Sorry about the vague Dumbledore explaining bit here. I didn't have the book with me, so I couldn't look up some of the more important details and had to do it from memory. Seeing as I haven't read the book since I started this story I think I did fairly well.

Chapter 36: Home?

As the last of the human magic cleared from his senses Yami dropped away from Harry and congealed himself in a nearby corner. He was still tired and despite Ryou's energising spell Yami could see that Harry was as well.

They were in the old wizard's office and that damned phoenix was there. Yami summon up as much strength as he could. Then he caught Yugi looking at him. What the hell, he was too tired to be bothered anyway. Besides it was about time that the students remembered what it was like for him to be here.

"Yami wait." Harry's voice held an irritating note of pleading. "Please can you stay, Professor Dumbledore wanted to tell me something and I think you should hear it."

Yami moaned softly, but once again Yugi's eyes begged him and he was too weak to resist. He slunk back to his corner. The phoenix was watching him untrustingly so he glared at it. They began to wait and after a few silent minutes all the darkings that Yami had called on as the distraction appeared and filled up the room.

Harry was staring around at them as they clambered at Yami for congratulations on a job well done. Yami gave it grudgingly and told them to go back to the forest. They did so willingly. He would have to deal with them all later, when he had enough strength to repay them for their help.

"What are they?" Harry asked. Yami spared a glare for him too, irritating human.

/Yami/ Yugi's mind voice managed to put a great deal of insistence into one word.

"They are darkings and if I tell you anymore I am breaking the laws of my own people."

Harry looked a little disbelieving, "Shades have laws, who upholds them? You can't even stand the sight of one and other."

Yami growled. He wanted to rest and this human was asking questions? "The knowledge of our laws is inborn. If we break them we punish ourselves."

Harry stared, "Like House Elves, who makes you do that?" He sounded indignant, fool.

"If we did not hold true to our laws then we would wipe ourselves out. The Shadows Laws are final, we do not question them, now be quiet so I can rest."

Harry sat down and Yugi settled on his lap. /You could be a little nicer, he is just curious./

/I'm tired Yugi, I don't want to answer questions or listen to explanations right now and I doubt that Harry does either./

/It is going to be important./

Yami threw a very quick glance over at his calm bond-mate. Surely he hadn't inherited his father's foresight as well as his mothers healing ability? How much power could one child hold?

Yami decided that that was a question for another time, when he was awake and had several peaceful months to think about it.

They waited in silence for several more long minutes before Dumbledore arrived. The wizard looked at Harry and then his eyes wandered around the room. Yami was interested to notice that this time the wizard seemed to have trouble spotting him. After a mental poke from Yugi, Yami drew his shadows together. Yami covered his shadows with the thinnest layer of spells that he could manage, prayed his strength would hold out and leant against a nearby desk. He set his face to unfriendly.

Dumbledore studied Yami silently for a few moments then he nodded and turned to Harry. "I certainly owe you an explanation Harry." He said sadly and settled in his chair. Yami looked at Harry without turning his head. The boy felt no anger. It was gone he was simply tired. Ryou's temporary healing spell was wearing off and without the intoxicating magic that lived in the forests around elfin villages, the human was having trouble comprehending anything.

Yami decided that if he was here until Harry was done then he would push things along a little. "Get on with it human, we are tired." It was a royal 'we', himself, Yugi and Harry. The elf just tired from worrying and being away from his parent. That concerned Yami the most.

Dumbledore nodded and began to talk. Yami didn't listen past the first few words. He really couldn't get his mind to concentrate on the human language so he had Yugi tell him the general gist of the conversation. The elfin child had become very good at condensing and re-explaining things to him. Something that Yami was very glad of.

Apparently a prophecy had been made about Voldemort and Harry, which told that Voldemort would give Harry some power and in turn Harry was the only one who could kill him. Something along the lines of neither could live while the other survived. Yami liked that, it had a nice ring to it. However it was concerning. Prophecies were powerful magic and if it claimed that Harry had to be the one to kill the non-human then Yami would not be able to do it for him.

Dumbledore then went on to talk about how he had resisted telling Harry because he had not wanted to burden him with it, but now he could see that Harry was strong enough. Yami rolled his eyes at that. The human was a parent to an elf, companion to a Shade and had defeated the non-human more times than most people had survived encounters with him. Harry had been ready for this for a long time.

