled him close so that their faces were barely an inch apart. There was a fire in the thief's eyes and anger in his voice as he spoke. "Don't try to turn all this on me..." he said dangerously. "And do not use my past against me. I don't judge you by the way you used to be, extend me the same courtesy. Why it bothers me now is none of your damn business. Believe what you want, I don't care. But if this fortune does come to pass, don't say there was no warning. Because if what Ryou and I felt from those cards is accurate, the Battle City finals will be NOTHING in comparison to this. And I have a hunch that your dueling skills will not save you this time..." Yami Bakura roughly released Yami, turned, and walked away with his robes flaring out behind him almost as if in an expression of his anger. He did not look back.

Yami stared after him resentfully. <I think you may have hit a sensitive spot, Yami...> came Yugi's meek and cautious voice. Yami didn't answer. Instead, he fumed silently. Yugi tried again, attempting to sound like he wasn't taking sides. <Maybe he feels bad for the way he used to be... like you do.>

<Thieves do not feel regret...> Yami answered simply. <Or shame.>

<Well...maybe he just wants to put it behind him. He doesn't want his past mistakes coming back to haunt him.>

<You're defending him...>

Yugi hesitated. <Yes. I suppose I am. I just feel that everyone deserves another chance. He seems to be trying real hard. And if Bakura of all people can trust him now...>

<I suppose you're right...of course that means I'm wrong.> Yami felt Yugi smile.

<It happens to the best of us, Yami.>

Yami sighed and smiled back. <Ready to take over?>

<You bet!> The millennium puzzle glowed brightly for a moment as the switch was made. Yugi blinked at his surroundings, realizing suddenly that he didn't recognize this hallway in the least.

<Yami? Did you happen to pay attention to how you got to this hallway?>

<Um...No. I just followed the Grave Robber.>

<Yami! Now I'm lost!>

Yugi took off in the direction Yami Bakura had just taken. "BAKURA!!! Wait up!"

..................................

Yugi didn't catch up to Yami Bakura, but he did happen across the History of Magic classroom and was able to find his way back to the Great Hall that way. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malik were already there, as was the Weasly twins. But not Ryou or his Yami. When Yugi was questioned about where the other boy was, he could only answer that he went off on his own. Yugi figured Yami Bakura must have went off to blow off some steam.

Harry and Ron had been telling Hermione and Malik about Divination. Luckily, they didn't know everything the reading had revealed. "It was just weird that he took off without finishing the reading," Ron said. "Trelawney was really eating it up."

"Bakura has a habit of taking things like that too seriously," Malik said, dismissing Ron's observation with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. It's just one of his things."

"But that Tarot reading was really creepy," Ron said.

"Showmanship. Nothing else," Malik answered. "You wanted him to show you what he can do, and he obliged."

"Besides," Hermione added, "it IS Divination. You really can't take any of that seriously."

<I knew it...> Yugi heard Yami say. Yugi reminded the spirit that it was a matter of opinion.

The meal was interrupted when Ryou, now in full control of his body again, managed his way into the Great Hall. Yugi had never seen Ryou looking more aggravated or harassed in the entire time he'd known him. Yugi soon saw the reason why.

"Ryoooou... come sit with us over there! I want to introduce you to the rest of the girls," Parvati exclaimed, tugging on the poor boy's arm.

"No! He should sit at a quieter section of the table. Those girls will cloud his inner eye!" Lavender argued, pulling Ryou in the opposite direction. He looked desperately towards Yugi and company for help. Harry, Ron, and Hermione failed to fight the urge to laugh. The "please shoot me" look on Ryou's face as the two girls fought over him like he was a rag doll was just priceless.

Malik cocked a questioning eyebrow. "What's with them?" he asked.

"Divination fangirls," Hermione answered with a giggle. "He must have been really impressive." Malik stared for a moment as his brain processed all this, then he, too, burst out laughing. Even Yugi couldn't fight the giggles. Ryou, seeing that his friends were not going to be of any help, managed to break free on his own and stalk towards his usual seat beside Yugi and Malik, Parvati and Lavender close behind. He hoped that Yugi and Malik would get the hint to scoot closer so the girls wouldn't have room, but they didn't and Parvati and Lavender sat on either side of him.

"You people are useless," Ryou sulked as the girls made themselves comfortable.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Malik teased. He'd actually moved over to make room for Lavender. Ryou sighed heavily, looked up at the magically visible heavens on the ceiling of the Great Hall, and shook his head as if to say "why me?"

"Ryou, did I tell you just how wonderful you were in class today?" Lavender cooed.

"Only about eight times," Ryou muttered.

"Well, you were," Parvati said. "I think you're the first guy ever to really understand Divination at this school, Ryou."

"Lucky me..." said Ryou helplessly. "How'd you find out my first name, anyway?"

"The Professor told us," Parvati beamed.

"It is a lovely name. You should use it more often instead of having everyone call you by your last name. That's so impersonal. I mean 'Ryou'... it just rolls off the tongue."

"You're pronouncing it wrong..." Ryou said.

