Yami hated Voldemort.
He hated him for what he’d done to Harry’s
parents; he hated him for trying to arrange for his friends’ deaths and most of
all he hated him for what he had done to Yugi.
Yugi had only woken up once or twice since
Voldemort had tried to possess him, and every time he had, while his body had
been fine, the constant pain that infected his soul, bled over from Yugi to
Yami so much that only Joey was daring to snap at him at the moment, evolved
into agony.
Yami took as much of that pain onto himself
as he could, but even it was never enough, Yugi would inevitably last only an
hour, two at max before passing out again.
He hated that he’d been unable to help in
that battle, hated that he hadn’t been able to protect his hikari…
He hated a lot of things right now, and all
he could do was sit there and allow Yugi’s wounded soul to siphon off his
energy in order to restore itself, be it sitting in the Infirmary, sitting in
the Common Dorm or sitting by the lake, letting the draw on his energy lull him
to sleep.
Joey knew, of course, but then Joey was the
only one who really knew what to look for. He’d seen soul rending wounds
before, when Yami and Yugi had taken that blast from Ra for him, when the
shadows had been ripping Yugi apart piece by piece while Yami was helpless to
watch…
Joey knew what to look for, knew what sort
of pain they were in…
Yami had a feeling that, if Joey had the
ability, he’d take some of Yugi’s pain onto himself to ease their burden.
But he didn’t.
So all he could so was offer his support,
just by being there and being Joey.
And weirdly that’s all Yugi and Yami needed
right now. They had each other mind to mind, but the pain made them weak, made
them helpless, a simple physical attack right now would finish them…
They needed Joey and Joey knew it. So he
didn’t complain when Yami asked him to stick close, didn’t say a word each time
Yugi awoke and the first thing out of his throat was a pained whimper, didn’t
question when it had been necessary for the pair of them to sneak down to the
hospital wing at some ridiculous time of the morning because Yami couldn’t
sense Yugi and feared…
In some ways this was worse then the game
against Marik, Joey understood. At least when they’d defeated the enemy then,
the Shadows had restored Yugi’s soul to the way it had been before the game.
Joey was beginning to understand the way
the Wizarding world worked.
And fair had never been a part of it.
He knew how much Yugi and Yami were relying
on him right now, could see how much pain they were in constantly, and he
missed the others, missed having Tristan at his back, missed having Tea’s
friendship speeches thrown at him, having that extra support pillar…
It wasn’t that the others weren’t trying to
be supportive, but they just couldn’t understand. Other then Kari and Ombre,
who were more used to these things, they thought that a wound of the soul was
as simple to heal as a wound of the body, after all it was just another kind of
body, but Joey knew better.
Yugi had once explained a Soul Room as the
personification of everything a person is, the way they thought or felt, the very
essence of a soul, and what happened in a Soul Room stayed happened.
And Voldemort had gotten into Yugi’s in his
attempt to possess the hikari and turn him on his friends.
Was there some spell Voldemort had left
behind? Some hex he’d cast that was doing this?
The words, “what happened in a Soul Room,
stayed happened” haunted Joey.
Yami had sworn Yugi would get better, would
in fact, be up and about by the end of term, but there was that lingering fear
that there was something wrong Yami couldn’t fix, some cause to all this pain
that the Pharaoh would be unable to handle.
Joey had heard of people going insane
because of pain and he didn’t want Yugi to become one of them.
Gods…
Joey kicked the bed to the left of him, the
crash startling Yami who had been lost in his own little world… or maybe that
was a little world he shared with Yugi… into looking at him with a mixture of
concern, irritation and bemusement. “Joey?” He asked, tone reflecting all
three.
“Frustration.” Joey explained, cringing as
he realised he’d woken Harry up.
“Hey.” Harry murmured, sitting up and
feeling around for his glasses.
“Sorry Harry.” Joey muttered as he found
them and put them on as he sat up.
“I’m ok.” Harry waved it off, gesturing to
his pile of sweets. “You want some?” Yami hesitated, as hungry as he was, but
Joey took the invite in his stride and dove in, making Harry chuckle. “I don’t
mind, honest.” Harry told the Pharaoh, “Sugar gives you more energy, energy will
help Yugi recover, right?”
“Sugar does give energy,” Yami
acknowledged, “But it will burn out quickly.”
“Still better then none at all.”
Yami had to concede he had a point and
swiped a couple of boxes of iced mice off the table.
Harry started to eat a chocolate frog,
waiting for someone to say anything, but they didn’t. Joey was busy with his
Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Yami had barely touched his iced mice, and
was just watching his hikari, strain visible where a moment ago there had been
none.
Harry realised he was being allowed to see
something rather rare, Yami with his guard down, allowing the weariness, the
fear and the pain to show to the outside world, trusting Joey and Harry that
implicitly that he’d allow them to see this side of himself…
“Yami…” Harry spoke up, frightened to break
that trust but needing to know, when Yugi groaned and Yami’s hand tightened on
the chair arm to the point his knuckles were going white, “How much… are you
alright?”