Dumbledore had stopped talking and he and Harry were looking at each other in one of those moments of complete understanding that sometimes seemed to pass between humans. Yami couldn't even begin to understand how that worked. Yugi gave him an affectionate smile over Harry's shoulder as he was carried from the room. Yami turned to go with them. "Yami please wait a moment." Dumbledore called.

Yami opened his mouth to snarl at the human before Yugi stopped him cold and begged him to talk to the man. Yami satisfied himself with a low growl and waited until Harry had closed the door behind him. The wizard studied him for a moment. "I have a few questions for you if you do not mind answering them?"

"I mind, but that does not matter make this quick." Yami snapped, the phoenix lifted its wings in response to his tone. With a supreme effort Yami ignored him.

"I assume that you wish to return to Privet Drive with Harry and Yugi."

"You assume correctly human, what of it?"

"I merely wished to be sure before I removed the anti-Shade spells to allow you to cross there. I am grateful that you are protecting Harry for me."

"You have nothing to do with it human, Harry has little to do with it. I protect him because Yugi's life is tied to his. There is no other reason." Yami took a step towards the door, but the human asked another question.

"Years ago I suspected that Voldemort was using a darker power for a time, would you know anything about that?" Yami glanced up. This was treading dangerous ground, the Shades barely admitted to their part in the dealing with the non-human.

Yami had a quick argument with himself before deciding that an explanation was probably best. "Years ago the human you call Voldemort managed to ally himself with several Shades. At the time we did not know that he wished us to work together under his command. When we found out we abandoned him and his plans. No Shade will work with him again, most will kill him on sight. If that is what you are worried about."

Dumbledore nodded. "I was concerned. However, to have creatures as strong as yourself working, perhaps not with us, but with the same purpose as the magical population is reassuring."

"Fine. Do not remove the spells upon Harry's home until I have left here. I do not wish to fight off another Shade in order to secure Yugi's new home." Yami turned and released his human form. Dumbledore didn't call to him, so Yami made his way towards the common room. The strange sensations of relaxation and calm were not enriching, but Yugi was there and the elf's warm presence began the flow of energy into Yami's shadows. He curled up in his corner and settled down to rest.

Yami rested for several days before he was up to moving again. His innate spells had brought in enough fearful energy to supplement the strength he got from Yugi's light.

After he was up the atmosphere had become lighter, but Yami didn't mind. He stayed away from the human children, preferring to remain in the forest with the darkings or follow Yugi around. Harry seemed depressed, that was all Yami noticed. Yugi informed him that Harry was upset about the death of his parent. Harry talked to a few people about it, but nothing seemed to comfort him properly. Even Yugi's gentle assurances that Harry would see him again someday did little to improve his mood.

This annoyed Yami to no end. Yugi was upset and when Yugi got upset, Yami got grumpy. Finally Yami dragged the moping human into an unused classroom and sat him on a chair, rather forcefully. As Yami turned his flashing eyes on Harry the human flinched. Yami allowed himself a little pleasure at that, Harry may not fear Shades as he should, but a good glare would still get him.

"If you will believe no one else then believe me human, your moping will do no good. Nothing short of an elfin Death Walker will return your parent to you. However one day soon you will pass through the Veil of Shadows and rejoin him. All I ask is that you last out until Yugi can survive on his own." Yami narrowed his eyes at him and to his surprise Harry gave a faint smile. "Sorry, but it is nice to know you care Yami. Um, what was that Veil. You said it was something that made Shades?"

Yami shivered, he had been trying not to think about the Veil. "It doesn't create Shades. The Veil is a human fabrication, an attempt at magic which has opened the way into the shadows which are at the very core of all Shades. It is human magic, so I cannot explain exactly what it is.'

Harry nodded. "Are you sure..." Yami cut him off with a growl.

Yugi climbed onto Harry's lap and hugged him, sending a slightly frosty look back at Yami. "We are still here Harry, and Yami is right you will see Sirius again soon."

Yami just looked at the two of them and gave up. What did he care anyhow?

The Shade took off and went back to the forest, at least darkings made sense.

OOOOOOOO
OOOOOO
OOOO

Harry stepped off the Hogwarts Express. Yugi toddled along next to him, his huge eyes trying to take in everything at once. Yami stepped off the train in human form. The Shade had alternated between human form and shadow form during the train ride, depending on who was in their compartment. The colouring spells were in place because no one had been told of a Shades presence at Hogwarts. Not even the teachers, other than those who were members of the Order.

Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Mr and Mrs Weasley met them at the station. Each one of them looked warily at Yami, but said nothing. Yami looked smug, so Harry supposed that they were more unnerved by him than they showed.

