Summary:

Hermione has a cousin who's a year older than her but things went wrong the year she first went to Hogwarts and she never saw him again. Until now.

Don't kill me! I have way to much crap in my head without tomatoes outside of it. Ryou is Hermione's cousin. There. Things will happen. Just read. (And there is no ownership here. Well, Bakura owns Ryou but we all know that. ^^)

It was the week before Christmas holidays and the Golden Trio of Hogwarts was relaxing in chairs by the fireplace. Hermione was reading as Harry and Ron played a game of chess. They're peaceful calm was soon interrupted as a brown owl started pecking at the window. Noticing no one else around Hermione let it in and was surprised when it landed on the sill holding its leg out to her with a letter. Surprised (as it was rare for her parents to send her an owl post as they always found it a little unnerving to have an owl make the trip), Hermione took the letter and opened it up.

Dear Hermione,

Hello. How have you been? Are your classes going well? We can't wait to see you next week when you get off the train. We have a special surprise this year as your cousin Ryou will be coming as well. You remember Ryou don't you dear? We were so surprised when we got a letter from him saying that he would be in England and was wondering if he could spend the holidays with us. Your uncle will not be coming though. We have to pick him up from the airport after we get you from the train so it'll be a long trip when you get back. I'm sorry for the short notice and hope you're doing well.

Love,

Mom & Dad

Hermione blinked at the letter. She hadn't even heard about Ryou since he disappeared sometime during her first year and now, 5 years later, he was going to be there for Christmas. Hermione slowly went back to her seat and sunk down worrying her lip and still staring at the letter held limply in her hand.

Harry looked up from the game as he could sense the futility as Ron was a few moves from check mating him. "Hermione, is something wrong?" He asked upon noticing her not reading a book for once – an unusual occurrence.

"My cousin is coming for the holidays…" Hermione replied worriedly. It had been so long since she'd seen her cousin and after all the strange events around him before his disappearance she wasn't sure about really seeing him again. She was happy he was alright since it had worried everyone when he'd disappeared and Uncle Haru would say nothing about where he was but it would be so different. Well, it always had been since Auntie and her cousin Amane had died.

"And, what's so big about that?" Ron asked as he moved another piece. He could get check mate in two more moves.

Hermione put down her letter down carefully and smoothed out her skirt. "My cousin disappeared during our first year here and no one has heard anything from him since. We didn't even know that he was alive…" Hermione finished in a sort of awe as it set in what it really meant. Her cousin was alive, and safe, and she was going to see him.

Harry put a hand on her shoulder "Sounds tough." before moving a piece on the board which Ron immediately responded to. "Did you find out where he was?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. The letter just says that we have to pick him up from the airport on the way home." Hermione frowned. Where had her uncle sent him all these years? And why come back now?

Harry made a move on the board. "Well isn't this good? You haven't seen him in a long time." Ron moved into check mate and they shook hands over the game.

"It is… but there were some events going on before his disappearance…" Hermione struggled with herself and how much she should tell them about the incidents before deciding that there was no reason to hide it from them. "My cousins Ryou and Amane and I always used to play together as we lived down the street from each other and all. Then, in February the year before I got my letter they got in a car accident. Ryou was the only one to survive and then weird things started happening around him. Well, weird things had been happening before but it was more common after the accident. Ryou was always really sweet and couldn't kill a fly but whenever his friends came over… I only saw it once and Ryou looked really freaked out and was shaking in the corner but all his friends were lying around a game board looking lifeless. They almost looked like they had all been given the dementor's kiss. My Uncle blamed Ryou for my Aunt and cousin's deaths so after a few incidents had happened he took Ryou and they moved around a lot until mid-October when I received a letter that my uncle had apparently shipped Ryou off somewhere and he wouldn't tell anyone where."

"Creepy stuff mate." Ron said sinking back into his seat.

"A dementor's kiss Hermione? How could that be possible?" Harry asked thinking over what had been said.

