A/N: Yes, I know it's been ages, and I'm sorry... I've been busy and uninspired.
My major concern for this chapter were the writing for situations with several characters at once– it's hard for me to not forget about characters and just let them fade into the background.
Enjoy!
Edit November 13, 2007: Read through it and tried to fix it up a bit. Nothing major.
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Of Ghosts and Wizards
CHAPTER 4
The eerie silence of the ghost zone was suddenly interrupted as a large stone door with strange carvings was pulled open once again. The figure with the red eyes and a draping black garment stood in the door way, chuckling darkly at the fluttering veil below him. He simply basked in an unspoken victory as he laughed evilly at the myriad of locks that were on the door-- but that had, luckily for him, been left unlocked.
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The large and odd group of people that had gathered in the kitchen of the Fenton household was seated around the thankfully large and round kitchen table. Maddie and Jack sat next to each other, with Jazz to their left and Danny to their right; Sam sat next to Jazz, Tucker next to Danny, and finally Harry and Sirius sitting on the opposite side of the table. They were all enjoying completely edible sandwiches, chips, and sodas that Jazz had so graciously prepared for them.
"You and your son are from out of town, isn't that right Mr. Black?" Maddie Fenton asked cheerfully before popping a potato ship into her mouth with a startling amount of etiquette. "Where from, if you don't mind us asking?"
As his mother spoke, Danny noticed the odd but warm look that crossed over Harry's face when she mentioned him being Sirius' son.
"England, actually," Sirius answered with equal cheerfulness. "And please, just call me Sirius."
"Have many ghosts in England, Sirius?" Jack asked enthusiastically and hopefully.
The animagus was opening his mouth to say more when Harry saw Danny signaling none-to-discreetly with a hand slashing motion across the neck, which Harry took to mean, 'don't go there if you know what's good for you'.
"Er, no, not really," Harry cut Sirius off before any damage could be done, ignoring the slightly bemused expression Sirius shot him. "At least, not any that we know of." He finished, trying to sound as convincing as possible, and glancing at Sirius to tell him to play along; everyone ignored Jack's crestfallen expression.
"Right. Absolutely no supernatural activity in England. None, whatsoever." Sirius added unnecessarily with a cheeky grin. Danny just mentally shook his head from his position next to Harry, exchanging amused glances with Sam and Tucker, and smiling a bit at how Harry was rolling his eyes in exasperation. It was clear, though, that even though Harry seemed exhausted, he was completely comfortable and happy with the situation. And gosh, Danny thought, why shouldn't he be? He had just been reunited with his only family member that he had previously thought to be gone forever. He had every right to be happy.
Danny, however, was just as anxious and unsettled as ever, and he sighed quietly trying to calm himself down, hoping that no one would notice.
In an obvious attempt to draw attention away from his Godfather, Harry said, "Er, thanks very much for lunch by the way, you really didn't have to–"
"Oh don't be silly!" Maddie interrupted him, "We don't mind at all, do we?" She directed at her children.
The question was asked nicely enough, but Danny and Jazz detected the subtle be-polite-or-else tone in their mother's voice, and shook their heads fervently.
"Of course not, it was no trouble at all," Jazz smiled and added for good measure, earning a beaming grin from Maddie.
"You're staying with family, correct? Anyone we might know?" Maddie continued the conversation good-naturedly.
"Er..." Neither Harry nor Sirius seemed to have any sort of cover story, so Danny did his best to distract his parents from asking any more questions, innocent as they were.
"Hey, Mom, why don't you tell us about the convention?" He jumped in with as much enthusiasm as possible.
Harry shot him a grateful look, to which Danny just smiled in understanding. Neither of them noticed Jazz observing them quietly.
Sam caught on quickly, and recognition shone in her eyes. "Yeah, Mr. And Mrs. Fenton, you know how much we love hearing about the latest in ghost fighting technology." She said, sounding more sarcastic than anything else, despite her attempts at sounding genuinely interested.
It was enough, however, for Jack and Maddie Fenton.
"Danny, my boy, I'm so glad you asked!" Jack proclaimed in his ever booming voice.
