Howdy!
Thanks to chapter twelve's reviewers:
ghostlymangarocker, Aibyoka 13, purrbaby101, Lucifer, Catnip070
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is owned by Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon Studios. Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling.
Previously In Fiction: Sirius isn't the murderer of Harry's parents like everyone claims. When they discover the true killer, Peter Pettrigrew, under the disguise of Ron's rat, Scabbers, they head off to the castle to redeem Sirius and confine him instead. But with the dawn of a full moon, Professor Lupin turns dangerous and Sirius and Danny are cornered by a wave of Dementors…
Fiction
Chapter Twelve
Innocent
Water was splashed on Danny's face to wake him up and he groaned, his eyes fluttering open slowly. Two blue-green eyes peered into his.
"Go away Jazz," he muttered hoarsely, forgetting where he was.
She cleared her throat. "You need to wake up, Harry," she said with emphasis.
His eyes snapped open, remembering everything suddenly. The rest of his body rebelled with his motion. He felt like he'd been beaten all over. His head was groggy and fuzzy.
"How do you feel?" she asked, helping him to sit up.
"Great," he replied, giving her a look she didn't see.
"Really?" she asked, surprised.
"No. I feel like hell," he said, cringing as even the slightest movement hurt.
"Well, don't yell at me," she snapped.
"What happened?" he asked, putting his feet onto the floor. He was in the same Hospital Wing he'd been in before after the Quidditch match.
"They should be performing the Dementor's Kiss on Sirius," she said gloomily.
"What's that?" he asked.
"You don't remember? You should have Harry's memories. It's been an hour," she said.
"An hour since what?" he asked.
"Since you passed out from the Dementors," she said gently.
He cringed. "I changed the book, didn't I?" He smacked himself in the forehead. "Why am I such an idiot?"
"You did change the book, but not the movie," she said. "And it was me."
"I thought you were going to follow me and – what?" he asked. "How?"
"I wasn't ever going to follow you. In the book, Ron gets hit with a spell and so Harry and Hermione try to rescue Sirius from the werewolf. But I got scared…I didn't want to face the Dementors, so I followed the movie, where Harry goes down by himself…I just got scared, and I'm so sorry…" She grasped onto him in a hug. "I put you through hell and I should have been there for you."
"It's okay, I'm fine Jazz," he said, hugging her back awkwardly.
"Yeah, but I never would have forgiven myself had you died," she whispered, tears in her eyes.
"Speaking of which," he said, pulling away. The same vision he'd seen before he'd fainted came to him. "Something weird happened-"
She already knew what he was going to say and stopped him. "Tell me later. We really need to find Dumble-"
The doors opened to the wind and Professor Dumbledore strode in, a calm expression on his face despite the events around him.
"—dore," Jazz finished. "Professor, we know Sirius is not-"
He held up his hand to stop her statement. "As do I. But all the evidence we have leads Sirius to the point he is now." He stared at her, blue eyes poring into hers. "You know what you have to do."
Jazz nodded and Danny raised an eyebrow, mentally praying she did, because he had no clue whatsoever, what the heck was going on.
"Sir, one question," she said quickly. "Surely my brother should have Harry's memories?"
"See, that's the wonderful thing about ghosts. Females like to negotiate, in this case Reader agreed to allow me to remove the spell she cast. However, you must finish your task ahead while I prepare it," he said. "Three turns. And you must not be seen."
"Yes, sir," she agreed.
"Good luck," he said. He paused, holding a finger in the air. "Or perhaps it's not luck you need. Perhaps it's the use of human, wizard, and ghost spirit we need. Never underestimate the power of the supernatural." He winked and closed the door. "I'm locking it behind me."
"What in the hell was that about?" said a voice. Danny and Jazz turned around to see Tucker sitting in a bed, a cast on his leg.
"Tucker," Danny said. He hadn't been aware that he was there.
"In the flesh," he said. "Well…I guess not, never mind."
Jazz flicked her brother's ear. "Pay attention." She threw something around his neck and Danny saw the all too familiar Time Turner.
"Oh no, I'm not doing that again," he said, trying to pull away.
