Whoever said 'I'll sleep when I'm dead,' needs to step forward and accept his fist in their face for their bold faced lies.
Danny lay on the extra cot they'd conjured for him on the floor of Harry and Ron's room, and just stared at the ceiling, listening to the dark house creak around him.
He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but this house felt… weird. Like there was a ringing, or something resonating, but it was so faint it was almost drowned out by Harry and Ron's even breathing.
He knew he wasn't the only one still awake, though.
Despite all of his efforts to appear like he was deeply asleep, Harry lay awake too. Still as stone on top of his bed, but with so much dread and self-hatred swirling within him, it didn't take a detective to know who Harry blamed for the attack on Mr. Weasley.
He felt awful letting Harry think it was his own fault, but he couldn't think of a way to broach the topic with him, especially with Ron snoring away on the bed right next to him.
He wasn't the best at this stuff, and he was afraid he was just… going to make it all worse.
And so they lay there, silent as an early morning graveyard, sleep never taking either of them.
It was probably because of their sleepless night that they were the only two who weren't as energetic and excited as the others during lunch. They were all preparing to go and visit Ron's Dad who was in the magic hospital called St. Mungo's, which was apparently in the middle of non-magical London.
Their stuff from Hogwarts arrived while they ate, which he was supremely grateful for as he was able to finally change out of his pajamas and into his old jeans and hoodie.
It felt almost surreal, wearing something that wasn't a long flowing robe, about to head out into the non-magical world again. There was an unbidden spike of panic at that thought, but he shook it off quickly. The GIW wouldn't think to look for him here, and they chased him for long enough that they've most likely left Amity Park alone now, too. Hopefully the town was getting back to some form of normalcy, now that it wasn't getting attacked by ghosts or put under some crack-pot martial law by a secret government group.
He was shaken out of his thoughts as the front doorbell rang, and the portrait of the shrieking woman woke up and started screaming insults again.
"Must be the Order members who'll be escorting you to St. Mungo's." Sirius said, as he left the kitchen. About a minute after the portrait was silenced, he listened to the approach of the unknown Order members.
"Tonks!" Ginny said happily, after the kitchen door opened, and two new adults entered the kitchen after Sirius.
"Oh, thank you for coming so quickly Tonks, Alastor." Mrs. Weasley smiled.
He felt his shoulders tense as the new arrivals were greeted happily. These people… were different. They were well trained and wary. Especially Mr. bowler hat guy, whose gait was uneven due to a wooden prosthetic that 'clunked' on the uneven kitchen floor.
His tension was heightened further when the new arrivals' attention fell solely onto him.
"Oooh! You're the muggle kid that's been all over the prophet, ain't 'cha?" The bubbly, pink haired Tonks said enthusiastically, as she made her way past Sirius to get to him, knocking a chair over in the process. "Dumbledore said you'd be here! Are you truly a ghost? Or half ghost? I'm not sure how that would work…"
"Come on now Tonks, let the kid breath." Sirius said, as he moved to stand with Harry and Ron nearby.
"I don't know if I believe that half ghost bit." Alastor growled, slowly raising his head, allowing the bowler hat to reveal mismatched eyes, one almost impossibly large and an electric blue, fixed on him and not wavering.
He tensed up as the scarred man stumped closer, unconsciously slipping into a defensive stance. Suddenly, the man stopped, and his scarred mouth surprisingly stretched into a lopsided grin. "At last, some CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
The entire kitchen jumped at the sudden outburst, and he may have flashed his eyes in alarm, since the adults all froze, staring at him.
"You've been through it, haven't you laddie?" Alastor said after a heartbeat of silence, both of his mismatched eyes fixed on Danny, unmoving.
"So have you." He said slowly, earning a low chuckle from the scarred man. He eased out of his tense stance as the room was released of the charged atmosphere. He was being stupid. Harry and the others seemed to trust these people, and they didn't seem to mean any harm; he could put a little faith in that.
"Well, Moody, now that you've given us all heart attacks, why don't you introduce yourselves to Danny here, and then you lot can get going to visit Arthur." Sirius said sardonically.
"Oh! Nymphadora Tonks, but everyone just calls me Tonks, and this is my mentor, Alastor Moody, but everyone calls him Moody!" Tonks said excitedly, grabbing and shaking his hand with a bright smile.
"Umm, Danny. Nice to.. meet you?" He said, a bit bewildered. He looked to the others quickly and found them all trying to hide their amusement.
"Yes, just spiffing. But unfortunately for you, Dumbledore has recommended that you not join us today."
"What? Why?" Harry asked, quickly followed by Ron and the other Weasley kids voicing their confusion.
"It's still a day before the school term is over, and the fact that you lot are here and not at Hogwarts is suspicious enough, but to have such an unknown like this one," Moody jabbed a thumb in his general direction, "waltzing around in broad daylight, wouldn't be a very good idea. Especially since the Ministry seems to have it out for the kid. Dumbledore is working on a story now, so he can join you later."
As Harry and the others opened their mouths to voice their protests, he quickly interrupted to try and avoid the coming argument.