"I mean, they were still alive but… they had no life. Like they lost they're souls. I don't know how because there certainly weren't any dementors around. Anyway," she said brushing the vile thoughts of the past away, "I'm just glad that he's alive and safe. I do wonder where he was all these years though." Hermione thought back on her older cousin. He was always sweet and gentle; almost like an angel, and his father always blamed him for Amane and Auntie's deaths. And then all the incidents and disappearing…

"Well if he's coming by plane doesn't that mean he was sent to another country?" Harry asked.

Hermione frowned, "I'm not sure, he could just be coming from the south; or maybe Scotland."

"What's a 'pane'?" Ron asked in lack his lack of muggle technology.

"An airplane Ronald." Hermione quickly corrected his mistake out of habit. "They allow muggles to fly long distances in a short amount of time."

"Muggles can fly? But they don't have broomsticks or anything."

"Ron," Harry jumped in amused by his friends ignorance. "they use technology. Muggles built planes to get them from place to place faster."

Ron shook his head and gave up knowing that no matter what his two best friends said he wasn't ever going to understand muggle technology. "I give up, mate."

Harry laughed a little at his friend's expense. "So, what are you two doing for the holidays?" Hermione asked in her usual brisk tone stressful thoughts about her cousin gone for the moment.

"I'm going to spend the holidays with Ron at the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley insisted." Harry answered for them followed by a nod from Ron.

Hermione herself nodded. "Well that's all well and good, now. Did you two finish your essay for charms?" Ron groaned and Harry secretly delighted in the utter normalcy of the question. "But Hermione, who wants to write a seven inch essay on the pros and cons of a blasting hex vs. a cannon charm?" The golden trio returned to their normal evening in their last week at Hogwarts before the break.

~Ryou's POV~

Here he was, standing around the arrivals block at the airport waiting for his Aunt and Uncle to pick him up. Ryou was even more annoyed that he had to be picked up from here. He had already spent the last two and a half weeks going around England to give his one time friends back their souls but the spirit had insisted that it would be suspicious if he just turned up on their doorstep and getting picked up from the airport from a flight he had never taken in the first place to get there was the best option. Ryou sighed as he watched several more people come and go before walking off. Maybe his Aunt and Uncle were somewhere else around here. He wandered back towards the door where most new arrivals left the airport and there they were, his cousin Hermione was there as well. They were looking around nervously and holding up a sign with his name written in English; it had been a while since he'd seen it that way.

He slowly approached them and cleared his throat. "Ryou!" Hermione called in surprise before leaping over to hug him. She might not be one to show a lot of affection but it was her cousin who'd gone missing for 5 years. She quickly pulled back and blushed slightly in embarrassment. "It's good to see you."

"It is." His Uncle stated turning to head for the car with a silent agreement from everyone. "So," his Aunt started, "where have you been these past few years?" The question was a surprise to Ryou and it clearly showed on his face.

"My father never told you?" he asked in disbelief before shaking it off. /Your father's an asshole and probably didn't want you near any of your family. / Bakura shot out and Ryou could only agree, not entirely on the asshole part, but the part about not wanting him around at all so besides the one slip he acted as if it didn't bother him. "I was in Japan. I always wondered why I never got any letters from you."

They all looked slightly shocked that he had been sent so far away. "Are you fluent in Japanese?" Hermione asked curiosity getting to her. Ryou raised an eyebrow before replying in his most frequent tongue. "Hai, I speak perfectly fluent Japanese."

They all gave him slight looks so he explained, "I just said yes, I speak Japanese." as his Aunt unlocked the trunk for him. Peering inside he found a trunk occupying most of the space in there. He raised an eyebrow which Hermione caught. "You remember the boarding school I was going to?" Ryou nodded his head so she continued. "Well I was also accepted into the high school division so I was picked up from the train right before we came to get you." Ryou's suitcase was placed besides Hermione's trunk and the back door was opened for him and Hermione.

"So what was Japan like?" his Uncle (Phil, Ryou reminded himself) asked.

