Thanks so much for the feedback on the last chapter. I have to give thanks to panther28 for pointing out a small mistake on the last chapter. I really appreciate you letting me know. I think midterms fried my brains because for some reason I was writing Crookshanks as a she instead of a he. A thousand apologies to anyone else that noticed that. Anyway, I've talked enough. Now on to your reguarly scheduled programming...

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"It's safe now, Harry. Take off the cloak." The red-haired boy said he neared a large rock just near the fence surrounding the shack.

Harry slipped out of the cloak and Daniel nearly gasped when he realized the boy had been invisible the entire time.

The red-haired boy was seething and his friend did his best to calm him. "I swear one day I'm going to hurt that moron. Who does Malfoy think he is?!"

Harry placed a hand on the red-haired boy's shoulder and they both took deep breaths. "Calm down, Ron. Honestly, Draco Malfoy just likes to talk. He's hardly worth you getting so worked up over."

"I can't stand him. He does nothing but make fun of me and my family. So we're different from some wizard families. Why does he have to shove it down my throat whenever he sees me?"

"He's an idiot. Don't worry. It's not like anyone but those stupid Slytherins care what he has to say."

Ron looked at Harry and sighed. "Thanks Harry. I don't know why I let him get to me."

"Because you're human, Ron. You're not the only one that can't wait to see Draco get put in his place."

Ron nodded to Harry and took a seat on the nearby boulders overlooking the Shrieking Shack.

"We should get closer. Maybe take a better look at that place." Harry said with a smile as Ron's cheeks turned pink.

"Are you mad?! That's the most haunted house in Britain, and you want to go closer?" Harry rolled his eyes at his friend started to move closer to the fence surrounding the shack.

"It'll be fun, Ron. Come on."

Daniel held his breath as he tried not to panic. He knew if the children got too close they might find Jack and Sirius, and he knew he couldn't let that happen. Thinking fast he stumbled out of his hiding place behind the trees and the startled boys aimed their wands in his direction.

"Sorry to interrupt. Um...Didn't see you two up here." Daniel held up his hands as though he were surrendering. He was pretty sure Jack would think he was insane for just showing himself this way, but from where he was standing there was little other choice if wanted to keep the boys from getting too close to the shack.

"Who are you?" Harry shouted still aiming his wand directly at Daniel's chest.

"My name's Daniel. I was just on my way out of town, and I wanted to get a look at the Shrieking Shack. It's my first time in Britain, and I've heard so much about it, I just wanted to see it in person."

Harry and Ron eyed Daniel suspiciously, neither lowering their wands as Daniel casually took a seat on the boulder next to the boys.

"Where's your wand?" Ron asked curiously, noticing that Daniel hadn't bothered to try and stop them from pointing their wands at him.

"Don't have one. Not very good with magic, unfortunately." Daniel set the bags he'd gotten in town on the ground beside him and motioned for the boys to join him.

Hesitantly, both boys sat down beside Daniel, keeping their wands close by.

"So what are you doing here?" Harry looked down at the bags beside Daniel's feet and then back at the Daniel.

"Like I said, I was passing through town, and I wanted to get a look at the Shrieking Shack. It is the most haunted house in Britain, or so I've heard." Daniel smiled and Harry and Ron shook their heads.

"Where are you from? You sound American?" Ron asked as he leaned forward on his boulder.

"Can I get your names before you interrogate me?"

Both boys looked at each other and then back at Daniel and nodded.

"I'm Ron Weasley." The red-haired boy reached a hand out and Daniel shook it.

"Harry...Harry Potter." Daniel tried not to gape as Harry spoke his name, but he was sure the boys couldn't have missed the surprised expression on his face.

"Well, I'm Daniel Jackson." Daniel reached his hand out to Harry, who took it with a wary look in his eyes.

"So where are you from?" Ron asked again.

"You're right. I am American. Came all the way from Colorado." Daniel sat quietly waiting for the boys to ask him something else, thankful that they seemed to have forgone the idea of getting closer to the shack.

"You must be a real nutter to come all that way just to look at a Shack." Daniel laughed as Ron shook his head at him.

"Well, that's not the only reason I came. I'm actually on my way to London. I have family there, that I plan to visit as well."