"Um.. If the cover story doesn't work out, couldn't I just follow invisibly?"
"Invisibility isn't feasible, you'd never be able to wear a cloak through St. Mungo's without someone noticing, let alone a disillusionment charm. I hear magic doesn't work too well on you." Moody said, narrowing his eye.
Chuckling lightly, and taking a bit of a chance, he pulled himself into invisibility and said with a slight echo to his voice, "I don't need a cloak or magic to go somewhere unseen."
Moody's large blue eye went haywire in it's socket, as his mouth went slack in shock. Tonks jumped in surprise, while Sirius blinked quickly and Mrs. Weasley looked around worriedly.
His friends looked smug and amused, Fred and George snickering quietly.
Walking silently over to Harry and Ron, he slung an arm over each of their shoulders, and then became visible once more.
"Blimey." Tonks breathed, as the adults attention zeroed in on him once again. Ron hid a smile quickly and Harry's shoulders eased slightly as he gave a small grin.
"Regardless," Moody's growl was biting, "Dumbledore's orders. You're staying here." The protests that his friends were about to give died quickly at the finality in Moody's tone. The man seemed to have recovered from his shock, but he noticed that the magical blue eye wasn't wavering from him still, as he turned to speak to Sirius and Mrs. Weasley.
"Rotten luck, mate." Ron said quietly, the others nodding in agreement. "Dad would've loved to talk to you, ask you all about muggle stuff. You'll be able to come next time, though. 'Specially if we're staying here for the holidays."
"Yeah, sounds like it." Danny sighed lightly, before smiling. "You guys go see your Dad, tell him I say 'Hi' and that I hope he gets better soon, alright?"
"You got it, Danny."
They all left shortly after, leaving him standing in the landing area with Sirius. He sighed again, reigning in his worry. Looking over to the only other person left in the house, he found Sirius was already looking at him quietly.
Danny raised an eyebrow in question, and Sirius grinned sharply.
"So… invisibility and flight, huh? And there was that transformation that I saw when we first met. What else can you do?"
Ah. A welcome distraction. He chuckled and grinned wide to reveal his sharp teeth.
"What did you have in mind?"
.
.
.
They did not, in fact, go flying.
But they did discover that Danny's ice made an excellent ice-rink and snowy wonderland in the drawing room, and that his ectoblasts not only burned the Black family tree tapestry beyond repair but prompted Kreecher, the old house elf in a dirty loin cloth that looked like his poor, wrinkly old skin was seconds from falling off of him, to come and find them to see what they were doing.
"Kreecher, you menace, where have you been lurking?" Sirius said with a growl as the elf creeped around the door.
"Kreecher was only minding the…" the elf's croaky voice faltered as his eyes found Danny floating upside down, one arm dangling along with his dark hair, and the other sill raised from blasting Sirius' father from the tapestry. It was… maybe… a ridiculous position to be found in.
No, wait, it was totally ridiculous.
"Oh, I didn't know anyone else was here. I'm Danny, nice to meet you." He said while righting himself, he landed just as Kreecher found his voice once again.
"Master has invited a new guest it seems," and here the elf began to mutter loudly under it's breath, "a new blemish in my Mistress's house. Kreecher hears this one is a muggle? But the nasty thing was flying? What a mystery, Kreecher does not like it-"
"That's enough out of you, Kreecher!" Sirius growled, stepping towards the elf menacingly. "Danny isn't a blemish, he's actually helping me clean some up." Sirius said, gesturing to the tapestry.
At seeing the new holes and burns that littered the family heirloom, Kreecher's eyes bulged and he gasped quickly.
"The precious Black Family tree!" The elf's eyes became watery with rage, as he hatefully glared at Sirius and Danny. However, as his small fists clenched and shook, it seemed Kreecher forced himself to bow low to Sirius, but not low enough to hide the tears that appeared beneath him. "I hope Master Black is happy with destroying this priceless artifact."
As Sirius huffs angrily, he couldn't help but feel a little bad for the elf. Hermione had told him a lot about house elves and her thoughts on how cruel magically binding a creature to a family was. He couldn't help but agree with her.
"Hey Sirius?" He asked, walking over to the man as Kreecher still bowed low. "I totally get why you would hate the tapestry and everything, but... Kreecher obviously thinks its important. Why not.. I don't know… give it to him to take care of or something?"
Sirius glanced at him questioningly, before glaring at the burned fabric on the wall.
"If I could get that blasted thing off my wall, Kreecher would be welcome to it, but my -Oh-so-lovely-parents- stuck it up with a permanent sticking charm. Nothing we do will get them off the wall."
"Hmmm." He looked at the wall, considering. Kreecher raised his head, a look of disdain etched by the angry tears running down his aged face.
"Why don't I give it a try?" He asked.
"Be my guest." Sirius huffed again, crossing his arms.
He walked over to the wall he had previously been blasting with Sirius, and found the edge of the tapestry. It was a huge piece, the thing spanned the entire wall. He grabbed the edge, and felt a very subtle tingling run into his fingertips. Hmmm.