"We'll be fine," she said.
He reached for it again and Jazz couldn't resist the temptation to slap his hand again. "Don't touch. Are you ready?" she asked.
"What are we doing?" he asked.
"See you in three hours Tuck," Jazz called. She spun the dial on the Turner three times.
"Jazz!" Danny called. Everything around them started to spin. He closed his eyes and reopened them to find them in a bright ray of sunlight from a setting horizon.
She took the chain off of his neck. "Are you alright?"
"Where are we?" he asked.
"The Hospital Wing. It's seven thirty. We were…ah ha, going to Hagrid's," she said hurriedly. She took his arm and started running. Out of the wing and down a flight of stairs, down two hallways, and finally onto a large bridge. She finally stopped a couple minutes later.
"At some point and time, are you going to explain, what we're doing?" he asked, panting.
"Look down there and tell me what you see," she said, pointing to the end of the bridge. He followed her finger and in the same instant, he heard quiet voices.
Down below the bridge were a few stone boulders and six people were standing around them. Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and –
Danny's eyes widened. "Is that…us? Well, not us, but you know what I mean."
"Three hours ago, yeah," she replied, watching them.
"I'm officially creeped out now," he stated.
"We've gone back in time, three hours. We have to save Sirius, but first save Buckbeak," she explained, facing him.
"And how do you play on doing that?" he asked incredulously.
"Luck? Magick? Imagination? I don't really know. It's not easy in the book or movie, and we have to do it either way."
"Oh. Brilliant," he said. He watched the scene below, seeing Jazz beat up Malfoy with glee a second time.
"You scared the freaking crap out of him," he said, laughing. "And what's best is that you kicked him right in the-"
"Danny, I know. Don't remind me," she said, making a face.
"What are you so worried about? So, you beat the crap out of him, who cares?"
"It's just…we've changed the book so much. I'm probably going to regret doing everything," she said.
"So let's not go by the book all the time. Sure, we'll follow the same plot line of course, but if we mix it up a bit, what harm could it do?" he asked.
She nodded after a minute. "You know, it amazes me how incredibly intelligent you are at time like this compared to the rest of the time when you're completely dense."
"Were you aiming for that to be a compliment?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She laughed and then gasped.
"Oh, no, Malfoy," she said. "I wasn't paying attention. He's coming."
"What do we do," he asked, watching the blonde haired boy approach them closer.
"I don't know. But we can't be seen, and he'll see us," she whispered.
"No, he won't," Danny said, taking her arm. A tingling sensation went through both of them as their bodies became invisible.
The three boys rushed up the stairs, the other two around Draco. Malfoy himself was beyond furious it seemed.
"You wait until my father hears about this," he complained, holding the side of his face. They walked right past them.
Still invisible, Danny kneeled on a step and dragged Jazz off it, making sure she was nowhere near the floor.
He placed one hand onto the floor and a green wisp of energy traveled along it and stretched outwards onto it, chasing the Slytherin boys. When it reached them, all three of them yelled and he removed his hand fast.
Jazz fought the impulse to burst into laughter. Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco were all stuck in the ground halfway, their torsos above the bridge, caught between the flooring.
"Oh my-" Jazz began to exclaim. He clapped a hand to her mouth so they wouldn't hear her. Cautiously she took his arm and they crept down the hill. She waited until they were out of earshot from all directions and then burst into hysterical laughter.
"I…can't…believe…you…just…did that," she said between giggles.
"I bet everyone who doesn't like Malfoy wants to do that," he guessed. "Or worse, like you did."
She gasped. "Quick, Danny, behind there," she said, pointing to a large wall of pumpkins, some of them bigger than cars. He took a fast glance behind him and heard, rather than saw, three men walking down the hill. "Go!" she insisted, shoving him a little.
He ducked down low and ran across the grass, closely followed by Jazz, and they hid behind the pumpkins, crouching.
"What are we supposed to do now?" he asked.
"That's Dumbledore, an executioner, and Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic," she explained. "They're the ones who are sort of overseeing the execution. We need to let them see Buckbeak before they go into Hagrid's house, and then get him out of here before they come back out."
