A/N: I have no excuses. Things in life left me with little time to write and so little drive to do so when I did have some time. Running an online game with 35,000 players is a very demanding job that I don't get paid for.
Anyway, here is the latest chapter! It's been a long time coming, I know. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. (It's not beta'd so please excuse any mistakes)
Disclaimer: I found some Danny Phantom DVDs here in Australia! But only season 1 and 2… that's all I own, sorry. Just borrowing things!
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Danny will be referred to as Phantom whenever he is in ghost mode (by those who don't know he's Danny or if someone who doesn't know is around).
Recap: Danny, Sam and Tucker arrive at Order headquarters, met a number of people. Started their first day at Grimmauld Place after one night and ended up helping the magical teens clean. Danny is injured by a strange box during the clean up.
Chapter Eleven: Magical Meetings
"You okay, man?" Tucker asked, cringing at the sight of the green mess that was Phantom's right hand. He received a raised eyebrow and a 'duh' stare in reply. "Sorry, standard question."
Hermione was frowning, her gaze flicking between Phantom's hand and the bag that now held the carved box. 'Does the box hurt ghosts, or whatever Phantom is? If so, then why did it hurt Harry too? Phantom's hand was obviously a lot colder than Harry's and should have protected him better, so why did it hurt him more?' The whole thing had her thoroughly confused. Then she mentally screeched to a halt. 'Did it hurt him more because he was colder?'
"If that's what a tiny little ordinary box from that cupboard," Ron said, jabbing his thumb at the piece of furniture, "can do, then I am NOT cleaning the rest of it."
Hermione gave him a reprimanding look, but everyone in the room, including Hermione, couldn't help but agree. They had already had a few close calls while cleaning cupboards in other rooms. Mrs. Weasley and Sirius walked in moments later, Ginny trailing behind them. Sirius went straight to the sack and looked at it thoughtfully, as if wondering whether or not to turn out the contents and examine the box himself. Mrs. Weasley made a beeline for the half-ghost and held out her own hand.
"Really, I'm fine," Phantom said while trying not to surrender his injury. Her fierce motherly stare bored into him. He huffed but let her take possession of his hand.
Mrs. Weasley cradled it gently, softly twisting his wrist to assess the full amount of damage. She tutted and fretted the entire time. "I have some wonderful cream for burns, but I'm not sure if it will work on you," she said, staring at the hand that she still held captive. "I can't clean this either as I'm not sure what to use."
"Don't worry about it. We got that covered," Tucker piped up. "If I can just go get the First-Aid kit..." he prompted. At Mrs. Weasley's nod, he hurtled away down the hall, up the stairs and into their room. He frantically scrabbled around his still mostly-packed bag until he pulled out a metal box with a red cross on the lid, along with the Fenton family symbol – a green ghostly-looking flame with a large letter 'F' in the middle.
Tucker raced downstairs again until he skidded to a halt in front of his ghostly friend, now very puffed and panting for breath. Sam relieved him of his burden and turned to Phantom, a determined glint in her lavender eyes.
"Glove off, now," she commanded, grabbing his left wrist this time and pulling him to the floor with her. Sam was kneeling while Phantom sat cross-legged in front of her, now carefully peeling the remaining bits of his glove away from his fingers and palm. He finished just in time as Sam reclaimed his right wrist and began wiping away the ectoplasmic blood with a damp cloth.
Phantom hissed in pain and winced, almost jerking his arm out of Sam's grasp. She gave him a withering glare then grinned mockingly.
"What's the matter? The mighty Phantom can't handle a widdle disinfectant?" she teased in a baby voice as though she was speaking to a five-year-old.
"Hey!" he exclaimed indignantly. Even though he knew he was playing right into her hands, he frowned lightly, determined not to flinch or anything. "Have you ever felt how much this stuff stings?" he shot back, inhaling sharply as the cloth slid over his fingers.
