Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter.

Yeeep, I'm back. I've been a little busy lately, and haven't had tons of opportunity to write. I actually wrote most of this chapter on a road trip, so I didn't always have internet access XD

Warning, there is a great deal of angst and guilt in this chapter :3 I hope you enjoy it! :D ALSO. ANOTHER WARNING. I SUCK AT WRITING. IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY NOTICED. :(

Danny's POV

After my little "outburst" at Kreacher, I decided to stay in my (hopefully temporary) room for a while, until I calmed down a bit more.

As soon as I had firmly closed and locked the door behind me, and had checked to be sure I was completely alone, I immediately changed back into my more natural human form with a great deal of relief. This had probably been one of the longest periods of time that I had stayed in ghost form. And because of this long-term stay in my ghost form, I had noticed that it had a few effects on my body temperature: Throughout the day, I had been feeling a subtle, but still uncomfortable cold feeling that emanated from my central core area and gradually seeped through the rest of my body. I had eventually come to the conclusion that the reason for the "cold feeling" must had been a result of my ice powers building up, or perhaps some other cause.

I sighed gratefully as the slight cold feeling faded a bit, also privately noting to myself that sometime I would have to release some of that pent-up "ice-energy" later, before the cold became unbearable and I froze to death. Another reason for my obvious relief was the fact that I was now in my casual, everyday street clothes again. My black and white hazmatt suit wasn't exactly comfortable after a few hours... man that thing was tight!

I walked over to a large, dusty, and somewhat cracked mirror in a corner of the room. My slightly shaggy hair was once again it's usual raven black, and my glowing neon eyes were now clear, shining blue.

For a moment, my distracted thoughts wandered over to my family and friends... but I quickly tried to shake that disturbing trail of thought away. The last thing I needed right now was to worry about my loved ones right now... If I did, these "Wizards" would definitely be able to tell something was up, and I still didn't quite trust them enough to reveal my greatest strength... and weakness: My Family.

After a few minutes, I walked back over to the bed and laid down with a quiet sigh. For the next hour I tried to drone out the multiple times I heard the door-bell ring, and the ear-splitting screaming that always seemed to accompany it.

I tried my best to keep my thoughts from drifting to the practically undefended Amity Park, that I had literally abandoned, (though perhaps against my will...); when suddenly my super- sensitive ears picked up the loud sound of metal hitting glass. I turned abruptly to the old, slightly stained window in "my" room, where the sound had come from. Sure enough, the filthy glass had cracked in an area, as if something extremely hard and moving at a fast speed had impacted it. Wordlessly I summoned the silver-blue rings around my waist, and once I had completed the transformation into my ghostly persona, I cautiously approached the now fractured window. With my glowing eyes I glanced through the window and angled my head to stare down below at the sidewalk... and nearly chocked at the sight before me.

...

...They were here... but... how? But there was no mistaking my sister's long and bright red hair, or Tucker's signature dull red beret. And Sam... how could I not recognize her short and shiny black hair, tied back in a green scrunchy, or her rare amethyst eyes. There was no doubt in my mind as I looked into the worried faces that I had known all my life. They were here, literally only a few feet below me on the sidewalk. Somehow they had found me.

My thoughts were disoriented with shock, but I was still able to notice and register a few things even with my scattered thinking. I saw the "booomerang" lying on the ground, as a disappointed Sam bent over to pick it up. ...That must have been how they found me here, and it also must have been the cause of the cracking of the window. I could see that all three of them had faces of extreme sadness, fear, and hopelessness. I was confused and even desperate; what had caused Sam, Tucker, and Jazz to be this worried? And why had they sought me out? ...Were Mom and Dad okay?! ... Or were they just worried about me? ...WAS THE TOWN OKAY?!

Vaguely, I heard yelling in the background. I hadn't noticed Sirius calling for me behind the door, because of my shocked and fearful state. He must have heard the "booomerang" hit the window and had assumed that something might be wrong.

"Phantom! Phantom?...Are you okay?" yelled Sirius through the door, but I barely heard him, and didn't respond.

"...Alohamora!"

The door suddenly sprang open with a loud bang!, and Sirius came running into the room. As he ran up beside me, I finally snapped out of my paralysis to glance behind at him, before once again staring at my two best-friends and sister. Sirius walked up beside me, and squinted down at the sidewalk where Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were still standing.

"...Are those...muggles?" said Sirius with a great deal of surprise.