"Oh, that gives us a good, thirty bloody seconds," he muttered.
"You become more British everyday," she teased.
"What about us in there?" he asked, ignoring her.
"Oh, yeah," she said, her nose crinkling. She looked around and saw the same rock perched on top on one of the overly plump pumpkins. Grabbing it in her fingers, she winged it as hard as she could towards the window. The next thing they heard was a loud shatter of porcelain.
"Jazz, what are you doing?" he asked, staring at her, his eyes wide. He reached for her hand, but she pulled away, giving him a look.
"Getting us out of there," she replied. She picked up another one and chucked it fast through the window. This time, it collided with Harry's head.
"Ow!" Danny suddenly said. "Like I didn't have enough headaches," he groaned, rubbing the back of his head.
"You should have ducked," she teased. "Besides that, it worked, didn't it? Come on." She grabbed his arm and yanked him behind, disappearing into the trees behind them. They split up in the middle and went to separate trees, hiding behind them.
Jazz peered around the corner and stared at their past selves, all three of them focused on Dumbledore, Fudge, and executioner all of which were now just outside of Hagrid's house, Hagrid himself joining them.
She found herself smiling. "You know, Daniel Radcliffe's not too bad from this side either," she said.
"Okay, that's just wrong-" he began. His foot caught the edge of the tree and he tripped, slipping on the pine leaves littered on the ground.
"Danny," she hissed as her past self flipped around upon hearing the noise. He scooted out of sight fast, and the Jazz from three hours late gave a curious look and then turned to Danny… "You…"
But they turned back and a couple seconds later, started advancing back up the hill once the three members went inside Hagrid's house.
"Okay, remember what you have to do?" she asked.
"No, Dumbledore took off the spell that gave Harry's memories to me, remember?" he pointed out.
"Oh, yeah. Okay, I have to say this quick. When you untie Buckbeak-"
"And what are you going to do?" he asked, wondering why she was making him do this.
"Would you shut up and listen?" she snapped. He silenced and she sighed, speaking fast. "Bow before you reach him, if he bows back, you're allowed to help him. Untie him and I'll try to help you get him back here."
He nodded, glad she was at least going to do something. Creeping out of hiding, he walked the length of Hagrid's great garden, to where the beast was lying down peacefully.
Making sure he kept eye contact yet kept an eye out on the window looking out into the garden in his house, he bent over in a bow as Jazz had instructed. The creature bowed back amazingly.
He stood up carefully and walked over to the post that he was chained to, working fast to get him untied. Furiously, it wouldn't come undone, and the raven perched on the wood above wasn't making it any easier, deciding to peck randomly at his fingers.
In a sudden burst of anger, the chain suddenly exploded in his hands, and he stared for a moment, unsure of what had happened.
Then it hit him. He must have gotten another power. Everything…maybe it hadn't just been Harry's emotions. Maybe it had been his own new power…But making things explode? It seemed capable of expanding to…a lot of things.
"Buckbeak," he said quickly, snapping out of his amazement. He tugged gently on the chain but the beast simply stared at him. "Buckbeak, come on," he said with urgency.
"Buckbeak!" Jazz suddenly said behind him. He twisted around to see her standing a few feet from him, something wrapped around her neck. It looked like a few dead animals attached to each other by a strong string. "Buckbeak, want a ferret?"
The hippogriff clicked his beak thoughtfully and stood up gracefully, lured by the rank smell of the dead animals. Danny pulled his chain, stepping accidentally into Jazz, who had suddenly frozen.
Looking up, he saw the four adults standing just outside of the house, turned the opposite direction. Grabbing both Jazz's arm and Buckbeak, that way he could turn them invisible if they were to turn around, they crept backwards slowly, listening desperately for any sign that they would turn around.
Finally, they ran free with him trotting at their sides, careful to make little noise as they inched into the forest. Hiding behind a tree, the sun setting made a perfect shadow cast over them.
Hagrid's back door suddenly opened. They made no noise and didn't move and even Buckbeak seemed to know there was something happening.
"Where is it Where is the beast?" the executioner cried. "It was tied here, I saw it! Just here!"