He gave an experimental tug, and wasn't surprised when the tapestry didn't move. So, he flew up to the top-most corner and then pushed intangibility into the thick fabric. He heard a gasp behind him, but concentrated on keeping his intangibility from transferring into the wall as well.
Once the entire tapestry was intangible, he gave it a tug, and smiled as he felt it land with a thud onto the ground, leaving a bare wall of faded old-timey wallpaper behind.
Smiling in triumph, he looked over to see both Sirius and Kreecher staring in shock at the tapestry on the ground.
"There you go. Now Kreecher can take the tapestry... though, it may need to be shrunk down or uh… folded. You can shrink things with magic, right?"
"Danny…" Sirius was wide eyed. "How in the world? What did you do to it?"
"I, um, turned it intangible. It's been my experience that ghostly stuff equals magic resistant. So… turn the thing ghostly, then it's not affected by magic anymore. I'm just glad it worked."
Danny settled back onto the ground, folding the heavy fabric over itself and then dusting off his hands.
"Kid…" He looked back up to see Kreecher kneeling by the end of the tapestry near the door, gazing at Danny with an unreadable expression, and Sirius' mouth twisting into a delighted grin. "I've got a lot of things that you can help me with, starting with my dear Mummy's painting downstairs."
Sirius turned to Kreecher then and said, "Well Kreecher, it seems you'll be getting your pick of my family's heirlooms, and you have Danny to thank for it all, otherwise I'd just throw the lot of it out. Now, Danny, follow me!"
Kreecher remained silent as Sirius bounded out of the room, excitement radiating off of him. Danny chuckled lightly, and then followed after him.
"The new one can rid objects of their magic?" Kreecher's quiet words made him halt in the doorway. "Could Kreecher truly…? Could this be Kreecher's chance…?" As Kreecher began shaking and more tears fell to the ground, Danny finally left the elf alone. This wasn't for him to hear.
"Danny? Were'd you go?" Sirius called from below, inciting the wrath of the portrait's shrieking once again.
Shaking his head, he transformed and flew down to help Sirius.
It took him and Sirius maybe another hour to rid the old house of any magically stuck objects that Sirius wanted to take down. The objects that were too big or cumbersome, Sirius shrunk down. In the case of his mother's portrait, he was finally able to enchant the painting into a state of deep slumber, making sure that the woman wouldn't be able to speak or scream anymore, much to Danny's relief.
When they eventually found Kreecher again, and Sirius (reluctantly) gifted the items to the house elf, the strangely subdued elf burst into heaving sobs and gasping breaths that stunned them both. Sirius was clearly at a loss, and Danny was no better, only able to offer a shrug of helplessness when Sirius gave him an incredulous look.
"Umm… Kreecher…" Sirius began hesitantly, but there was no change. Eventually Sirius resorted to gently leading Kreecher to a chair in front of the fire, and then letting the elf cry to his hearts content, clutching Sirius' gifts like they were… well… priceless treasures.
Then he and Sirius sat down themselves, sipping from bottles of butterbeer. After a few more minutes, Kreecher seemed to decide that he needed to store his new presents in his room, which… turned out to be a cupboard near the boiler in the corner of the kitchen.
As the elf opened the door and arranged the gifts around his bed, Danny caught a glimmer of gold near some old picture frames and silver cups that made his core stutter like a guttering candle. Before he could figure out what that was or why it happened, Kreacher closed the cupboard door, and was bowing low and deep in front of Sirius.
"Master Black," Kreecher began in a reverent voice, "What would you and your guests prefer for supper tonight?"
Sirius' jaw dropped, and was silent for a worryingly long moment.
"Sirius?" Danny asked.
Sirius jumped, and cast a quick glance over to him before looking back to Kreecher.
"Um, whatever… Whatever's fine…" Sirius said weakly.
With a nod Kreecher then turned and locked eyes with Danny with an unreadable expression, and then he was gone with a sharp crack that echoed around the kitchen.
After another moment of hearing nothing but the crackling of the fire, Danny took another sip of butterbeer as Sirius laughed a little hysterically.
"That- You- you saw that happen too, right Danny?"
"Mmmhmm."
"Okay." Sirius flopped back into his chair and drank from his bottle of butterbeer as well.
He tries. He really tries to stop himself from laughing, and when Sirius looked over he knew he hadn't managed it well enough.
"No!" Sirius pointed dramatically at him. "Don't you dare!"
"Awww! You made a frieeeeend!"
"Aaah, shut it ya gremlin." Sirius waved him off as Danny burst out laughing.
After he'd calmed down, they sat in amiable silence after that, slowly draining their bottles, until Sirius gained a thoughtful look, his eyebrows furrowing.
"I haven't properly thanked you yet, Danny, for helping take down all those things around the house."
"It's no problem, I'm glad I was able to help."
"Hmmm. Intangibility, huh? Not to mention invisibility and flight. Would've helped me a fair bit while I was at school, with all the pranks James and I pulled." Sirius grinned to himself for a moment, but then his expression fell as he looked towards the fireplace. "Would have helped while I was on the run as well, I suppose."