Ryou thought back to all that had happened there and decided it would be better to just focus on the place itself. "It's beautiful. Very calm, and peaceful," /Not like I ever let you enjoy that. / "lots of advanced technology, and I lived in Domino, Japan which is the center of the Duel Monsters universe to all diehard fans. I've even competed in a few contests myself." /I competed. / Bakura corrected but feeling testy Ryou shot back; /And I'm just as good as you! /

"Really? It sounds lovely." His Aunt Terra said kindly. "What's duel monsters?" /Figures they wouldn't know. /

/Shh, you. / "It's a strategy game with cards. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it as it never really caught on here in England."

"You said you competed in some tournaments." Uncle Phil restated and Ryou noted that they were on the highway already. "Where do you usually place in these tournaments?"

Ryou fidgeted not liking to boast his position but he hated lying more /Why wouldn't you like to boast? I boasted all the time when I was the King of Thieves. / so he decided to just get on with it. "I'm the 5th best dueslist world wide." Ryou blushed a little before shooting a comment back at his dark. /I'm not you and aren't you having a meeting with that Evil Lord Voldetrort or something? /

Hermione started staring at him her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. 'World wide?' she mouthed and Ryou simply nodded. /I am but it's very boring. I think I'll have them cause some destruction. / Ryou could sense the smirk as the link was cut off. "Well, that's," Phil inserted a cough, "quite impressive. Hermione is at the top of her entire school. Head of all her classes." He stated proudly not wanting his daughter to be outdone. Ryou was technically his nephew but it was his wife's sister, Livia, who was Ryou's mother so they had no real blood relation.

The topic of conversation turned to his friends from Japan so he told them all about Yugi, Jou, Anzu, and Honda. He brought up Kaiba a few times to but mainly talked about the rivalry between him and Yugi. He also brought up Malik and the time he'd gone to visit him in Egypt. That had been a terrible trip; well, part of it. They were exploring one of the caves when the rod lit up and Malik started freaking out. It was later revealed that Marik (as they had finally dubbed the spirit of the Millennium Rod) had found his way back and was now thoroughly glued to Malik. It was a little cute in a way. Kinda shows you how twisted Ryou's life has become if murdering, evil spirits following around your best friend is 'cute'.

They arrived at Hermione's house in Winndleberg (1) in about a half hour so Ryou had just finished telling about how he met Malik. A much edited version of how he met Malik. In this version Malik had almost hit Ryou with his motorcycle and while diving out of the way Ryou had scratched his arm up so Malik took him to the hospital and not long after that they became friends. It's not like none of that happened, it just hadn't been how they met: or as if he'd been present for most of it.

Phil Granger pulled up to a house in the suburbs that matched all the others but with a little windmill near the mailbox and a porch swing made of polyester so it was always cool when you sat on it. Well, almost always. They pulled up to the garage and Ryou had to go around the back of the car (he grabbed his suitcase) and all the way back to the front by the driver's door to go in the door at the side of the garage. He entered into a small hallway which had two doors in it, both open. The one on the end was a laundry room he knew from the pile of clothes and the sink and the one half way down the hall on the opposite side was a bathroom. Ryou took this all in a second before going right down the hallway where he entered a clean and crisp kitchen. Ryou stepped out of the way so that Hermione, who was behind him and the last one into the house, through.

Hermione took one step into the kitchen before pausing to smile brightly. She was home. After giving herself her moment of utter content-ness she turned to Ryou, "You'll be using the guest room I suppose. Do you remember where it is?" Ryou nodded his head. It was across the hall from Hermione's room; they used to make forts in there. Hermione nodded back before heading towards the stairs and up to her room.

Ryou waited a moment before following. He remembered his way around but it was different. The décor had changed, Hermione had obviously changed, and there was no Amane. It was going to be a little hard being back here; so close to when things had been normal. Ryou felt Bakura's consciousness settle into the back of his mind as he walked up the stairs to see Hermione enter her room on the left while he went to the one on the right. The room was like most guest rooms. Brown, gender neutral sheets, light curtains, a wooden dresser, and a bedside table with a clock.