Sam moistened the cloth again and continued, oblivious to the multitude of intrigued onlookers. Phantom was well aware of the gawkers however, and they were making him nervous. It was taking a fair bit of concentration for him to keep every part of him visible and tangible. He tried to keep his eyes focused on either Sam's face or her slender hands in an effort to block the stares out.
His gaze was on Sam's black hair; the top of her head as she ducked to more closely see what she was doing. Therefore he had no warning until he suddenly felt Sam slap his knee.
"What was that for?" he asked in surprise.
Sam looked up and met his gaze, equal parts annoyance and amusement glittering in her eyes. "How am I supposed to fix your hand if I can't see it?"
"Huh?" He looked down, only to see Sam's hand gripping thin air, despite the fact that he could feel her slim fingers around his wrist. "Oops," he mumbled sheepishly, forcing his hand back into visibility.
The goth just rolled her eyes as a small grin tugged at her lips. Tucker simply smirked at the cutesy interplay.
"Should I bandage this? You won't phase out of them, will you?" Sam asked.
Phantom just rolled his eyes. "I'm not that careless, Sam."
It was probably just as well that he missed the knowing look Sam and Tucker shot at each other. He rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand while Sam deftly bandaged his right. He quickly stood up as soon as she was done and inspected the job she did while she packed up. The bandages were tight but not constricting and felt comfortable enough. He flexed his hand experimentally, stopping quickly with a wince as his hand protested.
Mrs. Weasley's anxious look had faded somewhat, though her eyes never strayed far from Phantom. Sirius on the other hand, while concerned for the injured spectral being, was more worried about what had caused the damage. He gingerly picked up the sack, holding it at arm's length, well away from his body.
"I'll get someone to have a look at this tonight, just in case there are some nasty side-effects we don't know about," he said, earning a nod from Mrs. Weasley before he walked out of the room, carefully carrying his cargo.
"Great, side-effects," Phantom said with a sigh.
Molly put her hands on her hips. "I want you to tell someone right away if you start feeling strange or sick or...whatever isn't normal for you, understand?" She pinned the half-ghost with a motherly no-nonsense stare.
"Yep, crystal clear," he replied.
It was Molly's turn to sigh as she began shooing everyone out of the room. "That's enough cleaning for today. I don't want any more accidents." Molly noticed that none of the teens looked upset about this and had to squash the urge to sigh again.
Since both Molly and Sirius had left them to their own devices, Hermione, her eyes alight, snatched the opportunity presented before her. "Why don't we all go up to Harry and Ron's room and get to know each other? We don't know anything about you and I'm sure you have questions for us," she said with an innocent smile.
The Americans glanced at each other before agreeing. They all trudged up the stairs, albeit quietly, and squeezed into the bedroom. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat on Harry's bed while Sam, Tucker and Ginny sat on Ron's. Fred and George took the floor and Phantom, to save space, opted to float cross-legged at eye level opposite the closed door.
"How about you start?" Sam asked Hermione. She just knew the other girl was dying to ask questions, most of which Sam was sure would have to be answered with half-truths if not flat-out lies.
Hermione nodded, now looking a little less sure of herself. "Well, I'll be starting my fifth year at Hogwarts with Harry and Ron shortly. I'm a bit nervous because this year is the year we take our O. and depending on how well you do in the exams can determine your whole future career," she said quickly.
Phantom shifted nervously in midair, unwanted memories of his C.A.T exam flashing through his mind.
"I'm not exactly sure what I want to do, but I'm hoping to get a good score so I have some options open. What about you? Any ideas on what you want to be? Oh, I'm sorry Phantom!" she added, glancing guiltily at the ghost-boy.
"It's fine," said Phantom with a smile. "I already have a job anyway."
"You do?" Ron asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I protect my town from other ghosts that want to cause trouble. They always come back, so it's a full-time gig. I just don't get paid," Phantom replied with a chuckle.
"I wouldn't mind being head of a tech company," Tucker announced.
"As long as I end up doing something that I like and that my parents disapprove of," said Sam, crossing her arms.