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Several hours later found the majority of the aforementioned company bored out of their minds. Harry and Sirius, at first, had been mildly interested since the ghosts here seemed to be so different to those that he was familiar with, but one can only take so much. Danny, Sam, Tucker and Jazz, having heard similar tales of wondrous ghost technology so many times before, had contented themselves with sitting quietly, trying not to look too bored as they let their minds wander over more interesting things.
Finally, Jazz decided that her parents had had enough fun for one day. "Weeelllll, as fascinating as this is, Mom, Dad," She interrupted Jack firmly from his tirade about an interesting adaptation a fellow scientist had attempted on the basic idea of the Fenton Fisher, "I'm sure that Mr. Potter and Mr. Black would like to get moving along to see the people they're actually here to visit–"
"Oh! Of course, please don't let us keep you!" Maddie said obligingly, immediately standing up as if to show them to the door. "Here, let me show you out, and give you any directions you might need– "
"Oh, Mom, sit down, me and Danny will take care of it!" Jazz interjected once again, jumping up and practically dragging Danny out of his seat and in the direction of the living room. She recognized that something was going on with their strange visitors, and that somehow, Danny knew what it was.
"Uh, yeah, me and Sam should probably go too, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. Don't get up, we'll let ourselves out." Said Tucker hastily as he, Sam, Harry, and Sirius all stood up as well.
Suddenly, the Fenton Kitchen was empty except for Jack and Maddie.
"Well... they certainly seemed nice, didn't they Jack?" Maddie said happily as she began to clean up the dishes.
"Yes, yes indeed." Jack replied. "They didn't seem ghost-affiliated in any way at all. Although, they didn't even get a chance to look at any of our inventions..."
Hating to see her husband disappointed, Maddie abandoned the dishes for a more noble cause. "Say, Jack, dear, why don't we head down to the basement and get working on that new idea of yours?"
Immediately Jack's face lit up with enthusiasm. "You read my mind, Maddie!" He proclaimed before springing up and sprinting off in the direction of the basement. Maddie simply smiled fondly as she followed him.
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Meanwhile, Harry, Sirius, Sam, and Tucker were heading out the door as Danny tried to think of a way to head out with them without Jazz getting suspicious. He never got the chance, however, as Jazz immediately took over.
"Well hope you find your way okay and come over again soon Sam and Tucker bye!" Jazz said quickly as she practically shoved them out the door before slamming it shut behind them
"Wai– hey!" Danny squawked, "You didn't have to kick them out like that!" He practically yelled, extremely irritated at his sister for unintentionally ruining his chances at talking more with the wizards from England.
"Just relax for a sec, I want to talk to you." Jazz said quietly and soothingly. Danny's anger was quickly forgotten, startled away at the light but serious tone to Jazz's voice.
"Uh, okay, what is it?" He asked.
Jazz looked away, biting her lip, before she started. "Look, Danny, I know about, well," Suddenly her voice got even quieter, and Danny was starting to get a little nervous. She glanced back to make sure their parents weren't anywhere nearby before she continued, "I know that you're half ghost–"
Danny's heart skipped a beat.
"–and that you're the ghost kid that's been going around protecting the town–"
His stomach sank, and he closed his eyes. She knew? What would she do, would she tell their parents?
"–and I just wanted you to know that I'm always here if you need me."
Danny finally pulled himself from his inner turmoil and panic long enough to actually listen to what his sister was saying.
"Wait, you– you're not mad?" He asked in almost a whisper, tentatively looking up at Jazz.
"No." She said as she smiled. "I was hoping you'd tell me yourself, but for some reason it just felt right to tell you that I already knew."
"How long?" He asked, still feeling a bit shaky from the discovery of his secret, but starting to feel better already.
"Since the whole thing with Spectra." She replied, and then paused, neither of them sure what to say. Finally, she added, "I mean it, you know. If you ever need help, I might not be of much use, but you can always count of me." She smiled warmly, and her light teal eyes shone with sisterly compassion.
Danny couldn't help but grin, and suddenly launched forward and grabbed Jazz into a tight hug, which she immediately returned.
"Thanks, Jazz." He said sincerely as he pulled away.
