Chapter One: Holidays and Close Friends

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Remus' eyes flew open and he was panting heavily. That dream again . . . he had been having it for years now, ever since he had been bitten. His hand unconsciously went to the side of his torso. The bite had left a scar, but that was all. He was healed pretty well, but it was the after effects that really scarred him.

"Moony?" a tired voice asked from across the dormitory.

"Are you all right, Remus?"

He watched his friends sit up and rub the sleep from their eyes. It was the night before the beginning of the summer holidays of their fifth year at Hogwarts. Soon, they would be back on the train home and it would be a lonely summer again. James Potter, who had spoken first, looked at him.

"What's wrong, Moony?" he asked again.

"N-Nothing," Remus lied. "Just had a nightmare."

"A nightmare?" Sirius Black, the other speaker, repeated. "It's about . . . that isn't it? The nightmare, I mean."

Remus sighed. His friends knew him too well. His eyes went to the fourth member of their dormitory, Peter Pettigrew, who was still sleeping soundly. Remus was glad that Peter was a deep sleeper. He had always felt closer to Sirius and James and felt more comfortable telling them about his problems.

"Yeah," he breathed quietly, "it was about that again."

"It's two weeks until the next full moon," Sirius said. "Don't worry. We'll come to keep you company. Just . . . tell us when you dream something like this again, all right? It's good to talk."

The other boy smiled weakly. Yes, James and Sirius were great friends. Not that he was saying Peter was a bad friend. It was just that the fourth member of their group was not much in the moral support department. With his condition, Remus needed a lot of moral support, a boost in confidence. Sirius and James, the two bighead egos of the school, provided him just that.

"Have you considered my invitation?" James asked brightly. He wanted to change the subject. "Mum said that I can invite two people over. Peter has to go to his grandparent's place for a family reunion, so that means I can invite you guys along. It'll be great!"

"Are you sure you don't want to invite Evans?" Sirius teased.

James blushed faintly and threw his pillow at the other teen, who was laughing. Remus smiled at their antics. They always made him feel better.

"Shaddup, Black!"

"Nah, mate, I'll be there," Sirius said.

"I'll come too," Remus added quietly. "I'll be alone otherwise. My parents and sister are going to France for the summer."

James had to sigh for his friend's misfortune. Every since Remus had been bitten by the werewolf, his family had practically excluded him from all activities. They rarely let him go on trips overseas with them, saying that he was a potential threat to the people there who didn't know of his condition, and he often had to spend the summer alone. Christmas he spent at Hogwarts with his friends.

"Moony, you should move in with my family," James said seriously. "At least you'll know that you'll have one of us with you when you transform over the summer."

He had made this proposition many times before, since they had discovered Remus' identity as a werewolf. He didn't like the fact that, when Remus' family had found that there was no cure for a werewolf bite, they had almost completely abandoned him. They still gave him financial support, yes, but it went no further.

"Thanks, James, but no thanks." It was the same answer every time.

"Think about though." Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Moony, think about it. It'll be better for you and we'd get to see each other more often during the holidays."

"Running away again are we?" Remus said bemusedly, quirking an eyebrow.

"Well obviously." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Try living with my excuse for family for a summer. Horrible, I tell you. I don't know why they insist I come home anyway, they'd be much happier acting as though Regulus was their only son."

The door to their dormitory opened and all three held their breaths. The outline of an adult came into view, but then went away again. It was too dark to see anything. When the footsteps died away, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought we'd be caught," Remus sighed.

"Yeah sure," James shrugged, "whatever."

"They're not gonna punish us for staying up."

"Go back to sleep, guys." Remus lay back down and pulled the covers up. "I'll see you in the morning."

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"Seto, stop frowning."

"I'm not."

"Don't lie, Seto. You're frowning, now stop it."

Seto Kaiba (A/N: I'm writing their names the Western way, because the majority of people reading this won't understand Japanese) sighed and followed his companion out of the train carriage. He had no idea why he had decided to come to England anyway.

"Come on Seto!"

He felt his companion, Ryou Bakura, tug him on the arm impatiently. There was a wide smile on the albino's face and his dark brown eyes were shining. Seto's blue eyes softened and the creases left his brow. The reason he had come all the way to England from Japan was because of Ryou, his best and only friend.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He ran fingers through his sable hair. "You need more patience, Ryou."

To be honest, Seto had never really been able to communicate with any of his peers before he had met Ryou. There was a barrier of sorts between him and the rest of the world. Maybe it was his money – owning a multi-billion dollar gaming company certainly got in the way of many things.