The piercing glares that Harry was giving him were unnerving the archeologist, but he managed to keep quiet about it as he chatted with Ron. The redhead seemed quite intrigued by him, and he was enjoying talking to him as well. But a cough from Harry made both of them stop and turn in the dark-haired boy's direction.

"How do we know you're telling us the truth?" The strain in Harry's voice made Daniel wonder just what the boy was implying. He could see a slight resemblance to Jack in the boy's face as he stared at him with that stern, almost 'Colonel' look on his face waiting for Daniel to respond.

Adjusting his glasses, Daniel stared straight into the young boy's eyes as he spoke. "I guess you'll just have to believe me. I can't really prove anything. You're the ones with wands. I suppose if you don't believe me you could use them on me and be done with it."

Slowly Harry raised his wand again and pointed it directly at Daniel, who stared back as calmly as he could despite the nervous feeling that was starting in the pit of his stomach.

"Harry, what are you doing? It's not like he's Sirius Black or something." Ron placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, but it was swiftly pushed away.

"How do we know?" Harry glared at Ron and the redhead shrugged his shoulders as they both turned their heads back in Daniel's direction.

The archeologist gulped seeing that Harry wasn't going to let this go. He knew then that he had to find a way to convince them he was telling the truth or he was going to end up tasting whatever skill these two young wizards might have with their wands firsthand.

-----

"Oh fer cryin' out loud! Where the heck is he?!" Jack shouted as he stood up. "It's been hours, Sirius!"

"I realize that, Jack. He was probably fascinated by the stuff in all those shops. From our little discussion last night, he seems rather taken with the whole wizarding world and such." Sirius waved his hand in the air and Jack shook his head in frustration.

He knew well that Daniel was prone to getting sidetracked, especially when he saw something new that fascinated him. Gritting his teeth, Jack walked over towards the window and peeked out of it.

"I swear that man is gonna be the death of me one day." Sirius laughed softly and Jack turned back around to look at the other wizard. "What's so funny?"

"You of course. You've always been so damned protective of others. Daniel is probably in no danger at all, but you're in full protection mode. It's just amusing to me."

"It would be considering you've hardly cared about anyone your whole life." As soon as the words left his lips, Jack regretted them and lowered his head in shame.

"That's not true!" Sirius shot Jack a venomous look that left the other wizard stunned.

"I'm sorry, Siri. That was uncalled for. I know you've cared about a lot of people, me included." Jack sighed and Sirius nodded back. "I probably shouldn't even be worrying about Daniel. I'm just letting this all get to me. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I've forgiven you for worse things than talking out your ass." Sirius smirked at the surprised look on Jack's face.

"Ouch, my friend. Your wit is still as sharp as ever."

"Being around you helps. You always did bring out the wittier side of my personality."

Jack rolled his eyes and took a seat by the window. "So that's what you call it."

Sirius smiled and then sighed softly seeing the worry still present in his friend's eyes. "I could go look for him if you like?"

"Don't be silly. He should be back soon. I'll just chew him out for driving me insane when he gets in."

Leaning back in his seat, Jack rested his head against the cold wall and took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. He had the sneaking suspicion that Daniel was busy getting himself into trouble, but he hoped that it wasn't the case. Though he wasn't quite sure how, he was certain that the archeologist still had some role to play in whatever strangeness was slowly unfolding around them.

"I suppose you're right." Sirius stood up from his seat across the room and moved to where Jack was. Curiously he looked out the small crack in the wooden slat covering the window and his eyes settled on a small patch of fenced area just near the entrance to the shack. "Odd. That looks like Daniel there."

Jack stood to get a look at what Sirius could see and nodded in agreement. "Who's out there with him?"

"Oh my god! That's Harry and the Weasley boy." Sirius shook his head and started for the door with Jack hot on his heels.

Jack grabbed Sirius by the shoulder just before the other wizard's hand touched the handle. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Siri?"

"Of course I know what I'm doing. I just hope your friend knows what he's doing talking to those two. Harry doesn't know the truth about what happened to his parents. He doesn't know the truth about anything. I don't want to risk the chance that Daniel might let something slip."

"Daniel doesn't know everything, and he's not dumb enough to let anything slip."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and again reached for the door. "Are you coming with me or not?"

"Fine." Both men took off out the side entrance, Sirius transforming just as they entered the bushes near the doorway.