"Sounds like you have parent problems," Fred said wisely. George nodded sagely along with his twin.
"That's an understatement," Phantom muttered with a roll of his eyes.
Sam shot a wicked grin at the half-ghost and crossed her arms proudly.
"It'd be cool to be an Auror," Harry said softly. "I don't know if I qualify though...I'm still thinking about it."
The ghost hunting trio all blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar word. "What's an Auror?" Tucker asked before Sam or Phantom got the chance.
"How can you not know what an Auror is?" Ron asked incredulously. "Don't you have them in America?"
"How can you not know what a vacuum cleaner is?" Tucker shot back. Ron threatened to turn red in embarrassment again.
Hermione intervened before things got out of hand. "Aurors may have a different name in the United States," she said calmly, "and Ron doesn't know about a lot of muggle technology. He's never taken the time to learn." She gave her freckled friend a meaningful look which he pointedly ignored.
"Muggle?" Phantom repeated slowly, raising one black brow.
"Do you have a different name for non-magic people too?" inquired Ginny politely.
Now it was Sam's turn to be the parrot. "Non-magic?"
"Oh, you three are good," George said after several seconds of silence.
"Very tricky, almost had us there," Fred added.
The three Americans continued to look baffled.
"You're not joking, are you?" Ginny half asked, half stated.
"I think I speak for all three of us when I say I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," said Sam firmly.
"Say what?" Ron asked blankly, looking as lost as the ghost hunters felt.
Harry stared at them thoughtfully. "You guys do know about witches and wizards?" he asked slowly.
"You mean witches like the kind they used to hunt down and execute in Salem?" Sam asked, vividly recalling her own experience in that paranoid town. If Danny and Tucker hadn't saved her she would have been burnt alive at the stake.
"Most of the witches they caught were innocent muggles," Harry said with a frown, "but yeah."
Tucker waved his hands back and forth in front of his chest. "Wait, wait, wait! Are you saying that you guys are witches and wizards? You can really do magic? Wave your wand, mumble some magic words and presto?"
"You mean you didn't know?" Hermione asked incredulously.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "So you do wave a wand and say magic words?"
"Well there is wandless magic and non-verbal spells, but wandless magic is incredibly hard, mostly accidental when you're young, and we're not up to non-verbal spells yet," the brown-haired girl answered, shifting a bit and brushing some imaginary lint from her sleeve.
"So, what sort of magic can you do?" asked Phantom. He was genuinely curious, but he also wanted to know what these people were capable of, especially since some of them were apparently after him.
The twins grinned at each other and disappeared with simultaneous loud cracks; making most of the others jump. They reappeared a split second later directly behind Phantom.
Battle instincts flaring, the half-ghost shot forward a couple of feet and whirled around in the same move. He hovered in a fight stance with both hands curled into fists and enveloped with flickering ectoplasmic energy. Several seconds passed in stunned silence before Phantom regained conscious control. The energy, which had bathed the twins in an eerie light, swiftly faded as Phantom sat cross-legged in the air once more.
"You really shouldn't spook him like that," Tucker said with a grin.
"That was terrible," Sam and Phantom deadpanned.
Tucker frowned. "Yeah, like you're any better Mr Witty One-liner," he shot back at his ghostly friend.
"Hey!"
"He's got a point," Sam added, staring at the half-ghost with one eyebrow raised.
"Aww, not you too!" Phantom whined, part indignant part mock-hurt. "That just hurts. I've been trying to teleport for ages," he said in a somewhat sulky tone. "Hey, can you tell me how you did that?"
"You can't apparate without magic," Hermione piped up.
Phantom frowned. "So not fair," he muttered, the sulky tone deepening. "Can you tell me anyway?"
"Honestly Phantom, have you ever thought that it's one skill you can't learn?" Sam asked seriously. Some ghost powers, such as flying, invisibility and intangibility, were universal. She was unsure about ectoblasts as they seemed to require a certain level of power or something. Then there were the uncommon powers, such as cryokinesis, that could only be used due to a certain affinity, or a channel of sorts, like a weapon. Even among ghosts the power of duplication and teleportation seemed rare.