He had had a cold attitude to anyone he considered inferior, and he still did, but not as badly. Ryou had helped him loosen up over the years and he was now as dear to him as a brother. That was, especially after his younger brother, Mokuba, died from cancer last year. Ryou had stuck by him when everyone else just gave him sympathetic looks. And now Seto would do anything for Ryou.

"You have to see my father's collection," Ryou was saying brightly. "I swear, it's wonderful! Nothing compared to yours, of course, but it's his life's collection."

"Calm down, Ryou. You're getting hyperactive."

Seto had a passion for games, thus his gaming company. Ryou's father collected games, as did Ryou, and they had a huge, varying collection to almost rival Seto's. Or so Ryou told him. The CEO of KaibaCorp was still waiting for proof of the albino's claim.

Ryou stopped in his tracks and turned around to face him. His dark eyes were soft and warm. Seto blinked at him in confusion. Why had the smaller teen stopped all of a sudden?

"Thanks for coming Seto," Ryou said quietly and sincerely. "I really appreciate it. I mean, you must have had a lot of work to do . . ."

"Ryou," Seto sighed. He clasped the boy's shoulders. "I wanted to do this. You're my friend and I'll do anything for you. Understand?"

"Yes, all right." Ryou hugged him tightly. "Thanks."

"No problem. Anything for you."

Ryou was his reason for doing anything.

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Consequently, coming out of the same station, were the four Marauders. James was welcomed by his family with open arms, receiving many hugs and kisses from the female members. His father clapped him on the back and they shared a laugh.

Remus and Sirius looked on almost wistfully. Peter had long gone, having been picked up at the platform. The werewolf would never have a family who would 'risk' coming in physical contact with him. They always found an alternate way to communicate what they wanted without having to touch him. He hadn't felt the warmth of an embrace for five years.

"When will you guys be coming over?" James asked, coming over to join their group. Sirius shrugged, while Remus shook his head.

"Dunno."

"Remus Lupin?" a voice asked.

It was a teenager around their age, with thick, sable hair and sapphire blue eyes. Remus thought he looked oddly familiar, though he didn't remember when or where he had seen him before. At the boy's side was another, shorter and paler boy. He had pale, silvery hair with dark brown eyes. He would pass as an albino, Remus decided, if not for the eyes.

"Excuse me?" the first boy asked again. "You are Remus Lupin, right?"

"Yes I am," Remus said slowly.

"I'm Seto Kaiba," the brunette replied. "I recently had a business deal going on with your family."

"Oh . . . oh!" the werewolf nodded in recognition. "I remember you! You're the CEO of the biggest gaming company in Asia!"

"CEO?" Sirius and James chorused, whistling lowly. "At his age?"

The second newcomer laughed quietly, his brown eyes dancing.

"You always get that reaction, Seto," he said. Turning to them, he introduced himself with a bright smile. "I'm Ryou Bakura."

"Sirius Black."

"James Potter."

Remus eyed Ryou closely. "Is your father Yaten Bakura, the professor on archaeology?"

"He's not exactly a professor," Ryou admitted. "But he does work on archaeology."

"What's archy . . .?" Sirius and James asked.

"Archaeology," Remus sighed. "It's a way of finding out history by digging up objects that have been left by previous civilisations. I attended one of Professor Bakura's lectures once. It was very interesting, actually."

Seto regarded them curiously, suspicious.

"You have no idea what archaeology is?"

"Hey, we never studied stuff like this," Sirius protested. "And what can a Muggle like you . . ."

"Sirius," his friends reprimanded. "Shut up."

Ryou titled his head to the side in confusion. Sirius and James had to admit that he looked rather . . . cute like that. Almost as if he were a girl. They also noticed that he was standing rather close to Seto. But that would have been part of their imagination. Seto raised an eyebrow at the word 'Muggle', but dismissed it when Ryou tugged on his sleeve.

"We'll see you guys around someday," Ryou chirped. "Come on, Seto!"

"Coming, coming."

They left, Ryou latching onto Seto's arm one moment, then walking backwards the next. Remus thought they looked a bit like a couple on a date, but quickly brushed that thought aside. The world's youngest CEO couldn't possibly be gay. They were just good friends. But if he was, Remus didn't blame him. Ryou was rather attractive in a feminine way.

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Remus crumpled up the parchment with a smile. Trust Sirius to try and get away from home as soon as possible. The house was really quiet now, with his entire family gone overseas to France. He would be able to go soon.