Danny huffed a little, mood souring. "They can be pretty useful for that, yeah… but only if the people you're running from aren't able to counter them." He scowls, as he puts his now empty bottle down on the table with a dull 'thunk.'
After a moment, Sirius breaks the silence.
"I'd hoped it wasn't something like that." He said quietly.
"What?"
"...Dumbledore didn't tell us anything about you, you know. Save for that you were a muggle half-ghost summoned to Hogwarts some random Thursday afternoon" Sirius said, pinning him with a look that carried the weight of fear and loneliness that Danny knew only too well. "But I wondered… I wondered why you stayed at Hogwarts after being summoned, instead of going back to your home… to your family."
Danny looked away, unable to say anything, which seemed to be a confirmation to Sirius. Which it was.
Sirius growled low, reminding him that the extra energy surrounding the man that he associated with an animagus, was not of some common dog but something bigger and darker.
"Who are they? Who are you running from?" Sirius asked with dark promise.
"It- It doesn't matter." He tried, but began again at the look on Sirius' face. "No, really Sirius. They're a government group based in America. They wouldn't think to look for me here." He hoped he kept the note of doubt out of his voice.
"That may be true," Sirius said quietly, "but know this Danny. You aren't alone anymore. If you need anything, -anything-, you can ask me. Understand?"
Danny held the man's stare for a moment, feeling the weight of their common experience pass between them. Finally, he gave a small smile and nodded.
"Yeah, I got it." He chuckled after a moment that had Sirius raising an eyebrow in question. "You're a good guy, Sirius. I'm glad Harry has someone like you looking after him."
The darkness in Sirius' eyes fell away as he smiled the widest he'd ever seen.
"Well, I continue to be impressed by Harry's choice in friends." Sirius chuckled, "I'm glad you, Ron, Hermione and Harry all have each other's backs."
Danny gave a goofy grin, as warmth filled him up to the brim.
"Now…" Danny started a bit at the abrupt serious edge in Sirius' tone, "About that offer to go flying…"
He burst out laughing, Sirius following soon after with his own booming barks of laughter.
They stuck to far more comfortable topics after that, and he found himself laughing so hard he was crying from one of the stories Sirius told him of his pranks at Hogwarts. He almost didn't notice the return of the faint ringing in the back of his mind until the front door had been opened, the sound of voices and footsteps in the entryway burying it again before he could process what it was.
"Oh, looks like they're back." Sirius said as he stood up, grabbing their bottles as he did.
Danny stood up too, just as the door to the kitchen swung open, revealing the Weasley's with Moody and Tonks following after them.
"Hey everyone, how was Mr. Weasley?" He asked, walking over to Ron.
"Dad's doing well, Danny, thanks."
"He asked about you, too." Fred added, strangely subdued.
"Yeah, he's excited to get to meet you, Danny." George nodded.
"Which means, you'll need to be prepared for a whole bunch of questions about muggle stuff, so… consider this your warning." Ginny finished with a weak smile.
He took a minute to look at them all. Really look at them, since something wasn't right. It was just his friends that were acting strangely too, the adults now talking quietly to each other on the other side of the table weren't acting any differently to how they were acting before they left.
Ron and his siblings though, they were tense and worried, their voices clipped and with none of the excitement and happiness that they'd had as they got ready to see their Dad.
"Where's Harry?" He asked quickly, and his stomach dropped as the twins' and Ginny's eyes fell to the ground, only Ron holding his gaze grimly. ...Oh no.
"Oh, Danny dear, Harry didn't feel well, so he went up to his room to rest some more." Mrs. Weasley spoke up, having heard his question.
"Aye, the lad didn't look well either. After the night he's had, it's not all that surprising." Moody growled, his electric blue eye pinning him in place once again.
"Right… the night he had…" Fred said under his breath.
"I actually wanted to ask him about the dream he had! You think he has some Seer in him, but instead of seeing the future he sees someone else's present? It's strange isn't it?" Tonks asks excitedly.
He looked past Ron, back to the Weasley kids, when he felt a ripple of anger and betrayal course through them.
"Strange? Strange?!" George's voice shook.
"Harry, our Harry, saw Dad nearly get killed by You-Know-Who's snake! If that's not bad enough, he saw it as if he were the snake!" Fred shouted, making Ron and Ginny flinch.
"How do you-"
"When were you going to tell us?" Ginny cut her mother off, anger rolling off of her.
"And why aren't you two more surprised?" George rounded on him and Ron.
Ron immediately bristled, turned to his older brother sharply, "It wasn't our story to tell, George! Maybe Harry didn't want you to know because he knew you'd act like this!"
"You think this is Harry's fault?" He interrupted loudly, astonished.
"Yes! NO! I don't know!"
"What would you know Danny?" Fred shouted, stepping forward angrily. "You don't know what we're going through! You aren't even supposed to be here! Why don't you just go home!"
Silence swallowed the kitchen, and Danny felt ice creep into his veins. He took a shaky breath, and let it out slowly.
