This is a Harry Potter/Yu-Gi-Oh crossover inspired by "King's Jackal" by esama. I have reached out to esama and received permission from her to use aspects of that story in this one. Therefore you will see similar concepts. While I know this one won't be as epic as hers, I do hope you enjoy it. If you haven't read her stories, they can be found on AO3.

Disclaimer: I do not own HP or YGO. Some concepts used within are borrowed with permission from esama.

Warnings: SLASH! Ryou/Bakura, Yugi/Atem, Malik/Marik pairings. At this point Harry has no pairing, too young. Maybe Seto/Isis, haven't decided.

Beta: Bicky Monster (Thank you Bicky!)

Shadow's Ward

"Now remember, boy, you are to order the cheapest thing on the menu to eat and to stay quiet! I can't believe that there wasn't anyone to mind you tonight."

Ryou looked over at the source of the shrill voice and watched as a family was escorted to their seats at the restaurant they were in. There was an older man, who could do with a massive exercise program; a skinny woman, who looked to have stepped out of 1950s America; a young boy, who took after the man in body shape; as well as a small boy wearing clothing way too big on him. The first three were blondes, while the last boy had dark black hair, from what Ryou could tell.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

Ryou could barely hear the reply that the small dark-haired boy gave, despite the fact that it was said right next to him as the family was led to a table near the one he was sat at. The boy was shuffling behind the other three, trying to make himself look smaller.

"Bakura, is it just me or…" Ryou said as he looked over at his dinner companion. The two of them had flown to London to visit Ryou's mother and sister's graves for the anniversary of their death.

This was actually the first trip, since getting his own body, which Bakura had come on. The last few trips had been done by Ryou alone. They couldn't stay long in London this time, unfortunately, as they would need to get back to Domino, Japan to help with the tournament that was being set up for summer by Kaiba Corporation and the Duelist Court.

"Yes, that boy has the potential," Bakura commented as he looked over at the family and sent a few strands of shadow magic to test the boy. If the dark-haired boy or the shadows reacted in any way then the Court would need to look into his situation more, especially with how young he seemed to be. Most Summoners were at least 16, considering the time when Shadow Magic returned to the world.

Curiously, Ryou and Bakura watched as the shadows that arose around the boy seemed to welcome Bakura's playfully. It was as if this was the first time the shadows had interacted with another user. The boy even looked at their table in shock before Bakura called the shadows back.

"A very high potential," Bakura remarked. "One that cannot be left alone. He should get training soon or he could lose the control he has."

As their meals were placed in front of them, they kept a close eye on the family, watching how they interacted with the child. Most of the time the family ignored the boy, who did his best to seem invisible. However, both the man and other boy seemed to show a great dislike for young child, in the form of punching from the bigger boy, and tight grips on the arm and harsh words by the large man. Threats of 'locked in the cupboard' and 'a few smacks to knock the freakiness out of you' were also overheard, mostly when the family thought that no one was paying attention. Ryou slid a black card from the pouch on his hip before Bakura's face could become angrier.

"Let's see if the Regent's recent tinkering with these did any good," Ryou mused as he laid it on the table between him and Bakura. On the face of the black card was a stylized white 'R', with the words 'work' and 'castle' underneath. Ryou tapped the card turning the 'R' blue.

"What do you want?" a voice coming from the card asked, once the 'R' turned green.

"Are the Kings with you?" Ryou politely answered, glad that the conversation was happening in Japanese.

"They are." Ryou could easily hear the disdain from the voice as another chuckled in the background.

"Bakura and I are currently sitting across from a family that has a very young boy with lots of potential. Current observations lead us to believe he is being abused if not outright neglected. We believe he should be made a ward of the Court and trained. The shadows are very receptive to him."

"We haven't ever had a ward before," a kind voice said over the line.

"Move to a new location where I can come through and assess what we are dealing with. You have five minutes." With that the 'R' changed back to white.

"For a Regent, his people skills could be better. I'll be right back," Ryou said as he stood and took the card from the table. He easily made his way back towards the entrance where he found a spot out of people's view near the maître d' stand. Bakura turned his attention back to the other table just in time to hear the man talk.