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow at her. "As a matter of fact I have…but Plasmius can. I learnt how to duplicate because of him, so there's no reason I can't teleport."
"Yeah, but he can do stuff you can't, just like you can do stuff he can't," said Tucker.
Phantom crossed his arms. "Well I'm not giving up."
"That's the spirit, fellow prankster!"
"Bad pun aside," the twins said cheerily.
"So…about this magic…?" Sam asked, trailing off meaningfully.
The majority of the Order members settled themselves around the large wooden table in the kitchen. They kept casting curious looks at the door, waiting for Molly to come back with the 'spectral entity' in tow. Remus was sitting next to his best friend, Sirius, while Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt sat opposite. Dumbledore was seated at the head of the table away from the door, his hands folded calmly on the table in front of him. Minerva sat on his right side while Severus occupied the left. Arthur sat near the door and was the first to notice his wife's return.
Moments later all talk ceased as Molly shut and charmed the door behind Phantom. Remus glanced at the half-ghost, realising that no one had told him about magic. Phantom had only raised an eyebrow and Remus figured he must have learned something from Harry and the others.
"Thank you for joining us Mr. Phantom," Dumbledore said in his mysterious, grandfatherly way. "I know that leaving your haunting place must have been very hard for you, but for your own sake I am glad you did. I am sure, judging from your reaction to the wards on the door, that you have learned of our magic."
"Yeah, some warning would've been nice," Phantom muttered, purposefully avoiding Lupin's gaze.
Dumbledore simply smiled. "The magical community has been kept a secret from the non-magic folk for centuries. I'm sure you can appreciate the need for secrecy in such matters. We are not here to discuss the Statute of Secrecy however, but to discuss the situation you have unwillingly found yourself in. I am sure you have many questions and we will do our utmost to answer them." He gestured to the empty chair at the end of the table and Phantom sat down warily.
He couldn't shake the feeling of tension and unease that seemed to pervade the room and gave a small cough to clear his throat. "So…uh…what's the deal with this Umbridge lady? Is she some sort of hunter?"
"Dolores Umbridge harbours a strong dislike of anything she considers less than human," Dumbledore said, looking over his half-moon glasses at the halfa. "She focuses her dislike on merpeople, werewolves, centaurs and such. With a title such as 'halfa' you have proved to be a very tempting target for her."
Phantom's eyes lit up a dangerous green. "WHAT?! She's after me because of what the other ghosts call me?" he asked in outrage. "This lady has some serious prejudice issues," he added in an angry mutter.
"Mr. Phantom, if I may be so bold as to ask seeing as we now have time and are in a secure setting; what defines the term 'halfa'? Remus informed us it referred to a special type of spectral entity. Could you please expand on that?" Dumbledore asked cordially, trying to catch Phantom's eye.
Phantom internally panicked. He spoke cautiously, picking his words with care. "That's what I told Remus. A halfa is basically just like every other ghost, although there is one little thing that separates us. I can…leave my haunt if I want, although I don't know that many ghosts actually tied to somewhere. Most ghosts have some sort of obsession, but I don't think I do. Again, that's not really a halfa thing. Plasmius is pretty obsessed," he said, mumbling the last line to himself.
"And this 'one little thing'?" Sirius prompted.
"Is classified information to humans," Phantom said in a halfway authoritarian tone, thinking quickly. He caught Remus trying to hide a grin.
Professor Snape stared disdainfully at the half-ghost through his curtain of greasy hair. "Typical teenager," he sneered. "How do you expect us to protect you to the fullest extent if you withhold information that may render the wards useless?" His sneer became more pronounced as he remembered having a similar conversation with Potter over a year ago.
"All of the wards already in place will not be affected. Any protection directed to beings on the spectral plane will not be affected either," Remus said, giving Snape a pointed look.
