Surprise! :D
You know… it could have been worse.
Harry sat beside Danny on his bed, having told Ron and Hermione about everything. Both of them having now gone through multiple stages of panic, confusion, and resolute assurances.
Thankfully, it seemed they were done with being panicked about all this.
Hermione was currently in the confusion stage again, pacing the length of the room and muttering under her breath at what the dark thing in his head could be and what they could do to find out more about it and find a way to get rid of it. Ron was in the assurance stage, standing right in front of him and gripping his shoulders, saying things like- "We'll figure this out Harry! We've already got Danny to help sense it and you haven't gone all cursin' and murderin' on us yet, and if you do I'll smack you so hard you'll snap out of it, you hear?"
He could feel the waves of I-told-you-so energy coming from Danny's little smirk, and if he was being honest… Hermione and Ron's reactions have made him feel better about the whole thing.
His friends were there for him… It was a nice feeling.
"Alright," He laughs softly, which catch Hermione and Ron off-guard enough to have them stop short and look at him, "Thanks Ron, and you too Hermione. I'm glad you two are taking this better than I did."
"To be fair, you had a rough day." Danny said, laying back on the bed and stretching his arms with a yawn.
"Understatement…" He muttered ruefully, making Danny chuckle.
"Oh Harry, you don't have to thank us for anything. Like Ron said, we'll figure this out." Hermione said, sitting down on Ron's bed, Ron nodding along quickly and sitting down beside her.
"So, what do you think we should do first, Harry?"
"Well, it's not like we can do much about it right now, apart from making sure it doesn't resurface like it did two nights ago-"
"Which I am totally on top of. Nothing get's past me dude." Danny interrupted sleepily from the bed.
"Sure mate," Ron says with a raised brow, before turning back to Harry, "So what you're saying is, we can't do anything until we get back to school?"
"And the school's resources. I'm sure the library must have something, not to mention the restricted section…" Hermione trailed off thoughtfully. "Danny? You said this energy felt familiar somehow? Can you describe how it felt familiar, or where you may have felt something like it before?"
Danny sat up slowly with a thoughtful look.
"I- I'm not really sure. I'm not actually sure it's something I've sensed before now, it's more of an innate feeling. Like instinct. But… it did make my core feel weird." He finished, a hand coming to rest on the center of his chest.
"Your core?"
"Oh! You've mentioned that before, it's where your ice powers come from, right?" Ron asked.
"Yep."
"That's right… but what is a core, exactly?" Hermione asked slowly.
Harry watched as Danny looked down, contemplating his answer. Finally, he looked up at all of them once more, the dark purple bruises standing out starkly under his ice blue eyes.
"Well, it's a little hard to explain, but I'll do my best. A ghost's core is… everything. Everything a ghost knows and wants and… is. If a ghost is strong enough, their core develops further as the ghost matures, which is why I can use ice, I guess. A friend of mine explained it way better…"
They all sat in thoughtful silence for a moment.
"So-" He began slowly, "A ghost's core… is like a person's so-"
"Hey you lot!" Sirius burst through the door with a happy grin and a Father Christmas hat on. "You finished telling Hermione what's been happening yet? Kreecher just got back with more decorations and stuff for dinner. Come and help put up the tree! We've got a perfect place for it now that the drawing room has thawed out!"
The four of them were stunned into silence for only a moment before they all grinned at Sirius' excitement.
"We're coming Sirius." He said, standing up.
"What do you mean, 'thawed out'?" Hermione asked as she followed Sirius through the door, Ron snorting with laughter as Sirius recounts Danny's winter wonderland from the day before.
"Danny?" He asks as said tired friend gets up from the bed to follow them downstairs.
"Hmm?"
"Why don't you get some sleep. Since you didn't get any last night and…" He rubs his neck awkwardly, but Danny laughs.
"Hogwarts has spoiled me, I've been getting way too much regular sleep if I can't handle a few sleepless nights." Danny joked, but then adopted a more serious look. "How about this; I'll help decorate for a bit and then I'll go and take a nap before dinner tonight, alright?"