"I know you're upset… and confused," He said slowly, keeping his eyes on the ground, "But that's no reason to blame Harry for any of this. This isn't his fault."
"How would you…"
"And you're right… I'm not supposed to be here and I don't know what you're going through. Honestly-" he chuckled darkly, devoid of any humor, "I have a better idea of what Harry's going through right now; because when my family was attacked, I couldn't do anything but watch it happen."
His voice rang into the suffocating silence, and he continued before he could think better of it.
"But I guess I don't really know what he's going through either… because unlike Harry, I wasn't able to save them." Mrs. Weasley's gasp was sharp in his ears, and he felt Ron shift closer.
He finally raised his head and met wide, shocked eyes. "What happened to your Dad was horrible, and I'm sorry that it happened at all, but it wasn't Harry's fault. Right now he needs his friend's support, not their suspicion."
He held their gazes for what felt like an eternity, no one daring to even breath.
They all jumped as a loud crack filled the kitchen and Kreecher reappeared, his arms filled with fresh groceries and looking far cleaner, healthier and happier than when he'd left.
"Masters." The elf bowed low, and then began setting his groceries out and preparing supper for them all.
The tense and awkward silence stretched taut, about to snap.
"I'm going to talk to Harry." He said quietly, and he left before anyone else said another word.
.
.
.
Danny didn't find Harry in their room, so he went on a mildly frantic manhunt for his friend as his emotions ran rampant from the conversation he'd just had.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! He shouldn't have brought up his family. The Weasley's were dealing with their Dad getting attacked, they didn't need to deal with his… whatever.
He knew that everyone was just strung up and worried about whatever was going on with Harry, since they didn't know what was happening, and didn't know why he was seeing things he shouldn't. So... They didn't mean it. They were confused and scared and it was making them say things that they didn't mean.
...If he kept telling himself that, he may just start believing it.
He shook his head, as he continued to quickly climb the dark and gloomy staircase. He needed to find Harry, so now was not the time to dwell on how deep Fred's words had cut.
Eventually, he found himself outside of a room on the topmost floor of the house. There was a snuffling crunching noise coming from inside, so he took a minute to take some deep breaths to calm himself down. Now was not the time to think about his messed up past, it was now time to channel his inner Jazz, and help Harry with his messed up present.
Oooh boy, he was just going to make this so much worse.
But... he needed to try.
He knocked softly on the door, and the noises from within stopped.
"Harry, it's Danny. Can I come in?"
He heard no answer, which sadly wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either. He sighed, knowing that Harry shouldn't be alone right now.
He turned the old silver handle, and the door creaked as he opened it. He first saw Harry, sitting with his back to the wall, his eyes bloodshot and cast downwards. He looked exhausted.
Then he saw that Harry was holding a dead rat, which... was gross and concerning.
That was when he saw the giant creature laying on the bed in the corner, eyeing him haughtily with bright orange eyes. It had the head, wings and front legs of a grey hawk or eagle, and the hind legs of a horse, the feathers of the head blending into a smooth, dappled grey coat. He would call it beautiful if he wasn't so afraid of the way it was currently eyeing him.
"Danny, this is Buckbeak." Harry said tiredly, tossing the dead rat onto the bed near Buckbeak's head, the creature's eyes never leaving Danny's own.
"Oh... You need to bow to him, show him respect. Try not to break eye contact... and hope that he bows back."
Danny chanced a worried look at Harry, at how tired and resigned his friend sounded, and then continued eye contact with the newly named Buckbeak as he bowed low.
After he straightened back up, he waited for a few seconds that lasted hours, but then Buckbeak lowered his head in what was an unmistakable bow, and then turned his attention to the rat Harry had tossed him.
"What are you doing here, Danny?" Harry still wasn't looking at him.
"I just came to talk. Make sure you're doing alright." He settled himself next to Harry. They were quiet for a moment, and he figured Harry wasn't ready to talk just yet, so he decided to talk about something more comfortable.
"Sirius is a really fun guy, I can see why you guys like him so much." He nudged Harry's shoulder, but was given no reaction besides another exhausted look that had Danny's eyes stinging in sympathy.
He sighed, not knowing what to do now. He was out of his depth on this, Harry's emotions were swirling with fear, confusion and guilt, and he had no idea what to do about it.
He had just opened his mouth to try to say something else, when Harry spoke up himself.
"I tried running."
His words caught in his throat, and he couldn't say a word in answer.
"Dumbledore sent the portrait of Phineas to keep me here. His only message was 'Stay there.'" Harry's voice dripped with bitter agitation. "Nothing else… just... stay were I am."
"Harry…"
"Don't…" Harry sighed, "Just don't. ...I don't like that I have to stay near everyone, where they could get hurt by whatever this is, especially now that they know the truth of what happened ...what I saw. But I don't have anywhere to go. The Dursely's wouldn't be thrilled to see me, and I would be putting them in danger if I stayed with them anyway…"
Harry continued to ramble on, eventually drifting back into silence.
"Well…" Danny started, choosing his words carefully, "I can't really say anything, since I ran away, too." He said quietly, Harry finally turning to meet his eyes.