"They should disallow foreigners from these places. Hard working, decent people come here for peace after work and they allow riff raff to come in," the man ranted, being entirely unsubtle in the sideway glance towards the table where Bakura was still sat. "Just look at their hair! No normal person would ever dye their hair that color nor wear so much fake gold. He and his companion must be trouble. With their barbarian language and life choices, I bet they are a part of some new gang. I think you should find a new place, Petunia. Obviously the standards have decreased here."

Bakura felt a grin make its way across his face at the man's posturing. As if he, or anyone in the Court, would reduce themselves to fake gold. No, his arm bands, wrist bands, earrings, and necklaces were pure gold, crafted in Egypt. Everyone in the Court wore pieces crafted in Egypt in the Ancient Egyptian style from when the shadows were first contained. None of them would wear anything less.

Bakura barely contained a snarl when Ryou returned with more than just Seto Kaiba.

"Did you have to bring the Pharaoh and the shrimp with you?" he asked, but Yugi, used to such comments from Bakura, ignored him and instead took the seat the waiter offered. Seto and Atem sat down as well, making their table for two rather crowded.

"They'll just have tea," Ryou mentioned to the waiter as everyone finished settling.

"We wanted to see what was going on as well, Tomb Robber," Atem stated as he draped a leather clad arm over Yugi's shoulder, glancing at the table under question.

"Is that the boy?" Yugi asked as he looked over at the table, under the guise of glancing around the restaurant. Despite Bakura's displeasure regarding the current company, he laughed quietly to himself as the man across the way made his next statement.

"Look at that, Petunia," the man scoffed. "Now they have let in two dressed in leather, and with peculiar spikey multi-colored hair. And someone who doesn't understand that white suits are outdated and abnormal!"

"I bet the boy did something to ruin our evening out. Boy! Did you do any of your freakishness? It's the cupboard for you when we get home," Petunia harshly ground out.

"Yeah, Freak!" the larger of the two boys exclaimed and the group at the other table watched on in shock as the young, heavy-set boy punched the dark-haired child three times in the arm and side. Other patrons in the room started to glance over at the table at the commotion.

Atem sent out his own shadow tendrils to test the boy as he narrowed his eyes. Even if this boy had no connection to the shadows, he was sure that a call into the Police would not be amiss. Yugi gave a little squeal of glee when the boy's own shadows came out in welcome to Atem's, seeming to curl curiously around Atem's, versus the playfulness of earlier. Again, the boy glanced over at their table when the shadows touched.

"Regent, what actions can we take to gain custody of that boy?" Atem withdrew his shadows gently from the boy's, almost in a soft caress goodbye, as he turned to face the CEO.

"That will depend on that family's relation to the boy in question and how willing they are to let him go. I would suggest going to them tomorrow afternoon or evening after we have been able to gather more data," Seto said as he leaned back in his chair and picked up his newest Kaiba Corporation developed tablet. "I'll send word to Mokuba to have him start a search on the legal side of things and draw up the necessary paperwork to transfer guardianship of the boy. He'll also need to record this transaction for the Court."

Yugi drew out his deck and quietly summoned Kuribo. He would need a monster to follow the family when they left so that they could find them easily tomorrow; not that Kaiba's information network couldn't do it but it was always good to have a back-up.

"Kuribo, I need you to do me the favor of following that boy over there and do your best to cheer him up until you are dismissed tomorrow," Yugi said to the monster when it arrived in a swirl of shadow. With a nod of its furry body, Kuribo floated over to the boy and waved a paw. The boy's eyes widened in surprise and he reached out a hand to touch the shadow monster. Before the boy could though, the other child pushed him from his seat to the floor.

"We're going now, Freak. Stop delaying us," the large man grunted as he heaved himself out of his seat. "We hard working people have things to do and you have chores to finish. Lazy ungrateful boy." The man pushed his way past, after leaving only enough money to cover only the bill on the table, completely ignoring the disgusted looks he was getting from people all around them, staff and patrons alike.

Kuribo looked forlornly down at the boy as he pushed himself up. Waving good bye to the shadow monster, the boy started to follow his family before startling in surprise when Kuribo followed. With a shocked look at Ryou and Bakura's now crowded table and then back at Kuribo, the boy hurried outside after his family, Kuribo going with him.

"If we make him a ward of the Court, who will care for him?" Atem asked softly as their tea arrived.