"Really? That's the way the Professor said it..." Lavender said, a finger resting on the side of her face in thought.

"I know how to say my own name," Ryou said flatly. The girls only giggled in response. Ryou looked longingly at the pitcher of pumpkin juice and wondered if it would be enough to drown himself with. Luckily, the girls remembered that they needed to go fetch their potions supplies and left before Ryou could consider his death by pumpkin juice too seriously. Ryou felt the eyes of the others on him once the girls were gone and he gave them all a look, especially Malik. "Don't. Laugh..."

Of course that only set them off on another fit of giggles. "Our little Ryou's become quite the lady's man," Malik snickered, making sure to mispronounce Ryou's name the same way the girls had. "How on earth did you get into that mess?"

"They found me wandering in the halls and latched on to me. I tried nicely to make them leave me alone, but they just said I was being modest."

"They must have been really annoying you," Malik teased further. "I mean, you were almost rude." Ryou gave Malik a look of aggravation which only succeeded in making the blonde grin wider.

"There were two of them I noticed," Malik said, taking a sip of his juice. "I hope you remember to share." Ryou responded by throwing a grape at his companion, who only laughed louder as he dodged it easily.

"If being good at Divination is all it takes to get girls, I'll have to see if Dumbledore will let me change my schedule," Fred said.

George nodded his agreement. "Yeah, the girls don't go for the Quidditch players anymore."

"Not since Wood left," Fred commented.

"You guys ever think that girls have an interest in more that just what you're good at?" Hermione asked sarcastically.

Fred and George paused as if in thought. "Naw..."

Ron laughed with his brothers. "You know Bakura, if you had stuck around, Trelawney probably would have given you some house points."

"House points?" Yugi asked.

"Just a competition among the houses. You get points for good things, and lose 'em for bad. Most houses don't really care about winning. They just want to win for the sake of stopping another house from winning."

"Oh."

With Parvati and Lavender out of his hair, Ryou's mind couldn't help but wander back to the Tarot reading. He watched Malik out the corner of his eye. Yugi did the same. The Egyptian laughed and talked and joked with the rest of them. He seemed happy. He wouldn't be a danger if he was happy, right? Yami Malik was made of sorrow and rage. If Malik didn't feel those things, then there was nothing to worry about from him. But there was still a threat even if it turned out that it wasn't him. Gods, this was confusing. The outlook seemed hopeless no matter what. But things were so good now. Ryou couldn't help but start to doubt himself. But there was always that voice in the back of his mind, the one that didn't belong to the disgruntled spirit of a tomb robber, that kept reminding him of "the calm before the storm..."

The bell rang, signaling that it was time to start moving to the next class. They were all going to the same place: Potions. Harry, Ron, and Hermione led the way to the classroom down in the dungeons.

As usual, the Potions classroom was a depressing place. Malik was eerily reminded of the underground chambers where he spent much of his youth and shivered. Not a happy memory. Parvati and Lavender stood on one side of the room with a few other girls, staring at Ryou and giggling. Phrases like "Don't you just adore his hair?" and "His voice, oh my God, what a sweet voice!" were heard from them. Ryou shifted uncomfortably towards Yugi and Malik, ready to claim either one of them if they were told to separate into groups.

Professor Snape entered, in an especially bad mood as he usually was at the start of the term. It didn't help that the third year class he'd just had had melted four cauldrons. "Pair up!" he shouted. Once more, Harry went with Ron, Hermione with Yugi, and Malik with Ryou.

Parvati and Lavender positioned themselves right behind Ryou. Ryou was almost sure he'd heard one of them say, "You know, his friend's not that bad either if he'd lose the earrings..." Great. Ryou could see himself getting suckered into a double date in the near future. He saw more trouble on the horizon as Malfoy and Goyle set their cauldron down beside him and Malik. He didn't need cards to tell him that this wasn't going to be good.

All the time, Snape hovered over the students like a vulture. He stopped at Yugi and Hermione. "Be sure that Miss Granger informs you that I tolerate no mischief in my class," Snape warned. "I will not be lenient with you simply because you are a beginner." Yugi nodded to show that he understood. Snape moved on to Ryou and Malik. Snape looked down at Ryou as if he were something that he had scraped off his shoe. Apparently, the Knockturn alley incident was still fresh in his. Snape had heard that there had been some thieving going on that afternoon, and he had a sneaking suspicion that this boy was to blame. But he had no evidence, and thus couldn't make any accusations. But that wasn't going to stop him from making Ryou's life as miserable as possible.

"You know, Mr. Ishtal, you should avoid associating with troublemakers. Your grade may suffer," Snape said venomously. Ryou looked hurt.

Malik put on his most serious expression and placed an arm over Ryou's shoulder. Ryou eyed him suspiciously. "Professor, I know he may have done some mischief in the past, but I was hoping that if I befriended him, if I showed him the proper way, that he would benefit from my example and be led down the correct path..."

Both Yugi and Malfoy's mouth dropped, but their shock did not compare to Ryou's, who could only look at Malik as if the blonde had lost his mind. Yami Bakura snickered slightly from his soul room. It was a comical idea, especially because the teacher seemed to be buying it. It was hard to think of Malik as a real threat when he had that absurd false look of concern on his face.