"I'm glad you didn't run, though, Harry. It's... It's not a fun experience, and you can bet that Ron, Hermione and I wouldn't rest until we found you again." He paused as Harry looked down again, guilt bubbling up. "I know the situations are different, but Harry, you should know… none of this is your fault."
"Right." Harry scoffed. "I'm sure that's what everyone is trying to make themselves believe, but it doesn't change the fact that I was the snake that attacked Mr. Weasley. Or that I wanted to attack Dumbledore-"
Harry shut his mouth with an audible click, looking frustrated with himself.
"After he finally looked at you, right? Right before that Portkey transported you all away." Danny filled in gently.
Harry's eyes widened, his mouth falling open in surprise.
"How did you- How could you possibly-"
"It's actually something I've wanted to talk to you about." He began, turning to meet Harry's eyes. "Harry, there's something… I'm not sure what it is, but it's responsible for your dream or vision, and your anger… It's a sort of weird energy in your mind that feels kinda familiar, but it's wounded and dark and I just can't put my finger on what it is."
"There's a dark energy… inside of me?" Harry breathed, disgusted and afraid.
"It's not yours Harry," Danny assured quickly, "It's like some kind of parasite. None of this is your fault." He said firmly.
"But… that means that I'm… tainted. Corrupted! I'm- I'm turning evil! As the snake I liked attacking Mr. Weasley! I remember how good it felt to strike him down! And in Dumbledore's office!- If the Portkey hadn't activated I really would've attacked Dumbledore without hesitation! I- I wanted to rip him apart!" Harry's voice rose along with his desperate panic.
"Harry, trust me, that wasn't you. You aren't evil, and you never will be."
"How could you possibly know something like that! You haven't-!"
"Haven't what?!" Danny cut Harry off, as something in him finally snapped. He was tired... tired of feeling so helpless in the face of all his friends' fear. "Haven't been controlled against my will to do evil things? Haven't been forced to see things that will haunt my nightmares to my dying day? Haven't turned evil!?" He pushed himself from the wall, and hissed out a breath as his core throbbed with his heightened emotions and resurfacing memories. He grit his teeth, but forced himself to relax, and calm his raging thoughts.
"Harry.." He began as calmly as he could manage, "I may not know exactly how you're feeling… but I can take a pretty good guess."
He took another breath, and then glanced at Harry to find his friends eyes wide with realization.
"There's always a choice, you know? A choice of how to respond to the things you can and can't control. And Harry, I know enough about you to know that you'd never choose to do evil if you could help it." Danny said quietly, still standing as Harry stared up at him.
"But how could you possibly have that much faith in me? How do you know for sure that I'm not being turned evil by this… dark energy you sensed?" Harry asked quietly- desperately.
"Well for one thing, Ron and Hermione would never let you get away with anything like that. They would drag you kicking and screaming back into the light, if they had to." He mentally cheered as Harry gave a weak chuckle, so he sat down next to Harry once more. Then, Harry stilled once again.
"Danny… What am I supposed to do? How do I get rid of whatever... this is? How am I supposed to sleep when what happened to Mr. Weasley could happen to anyone, and I-"
"Harry," He cut off Harry's rambling, "whatever this is, you aren't alone in trying to figure it out. I'll try to figure out why I kind of recognize it, and why I can sense when it's affecting you. I'm sure Ron and Hermione can help with researching magical explanations... but that can only happen if you decide to tell them about this."
Harry looked up sharply.
"You won't tell them?"
"It's not something for me to tell, but I know better than most that secrets don't really stay secret forever. But that's not important right now."
"What? It's not?"
"No. Harry, you're exhausted. Could you even stand right now without hugging the wall? You need to sleep."
"But I can't… not when-"
"I'll make sure nothing happens." He stated firmly. "Last night, when I was cooling down your fever, the weird energy sort of... ran away from my ghostly energy. So, I'll make sure it doesn't try anything. You get some sleep, I'll keep watch, and we'll figure this all out together once you're feeling better."
Harry looked at him, eyes searching and scared.
Finally, Harry slumped, a sigh escaping him as he closed his eyes, and was asleep in a matter of seconds.
Danny sighed too. Looks like another sleepless night, but... he was glad that Harry trusted him.
He got up to grab a discarded pillow and blanket from the floor where Buckbeak had likely kicked them off the bed. Maneuvering Harry so he was more comfortable, and taking off his glasses, he settled down next to his exhausted friend, and listened to even breaths and soft rustling feathers.
"-you a big boy? Oh, you are so gorgeous, I can't even imagine your wingspan! I bet you can fly super fast, huh? Aw man, once Harry wakes up I'll go and get you all the dead rats you want-"
Harry blearily opened one eye, his mind restarting slowly from what must have been a very deep sleep. He became aware that he wasn't in a bed, but laying wrapped up in a blanket on the ground. Groaning, he rose to his elbows to try to get a blurry look at where he was.