Just then, I saw Sam suddenly throw the boomerang again. The metal contraption immediately spun into the window again, directly in front of my face, before falling to the sidewalk again and leaving the window even more damaged than before. Sirius had let out a shout of surprise when the metal bomerang had smacked into the window, and even I had flinched and blinked my glowing eyes as a reflex. I felt grateful that the window was between myself and the boomerang, since I wasn't too fond of a metal ghost-tracking bomerang giving me a smack up the side of my head. Actually, I was a little surprised that the window had been able to withstand both collisions with the "boomerang".

"What the hell was that?!" said Sirius, his eyes wide and wild-looking.

I didn't answer him, and instead continued to stare down at the sidewalk. I had just noticed the Specter Speeder sitting down a few feet behind Tucker, Sam, and Jazz. That explained how they got here, but it didn't explain why neither Sam, Tucker, or Jazz seemed to notice the house right in front of them. How did they not see the boomerang hitting a window on a house right before their noses?

Suddenly, I snapped out of my contemplating this strange anomaly when I heard the sound of many pairs of feet stamping and running up the old stair-case. Just then, Harry, Hermione, the red haired boy and girl, the twins, and Mrs. Weasley ran into the room. They must have heard Sirius yell, and had come into the room to investigate.

"What's wrong Sirius?" asked Mrs. Weasley curiously, walking up to the window that Sirius and I were still peering out of, with the six teens not far behind her.

"...I say! What are those muggles doing here?" said Mrs. Weasley with a bit of shock. "Muggles can't find this house, it has too many protective spells. So why are they standing down there as if they know that something is here?"

When I heard Mrs. Weasley's statement, I finally understood why my friends and sister couldn't see the house. "Muggles" couldn't see the building from the outside because of some magic that had been placed here.

I tried to keep my face calm and leveled, trying my best not to let any hint slip that I knew these "muggles".

Sirius turned to Mrs. Weasley and began to talk with her. I half-listened in on their conversation, while keeping the rest of my attention focused on Sam, Tucker, and Jazz.

"They threw some sort of boomerang at the window, and that's what broke it," I heard Sirius murmur to her, gesturing to the web of cracks blossoming from where the "boomerang" had slammed into it.

"...What's a boomerang?" said the younger red headed boy stupidly, his face blank, having listened in on what Sirius had just said.

Mrs. Weasley and Sirius simply ignored him.

"Hmm, curious," said Mrs. Weasley thoughtfully. "Odd that the item was able to penetrate the magical barrier and physically hit the window... The house has a lot of muggle-item repelling spells on it, and muggle technology doesn't work here... strange." (1)

"Yes, very strange indeed," Sirius agreed. "I'd better strengthen the spell... can't have anymore close calls, now can we?"

Digging his hand in his pocket and pulling out one of those strange sticks, Sirius muttered a strange word that I presumed was a spell.

Outside, Sam had recovered my parent's ghost tracking invention once again. But this time, when she threw it, instead of flying off towards me, the metal contraption fell to the ground uselessly. I raised my eyebrows slightly in shock. My parents can be a bit strange at times, but I can't deny their genius, and their inventions always work properly... well, usually. Contrary to my parent's belief that a lot of their inventions don't work, I know for a fact that they do, since they always go off around me as a result of my half-ghost status. It just didn't make sense that the "boomerang" would just stop working for no apparent reason and with no visible cause. I glanced over my shoulder and glanced at Sirius, wondering if perhaps the spell he had cast was responsible for the invention's sudden failure. (AN: No duh Danneh, Y U SO CLUELESS.) Well, whatever the cause, I was grateful for the ghost tracking device's mysterious downfall. I doubted that the window would have been able to take another hit from the metal contraption.

Jazz, Tucker, and Sam all looked pretty surprised about the "boomerang's" lack of success in seeking me out. Once getting over her shock a bit, I saw Sam once again gently retrieve the fallen invention with shaking hands.

Behind me, the "wizards" were all whispering among themselves. I shifted my eyes slightly to look at them and pick up pieces of their conversation.

"DANNY!"

I suddenly heard someone scream my name, not Phantom, but my real name. The name that I had been given from the day of my birth. The name that I had grown up hearing all my life. This was a bit of a shock to me, having not heard anyone call me "Danny" for a little while. I flinched and directed my full attention down at Sam, for it was her voice that had yelled my name.

She now looked a little like a wreck. Her face was tear-stained, a bit of mascara smeared down her cheeks from her tears, and her glossy black hair messed up a bit from running her hands through it from anxiety.

The others also stared at Sam, because her scream had been so loud that even the humans in the room could hear it. I felt Hermione's eyes on me for a moment as she gave me a weird look, having seen me react to the name "Danny".