"No problem, little brother." She ruffled his hair affectionately and laughed when he ducked out of her reach with an indignant "Hey!", although he still had a smile on his face.
"Now. What's the deal with those Potter and Black guys?" She asked.
Danny froze. Darn Jazz for being so observant! He was about to deny any and everything unusual, but then he just sighed. Jazz could obviously keep a secret, but then...
"I'm not going to lie to you, Jazz, there's definitely more to them than meets the eye," Danny said, biting the inside of his mouth, "But the thing is, it's not really my secret to tell. To be honest, I don't think you'd believe me anyway."
Jazz looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding slowly. "I understand." She smiled and continued, "So, are you going to go catch up with them or what? Don't worry about Mom and Dad, I'll tell them you went out to hang with Sam and Tucker."
Danny just smiled and called out another heartfelt "Thanks Jazz!" as he rushed out the door.
Jazz shut it softly behind him before heading back up to her room to prepare another lesson for one of the kids she was tutoring over the summer.
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Danny walked a few hurried steps down the street, before realizing he had no idea where his friends and Harry and Sirius had gone, or if the wizards were even still in America. He rolled his eyes at his own silliness before whipping out his cell phone and calling Sam.
Holding the cellular device to his ear, he stood idly listening to it ring once, twice, and then–
"Danny?" Came Sam's voice through the speaker.
"Hey, Sam. Sorry about Jazz totally kicking you guys out–"
"Yeah, what was up with that?" Sam asked, a slightly worried tone to her voice. "Is everything alright?"
Danny almost nodded before realizing Sam (obviously) couldn't see him. "Everything's fine actually. Turns out Jazz has known for a while about me being, well, you know..."
Sam gasped. "No way, really? Wow... I guess we should have known she'd be smart enough to figure it out. And she was cool with it and everything?"
"Yeah, actually she was really cool about it." Danny couldn't help but grin. On the other end, Sam was sure she could here the smile in his voice.
"Well, that's great, Danny. One less person to hide from all the time, right?"
"Right." He replied. He shuffled his feet a bit on the sidewalk before he remembered why he called in the first place. "Hey, are Harry and Sirius still around? Where are you and Tuck, anyway?"
"Oh, that's right. They decided to hang around for a bit until they figured out a way to get home without being noticed. Something about Sirius being an ex-convict or something." Danny raised an eyebrow at that, and Sam continued, "We're all at my house. I'm trying to find some clothes of my Dad's for Sirius to borrow– why don't you grab something of yours for Harry before you head over?"
"Okay, I'll be over in a sec. See you Sam."
"Bye Danny." Sam replied before Danny heard the telltale click of the other line disconnecting.
The young halfa ducked into a nearby alley way and quickly went ghost before flying up and into his bedroom, after becoming invisible and intangible of course. He rustled around in his closet for a few minutes, trying to find something that would, one, fit Harry, and that was, two, clean.
Finally, he emerged triumphant with a fairly decent pair of jeans that were a bit to big for him. Harry was pretty much his size, but an inch or two taller, so these would probably work just fine, Danny thought. In addition, he also managed to find a plain but clean white t-shirt that also seemed like it would fit the young wizard.
Folding the clothes and grabbing a pair of socks as an afterthought, Danny exited his own house and took off in the direction of Sam's mansion. He took a leisurely pace (although it was still faster than most of the cars on the road) and simply enjoyed the feeling of flight that he had come to love since receiving his powers. Of all the things that he could do, he thought, that was the one thing he enjoyed the most.
After only a few short minutes, Danny got to Sam's house and phased through the roof and several of the main floors before finally reaching the basement (also known as the media room, due to the theater sized screen that was used for video games and movies alike).
Taking a quick survey of the room, he saw Tucker wowing Sirius with the magic of video games, Sam just entering the room with a pile of clothes, presumably for Sirius who, upon closer inspection, really did need some new duds. Not only was his current attire a bit ragged and torn, but it would also stick out horribly in a group of– what did they call non-magic people again? Muddles... moogles... oh, that's right, muggles, Danny thought. Yes, he definitely could use some new clothes. And as for Harry–
Danny almost yelled out in surprise for, having finally located Harry in the back of the room, he saw that the young wizard was staring directly at him, despite the fact that he was still invisible.