"Harry! Hold on let me get your glasses…" He faintly registered Danny's voice, and felt cool fingers gently put his glasses into his palm. He pushed his glasses on, and his surroundings sharpened.
He saw Danny kneeling next to him, and Buckbeak was off the bed and lying next to where Danny was kneeling, eagerly nudging Danny's shoulder with his beak.
"Hey, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you buddy." Danny smiled and scratched the Hippogriff just under the beak, Buckbeak crooning with happiness.
In the wake of this, (frankly, adorable) display, memories of the previous day slammed into Harry.
He sighed deeply, and tried to come to terms with… everything. The panic and confusion and feeling of being dirty, tainted with darkness, roiled in his gut.
A hand landed on his shoulder and he found Danny staring at him with an edge in his gaze that had him remembering how fiercely Danny had trusted him. How sure he was that he wasn't going to turn evil, and that they would figure this out together. He suddenly found himself with an overwhelming thankfulness that he'd had the chance to meet someone like Danny.
"Danny… thanks." It was such a little word but it felt so heavy with everything it meant to him.
Danny smiled brightly, if a little tiredly. "No problem, dude. I'm glad you got some good rest, you look a lot better."
"I feel better. How long was I asleep?"
"A while now, it's almost lunchtime, I think."
"What?! That long! What about the others, and… have you been here the whole time?" He asked incredulously.
"Of course I've been here the whole time! I wasn't just going to leave you alone. Besides, I left a note for Ron in our room. Told him not to worry, we didn't leave or anything, just needed some time to think and rest." Danny's tone ended with a brittle sadness that made him think that he may have missed something last night. Had Danny had a row with the others?
"But, what have you been doi-" he cut himself off as Buckbeak shifted closer, nearly flattening Danny beneath a partially extended wing.
"Ah! Buckbeak please! I'm trying to have a conversation!"
Harry barely bit back his amused snort, but felt a genuine smile pull at his lips for the first time in what felt like forever.
"So... you've been making new friends, I see. How on earth do you manage to befriend every magical creature you meet?" He asked grinning.
"Hey! I don't make friends with every creature! I still remember getting cut up by those twigs for the crime of sitting in a tree!"
He burst out laughing at Danny's expression of utter anguish, and then laughed even harder when it turned into a look of betrayal.
His amusement was cut short when both of their stomachs gave loud rumbles, reminding them both that they might want to go and rejoin the others for food.
Grinning sheepishly, he accepted Danny's hand as he helped him up off the floor. As he made his way to the door to head downstairs, he noticed that Danny looked a bit apprehensive about heading back down and seeing the others again.
He wasn't all that thrilled himself, but Danny had made it clear that whatever was going on with him wasn't something he could just run or hide away from.
"Did something happen last night, Danny?" He asked, with his hand on the door handle.
"Hm?" Danny looked up quickly, confused; but then understanding quickly took it's place and Danny looked down in embarrassment.
"Oh, um… Before I came to look for you last night, I may have revealed a bit too much after the others said something I wasn't expecting. It's just… emotions were high, and I was a bit overwhelmed by them, I guess."
Danny scuffed his foot, as he rubbed the back of his neck, obviously not excited to face the others after whatever had happened.
Harry felt a pit form in his stomach. If emotions were running high last night, it was surely because the others found out about the specifics of his vision while they were eavesdropping on the Order members in Mr. Weasley's room at the Hospital. He looked down in shame, for having been the cause of trouble once again.
"Hey!" Danny lightly punched his shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts. "None of that! It was my own fault for letting it get to me. We'll have to face them sooner or later, so it may as well be now, right?"
Harry sighed, and met Danny's eyes with a grin that felt a bit like a grimace.
"I guess so. No time like the present. Let's go then, I'm starving."
He pulled the door open, and they both gave Buckbeak a quick goodbye before they trudged down the stairs.
The farther they went, however, the more he thought he might still be dreaming. Sirius' old house looked… different. It was... clean. After all the work he and the other's had put in over the summer, they'd never come close to getting the house to an acceptable level of cleanliness. But now?
The dirt and grime had vanished, old dark artifacts had been removed from the walls, and even the air felt lighter, not clogged with dust. Windows had been washed and the curtains thrown open to let the daylight in along with the charming view of the snow covered street outside.
"What… What else did I miss yesterday?" He asked incredulously.
"I may have have an idea, but I'm not sure though..." Danny said as he ran his hand along the polished and gleaming bannister as they descended a flight of stairs.
If he was shocked by the change in Grimmauld Place's cleanliness, nothing could have prepared him for when they ran into Kreecher as they made it to the floor where their room was.
"Ah! Young masters, going to clean yourselves up before lunch? Turkey sandwiches and fresh fruit will be ready in the kitchen in just a moment." Kreacher said brightly, his arms full of cleaning supplies that he vanished with a snap of his fingers. Harry noticed that his old dirty loincloth had been exchanged for what looked like a pristine kitchen towel tied into a toga, and he looked exceptionally clean and healthy, and hadn't muttered a word about their status as a half blood/breed.
Harry turned disbelieving eyes onto Danny, who merely shrugged, with a tired smirk.