"Danny! Whatever I did I'm sorry! ...Are you here! Are you okay?! Where you captured! Or did we do something to make you mad? Danny please!" Sam continued to yell and rant desperately, every word breaking my heart, bit-by-bit.

I had never Sam this broken before. She was always the strong and practical one, the one that held the group together. She hardly ever showed strong emotion, and this was probably the first time I had ever seen her cry, or at least the only time I could remember. I couldn't take it anymore. Sam was just standing there, crying her eyes out, while I watched. What kind of a friend was I?! She needed me, right NOW!

I suddenly let out a strangled and choked cry, lunging forward towards the window, so that I could fly down to her.

Sirius let out a yelp of surprise and grabbed one of my arms firmly.

"What are you doing?!" he said to me, restraining me with his grip on my arm.

I ignored him, all the while trying to jerk from his grasp.

"SAM!" I yelled, but she didn't seem to hear me.

After another moment, Sam turned around with her head bowed down with despair. She slowly walked back to the Specter Speeder with Tucker and Jazz. Tucker patted her on the shoulder comfortingly, but I could see worry in his hazel eyes as well. I saw Jazz say something to Tucker and Sam, and with my sensitive hearing and by observing her mouth movements, I was able to tell what she said.

"Don't worry, the "boomerang" must be broken, that's all. We'll find him, Danny's tough, nothing could hurt him..." But even as my sister said these words of comfort, I could see the fear reflected in her face. It was like she had been trying to convince herself when she said those words.

Jazz, Tucker, and Sam quickly but dejectedly walked back to the Specter Speeder, likely to continue the search for me. Once they were inside, the Specter Speeder began to rise from the ground and blast away.

Just then, I remembered that I could go intangible. In the intensity of the moment I had almost completely forgotten that I could pull out of Sirius' grip with no effort at all. I quickly turned my arm intangible and slipped it out of Sirius's hand. Turning the rest of my body intangible, I flew through the window and tried to follow my friends... but by then the Specter Speeder was already gone. I abruptly stopped, hovering in mid-air. ...After a moment I dropped to the ground brokenly, sitting on my knees.

...Great... the most important people in my life thought that I had abandoned them... And to make matters worse, I had just made a scene back at the house. Now everyone was going to be suspicious of me, and would probably start asking me questions the moment I got back to the house... questions that I won't want to answer...

After a moment, I got myself back under control and stood up again. What's done is done, and there was no way I'd be able to follow my friends anyways. But my resolve still didn't quench the horrible guilt...

I stared emptily ahead, not really seeing what was in front of me since I was too lost in my thoughts.

Heaving a great sigh, I turned around to face the world again... but to my surprise, I couldn't tell which house I had flown from. I quickly observed my surroundings again, looking back and forth between two filthy houses strangely labelled "11" and "13"... But which house was it?

I flew up to number 11, and stuck my head intangibly and invisibly through the door, but to my disappointment I only saw an old living room that appeared to be currently abandoned. There The same went for number 13, neither house was headquarters.

...Crap...

DUN DUN DUUUNN. :3

PLEASE READ IF YOU WANT THIS CHAPTER TO MAKE SENSE. READ IT NAOOO. :(

(1) Yes, the "booomerang" is techically a muggle item, but all the Fenton's technology is powered by ecto-energy, so I've always imagined that the "booomerang" was infused with ectoplasm. I've also always thought that ecto-energy must be a type of magic, not in the same category as the magic that wizards use, but still... So, my logic is that ghostly inventions (usually made by the Fentons) can withstand weak muggle repelling and muggle item repelling spells, but not strong spells, since the inventions all have a bit of "magic" in them... Does that make sense? And when Sirius strengthened the spell, whatever resistance the "booomerang" had to the muggle item repelling spell became irrelevant. So, since Hogwarts probably has much stronger spells surrounding it than Grimmauld Place, the "booomerang wouldn't be able to track Danny there. ...Sorry for ranting, but I hope that makes sense...

Yea, if you're wondering why Danny can't see 12 Grimmauld Place, it's because... well, he's not a wizard, but a muggle, so technically he shouldn't be able to see the house. BUT, remember what I said previously about ectoplasm and ecto-energy kinda being a type of magic? If Danny is half-ghost, he can see the house... but only occasionally. And he has to concentrate extremely hard to even get a GLIMPSE of it. And when he DOES see it, he can only see a wraith-like, faded image of the house. This will all be explored in the next chapter.

Thank you everyone for your many reviews! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :3. You are my inspiration, and the reason I continue to write this fic. Give yourselves all a warm pat on the back for being so awesome! 3

Review Please! I greatly appreciate it. ^^