-----

"Harry calm down!" Ron's voice echoed through the trees as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Look Ron, there's something off about him. I don't know what it is, but I feel it."

Daniel nervously fidgeted with the cuff of his jacket and listened to the two boys banter back and forth. He heard the faint sound of footfalls behind him and he jerked his head around to see a bushy-haired girl walking fast towards them.

"There you are. I've been looking for you since we got into town. Since Hagrid's been so miserable about Buckbeak, I thought maybe we could cheer him up a bit when we get back.." Hermione didn't seem to be paying any attention to Daniel until she stepped closer and she realized he wasn't another student.

"Buckbeak? I'd forgotten all about it." There was a tinge of remorse in Ron's voice as he looked away from Hermione and down at the ground.

"What are you two doing anyway? And who is this?" Hermione pointed to Daniel and he shrugged his shoulders.

"The name's Daniel, and I was just passing through town, but your friends here seem to think I'm up to something." Daniel stood and cautiously moved away from Hermione and closer to the treeline.

Hermione looked from her friends to Daniel and then back again. He seemed harmless at first glance, but there was something about the way Harry was glaring at him that made her a bit nervous. She opened her mouth to speak when a loud crack made them all turn.

A stranger had apparated in between them all, and very nearly landed on Ron's feet. The redhead tumbled backwards in confusion and stared blankly as a wiry hand reached out to help him up.

"Sorry about that. I've been wondering about you. Didn't know it took that long to walk through town. I thought you'd gotten lost or something." Jack smiled as Daniel paled against the boulder his hand was resting on.

"Who are you?" Harry's grit his teeth and pointed his wand at the stranger who was eying him quite curiously.

Jack knew that Harry had to be wondering why he was staring so intently at him and he blinked shaking himself to the present as he watched the all to familiar and yet not so familiar face glaring at him. "Uh...The name's Jack. Daniel here is my-"

Daniel cut Jack off and the colonel stared wide-eyed at the archeologist. "Cousin. I told you I have family in London. I was supposed to meet him here so we could go back to London together."

Curiously Jack nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he took so long getting here I went into town to check on him but he wasn't there, so I decided to come back here to wait. Now who might you be, kiddo?"

"Back off!" Harry shouted as Jack went to placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Take it easy, kid. My cousin and I just want to get outta here and back home. Why don't you and your friends do the same?" Jack stepped in front of Harry's wand and let the tip of his rest against his chest.

Slowly Harry eased the wand down and slipped it back in his pocket. "Come on, guys. Let's go."

Jack and Daniel watched as Harry stepped around Jack and motioned for Ron and Hermione to follow him. Reluctantly the trio walked began to walk away. Ron turned around briefly and reached out a hand to Daniel.

"It was nice meeting you."

"You too, Ron." Daniel shook the redhead's hand and waved as he walked away. Once they were out of sight he breathed a sigh of relief as he turned back to Jack. "That was close, Jack."

"No. Really?" Jack let the sarcasm drip from his voice as he rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Where's Sirius?"

Looking around Jack's eyes settled on a bushy area just past Daniel's shoulder. "He's over there."

Daniel turned and Sirius padded towards them and barked as he moved past them and back towards the shack. Jack nodded and took hold of one of Daniel bags and the trio moved through the trees.

Several minutes later they were back in the Shrieking Shack and Jack shook his head furiously at Daniel. The archeologist shrugged his shoulders trying to explain, but the Colonel's fierce glare stopped him in his tracks.

"What were you thinking talking to Harry?! Are you insane!?"

"Listen Jack! I was trying to stop them from getting closer to this damned place. Harry wanted to get a closer look, if I hadn't started talking to them there was a good chance they would have found you two here. I was trying to help, so get off my back!!"

Jack shrank back slightly as Daniel raised his arms in frustration and stomped up the stairs, leaving Jack speechless and Sirius trying to hold back a chuckle.

"Well, that went well my friend."

"Shut up, Sirius!" Jack turned and started up the stairs after Daniel.

"Those two are quite the pair." Sirius shook his head as Jack walked away and he turned back to the bags of supplies that had been left by the door. Rolling his eyes he grudgingly moved towards them. "Of course. Leave me to take care of all this. You're too kind."