Ryou set about the task of putting his clothes in the dresser and storing the many knives Bakura had packed for him around the room. /Didn't you go a little overboard? / Ryou asked as he stuck a thin one into the side of the mattress by the base. /Not at all. I just brought a few of my favorites. / Ryou pulled out a short sword and the custom sheath that strapped to his leg. /You packed enough weapons for me to go to war. / He took the short sword and stuck it onto the back of the closet door. Ryou decided not to search the rest of the suitcase for the other 20 or so blades he knew would be there.

/Well I am involved in one and I do expect you to join me after the holidays. By the way, your Christmas present is at the bottom of your suitcase. Ryou flipped over his empty suitcase not having to question what Bakura meant by the bottom. Looking at the edge Ryou found the false stitches and tore them open via a pocket knife he kept, appropriately, in his pocket. Inside was an old photo of Ryou, Amane, Hermione, and all their parents at the park having fun. Ryou thought he had lost it in a move from Hokkaido to Kyoto (he had been forced to move around in Japan as well for the first 3 years) and was shocked to see it. /T-thank you Kura. Thank you. / Ryou said letting all the good feelings the picture brought him flow through the link. Who knew where Bakura had found it again.

Ryou also found a frame of gold with slight leaf designs wrapped in some paper inside the false bottom. He gently placed the photo inside before hugging the whole gift to his chest and that was how Hermione found him. Hermione had changed into a deep green sweater and a knee length blue/purple plaid skirt and opened the door to see Ryou clutching something to his chest and a small, sad but joyful smile on his face. She stared for a minute before she decided that it was rude to just watch so she made her presence known. "Ryou?" she asked quietly trying not to startle him and failing as he jumped up and reached for his pocket. "Oh, Hermione." He said calming down and putting the hand that had the photo to his chest again the other one still in his pocket. "Sorry, I was just lost in thought."

"About?" Hermione walked in noticing her cousin's soft features all over again. His doe brown eyes were wide and startled but morphed into a sad and peaceful look as he considered her question. His lips were a small smile and his soft white hair flowed down to past his shoulder blades making him look rather feminine. Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed and Ryou took a seat next to her showing her the photo. "I was just thinking about old times and how much I miss them." Ryou said softly.

Hermione ran her hand down the front. "I miss them to." She said after a minute her hand having lingered over Amane's image. Ryou took the photo and placed it on his bedside table almost reverently as if it was a precious gift; and to him, it was.

"We should probably go down to dinner." Ryou said with a soft smile and grabbed Hermione's hand as they left the room. They came down to see Hermione's mother draining some pasta in the sink. "Ah, you're just in time for dinner dears. Hermione, would you set the table?" Hermione went to do as she was asked and Ryou followed her to help. Dinner passed in polite conversations about Hermione's school and nothing that interesting came up except for one subject. "So, Hermione, who's your new math teacher?" Her father asked.

"It's a person from the ministry, Ms. Umbridge. She's absolutely a horror. She thinks that if we read about the theory enough we'll all understand but she doesn't allow us to practice at all so Harry and I set up a study group where we all practice together."

"That sounds great Hermione." Her mother cooed. "It's always nice to see you taking your studies seriously when you're there." Ryou wouldn't have paid any special attention except that Hermione's left fist tightened when she spoke about the study group; a habit she had whenever she lied. Bakura had been unusually quiet throughout the meal and after dinner Ryou excused himself to go to his room.

/Kura? What is it? / Ryou didn't add why he was worried as Bakura could already tell. He always knew. He was a bit shocked by the answer. /Did you know your cousin is a witch? /

/Is that why she felt a bit strange? / Ryou asked thinking of how when he stood next to her he wanted to reach out to the shadows. /Yeah. You wouldn't recognize it but I've been around these wizards for a couple of days and they all feel that way. / Ryou searched through his mind seeing if he could put the feeling into words. /As if there's a little prickly cloud around them? / Bakura chuckled at the comparison. /Sure. Now, / Ryou felt the pull towards his soul room so he quickly shut the door and climbed under the covers figuring he wouldn't be back that night. Letting himself slip from his body he found himself pushed backwards onto a feather soft bed in his own soul room where Bakura had waited for him.