"And how, exactly, did you come by this information?" Snape shot back silkily.
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Simple and friendly conversation. Tiny differences such as bleeding aside, Phantom, as he sits here before you, is no different to any other ghost."
Phantom was impressed. 'He didn't even lie!' He was happy that his choice to trust the werewolf seemed to be the right one. Usually Sam, Tucker and Jazz would help bail him out, but he'd have to rely on Remus for this one.
"Speaking of bleeding; how is your hand, dear?" Mrs Weasley suddenly asked.
Phantom leaned his right elbow on the table and let his hand rest in the air. His hand resembled that of an Ancient Egyptian mummy, though his fingers were wrapped separately. Tiny spots of green dotted the bandage and Phantom flexed his fingers, frowning. "It still stings a bit when I move. I usually heal by now…that box was a real piece of work," he answered.
"Someone should be coming tomorrow that can properly check the box, along with a couple of other things," Mr. Weasley politely interjected, thinking of the dresser his wife mentioned that rattled.
Phantom simply shrugged and said, "Okay. So what about this lady? She can't hunt me forever. She'll give up after a while, right?"
"Tonks and myself are two of the four people she sent after you," Kingsley said, waving a hand at Tonks who smiled and nodded at Phantom. "Since you are not at Amity Park anymore, our search will be fruitless and we will report no sighting of the 'halfa' to her. She may decide to keep us there for a while longer, but I don't foresee us staying at Amity Park for longer than a month."
"That's pretty good I guess," Phantom said, absently picking at his bandages. "What about this other guy you mentioned? You said you'd tell me if I agreed to come here. Well, here I am," he said, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore.
The headmaster's shrewd gaze settled on Phantom's strange eyes and a sad smile crept onto his face. "Yes, so I did. You have a good memory. The Wizarding World is not as fairy-tale perfect as most wish to believe. There is one man who is feared throughout the entire magical community. He was finally defeated fourteen years ago, but he was still alive and fled, going into hiding for a decade. He returned a number of weeks ago but the Ministry of Magic, our government, does not wish to face the truth that he is back and so they have informed the public that the word of his return was a lie. Unfortunately this has given the man a lot of freedom to operate from the shadows. This man, who has taken the name Lord Voldemort, has been sending his followers to persuade those such as the werewolves and the giants to join him. There is no doubt that he has learned of you from the undersecretary's actions and would wish for you to join the army he is trying to gather."
Phantom frowned as he mulled all of the information over. "So you guys found me first. Are you after the same thing?" he suddenly asked. "Are you trying to recruit me?" He narrowed his eyes and began a staring contest with Dumbledore.
Dumbledore lightly shook his head, although he never broke eye contact. "Oh no dear boy, my intention was simply to move you out of Voldemort's reach. You are here purely for your own safety," he answered.
"Okay, I know I didn't imagine it that time. Why do you lot look like someone's walked over your grave when you hear 'Voldemort'? There, just like that!" he exclaimed, pointing a bandaged finger around the table.
Minerva McGonagall drew Phantom's attention with a small cough. "Try to understand that You-Know-Who did many terrible things and inspired such fear that most refuse to speak his name. I do not know how far his influence spread outside of Britain, but his reign of terror has left its mark."
'Yeah, but my evil future self destroyed the whole world and I'm sure more people than Val called him by name. What did this Morty guy do that was worse than THAT?' Phantom thought with no small amount of disbelief. He shrugged, finding very little sympathy for people afraid of a word, no matter who or what the word denoted. "Okay then... But you have to know that I can't stay here forever. I fully intend to leave when Summer Break is over, as we agreed as a condition of me coming here, whether Morty's still looking for me or not," he said firmly, remembering his sister's advice.
Sirius and Remus shared an amused look while Tonks mouthed the name 'Morty' with an expression that looked like she was unsure whether or not to laugh or be horrified at the mangling of such a feared name.
