This is set during the episode "Double Cross My Heart", after Lancer introduced Gregor in the Nasty Burger and before Danny decided to spy on Sam though.

Summary: Danny and Tucker have a heart-to-heart talk...sort of, and Danny blames his ghost half for the weird feeling he has when seeing Sam and Gregor/Elliot. Could it be that Danny harbors a monster in his chest?

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, or Harry Potter for that matter.

Day 21: Monster

"Heya, Danny!" Tucker jumped into the empty seat near his despondent best mate. "Why such a long face?"

Danny chewed a bite of his half-eaten sandwich slowly before answering. "I dunno. Idiots in White are in town again, the Box Ghost showed up for the zenith times last night, I got detention for the rest of the week 'cause my alarm got hit by a stray shot and didn't wake me up, and Sam's just avoided us again to sit with that new dude! I'm just peachy, Tuck!"

Tucker pulled out his precious new PDA – mind you, it just got fixed and upgraded from their latest encounter with Technus – and smirked at his best mate. "Dude, those kinds of stuff are normal for you. Box Ghost, Guys in White, Lancer's detentions." He leaned forward teasingly, "Now Sam's new beau on the other hand…."

Danny glared. "Well I'll say he's bad news. I mean, he shows up every time the Guys in White comes, then tell me you don't buy 'I'm an ultra-recyclo vegetarian too' he used on Sam. It's a ploy, I tell you what," he hissed the last part gravely.

Tucker's response is only to grin at his friend. "Now now Danny," he said with a wiggle of his fingers. "Somebody is je-a-lous", he said in a sing-song voice.

"….I'm NOT," Danny huffed.

"Sure you are," Tucker replied easily, eyeing Sam who got up to approach them.

"Shut up, Tuck. You still owe me one for that gerbil in sixth grade, you know? One more strike and I'll stick you with Kempler," Danny said with an evil grin.

"Spoilsport," Tucker muttered.

"Without your PDA as well—oh hi, Sam," Danny said as he saw Sam nearing their table. Unfortunately, Gregor, the new exchange student, was following her closely behind.

"And here comes the other half of the hopelessly clueless lovebirds," Tucker murmured quietly so that Gregor could not hear what he said. But Danny and Sam heard it clearly and tried to mask their flustered expressions. "Let's see if Casper High will remain standing after this upcoming confrontation, ladies and gents!" he added dramatically.

Danny, rather childishly, kicked one of Tucker's feet under the table, momentarily forgetting his strength as a half-ghost. Tucker's eyes watered in pain.

"Who exactly are you calling lovebirds, eh Tuck," Sam glowered. She glanced at Danny who usually responded to Tuck's "lovebird" comments with her; however, he was apparently locked in a staring match with Gregor.

"Anyways, I gotta tell you guys that we have to cancel today," Sam said brightly to alleviate the growing tension. "I can't come to Danny's after school. Uh….got stuff to do."

"Yes," Gregor added unexpectedly, "Sam is showing me a tour of Amity Park. Very cool, isn't it? You will understand, right?" The new boy stared appraisingly at Tucker and Danny, deciding that Tucker was definitely the friendlier of the duo.

"Sure, it's fine." Tucker elbowed Danny who was still stuck at his one-sided glaring match with Gregor.

Danny blinked, "….um, yeah."

"Great!" Sam said brightly as Gregor started to lead her away. Then she whispered quickly, "We're going to try out the new vegetarian place at the mall that I'm sure you guys don't wanna come to, 'cause you know, it's extremely healthy and all, and he agrees to shop in the Lurk and Skulk! You know it's almost like we're fated!" Then to Gregor's call she said, "Coming!"

"Whoa, I have never seen Sam that cheerful," Tucker said, astonished.

"Exactly," Danny suddenly said, still sporting a deep frown. "Whoever that is, that's not Sam."

"Relax, dude," Tucker said as he grabbed a handful of fries and shoved it into his mouth. "She's just..falling in love," he said with mouth still filled with fries.

"Ugh, Tuck…That's yuck," Danny made a face at the unsightly display.

"What? Sam falling in love? The fact that it wasn't you she fell for?" asked Tucker, back in the teasing mood. "If you were not so hopelessly clueless –"

"—you know, that wasn't it I'm talking about," Danny said, making an exasperated gesture with his arms. "And I'm not clueless," Danny added petulantly. "Not sure why you guys keep calling me that."

"Yeah, dude, whatever makes you happy," said Tucker, reaching out to grab his Cola. "At least that guy's not a jerk."

"Not a jerk? Tuck," Danny bit his lip, trying to find words to articulate what he exactly felt, "Every time I look at the guy, my..uh…ghost half's acting up, alright?" He pointed at his midsection. "Like, right here. Almost feels like I'm about to feel my ghost sense, y'know, but it's just not…cold," he finished lamely.

Tucker blinked once. Then twice, still in the mid-motion of slurping the beverage.

Danny scowled, "Look, I'm trusting my instinct here. And they've never been wrong before! That. Guy. Is. Bad. News."

Then Tucker laughed. Danny patiently waited.

"Finished?"

"Oh man oh man oh man," Tucker wiped an imaginary tear. "Alright, loverboy. I hear ya. You do admit you've got a monster in your chest!"

"…Tucker, you're officially reaching a new level of weird."

"No, no!" Tucker exclaimed enthusiastically. "Haven't you even read Harry Potter? There's this part when Harry caught Ginny and her boyfriend Dean kissing, and guess what? He got this…," he whispered conspiratorially, "monster in his chest, that finally let him know that he's in love with Ginny!"

Danny had a blank look in his face. "As long as it's not related to astronomy, you know I hardly touch any book. That's great, Tuck. Really great. As in, I don't know whether to be worried or not that your mind could make such a great and totally random jump."

Tucker sighed. "Alright, I give up! But you get the point, right? You, Danny Fenton, have realized your feeling for our dear Sam Manson!"

"….You're crazy. I don't know why I'm still listening to you," Danny shook his head as he finished his sandwich. "And I'm not jealous of Sam."

"Denial is still a river in Egypt, I see."

Danny at this point had all but ignored him, going to the direction of the almost-deserted corridor.

"Fun fact, dude," he said to Danny's retreating figure. "Sam totally has you as her type. I mean, Gregor's hair is white! Bleached white, I know. Wonder who else has snow white hair, hmm?"

Tucker yelped as his red beret suddenly disappeared.

"Hey, give it back! Danny!"

Author's Note: Monster=jealousy, get it? Hehe. I was a bit stuck trying to come up with an idea for this fic but then I remember that part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. So, I wrote this based on my memory of "Double Cross My Heart"….which isn't much. So please forgive me for the lack of details and unintentional divergence from canon.

On another note, thank you for the favs and follows! I'm really trying not to depend my writing on reviews, but you gotta admit they help a lot, 'specially for beginner writers like me! So please *gives puppy dog eyes*