"Now that we've established that your cousin is a witch, let's talk." Ryou simply nodded his head and closed his eyes. He could feel Bakura crawl on top of him low enough that Ryou could feel all Bakura's movements through their clothes. Ryou took a deep breath inflating himself upwards to bring them a little closer and Bakura moved down with the breath since they were almost nose to nose at this point. "Naughty Ryou. We're supposed to be talking." Bakura whispered huskily into his ear.

Ryou shivered a bit at the proximity and the tone but kept his mind. "I don't have anything to say." Bakura put some slight pressure on his hips arousing Ryou who worked hard to hold back a moan. "So what about the Evil Lord? Anything interesting happen?" Bakura frowned as his attempt at seduction failed so he dropped himself promptly on top of Ryou and started playing with Ryou's bangs.

"He was very boring. All this talk about 'Pure Blood' and the such. There was also a whole rant about how he's going to destroy this kid named Harry Potter who apparently was the only one who could stop him so that was a bit interesting except that it went on so long. There was also the regular evil agenda, seeing who killed who and the such, but I've agreed to stay and work with them. It's interesting at the least and you'll be happy that I'm mostly out of trouble."

Ryou was melting at the smooth voice of his Yami and the soothing fingers through the shortest part of his hair. "You never stay out of trouble Kura." Ryou mumbled to content to form a full answer. He cracked open an eye, "And when you say Harry Potter do you mean my cousin's friend?" Ryou recalled when Hermione had spoken about the study group they had made.

"Yup, the very same." Bakura stopped playing with his hair deciding that enough serious talk had been taken care of and he had to prove Ryou right about something. "Now what was that about me never keeping out of trouble?" Ryou wanted to roll over so Bakura complied with his lighter half propping himself up on Bakura's chest with his elbows. "I mean that everywhere you go you find the worst guy around and side with him just so you can get some entertainment and when you're not doing that you're trying to take over the world yourself, stealing, or doing some other misdeed. And in the case you're doing none of the above, you're trying to get me to have sex with you."

Ryou raised an eyebrow at his sound argument and Bakura just smirked. "I knew there was a reason you were more than just a sex toy." He flipped them over and Ryou leaned up to kiss him: that was as close as Bakura ever got to saying he loved him. Bakura quickly took advantage of this position and went to ravage Ryou's mouth soundly.

Bakura's roving hands quickly found their way under Ryou's shirt which swiftly found itself discarded on the floor. Ryou leaned into every touch and joined into the effort of removing clothing from their bodies. Their bodies bared, Bakura took another chance to look at his angel, his Ryou. Bakura was most certainly possessive and Ryou was the best treasure he had ever procured as far as he was concerned. He smirked and Ryou smiled back up at him. Now time for business.

Bakura lent down and attached himself to Ryou's neck making sure his breath went to the back of Ryou's neck expertly tingling the purer ones senses. His hands went down the other's sides and roughly grabbed the hips jerking them towards his own hard erection. "Mine." He growled in Ryou's ear and Ryou just moaned in agreement.

Ryou himself wanted to pleasure the other so he took a moment to grab onto Bakura's strong shoulders and slide himself down a bit so he could nibble at an already erect nipple. Bakura let Ryou continue to draw warm patterns that were instantly cooled by the air across his chest and soon, lower towards his stomach before he decided enough of that had been going on. He roughly pushed Ryou back onto the bed and properly straddled his hips. He ravaged Ryou mouth one more time before putting three fingers in front of Ryou's mouth who obediently started sucking on them and bobbing his head back and forth knowing the movement always drove his yami crazy.