"How extraordinary," Dumbledore stated, smiling.
"He must have gotten away!" Hagrid said, trying to keep his voice from cracking with happiness.
"We should have the Dementors and other teachers search the grounds for the beast," Fudge said, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.
"Someone untied him!" the executioner said darkly. "We should search everywhere."
"If Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?" Dumbledore asked. "Search the skies, if you will… Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy."
"Of course Professor," Hagrid replied. "Come in, come in."
"Oh, executioner? We no longer require your services, thank you," Dumbledore said before disappearing into the house.
Fudge stood outside a moment and the executioner seethed with disappointed fury. He swung the large axe he'd brought to do the work into one of the large pumpkins and then walked with Fudge up the hill again.
Jazz rubbed Danny's back happily. "Phase one: complete. Great job Danny," she said sincerely.
He gave a smile and shrugged. "Now what?"
"We'll have to hide in here," she said. "Until all of us come out from underneath the Whomping Willow. We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius's window. He won't be there for another couple of hours while we're down there."
Buckbeak nudged Jazz and with a disgusted face, she gave him the remaining dead ferrets. He chomped them down excitedly.
"Ew, ew, ew," she said, wiping her hands on her brother. He gave her a look, then saw movement behind her. Squinting, he stared off into the distance and she followed his gaze.
"That's us," Jazz explained.
"I know that," he retaliated.
"You know what the best part about this is?" she asked, cracking a smile.
"What?" he asked, watching him and Jazz chase past Tucker.
"I get to see you get hit by the tree again," she said.
"You know, you could have warned me," he pointed out.
"I tried," she said again.
"Uh huh, sure," he said sarcastically.
"Your powers amaze me," she said after a minute, as she watched them turn invisible.
"I keep getting new ones," he said. "Just a few minutes ago, the chain holding him (he nodded with his head to mention Buckbeak who was frolicking happily behind him) exploded."
"It wouldn't surprise me. If your ghost half is here, they would probably progress more without your human half," she said. She looked back. "Oh, look! There's Lupin!"
They watched Professor Lupin point his wand at a special knot in the tree and it suddenly remained motionless. He snuck underneath it and vanished from view.
"And Snape," Danny muttered angrily.
Snape walked towards the trunk of the tree, where it still stood, frozen, and dove underneath. They were all underneath now.
"Now what do we do?" he asked, looking back at his unfamiliar sister.
"We wait," she said, plain and simple. She sat down, resting her back on the tree behind her. He slid down against one close to it and did the same. They sat in silence for the first five minutes. But Jazz hated silences. She couldn't leave it uncomfortable like this.
"How…how did you become a ghost Danny?" she asked.
He seemed surprised at first, and then shrugged. "I'm only half ghost, like you probably know. It was when mom and dad were working on the Fenton Portal and (he laughed) Sam managed to convince me to check it out. So I did and I pressed a button and poof, the next thing I knew, I woke up half ghost."
"That was the accident," she said. "Is that why you were kind of out of it for the next week?"
"I guess. I didn't know what was wrong, what I was. I could do…all of these things… After I figured it out, I told Sam and Tucker. I doubted I could have kept it from them anyway."
"But you kept it from me," she said, rather hurt.
"I was…afraid you'd tell mom and dad," he admitted, not meeting her eyes. "About what I was doing. Ghost hunting and stuff."
"Why would I hurt you like that?" she wondered.
"I don't know," he replied honestly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know what you're thinking most of the time. Whatever it is, it's bigger words that I use." He laughed and she kicked at his foot gently.
"You should know that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you ever," she said.
"I know. But I figured that mom and dad would go all psycho on me," he said. "Try and hunt me down or something. Find out what made me like that."
"You mean like they do now Danny Phantom?" She smiled. "Or was it Invsi-o-Bill?"
He glared at her. "Don't ever call me that again."
"I'm just kidding," she said, laughing. There was another long moment of silence. She sighed. "Danny, even though mom and dad are pretty obsessive and kooky about their job, they wouldn't do that to you. A part of you knows that."
"Yeah, I kind of realized that," he said. "I figured it out fighting an enemy actually."