But his mind wandered over to Seto Kaiba and Ryou Bakura. He had briefly seen Seto at a social evening at his place, when his parents had invited many guests. The CEO was fourteen then, which was two years ago. Remus remembered wishing that he was as good as Seto, as perfect and as smart. It was in the summer of his third year at Hogwarts.

Seto had definitely gotten taller and he looked maturer. He would say that Seto was withdrawn, but that wasn't so. He had shown little emotion when they first met, keeping small talk at a bare minimum, but today proved different. Seto had approached him first and he had started the small talk. And hadn't he shown emotion – affection – when talking to Ryou?

And Ryou Bakura puzzled him. The boy was the son of one of the best archaeologists in England, so he would have been raised here too. But he was with Seto Kaiba, a Japanese CEO, who would have obviously been raised in Japan. So how did that work? Did the boy live alone in Japan?

And Ryou reminded him of what he feared most – the moon. His father, Yaten, was tanned and stood out like the sun. Ryou was slim, pale and sweet. He was not like a normal teenage boy, which was the part that worried Remus the most. On the outside, he appeared to be a chirpy, happy teenager, but his eyes carried a trace of enigma, as if he were hiding something behind the warmth. He wondered if anyone else thought the same.

Chiding himself for thinking too much, Remus began his reply to James' letter on a new sheet of parchment.

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Seto knocked on the door connecting his and Ryou's rooms. A muffled 'just a second!' came through the wood, before a small crash. He winced when Ryou yelped in pain, but the boy soon came to the door, rubbing his arm painfully.

"Seto?" he asked, smiling despite his pain. "You want some company?"

"Yeah, please."

"Come in, then!" Ryou pulled him inside and closed the door behind him. "I'll always offer company to my best friend!"

But he knew that Seto only came because he needed someone to stay with him. The CEO appeared strong, but inside he was emotionally unstable. Ryou had discovered that early into their friendship and had tried his best to be with him at all times. Seto relied on him to be there, and vice versa. He had made this request for the albino to keep him company many times before and Ryou was more than happy to comply.

"Do you want to stay here tonight, or shall we just talk until you fall asleep?"

He half-hoped that Seto would choose to stay. He knew, however, that if the CEO did choose to stay, it was when he was the most dependent on him.

"I want to stay."

Ryou nodded happily, picking up the overturned chair near the door. Seto sat down on the bed and waited for Ryou to join him. The albino did so, still smiling.

"Are you tired?" he asked.

"Not really."

"Hungry?"

"We just ate."

"Thirsty?"

" . . . "

"Well . . . do you want to go to sleep then?"

"All right."

Ryou pulled back the covers and they both got in. They had done this many times before, enjoying the comforting feeling of each other's presence, nothing more. Many people thought they were dating because they were closer than normal friends, but both of them knew it was not so. They just happened to be able to make up for each other's weaknesses and faults with their good points.

"I miss Mokuba," Seto's voice said brokenly. Ryou's eyes grew saddened and he wrapped his arms around Seto's chest. "He used to always be here, wherever I went. I could always count on him to be there when I needed him."

Seto drew Ryou closer, clenching his eyes shut. Somehow, whenever he did this, he would always feel as if Mokuba was with him, in his arms. Ryou gave him the same feeling of security he had had with Mokuba and he welcomed it. Mokuba had been the dearest person to him in the world, his only family. He had trouble, at first, believing that he had gone. But Ryou filled in that gap.

"Sh, Seto . . ." Ryou whispered.

"If I lose you too, I think I might just die," Seto told him. "Don't go away like everyone else has. You'll stay, right?"

"Of course," Ryou promised. "Just – don't speak of death. Go to sleep, Seto."

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End Chapter One

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Author's Notes:

First chapter done! How did you like it? This is my first anime/book crossover. Well, except that LOTR/Fushigi Yuugi crossover that got absolutely NOWHERE. It's semi-AU, and OOC, but that's okay, right?

And I've heard people fret about how close friends can get physically. Who cares? Seto and Ryou, at this point, are close friends – very close, I'll grant, but friends nevertheless. There is nothing more than friendship in the last scene. Don't get dirty thoughts (yet).

Don't flame me if you didn't like it. I warned you about slash and OOC-ness. You have no basis to flame me on. I don't appreciate flames – constructive criticism, yes, but not flames. Also, I am not American, nor am I British. English is not my first language. I live in Australia, so my spelling may differ from yours.

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