Flying over to where Harry was sitting, Danny hovered himself into a sitting position in one of the movie theater style seats next to him. Now that he was closer, it was clear that Harry wasn't looking directly at him, but it was definitely very close.
The emerald eyed wizard had a thoughtful look on his face. Finally, he whispered, "Er... Danny? Is that you?"
The halfa grinned and became visible, transforming in the process and flopping fully into his seat. Harry jumped a little, but overall didn't look that surprised.
"Yeah. How did you know?" Danny asked. He may have been grinning on the outside, but he was still surprised that Harry had detected him.
Harry just turned to look again to the front of the room where his Godfather sat oogling after the strange technology. Finally he shrugged and said, "The room got colder, and I could just sort of feel where it was coming from. When it got more concentrated, I figured the ghost was closer. I didn't sense any malevolent intent, so I figured it was you."
A look of disbelief covered Danny's features. "You can just sense all that?" He asked incredulously.
Harry shook his head, adopting a quirky smile. "To be honest," he said, "I don't really understand it myself. I suppose I could ask Dumbledore when we get back..."
Danny was curious about this Dumbledore fellow, but now that he had the chance to talk to Harry, there were several other things that he could think of that he'd rather ask about. He was, however, quickly distracted once again.
For, unknowingly, Danny's gaze had wandered downward, and suddenly he noticed odd-looking scars on the back of Harry's right hand. With a small jolt, Danny realized that the scratch marks actually formed letters, that in turn spelled out a single sentence:
I must not tell lies.
Those weren't... self-inflicted, were they?
Feeling a bit sick at the prospect of someone slicing open the back of their own hand like that, Danny looked up and was about to ask when he noticed Harry was watching him again. Suddenly he felt like the person that had been caught staring (which he was, actually, but that wasn't the point), and so he quickly diverted his gaze.
"Sorry," Danny said, embarrassed. He could feel Harry shrug beside him.
"S'alright." Harry said, "I can't blame you for being curious."
Danny once again started nibbling the inside of the side of him mouth before he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what it that from, exactly?"
Harry sighed, but didn't seem upset as he said, "Well, to sum things up there was this really foul teacher that we had last year at Hogwarts. She had me write lines in detention, using a special quill that uses your blood instead of ink. I'm not sure how many times I had to write it, but each time it would cut the words into my skin, before healing back over. Eventually, it just stopped healing."
Eyes wide and feeling slightly horrified, Danny asked, "Aren't there laws against stuff like that?"
Harry laughed humorlessly. "Probably, but last year was a little hectic, to say the least. The whole school got turned upside down... don't worry though, Hogwarts really isn't that bad. Some of the wizarding world is just a bit outdated, is all."
Danny just stared at him, befuddled by the word 'Hogwarts', before he thought of something else. "Why 'I must not tell lies.'?"
Giving a wry grin, Harry looked Danny straight in the eye. "She didn't believe that Voldemort had come back to life. I told her that I saw it, that I was there, and that I fought him. I never stopped telling the truth." He finished grimly.
Danny nodded, not fully understanding but feeling like he knew vaguely what Harry had gone through. He knew what it was like to be surrounded by people that didn't believe him, even though he was only trying to do the right thing. It seemed like, on the whole, Harry's life had been difficult.
Suddenly Danny wondered why Harry was being so open with someone he had known for less than twenty-four hours. Somehow, it just didn't seem in character.
Oh, look who's talking, Fenton, Danny thought to himself, Like you even know what would be in or out of character for this someone you just met.
He looked over at Harry, who's gaze had wandered back over towards where Sirius sat asking questions about various 'muggle' contraptions, virtually holding Tucker and Sam prisoner in order that they would explain the ways of their world. Danny could see the smile in Harry's eyes.
"So, what's the plan for you two? Are you going to head out right away?" Danny asked.
Harry shook his head. "We really should get back so that people don't worry, but me 'n' Sirius decided we'd just hang out for a while and relax. Sam already offered to let us stay– you don't mind, do you?"
"No, of course not!" Danny said, a bit surprised that Harry thought he might.