"Thanks Kreacher, we'll be down in just a minute." Danny said.
"Of course, sir."
With a crack, Kreacher vanished. Harry stopped Danny before he could take another step towards their bedroom.
"Okay, what was that? What happened to Kreacher? What did I miss?"
Danny laughed softly.
"I may have helped Sirius get rid of a whole bunch of his parents' stuff, which he then gave to Kreecher, since he seemed upset that we were getting rid of it all. After he stopped crying, he just… decided he liked us, I guess. So, now he's cooking and cleaning it looks like, but you'll have to ask Sirius to make sure. Now come on, lets clean up and head on down, sandwiches sound awesome right about now."
He followed Danny into their room and went into the little washroom to freshen up, still bewildered at what he seemed to have missed when he was moping and worrying. Once they were both ready, they went down to the kitchen.
Harry blinked as he pushed the door open, eyeing the gleaming surfaces and polished pots and kitchen supplies, before noticing the group of people that had gone silent as they'd entered.
Sirius sat beside Ron and Ginny, while Fred and George sat across from them, a plate resting on the table in front of them with a mountain of sandwiches, a bowl of fruit beside it. Mrs. Weasley was standing near the counter with a smaller plate filled with the same sandwiches in her hands.
"Oh! Goodness, I was just about to bring you both some lunch!" Mrs. Weasley said quickly, filling the quiet that had fallen over them all. "You missed dinner last night, and didn't come down for breakfast this morning…"
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Harry cut in gently, "Sorry for worrying you." He cast a quick glance at everyone at the table, noticing they were all a little tense.
"It's my job to worry, dear. Oh, but Harry, you're looking much better! I'm glad you got some rest! You both must be hungry, come and sit-"
"Danny-" Fred interrupted, and both he and George stood up from the table. They both averted their eyes and shuffled awkwardly before continuing.
"Danny… we… I…" Fred struggled for words, George looking just as lost.
"Danny," Ginny cuts in, looking determined, "We're sorry for what we said last night."
"Yeah, that." George says quickly, Fred nodding along.
He looked quickly to Ron and Sirius, both saying nothing, but Sirius was nodding approvingly.
"I didn't mean what I said… I was upset and… we had no idea about your-"
"Thanks." Danny said, abruptly cutting Fred off. "Really, thank you for the apology, I know you didn't know."
Ginny nodded, but Fred and George still looked a bit awkward. He noticed Mrs. Weasley frowning worriedly at Danny as she put the plate on the table.
He cleared his throat, bringing all the attention away from Danny.
"Sirius, what's happened to Kreecher? And your Mother's portrait and everything?" It wasn't a very subtle subject change, but he saw Ron and Danny shooting him thankful glances, as they all sat down at the table and grabbed sandwiches.
"Well, it was all thanks to Danny. He-"
As Sirius told them all how he and Danny essentially stripped the house of it's dark artifacts that had previously been impossible to remove, the atmosphere slowly thawed and the tension ebbed away.
He was glad when Mrs. Weasley told them all that Mr. Weasley was doing well, and that they'd all be able to visit him on Christmas, Danny included, since Dumbledore had apparently made sure that a cover story was in place to ensure Danny's safety from the Ministry.
Just as they were all finishing up, and getting ready to help Sirius decorate the house for the Christmas holidays, the doorbell rang.
He marveled at the absence of Mrs. Black's screaming portrait, as he watched Sirius leave to greet whoever was at the door. As he laughed at Ron and the other Weasley's faces as Danny told them he needed to take more rats up as a treat to his new friend Buckbeak, Sirius returned with an unexpected guest following in after him.
"Hermione!" He got up to give her a hug, followed closely by Ron and the others.
"Oh, thank goodness you're all alright! Dumbledore didn't tell me much, and I've been so worried! I had to wait until term ended and the holidays began before I could get here! What have I missed?"
There was a moment of incredulous silence before Ron gave an almost hysterical laugh, "Oh, Hermione, we've got a lot to catch you up on." He said snickering, making her eyes narrow slightly.
He sighed, and glanced quickly at Danny. Danny met his gaze and held it.
Right. No time like the present.
"Sorry Sirius, mind if we help you decorate later?" He asked his Godfather quickly. Sirius smiled, and nodded. "C'mon Hermione, we'll go up to our room. Ron's right, we've got a lot to tell you."
He led Hermione, Danny and Ron out of the kitchen, and back up to their room; Ron grabbing the small plate of sandwiches on his way out for Hermione.
Finally, they all settled down, and Harry began with exactly what he'd seen in his vision.
Hello, hello! And here we get the aftermath of the kid's trip to Grimmauld place and my take on how the other's may have reacted to learning about Harry's vision the first time they go to visit Mr. Weasley.
It was fun, but definitely a challenge! Poor Danny getting pulled in so many different directions, he's not sure what to feel anymore!
Can't wait to get to the next chapter! I hope to get it to you a little quicker, but these long chapters do take a bit of work to make sure they make sense for the story still to come, so I'll do my best!
Thank you all so much for reading!