"Foolish boy!" Snape snapped out. "He won't give up his search that easily. We would not go to such lengths to protect you only for you to all but hand yourself over in a few weeks' time."
'So that's how it's gonna be, huh?' Phantom thought angrily, inadvertently flashing Snape what Vlad called 'The Scary Eyes'.
"If we could please cool down the tempers," said Dumbledore pleasantly enough, "I would like to reassure you, Phantom, that we are not holding you against your will. Nor will we stop you from leaving when your time to return home comes upon us. I strongly advise against leaving until we are reasonably sure you will not be pursued, but you are free being and have the right to decide your own course."
Despite the reassuring words, Phantom was getting the vague feeling of a cornered animal. He kept silent but nodded, reminding himself not to forget to tell his friends this particular point.
"Do you have any other questions for us?" Dumbledore asked, interlocking his fingers and placing his hands on the table.
Phantom went over the things that had been mentioned. "The protection you've got around this place... You said this place was safe and they wouldn't be able to find me here," he said, directing the last part to Remus. "Is there some sort of shield around the house?"
The werewolf glanced at Dumbledore and got a tiny nod in reply. "There is a shield of sorts, but it's a little hard to explain. The whole building has a spell on it that makes it Unplottable."
The half-ghost gave Remus the typical teenage stare of complete incomprehension.
Remus returned the stare with a patient smile that only a good parent or teacher learned to perfect. "Unplottable means that this building will not appear on any map, magic or otherwise, and does not even appear on the street outside unless you know it's there."
"Okay, that sounds good," Phantom said, mollified.
"Anything else?" Remus asked.
"No, I think that about covers the big things," Phantom replied after a moment's hard thinking. He was sure Sam and Tucker would think of anything he missed and he could ask about it tomorrow. He stared at his hands, his eyes following the lines in the bandages. "Oh yeah, my hand. You said something about side-effects earlier today?" he asked, looking at Mrs. Weasley a little awkwardly.
"Oh yes, yes, of course," she said, glancing towards Snape. "Professor Snape here has some healing knowledge, so if you'd like to let him have a look at it?"
From the unpleasant sneer of disdain on the man's face, Phantom very much doubted that putting his hand remotely near him was safe in the slightest. 'Dealing with him has got to be better than any crazy side-effects from a psycho magic box, right?'
With that minimally comforting thought in mind, Phantom held his hand out a bit towards Snape at the other end of the table. "Would you mind taking a look, sir?" he asked politely.
Snape remained silent for several long moments before giving a short nod. "Come here then, boy."
Phantom stood and walked the length of the table until he stopped beside Snape. Staying polite, he gave a quiet 'thank you' as he held out his bandaged hand.
The elder male turned slightly in his seat and took the proffered hand in a grip that was gentler than Phantom expected. The bandage was deftly unwound and the sight it revealed was not pleasant. The teen heard Mrs. Weasley gasp in the background.
There were few places left where bare skin was visible. Green blisters covered the majority of skin his glove usually hid. A number of them had burst, which explained the green spots that soaked into the bandage. The odd thing was the silvery-blue tracery of ice that delicately spider-webbed his hand on his palm and the inside skin of his fingers - the parts of his hand that had direct contact with the box, he realised.
Snape pulled out his wand and ran the tip of it over the ice with a look of concentration etched on his face. Seemingly unsatisfied he continued his wand's probing and ran it over the back of Phantom's hand, his perpetual frown deepening as he went.
Phantom tensed. 'Oh no, what if that shows up something human? These people are MAGIC, who knows what info he's getting off that stick?! Why didn't I think of this before? Stupid, stupid, stupid!'
Snape, oblivious to Phantom's wildly panicking thoughts, finished his examination. "Leave the bandage off for a couple of hours. I am unsure if the bandage is helping, given the strange nature of the item that caused it mixed with your…unknown biology. I have more important things to do than wait on you, so if your hand gets worse then see someone here," he said dismissively.
Phantom raised an eyebrow but gave a stiff nod.