The look the Pharaoh gave him was startled
for a second, then Yami schooled it back into a reassuring look, “I’m ok.”
“But you’re in pain.”
Harry felt Joey’s gaze examining him, saw
Yami’s gaze harden for a moment and wondered what he’d said wrong. Then Yami
sighed and Joey relaxed slightly, the Pharaoh turning back to his hikari,
concern in his eyes, if not his face, and said, “The pain’s not mine.”
“Yugi…” Harry’s gaze turned swiftly to his
friend, who had put his soul on the line to stop Voldemort using his body as a
vessel in order to destroy Yugi’s friends. “But you told Dumbledore…”
“He will be fine, but wounds like the ones
Yugi suffered aren’t easy to recover from. There’s nothing more Madam Pomfrey
can do for him.” Yami explained, “When he fought Voldemort in his Soul Room…”
Yami shook his head, “It will take longer then we have left of the term for
Yugi to recover fully, but he’ll be up and about by the Leaving Feast and
should, hopefully be fully healed by the end of the Summer.”
Harry nodded his understanding, concerned
as he was about what this was doing to them. Then the thought hit him, Yugi had
willingly taken this damage and left himself weakened for as long as it would
take to recover in order to protect him and all his other friends…
“I think the ‘why?’ question is finally
appearing in Harry’s head.” Joey chuckled, not a particularly mirth filled
chuckle, but one of understanding. “Took you long enough.”
“Be nice, you knew Yugi for six months
before you questioned why he did what he did.” Yami scolded Joey who looked
properly contrite.
“I’ve wondered why before now.” Harry shook
his head, “But it’s never really hit me before now, just how much he’s willing
to sacrifice for us.”
The Pharaoh’s eyes darkened and Joey gave a
knowing nod. “I had a similar moment when he jumped between this thug, Ushio,
and us, Tristan and I, that is, Ushio was like three times Yuge’s size and he
still stood up for us. Ended up bloody and bruised for it too.”
Yami’s mind wandered back to that day and
how Ushio had been the first person he’d played against in ‘self-defence’.
“What about you, Yami?” Joey brought him
back to the present, “When was your moment of ‘I shouldn’t under estimate what
this kid is willing to do to protect those he considers friends’?”
“I’ve had several.” Yami admitted, amused
that this was a subject Yugi had never broached with him, respecting Yami’s
right to private thoughts and feelings, just as he respected Yugi’s. “Starting
with Death-T, I think.”
Joey growled something about killing Kaiba,
but Harry didn’t think Joey would go through with it. He did however wonder
what Death-T was but didn’t want to ask in case he interrupted the Pharaoh who
looked like he was going to continue, “Playing Bakura, in Monster World, that
was another one.”
“Heh, then we fell straight into his card
game trap a few weeks later…” Joey sounded self deprecating.
“You were noble during that duel, you
shouldn’t belittle yourself.”
“Very funny.” Joey deadpanned, “I was six
inches tall, wearing a dress…”
“You’re quoting yourself.” Yami sounded
amused.
“Let me guess, the next one was Pegasus?”
Joey waved it off.
“Panik, actually. Challenging Panik was his
idea, I was just happy to provide the firepower. Player killing scumbag.” The
last three words were muttered.
“Then Pegasus?”
Yami hesitated.
“Not the Paradox brothers?!” Joey
protested, “We both kicked ass that duel.”
“I was thinking Kaiba.” Yami admitted
slowly.
Joey’s eyes widened and he said little for
a moment, fully aware that Yugi and Yami didn’t bring up that duel very often
for a reason.
“Then Pegasus, for about twelve different
reasons, including the fact he stood up to Pegasus over what he did to Kaiba,
was the one who came up with the mind shuffle strategy, pushed himself to
destruction point to give us a fighting chance…” Yami shuddered; Joey did too,
the memory hitting them at the same moment, of that echo of pain that had
nearly claimed Yugi forever. “I still don’t know how you saved him, but thank
you.”
“Wasn’t just me, pal, and I’d do it again
if I had to.”
“I know. Still…”
“You’re welcome.” Joey nodded sagely.
“I think by that point, I thought Yugi
couldn’t surprise me anymore.” Yami’s laugh was a little bitter and Harry
watched, amazed, as Yami and Joey talked, seeming to forget he was here, or
knowing he was here and allowing him a view into how they really felt about
things. “I mean he’d already almost destroyed his soul to save his grandfather
and the Kaiba brothers, who he barely knew, what else could he give up?”
Joey cringed, “Please tell me you didn’t
think that.”
“I was a Pharaoh. Pharaohs aren’t subject
to Murphy’s Law they have people to deal with that for them.” Yami snorted,
“How was I supposed to know it would end in insane magicians, crazy mimes,
brainwashed friends,” Joey cringed at that one, the Death Duel managed to work
it’s way into his nightmares far too often, “Bodysnatching idiots, psychotic
patricides, dark wizards and Ra only knows what else we’ve faced since then.”