"My parents will accept me…no matter what….but if I expose you…"
He shook his head. No use in recalling memories. They didn't matter in this situation. Especially not that one.
"I wonder what mom and dad are doing now," she said, running a hand over Hermione's curly brown locks.
"They're being entertained. Sam's trying to get them to stall somehow. But mom's starting to wonder why you aren't picking up your phone," he said.
She stared at him. "How do you know all this?"
"My human half stayed behind in the real world. And we're pretty much the same person, so we're connected. I'm sort of sensing what's going on," he explained.
"Oh, how come you didn't tell me that before?" she asked.
"Are you kidding? You know how many voices I had in my head after Reader stuck someone else's head in mine?" he asked.
"Yeah, you did act pretty crazy," she said, laughing.
"Thanks. You want to know what's really crazy?" he asked suddenly.
"What?" she asked.
"I thought I saw myself…before the Dementors got me," he said.
"Really?" She tried to conceal her smile, but it didn't work and he caught it.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing," she answered.
He yawned, shaking his head and deciding to drop it. She'd probably kept all of this to herself and so far, it had gotten them through the book.
"Tired?"
"Nope."
□□□□□□□□□
"Danny, wake up!" Jazz's voice demanded. She shook his shoulders and his sleepy eyes peered out at her.
"What happened?" he asked hoarsely, accidentally knocking his head on the bark behind him as he sat up fast.
"You fell asleep," she told him.
"I just closed my eyes," he argued.
"For two hours," she said.
"What!" he exclaimed, sitting up fast.
"Shh!" she said, crouching. He followed her gaze and saw several figures emerging from underneath the tree. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep. He hadn't even meant to.
"Here we come, are you ready?" she asked.
"Yeah, what are we doing?" She stood up and he repeated her.
"We're going to make our way over there," she said, pointing across the way. "We wait until you run away to fight off the Dementors, and then we follow you."
"Okay," he whispered in understanding.
"Come on," she said. She led the way around the forest, pulling Buckbeak's chain in her hand. He followed her closely. Then he watched the scene playing out again.
"Professor Lupin," Jazz said warily. The beast halted a minute, whimpering.
"What are you doing?" Tucker muttered.
"Professor Lupin?" she repeated
"I swear sometimes that I'm the smarter one," the future Danny said. "I can't believe you did that."
"Shh!" she hissed.
Past Jazz jumped backwards as it roared at her and then inched towards her slowly. Then it leapt backwards as something crashed into it. Sirius.
With easy strength, the wolf tossed Sirius's dog form into a large grassy area. Past Danny bent down and reached for a wand, but there was none around. The closest thing he could find was a rock. He grasped one in his hands and ran off towards the two fighting beasts.
Then he launched it, throwing it as hard as he could. It caught the wolf in the head and he turned around, distracted. Yellow-gold eyes locked on green ones and he raced forward, preparing to strike.
Jazz knew what she had to do. Putting her hands around her mouth for louder sound, she let out a loud, wolf like howl. "Awoo!"
"Jazz? What are you doing, trying to get us killed?" Danny said, covering her mouth. She shrugged him off and glared at him.
"I know what I'm doing, don't worry," she said. "Awoo!" she cried as loud as she could.
It worked. Danny saw the past form of himself watch as the werewolf sniffed the air and howled, then treaded their way.
"Now would be a good time to run," he suggested. "You know he's coming right towards us."
"Thanks Captain Obvious," she said. "Run!" She took off and he followed, dashing underneath a tree.
"Know what you're doing huh?" he shouted after her. "It sure looks like it."
"Danny, shut up, you'll lead it right to us," she said. She hid behind a tree and he came up behind her. Both panted, breathing heavily, then stopped. The werewolf headed towards their direction, sniffing the air.
"Over there," Jazz mouthed, pointing to a large oak tree.
He nodded to show he understood and carefully, they inched their way towards it, just as the werewolf went the opposite direction.
They came out, and she took his arm and began leading him to another tree. "I think we lost it," she said, brushing herself off.