"I just wanted to take it upon myself to aide this troubled young man," Malik said with a sad shake of his head and a sigh. "I feel it is my duty as a student here and as a Slytherin, even if my friend here is not of our house." Ryou felt his face go hot as blush flooded it. He wanted to find a hole to crawl into and hide. But Professor Snape nodded, impressed.

"How considerate of you to want to help your fellow student despite how undeserving he may be," the professor said. Ryou moaned silently and tried to make himself appear as small as possible.

<Why aren't you trying to defend me here?> Ryou asked his Yami. <Shouldn't you be trying to send them to the shadow realm at this point?>

<No. I think this is all very entertaining, personally.>

<Useless yami...> Ryou muttered. Yami Bakura only laughed.

After he was done torturing Ryou, Snape instructed them all to begin work on a stain-removing potion, which he considered to be very simple. Things were starting off okay. Yugi was doing well with Hermione helping him. She also offered her help to Ryou and Malik whenever Snape wasn't looking as neither of them had any experience and Snape was not interested in offering his own aide. But everyone was managing.

"I can't believe you said all that," Ryou scolded Malik once Snape had wandered far enough away. "You made me out to be a demon and you the savior."

"Relax, Bakura," Malik assured. "Snape loves me. I'm like his favorite student. Provided we don't screw up, some of that will rub off on you." Ryou didn't look convinced. "Or you could partner with one of your girlfriends over there next time," Malik said, gesturing over his shoulder to the girls behind them. Ryou blushed, shook his head, and resumed stirring his potion.

But with Malfoy around and his ego freshly bruised from having Malik as competition for teachers pet, the peace cannot last. Discreetly, he pulled a small vile from his potion supplies and waited for an opportunity, a smirk plastered to his face. The chance Malfoy was waiting for presented itself when Snape began yelling at Neville for spilling his frog bile all over. With everyone's attention elsewhere, Malfoy slipped the contents of the vile into Malik and Ryou's potion. 'Heh, two birds with one stone,' Malfoy thought. Revenge against both Malik and Bakura.

Neville didn't serve as a distraction for long and soon everyone returned to their work. Neither Malik nor Bakura noticed anything wrong with their potion or the suspicious way Malfoy moved so that he was as far away from them as he could get without attracting attention. Ryou resumed preparing the ingredients, feeling almost as if he were in his kitchen back home. Malik stirred the contents of their cauldron. Ryou handed Malik the next ingredient: powdered Belladonna. Malik slowly poured the powder and then...

BOOM!!!

Malik and Ryou's potion exploded violently and both boys were thrown roughly backwards onto the dungeon floor. Yugi and Hermione gasped and Harry and Ron looked on wide-eyed. "Oh, my God! Are you two okay?!" Lavender exclaimed,

Snape rushed to the scene. "What the heck happened here!!!" he bellowed, almost as loud as the explosion itself. Malik and Ryou slowly got up, rubbing the backs of their heads.

"I-I just put the Belladonna in and it blew!" Malik explained.

"Belladonna does not react that way with the other ingredients in this potion..." Snape said angrily. "Only an opposite reactant can make it do that. You!" he pointed down at Ryou. The boy looked terrified. "Did you put any ingredient other that what is on the list in there?" Ryou shook his head. "Let me see your potion ingredients," Snape demanded. Ryou nervously fetched what he was asked for. Snape looked disappointed as he examined it. "They only item you should have to cause that explosion is the pollen from the fairy's tear flower. It has a violent reaction to Belladonna."

"Professor," Malfoy piped up, pretending to examine his potion supplies. "My fairy's tear pollen is missing..." Snape walked over to Malfoy to see for himself.

"So it is..." Snape said, the gears in his head turning. "Would there have been an opportunity for someone to take it from your supplies?" Malik's mouth dropped. Snape was automatically assuming that Malfoy had nothing to do with it when Malik knew otherwise.

"I suppose someone could have taken it when I looked to see what was going with Neville, sir. Bakura WAS right there..."

"Bakura wouldn't do that!" Yugi argued.

"Quiet!" Snape ordered. Yugi cringed slightly.

Malik wasn't going to give up that easily. "Sir, with all due respect, Bakura was where I could see him the whole time and even if Bakura would do something like that, there's no way he would he would have known about a reaction." Ryou sighed heavily. When did this school decide to turn against him?

In the end, Snape had to let all of them go due to "lack of evidence." The experienced Gryffindors knew that it was because no matter what Snape would decide was true, he would have to take points from his own house, either from Malfoy for lying about his potion ingredients and probably starting this whole mess, or Malik for saying he knew Bakura was innocent. But Harry was amazed. Snape had not even tried to find a way to blame him for anything.

....................................

And the chapters just get longer and longer... -_-;

If you want an idea about the length of this story, consider this: this is now my longest story at 18 chapters and close to 45,000 words, well past novel-length, and I'm only on their 2ND DAY OF SCHOOL!!! ARG!!! *pulls hair*