Harry decided he had only heard a quarter,
if that, of the stories they had to tell.
Yugi moaned and opened his eyes.
Harry saw it instantly, the way Joey was
suddenly on full alert as Yami’s attention was completely focused on Yugi. The
way Yami tried to hide what he was going through from his hikari, even as he
knew that Yugi would know that it had hit the point that Yami was suffering
with it too. The way Yugi seemed to know what to say to calm Yami down, to
settle Joey’s nerves, to reassure Harry. The slight fear in Yugi’s eyes after
almost three days of waking up intermittently to this pain that he might not
recover and would be unable to help Yami…
“Right, that’s enough.” Madam Pomfrey
bustled down the rows of bed, shooing Yami and Joey away.
“But I’ve only just woken up!” Yugi
protested. Harry was stunned at how little pain was reveal in his tone,
considering the way Yami had gone white when Yugi had awoken.
“A little at a time Mr Muto, if you want to
go to this Leaving Feast.” The Mediwitch scolded.
Harry chuckled as Yugi and Yami got almost
identical obstinate looks, different only by eye colour, but were unable to
persuade Madam Pomfrey to change her mind, and she ushered Yami and Joey out
the door before doing a whole bunch of tests.
Once she was satisfied and had disappeared
into her office, muttering something about not thinking they were ready, but
Albus insisted and what Albus insisted Albus got… Yugi led back, not asleep but
having trouble staying alert when his mind threw a head fit every time he tried
to think too hard.
“Yugi?” Harry asked, causing the hikari to
look at him. Physically Yugi looked fine, but it was the pain brightened
amethyst eyes, and the pale colour of Yugi’s skin that convinced him otherwise,
“Thanks for saving us.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Yugi shook his
head, “Yami saved me.”
“You’re the one who gave Yami enough time
to wake up, get into your mind, find you, since you’d left your soul room by
that point and defeat Voldemort.” Harry pointed out.
Yugi hurt too much to argue with him.
“Can’t you ask Madam Pomfrey for something
for the pain?”
“I’ve had worse. When I fought Pegasus I
couldn’t even get my thoughts straight, yet alone completely coherent. I think
it went something along the lines of ‘card goes here’ and even that was a
stretch.”
His problems thinking were over exaggerated
but that fact the pain had been worse wasn’t. Though it wouldn’t be for many
years that Harry would know this fact, having not gone through a Shadow Game
and therefore unable to appreciate the torture of going through a match in the
Shadow Realm without protection.
“Harry…”
“Yeah Yuge?” Harry asked, testing the
nickname Joey used for Yugi and being rewarded by seeing Yugi’s face light up
briefly.
“Thanks for coming down to get us.”
Harry nodded, “You’re my friends, I wasn’t
going to let something happen to you.”
Yugi paused to consider this, and then
chuckled.
“What?” Harry protested.
“Too much alike.” Yugi laughed, “Be
careful, the Puzzle might pick you for its next owner.”
“Doubt it.” Harry was scornful not because
he didn’t believe the Puzzle would pick another owner if Yugi was defeated or
killed, but because he really didn’t believe the Puzzle would pick someone like
him.
“I didn’t think I was worthy either for a
long time.” Yugi admitted.
“You’re gunna get better, then you’re going
to trounce Yami and take back your title.” Harry said, reading between the
lines.
“I’ve decided.” Yugi said, chuckling
slightly at the thought that had hit him, “All villains have to fill out
‘intention to attack’ forms in triplicate.”
“You have ‘intention to attack’ forms?
Where do you get them? I want some.” Harry laughed. “And what’s on them?”
“I had Kari print some up.” Yugi joked,
“With things like, name, date of birth, gender, powers, magical items, date of
planned assault, location of planned attack, you know, the normal.”
Harry couldn’t help the laughter that
escaped. “How is any of that normal?” He managed to gasp, when he paused to
catch his breath.
“Normal
for us.” Yugi pointed out.
Harry just snorted his amusement. “How much
does she charge per form?” He asked, making Yugi grin.
“Fifty Yen a copy.” Yugi played along, sitting
up, “You get a 20% discount if you order more then a hundred.”
“Fifty Yen?” Harry asked, “Any idea how
many sickles that is?”
“I don’t even think it translates to one.”
Yugi replied, trying to remember the conversion rate at Gringotts.
“I might ask her to print a few copies for
me too, then.” Harry nodded.
Then the two dissolved into laughter again.
This was much better then yesterday, when
Yugi had been drifting in and out of consciousness the entire time and unable
to hold a conversation.
“I bet Kaiba could do with a few too.” Yugi
added, setting Harry off again which unfortunately attracted the wrath of a
certain Mediwitch who told them they were supposed to be resting and she’d make
sure they were if they didn’t keep the noise down.
Yugi looked kind of disappointed, but
settled down, falling asleep again before long, leaving Harry to tuck into a
book that Kari had let him borrow about elves. He wasn’t sure he really liked
it, but it beat counting the rafters for the thirty second time and he wasn’t
going to complain.