And both jumped when it leapt out from a bush beside them. Jazz screamed and out of instinct, Danny threw out his hands.
A dome like object appeared around them, glowing vividly. The werewolf tried, but it couldn't puncture the protective thing. He realized what was happening; all the flashes and visions he'd seen in his head before, it was happening now.
After a few moments, Danny felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead. The wolf wasn't going to give up trying to knock it down, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold it up.
"Hold on," Jazz urged, hesitant to touch him to not distract him.
"I'm trying," he said through gritted teeth.
Jazz watched as her brother's new form seemed to glow a white energy with the effort. The light grew around him, but he didn't seem aware of it.
Suddenly, the wolf jumped on top of the whole globe and Danny had to switch his footing on to get a better grip on the energy.
There was a rip on the top. The dome dissolved into midair, broken by the tear and Danny collapsed to his knees, dragging Jazz down with him.
The beast reared, aiming for them, but they heard a loud squawking noise closely followed by Buckbeak, charging into the fight, smacking the wolf on the head rather sharply. He leapt up on his back legs and swung out, threatening the wolf.
He ran away, whimpering, and went deeper into the forest.
"Thanks Buckbeak," Jazz whispered. "And you too," she said, ruffling Danny's hair. She forgot and it stood up again, and brushed it back down quickly.
"That was weird," he said, waving her hands away in irritation.
"That saved us," she told him. She patted the hippogriff's beak and he nudged her, enjoying it. She stared around. "If we're going to save you, we'd better hurry." She helped Danny to his feet and he froze, taking in what she just said.
"What do you mean, if we're going to save me?" he asked.
She raised an eyebrow. "The only way you're going to see that is if we get there in time. Come on, follow me!"
She raced ahead and he followed, confused. He didn't want to ask, then again he did. Jazz knew something he didn't once again, and he had the strange feeling it had to do with him. Whatever it was, he hoped it wouldn't get him killed.
She ducked down beneath a branch, hoping he'd do the same (which he ended up doing) and they continued to race down the hill.
They appeared on the other side of the lake. Danny could see himself a couple hours ahead, kneeling over the unconscious Sirius. Even from his point of view, he could still feel the horrible cold from the Dementors wrap around him.
"How are we supposed to help if we're over here?" he asked.
"We're not. Catch!" she said.
He held out his hand and grasped a long, narrow object in his fist. Staring down, he recognized it as Harry's wand.
"Danny, this is very important," Jazz said. "I need you to listen to me."
He nodded, swallowing hard. He didn't like her tone of voice. It was panicked and unsure, as if she wasn't exactly clear on what they were supposed to do. Which only made him more nervous.
"I need you to think of a happy memory of Harry's. Actually, more of a dream. We're going to save Sirius, and I need you to picture his rescue in your mind," she explained.
"Okay…" he said.
"And then, we need to get the Dementors away from you. Say 'expecto patronum," she said.
"Expecto patronum," he repeated.
"Okay, think of saving Sirius and say the words, as strong as you can, pointing the wand at the Dementors," she instructed.
He grimaced, turning back towards the horrific scene in front of him and held the wand at arm's length. Closing his eyes for a second, he thought of how happy Sirius would be, free. Away from the Dementors, away from everything that would ever harm him.
Jazz watched, not to move for fear of distracting him. She saw his eyes open and held in a gasp. They were glowing…vivid green shone in the dark. He gave a shiver and then—
"Expecto patronum!" he yelled.
There was a flash of blinding white light, accompanied with a few green tendrils. It traveled through the air like a rocket, dome shaped, and flew towards the Dementors at amazing speed, making a loud sonic noise as it whizzed by.
The Dementors fled, soaring back into the clouds, squealing in terror, flying every which direction they could to get away from the spell's light.
The light dispersed at the final creature retreated and Danny lowered the wand, his eyes returning to their normal color (well, not glowing that is). He turned back to Jazz.
She smiled and leapt onto him in a big hug. "Yes, yes, yes!" she chanted. "I knew you could do it."
He coughed. "Jazz, I can't breathe," he choked out.