"I feel we have kept you from your friends long enough," Dumbledore calmly said. "If you have any other questions I'm sure any of the adults here will be happy to answer. There is information that can't be shared regarding certain things so do not be surprised if some of your questions are not answered to your satisfaction. I do hope you understand."
"Yeah, I get it," Phantom said with a wave of his uninjured hand.
"Molly, would you mind taking Mr. Phantom back to his friends?" Dumbledore asked, disguising the order as a polite question.
Mrs. Weasley agreed immediately and Phantom followed her out of the kitchen after a quick wave and a "Bye!"
'I know this group is secret so of course they're used to hiding stuff, but that old man is really trying not to take any chances with me and my powers. Being nice about it or not I really hate being treated like a little kid or an untrustworthy, evil ghost. Even worse, being treated like both,' Phantom thought, scowling at Mrs. Weasley's feet as he followed her up the stairs.
"You should get some rest, dear," Mrs. Weasley said when they had reached his room. "You still need to adjust to this time zone and I'm sure some rest would help your hand heal."
Phantom found that he couldn't argue with the points she made. "Yeah, okay," he said with a careless shrug.
"If your hand starts hurting then I want you to come and see one of us. Don't be afraid to wake us up, okay?" Phantom just nodded and Molly stared at him wistfully for a moment before she smiled and went back downstairs.
For several moments Danny was sorely tempted to try and spy. He took a step in the direction of the stairs, shrugged, opened the bedroom and went in. Danny gently kicked the door shut, gave Sam and Tucker the I-have-news-but-am-way-too-tired-to-share-it-right-now-so-please-don't-ask look, and flopped tiredly on his bed. A flash of light and two glowing rings later and Danny gave a tired groan as he ran a hand through his messy black hair.
"Are you gonna tell us what it was about?" Tucker asked after sharing a look with Sam.
"Grmph…" was the reply as Danny had his face covered.
Sam crossed her arms. "Don't think that suffocating yourself will get you out of talking," she said. She huffed in annoyance as there was no reply and moved next to Danny. Sam poked his arm and sent Tucker a slightly worried frown when her action didn't produce the result she desired.
"Sam?" Tucker enquired in a loud whisper.
"He's asleep again," she replied. "This might end up being a lot harder for him than he thought."
Tucker shook his head and grinned. "Nah, he'll be right in a day or two."
"I hope they didn't do anything to him in that meeting," Sam said with a growl.
Tucker just shrugged. "Guess we'll find out in the morning. Night Sam."
Harry, Hermione and the Weasley children exchanged looks as they reeled the Extendable Ears back in. They were a little disappointed that they hadn't heard any details about the meeting itself but, with a bit of luck, they might be able to catch Phantom telling his friends about it in the morning.
"Oh, I do hope Phantom is alright," Hermione said.
Ron gave the brown haired girl a blank look. "Why wouldn't he be?"
"Honestly Ron, you're not the least bit sensitive to other people's needs," Hermione grumbled in a scolding tone. "He's very far away from his haunt. A typical ghost is usually incapable of leaving the place they manifested. Phantom might not be a typical ghost, but I imagine that it's still very hard for him to be away from his haunt."
"We don't know if that's the problem. It might be because of his hand," said Ginny.
Harry smothered a yawn. "I guess we'll find out in the morning."
With nothing else to discuss the group dispersed to their respective rooms with their own thoughts.
The night passed uneventfully. Harry vaguely heard the bedroom door unlock after a whispered spell. A blurry shape squeezed through the door and a voice hissed at the boys to wake up. Harry gave a tiny groan and reached out a hand. His questing fingers came into contact with his glasses and he plucked them from the bedside dresser. He slid them on and the blurry shape was revealed to be Hermione.
She had a flesh coloured string in her hand and was prodding at Ron's shoulder after checking that Harry was awake.
"Gerroff," Ron mumbled.
"If you don't want to find out what happened at the meeting last night that's fine, but don't expect us to fill you in later," Hermione whispered sharply.