Sure that the fingers were coated enough Bakura retracted them and placed Ryou's legs on either of his shoulders slowly ghosting his fingers down Ryou's body before circling around the base earning a mewl from the lighter. "Kura…" the whisper was so husky the darker one had trouble not entering him right then so instead he entered two fingers at once determined to be fucking as soon as possible.

He started scissoring the two fingers ignoring the grunt of pain Ryou had given at the first entry being so rough. Bakura had barely gotten Ryou sufficiently stretched out with two fingers when he started on the third bending over and occupying Ryou's mouth so the latter barely noticed as he was stretched further. Almost simultaneously Bakura retracted his fingers and his mouth leaving Ryou to whimper at the loss of feeling but he knew what was coming.

Bakura kneeled up high letting Ryou's legs slip from his shoulders as the younger sat up himself. He moved his legs behind himself and crawled over to engulf the other's member. Ryou expertly nipped and sucked at the hard cock almost forcing Bakura over the edge right then if not for his self control. Bakura growled/moaned at the ministrations of his hikari before Ryou deep throated him just once before retracted his head and leaning backwards onto the bed giving Bakura a full view of Ryou sweaty, slightly out of breath, and oh so take-able.

Covering the smaller's form with his own he positioned himself already dripping over Ryou's entrance. Kissing him swiftly one more time he entered Ryou before the saliva could dry too much. Ryou gasped at the pain so Bakura just dived deeper into his throat and soothingly stroked his hair. "Shh… Ryou. It's not going to hurt for long koi." He whispered soothingly waiting for Ryou to adjust. Usually this was all faster but traveling all over the country the past two weeks never left them much time for this plus excessive use of shadow magic to restore all the souls to their rightful vessels was exhausting.

Ryou shifted his hips letting Bakura know that he was ready so after another swift kiss Bakura retracted almost all the way before slamming back into him earning a gasp of mixed pleasure and pain. Setting a rhythm Ryou was quickly reduced to a puddle of moans and whimpers as he through his head back and forth on the bed. "Kura… faster…Ah… more… oh G-d please…"

Seeing Ryou writhe before him just egged Bakura on and his speed increased along with his impossibly hard hard-on. Nearing his climax he almost ceremoniously bit just below the collar bone for two reasons. One, to stop from moaning, and two, to taste Ryou's delicious blood. Ryou gave a last big gasp before moaning out, "Bakura!" and his muscles clamping down all around Bakura sent him over the edge of bliss as well.

They both lay panting for a moment before Bakura removes his member and kisses Ryou gently. Ryou gently opened his eyes to connect with bloody brown and whispering a quick "I love you." to Bakura who's only reply was as "Of course." that wasn't laced with pride but love. After all, he would never actually say it.

"Mmm… Kura, where are we going to meet up after the holidays?" Ryou asked as they rolled towards the side, Bakura pulling Ryou close. Bakura stroked Ryou's hair. "Hmm, I'm think I'll see you before that…"

Ryou raised his head up questioningly. "What do you mean by that?" Bakura chuckled and an almost evil smirk covering his face. "I was just thinking I might come visit before then… and bring some friends…" Ryou frowned at the implications of that sentence. "Kura, you are not going to attack my cousin's town."

"On the contrary, everyone already agreed to it at the meeting earlier." Ryou just shook his head in false disbelief. "And you didn't think to mention this before? Why do I bother…" he muttered before asking the only question that would really matter in this situation. "When are they coming?"

Bakura smirked at Ryou's intelligence. "The 27th." Ryou's head shot up. "The 27th? But that's in less than a week!" Bakura just shrugged before bringing his hikari back down and close to him. With a last mummer of "Why do I honestly bother?" Ryou drifted off to sleep and Bakura summoned a sheet out of nowhere to cover them.

Yeah, it's short. T^T I'm sorry! It was just such an… ending! Waah! Sorry! The rest should be the right length though! . (I hope…) Go away! Ahh! It's pessimism! That stupid voice in your head that says you can't do things! NOOOO! .

Btw, I have a full plot for once. Story should be about 50 chapters judging from what I have…