She pulled away, laughing. "Sorry," she said. "But yes! I mean, no. We have to get away from here before they see us, and go get Buckbeak." She turned around and screamed. He whipped around and saw Reader and Peeves blocking their way.
"Reader!" Jazz gasped.
"You know, you still changed the book," she muttered darkly. Danny couldn't decide whether or not she was evil or good; she'd seemed to snap after finding out what Jazz had done. "He wasn't meant to have ghost powers."
"You're the one who did it," Danny pointed out. Peeves shook his head and flew into the air, dancing around the trees.
"Your human half was supposed to come here," she repeated.
"Reader, if you don't want us to change the book, you have to let us go," Jazz suggested hopefully.
"I thought I liked you! You liked the book, but then you had to go and-" Reader began, her eyes glowing furiously. "Now Sydney's going to be mad because of me."
"Poindexter has issues," Danny muttered. "Obviously."
Reader turned towards him, her eyes flashing dangerously. At first, her gaze met his, but then it went behind him. "Do it."
Danny felt two hands on his back before something was pressed against his back. A surge of energy went through him and he cried out as it turned to a slow wave of pain. He was trapped in an orb of light.
"Reader, stop it!" Jazz pleaded, trying to rush towards him.
"Fine, Peeves, stop," Reader said.
Danny dropped to the ground, two rings of light enveloping him. The thing was, he didn't feel any pain…but that didn't mean he was normal.
"Danny, are you alright?" Jazz asked, sitting down beside him. "Oh…" He didn't look any different, except his eyes. His left eye was now blue, his right green.
Reader laughed mischievously. "Not the result I was hoping for, but I think it'll do. Come on Peeves." They suddenly vanished.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Reader did something. Do you have Harry's memories?" she asked.
"No, I don't think so," he said, hopping to his feet and then swayed, blinking as he tried to regain clarity.
"Well…your eyes…your eye, is blue. I mean, Daniel Radcliffe has blue eyes, but if you don't have Harry's memories, I don't understand why you have blue eyes and-"
"And it's times like this that I wonder if I'm the smarter one," he interrupted. "Jazz, I have blue eyes."
"Oh, yeah!" she said, smacking her forehead. "Which means-"
□□□□□□□□□
"So……"
"So what?" Danny asked. He rolled over on the bed, trying not to crash into his sister. Sam laughed, shaking her head.
"You have to be one of the most uncoordinated people I have ever known," she said. She looked down at the book. Chapter Twenty One: Hermione's Secret. Page four hundred and thirteen. "What's it like, being in a book, Danny?"
"Weird," he replied. "Confusing…a little bit of fun," he added with a smile.
"I think it would have been cool. Be Hermione, learn all kinds of spells. Of course, I know quite a few already from reading the book," she said. "I wonder how Jazz is fairing. She probably knows practically every spell there is."
"Why aren't you in the book?" he asked again.
"Hermione is really the only important girl around my age to go into. I mean, obviously there's other girls, but they're not even close to the main characters. Of course, I wouldn't have minded being Cho Chang for you."
"Who's that?" he asked.
She looked down, shrugging. "No one. Just an extra one that comes in a lot in the fourth and fifth books. I can't wait until I get the new book."
"When does it come out?" he asked.
"July," she replied.
"I'll get it for you," he promised.
"No, it's fine. It'll be about twenty five dollars or so. I heard it's huge," she said. There was no reply. She turned back around and saw Danny's eyes closed, like he was asleep and she shook her head. "Fall asleep already on me?" She nudged him, but he didn't wake. "Danny?" He didn't move again and she figured it out. Somehow he was back into the book…
"Great…this is going to be boring-"
"Danny!" Someone knocked on the door and Sam jumped, gasping. It was Maddie, standing right outside his room. "Danny?"
Sam bit her lip. Now she was in trouble.
□□□□□□□□□
"Jazz…" Danny whispered. "You have to get on. I'm not gonna let you fall. Besides, you got me up here, now it's your turn."
"I really don't want to…can't I just walk?" she pleaded.
"What's the worst that could happen?" he asked.
"I could fall off," she suggested.