"We will," Ryou answered after sharing a look with Bakura. "We will be his primary caregivers and teachers."

"Very well. You can proceed. Regent, will you be staying here during this process?"

"Yes," Seto responded without looking away from his tablet.

"Then Yugi and I will return home. Isis should be returning soon after checking on the Egyptian Summoners with more items for their exhibit. We should also check in with Malik and Marik to see how things are going with the monsters not yet called forth by any Summoner," Atem said as he stood with Yugi and both of them left to find a spot where they could travel by shadow back to Domino.

"I'll upgrade the room at the hotel you're both staying at and see you in the morning with more information," Seto said as he put his tablet away and stood from the table, while dropping a few bills down. "That should cover the meal."

"We don't need your money, Kaiba," Bakura said as he sneered at the money.

"Going to pay with your jewelry are you?" Seto asked, sneering back as he left.

"Leave it, Bakura. Let Seto pay when he wants. Saves us money after all, and if we are really going to take in this boy we'll need to save what we can." Ryou sighed as he gathered the money in a neat stack. "Let's go back to the hotel. Tomorrow is likely to produce a headache or two."

YGOHPYGOHPYGOHPYGO

I don't know what happened at the dinner tonight. Twice, I felt the shadows that comfort me interact with another. They had never done that before. As long as I can remember they were there, comforting me after a day of chores or beatings from the Dursleys.

The only other time they had reacted to anything was when Dudley got those new playing cards. I didn't get to see them or touch them but when Dudley first brought them home, the shadows tried to reach out for them. It was like something I was missing was just out of reach.

Dudley had the cards for a few days until he tried to explain them to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. When he said the m-word Uncle got so upset. He ripped the cards up and threw them away. The shadows weren't happy at that and wanted to do something to him but couldn't. I think they can't do anything without my ok first. I think they know that I'll get hurt more if they do anything.

It was very surprising to me when one of the men at the other dinner table created a fluffy animal from the shadows. I wonder if I could do that. I wasn't really sure at first when the animal came over to me. Didn't it know that it would get in trouble? But, a quick look to Aunt and Uncle showed that they didn't see it, just like my shadows. Its fur was very soft, like that blanket I had until I was four. I thought that it would return to the man after I pet it a few times but it stayed as we left dinner.

At first I was sad to leave the fluffy animal; it, like the shadows, was comforting, but it followed me to Uncle's car. It is very good that no one else can see it. I wouldn't know what to say if they asked why an animal was on me. It followed me all the way into the Dursleys' house and into my cupboard after the Dursleys yelled at me for ruining their dinner. I didn't even do anything! I was good and stayed quiet. I got the small food like Aunt said. But they still found something to yell about. This time Uncle didn't hit me, which was good. The shadows don't like it when he hits me.

Inside the small space of my cupboard, with no lights, my shadows grow. Each night they have covered me to keep me warm and slide happy memories of when they were stronger into my mind. Tonight, they seemed extra happy and stronger with the animal joining me in my cupboard. The animal also felt more alive, if that was possible. It settled down beside me as I lay down to sleep. I hugged it to myself, like I had seen Dudley do with his stuffed animal.

"I hope you are here when I get up in the morning. I hope you're not a dream," I whisper to the animal as I close my eyes. I hope that this is not a dream and that I will wake with this animal that my shadows like still with me.

Author's Notes:

I hope that last bit wasn't too confusing. I was trying a new writing style for Harry's part. I also tried to not use "big" words considering the age I have Harry at (no I haven't mentioned it yet but it is young). So the section may seem simplistic. Also I couldn't find information that says when Ryou's sister and mother died so I'm going with early spring.

As I said above this is inspired by "King's Jackal" by esama. I absolutely love that story and have read it multiple times. I'm sad that it is abandoned but glad that I can still go read it when I want. Go check it out if you haven't already.

I'm currently focusing most of my writing time on my other story "The Protection of the Joukriger". I was writing that before this story hit me and wouldn't let go. So updates to this one will be sporadic as I continue that one. Once that one is finished then updates to this will be more common.

Reviews are greatly appreciated. So are kudos, favs, pms, bookmarks, and subscribes. Flames or negative reviews are fed to the plot bunnies to keep them multiplying (ie they help me with what I am missing). Please let me know if something doesn't make sense, it is how I know to add a scene with more info in it.