Apparently Dumbledore had been playing with the anti-Shade spells everywhere, because so far Yami had met with no resistance. Even if he did, Harry had had Hermione teach him the spell she had used to remove the spells around the Ministry. At least then he could offer Yami the chance to move around as he wanted to.

Harry could see that the Order were less than impressed with Harry's new guard, but Dumbledore's word counted for a lot and the fact that the Shade had helped at the Ministry added a few more points. Not that Yami cared; in fact he barely seemed to notice the other humans.

His attention was focused on keeping Yugi within arm's reach. The elf seemed fascinated by the railway station and was trying to be everywhere at once. Harry didn't bother keeping an eye on him as Harry lifted his trunk up onto one of the trolleys. Yami was easily the best babysitter known to mankind, nothing would happen to the tiny elf while the Shade was watching over him.

Harry concentrated instead on thinking about how he was going to explain coming home from Wizarding School with a small beautiful child and a living shadow to his obsessively anti-magic aunt and uncle.

Everyone had suggested ways of telling them. Neville's comment had received the best response. "He's a Shade, just set him loose." Admittedly it was a comforting thought, his aunt and uncle wouldn't be able to mistreat Harry this summer.

After a great deal of discussion Yami had finally made a decision that he would not reveal himself to Harry's relatives at all, at least that way Harry only had to explain Yugi.

Harry finally glanced up to see Yami carrying Yugi back towards him. Yugi was wriggling around in the Shade's death grip still trying to see everything that was happening. The slightly hassled look on Yami's face would have been funny if he had been anyone else. Even Hermione and Ron looked like they were trying rather hard not to laugh.

Yami set Yugi on the top of the trolley where Harry could keep an eye on him without impeding the elf's view. Yami followed after Harry as they headed for the barrier into the muggle part of King's Cross Station. Harry glanced back at Yami. "You aren't going to freak out too many muggles are you?"

Yami just glared at him, then they stepped through the barrier. Once Harry cleared the barrier with Yugi giggling loudly as the magic tickled him, he noticed that Yami's sleek deadly figure was gone, replaced once again with the familiar discrete shadows. Harry watched in fascination as they moved through the crowds. Yami was careful not to run into too many humans, though when he did Harry noticed an interesting difference between the reactions of those wizards he ran through and the muggles. The wizards would start and look around; surprised by the sensation of walking through very cold deep water; while the muggles didn't even seem to notice anything.

The Weasley's and the other members of the Order called goodbye to Harry as he headed to where he knew that his uncle would be waiting to pick him up.

Harry realised just how much Dumbledore trusted Yami to watch over Harry's safety as they left. He was not even leaving someone to make sure that Harry made it back to Privet Drive safely, Yami was all he had. Admittedly Yami was all he really needed.

Harry finally caught sight of his Uncle Vernon, the man was hard to miss and headed over in his direction.

The first thing Harry's uncles eyes settled on was Yugi. "What...how...where?" Uncle Vernon spluttered. Harry thought fast, he still hadn't thought of something that was really any good so he went with one of Hermione's suggestions, "He is a school project." Harry could tell that this wasn't going well by the shade of purple Uncle Vernon's face was turning.

"I am not having that thing in my house." He hissed. Yami's shadows which were now wound around Harry's ankles twitched in annoyance at Yugi being called a thing.

Before Harry could argue Yugi lifted his beautiful eyes and looked at Uncle Vernon sadly. Harry's uncle stopped and stared at the elfin child, he seemed dumbstruck.

After a few long moments he finally grunted, "Fine whatever, but it doesn't come out and no one else sees it understood."

Harry nodded quickly surprised, before Yami's voice laughed softly in his ear. Unheard by Harry's portly uncle who was now stuffing Harry's trunk into the car Yami murmured. "You of all people should know that no one argues with Yugi." Harry grinned and after buckling Yugi into the back with Yami curled into a tiny ball of nearly solid darkness next to him, he climbed into the front seat.

Summer was going to be fun.

HOORAY I have technically finished my first story. This was after all the first story that I started writing.

It may seem like a strange place to finish, but the next year will start from the summer holidays. Yes there is a sequel and it will be up in a few weeks, possibly as early as next week, depending on how quickly I can get my current assignments done. If things start to drag, PM me and kick me into gear.

So far the sequel is called 'The Path of Shadow's', but that may change.

For those of you who read this later, please leave a review I'd love to keep hearing about what people think about my story. Even in the middle after a chapter you liked.

Well until next time.