He laughed. "I won't let that happen. Come on. It's alright. A little uncomfortable, but much better than riding a broomstick." He rubbed the hippogriff's ears and it closed his eyes.
She tapped her foot. She'd read the book and remembered how the ride was described. And she knew Hermione didn't like it any better.
"Jazz…" he sighed.
"You promise you won't let me fall?" she asked.
"I promise," he said. "Come on." He held out his hand and she took it reluctantly and pulled herself up. He grabbed the rope attached to him and dug his feet into the creature's ribs. The great wings beneath him unfolded, flapping gently against the wind. They rose up a few feet in the air, gaining speed and height every second.
"Where do we need to go?" he asked.
"Thirteenth window right of the West Tower," she replied, holding on to him very tightly.
"Yeah, that helps me so much," he said sarcastically.
"Over there!" She pointed out her finger and he saw a large tower, lit up by a few windows.
He dug in a little harder and pulled on the reins, taking them higher. Jazz clutched onto him, her nails digging painfully into his stomach.
Just to be evil, he let loose of the reins and leaned forward, forcing Buckbeak to suddenly take a dive sharply and then pull up fast in a mini u-turn.
He shook with silent laughter at Jazz's scream and then felt a hard hit to his shoulder. "You did that on purpose you little twerp," she said. "Right there!" she said suddenly.
Danny pulled back on the reins tightly and Buckbeak stopped in front of a window. He could see the shadow of someone standing in the room.
He felt along the window, but it was sealed tight. Sirius's face peered out of the glass, his eyes wide. He tried prying it open with his fingers, but it didn't work.
"It won't open," he said through gritted teeth.
"Sirius, stand back!" she called. The man did as he was told, stepping back into the room. Danny glanced back at her.
"Do you know some spell?" he asked.
"Don't need one," she said back. She took his arms. "Blow it up."
"What?" he asked.
"Do the same thing you did with the chain to free Buckbeak on the window," she explained.
He nodded, feeling nervous again and then felt power surge through him, less distant now that he had his human half along with him again, but still just as strong. He swished his hands in a circular movement and the window suddenly exploded.
"How…how?" he asked, staring out.
"Get on, come on!" he encouraged.
Sirius rushed to them and he held out his hand, pulling the scraggly man out of the room. He crawled onto Buckbeak behind Jazz.
"Go!" Danny ordered, yanking Buckbeak's rope again. The beast's wings flapped and they shot upwards.
"Go to the top of the tower," Jazz suggested. Danny turned the hippogriff left and they landed gently onto the roof.
"Come on," Jazz said, tugging Danny's arm. She jumped down, dragging her brother with him. She turned back to Sirius, tears in her eyes. "Sirius, you'd better go, quick," she said. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment and they'll find out you're gone."
"What happened to the other boy? Ron?" he asked.
"He's okay," Danny replied.
"How can I ever thank-"
"Thank me by getting yourself to safety," Danny replied, cutting him off.
Black nodded and rested himself onto the beast, taking the reins. "We'll see each other again." He paused, staring right at him. "You truly are your father's son…Harry."
"Bye," Danny whispered, feeling awkward.
He squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his feet. The two jumped backwards as Buckbeaks's wings stretched out and they rose into the air, soaring towards the moon.
Soon they were barely just a pinprick, barely beyond the horizon.
"Oh my god," Jazz suddenly gasped.
"What?" he asked.
"We only have a minute to get back into the hospital wing before the door is locked. We'll never make it," she said, glancing at her watch.
"We can…and we will."
So far, that one seems to be the longest chapter I've done so far for this story. Seventeen pages on my computer using the same font that fanfiction uses (Verdana; 9').
Like I always do, I'm going to announce the last chapter names, which means Chapter Thirteen is called All A Dream and Chapter Fourteen is called Bonding.
So, please R&R! Here's your sneak peek!
Chapter Thirteen: All A Dream
"Yeah, pretty much. I guess Dumbledore was right," he said.
"About what?" she asked.
"We needed human, wizard, and ghost powers to get through it," he said. "You know, he kind of scares me."
"He's brilliant," she said. "Come on, before he locks the door."
Lateraina Wolf