"Plus," Harry continued, "We need to find a way to contact people back home, so we can set up a safe mode of travel."
"What's wrong with the way you got here? How did you get here?" The halfa asked.
"Ah, I got here by plane," Harry said.
Danny was a bit confused. "That's so... normal."
Harry laughed, startling the young half ghost.
"Not as normal as you would think." He replied with a smile still on his face. "And to answer your other question, we want to be as discreet as possible. Sirius and I are both... er, very well known in the wizarding world. So we were hoping to arrange to travel by floo or portkey, as opposed to something as pulbic as the Knight Plane."
Danny just stared at Harry blankly, several foreign terms having thrown him for a loop.
"Uhhh..." Danny said, as eloquent as ever. "Foo? Porkey?" He asked in complete confusion.
Harry burst out laughing again, and was still giggling when he finally managed to say, "That's f-floo, and portkey, not– ha ha– foo and porkey... ha ha... s-sorry," He said seeing Danny glare at him. Finally managing to conquer his mirth, Harry continued, "Floo is travel by fireplace, and a portkey is an object that transports you from one designated point to another. Both aren't easy for us at the moment because we don't know any wizards in the area, and it'd be difficult to set a portkey because we're not sure where it'd be safe to set it up for... anyway."
Despite feeling overwhelmed by all the new information, Danny was about to start asking even more questions, when he suddenly realized he still had a pile of clothes sitting in his lap.
"Oh, uh, I have these for you if you want to borrow them." He said as he held out the jeans, shirt, and socks to Harry.
When Harry didn't say anything, Danny panicked slightly, and hoped that he hadn't made some kind of British faux pas by unintentionally insulting Harry's style or something like that. "Not that what you're wearing is bad," He said hurriedly, "It's just, Sam's lending some of her father's clothes to your Godfather so I figured–"
"Thanks," Harry said, cutting him off with a reassuring smile as he took the clothes. "Is there a place where I can change–?"
"Oh, right, follow me."
Danny stood up and walked towards the front of the room, finally getting Sam and Tuckers attention.
"Hey guys." He greeted.
"Hey, when did you get here?" Sam asked as she stood up.
"I've been here for a few minutes."
Sam adopted an irritated look as she slapped Danny upside the head and said. "What, you couldn't even say hello? This is my house, you know, you could at least let me know when you're here."
"Hey!" Danny yelled as his skull was smacked. "Easy there, I may be half ghost but I'm pretty sure I'm still susceptible to concussions."
Tucker just sniggered at their antics, before returning to his game.
"I was going to show Harry a place to change. Do you care which room he uses?" Danny asked, still rubbing the back of his head.
"Nah, and take Mr. Black too, would you?" She replied.
"What'd I say about that! Please, just call me Sirius," The animagus chastised lightly, "You remind be too much of the professors at Hogwarts when you say my name like that." He mock shivered.
Harry chuckled before looking at Danny expectantly.
"Oh, right. Come on up." Danny said and gestured for the two wizards to follow him up out of the basement. It might have been a little weird showing them around someone else's house, but Danny and Tucker had been over so often they practically lived there too, so really it wasn't that strange.
He led the them up a couple flights of stairs, before showing them a set of guest bedrooms attached to a bathroom.
"Here you go." Danny said. "Ah, I suppose these'll be your rooms. Just head back down to the basement when you're finished changing."
"Thanks," Harry said before heading into the nicely furnished room.
"Thanks very much, Danny" Sirius added cheerfully before doing the same.
Suddenly, Danny was left alone in the empty hallway. Taking a deep breath, he pushed back the anxiety that was beginning to creep up on him once again. Turning to take one last look at the closed doors that now housed two wizards from England, he went ghost and phased down back into the basement.
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A/N: Like I said, the thing I'm worried about, in terms of writing quality, are the scenes with several characters at once. That being said, I'd love to have some help in those areas.
Also, I felt like this chapter was a little too choppy, and didn't flow like the previous ones... plus, I didn't get as much happening as I had thought... but it's still so long... ah, well.
And, of course, reviews are welcomed and worshiped!
Til' chapter 5!
;-;Adrian Winter;-;