Ron's eyes widened a little and he struggled out of bed with a long-suffering groan.
They met up with Ginny and the twins on the landing. Fred waved his wand and the string detached from Hermione's hand. George grabbed one end while Fred gave his wand another flick and the other end of the string floated to a stop near the bottom of their guests' door. The group ended up huddled around the eavesdropping device for about twenty minutes before they heard the telltale rustling of a body waking up and detangling themselves from the bed covers.
"Ugh…I hate mornings…and morning people," Sam groaned. She got out of the bed and padded over to Tucker. She shook his shoulder roughly, commanding him to get up.
When Tucker was sufficiently awake he joined Sam at Danny's bedside. "Couldn't we just wait until he wakes up on his own?" he muttered through a yawn.
"No, because he might let something slip that he normally wouldn't if he's only half awake," she replied. "Danny. Danny, get up! What happened at the meeting?"
"Ngh…wha meeting?" Danny absently replied in a sleep-filled slur.
"The meeting you went to without me and Tucker," Sam prompted.
"Oh that… That crazy lady they warned me about is a racist nut-job. They wanted to know what a halfa is, but nothing important was spilled. They said there's some evil dude out there I gotta stay away from…Lord…something or other. Then Mrs. Weasley asked me about my hand and a mean, creepy looking guy had a look at it…told me to keep the bandage off for a while," Danny said sleepily.
Tucker snorted a laugh. "Is that all?"
"They don't want me to leave after Summer Break is over."
"What?!" Sam growled out. "Are they going to try and keep you prisoner or something?"
The half-ghost levered himself up on an elbow, now completely awake. "Tried to get me while I was down, Sam? Ouch. And I told them there was no way I was staying longer than agreed. Mean And Creepy didn't like that, but the old man, Dumbledore, said that while he 'strongly advises' me to stay he won't force it."
"Good," Sam said emphatically. "So how is your hand?"
Danny rolled his eyes but sat up properly, just as curious as Sam. He pulled his hand out from under the covers and held it out.
The green ectoplasm was gone along with the blisters, replaced by very tender looking red skin. It resembled a slightly shiny faded red glove. On the palm where the icy tracery had been was a number of very tiny blisters atop skin that was a more inflamed shade of red. All in all it looked like Danny had burnt the skin off in a fire and it was mostly healed apart from several layers of missing skin.
"Whoa, dude, is that good or bad?" Tucker asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine. It doesn't really hurt, the skin just feels a bit tight," said Danny as he carefully flexed his fingers.
"What will happen when you change?" asked Sam.
Danny sighed. "Suppose I'll have to find out sooner or later. Better get it over with," he said unenthusiastically. His transformational rings appeared and washed over him. It was over in a couple of seconds and Danny let out a pained gasp.
The nasty blisters had returned, covered in half congealed ectoplasm, while the ice was also back. His white spandex glove was still in little pieces hanging from his wrist.
"That looks just as bad as it did yesterday, if not worse," stated Tucker, his face taking on a green tinge.
"I just hope it heals in either form," Sam said with a frown.
Her two male friends hummed in agreement.
"Danny? Form?" Harry asked aloud.
The others shared equally baffled expressions.
A/N: It has been quite a while concerning this story. I hope that the writing flows well and isn't too jarring if you find a difference in style from previous chapters. Or even partway through this chapter.
Reviews are appreciated, as is constructive criticism.
Flames are ignored and shall be used as a heat source as it's very cold here at the moment. (I'm in Australia, it's Winter.)
If you do review, I ask that you please write something more than "Update plz!". While that does hint that you liked it, I would like a bit more substance to base my writing ability off.
A huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with me and not given up hope that I'd ever update! -hugs you all-
Remember! - I always keep my profile page up-to-date. I have a section there where I post what chapter of which story I'm up to and how much of that chapter I've completed. If you wanna know how close I am to finishing the next chapter of ANY of my stories, head there and scroll down a short way. They're under the heading 'Story Updates'.