Harry hummed, still feeling a little guilty for having Danny stay up all night, but accepting that Danny probably knew his limits far better than anyone else.
When they entered the drawing room, it was to find it practically bursting with Christmas decorations. Ginny was rolling baubles along the floor for Crookshanks to chase after, Fred and George had their wands out and were charming tinsel to wrap itself around the large tree in the corner, but it instead wrapped itself around Ron, and he was sent sprawling to the ground along with a litany of curses.
Mrs. Weasley turned from hugging Hermione in welcome to chastising the twins and Ron, as everyone else fell into peals of laughter, Sirius still chuckling as he helped Ron to his feet again.
Soon, the whole of Grimmauld Place was decked out with as many Christmas decorations as they could possibly fit in it.
In the following days, Harry wouldn't ever have been able to believe he'd be able to have so much fun in the previously gloomy Headquarters of the Order. Sirius was in full Christmas spirit, and was clearly overjoyed that they'd be spending the holidays together. Mrs. Weasley was always happy to give them updates on Mr. Weasley and tried to get him and Danny to eat third helpings at every meal.
It wasn't all play though; they'd found Danny practicing his martial arts forms in the drawing room early one morning, and it sparked an impromptu practice that devolved into friendly sparring that confused Mrs. Weasley but fascinated Sirius until he was practically begging Danny to show him a few moves as well.
Even the thought of a dark something in his head never overshadowed his joy in the following days of badly sung Christmas Carols, joyous laughter with the people he cared about, and the smells of every delicious meal Kreecher happily made for them all.
Christmas morning seemed to be upon them in no time at all.
He woke up to crinkling paper coming from Ron's bed. After blearily putting on his glasses, he found it softly snowing outside, Ron halfway through his pile of presents, and Danny still buried beneath a mound of blankets on his mattress.
"Harry! Happy Christmas!" Ron said brightly, inciting a groan from the blanket pile that was Danny.
"It's 'Merry' Christmas, you British weirdos…" Came the muffled voice.
"Says the American weirdo in Britain." Ron laughed, making Harry snort.
"Happy Christmas you two. A good haul Ron?"
"The greatest! Thank you for the broom compass, mate! It'll be amazing when we go flying!"
He smiled, and began on his own pile of presents. Danny finally extricated himself from his nest, and revealed a truly impressive wild bed-head.
"Welcome to the land of the living!" Ron said, making Danny snort. "Now open your presents so we can get ready to go see Dad!"
He was glad when Danny brightened a bit at the little present pile at the end of his bed. He'd seemed a bit down the past few days when he thought no one was looking. He, Ron, Hermione and apparently Hagrid and Mrs. Weasley had all given Danny Christmas gifts.
Going through his own pile, it looked like Danny had made something for them, too. Harry marveled at the beautifully crafted ice figurine of a flying owl. It glittered like diamond, and was cool to the touch but didn't melt.
They finished unwrapping presents, and then got ready for the day, all of them donning their hand-knit jumpers from Mrs. Weasley, of course. Making their way down to the kitchen for breakfast, they were greeted warmly by Kreecher, who they all greeted just as cheerily.
"You know, he's really grown on me." Ron said fondly, as they joined Sirius, Ginny, Fred, George, Mrs. Weasley and Hermione at the table for a delicious full English breakfast.
He noticed that Mrs. Weasley had red rimmed eyes, like she'd been crying and Sirius looked tense, his smile just a little forced.
Leaning over to George, he whispered, "Hey, is everything alright?" He asked, nodding to the two adults.
George narrowed his eyes angrily before answering quietly.
"Percy sent back his Christmas gift with the card unopened, except he'd also added a letter of his own… telling us how we would be smart to stay away from… from Danny."
"What?!" He looked over to find that Hermione, Ron and Danny had absolutely been listening, and now Danny looked down, eyebrows furrowed.
"Yeah. Said the Ministry had a bunch of information that would help them 'take care of the threat he posed', and it 'would do us good to stay out of it.'" George said scowling, Fred suddenly stabbing at his sausages with venom.
"Not like we'll be listening to the prat." Fred scoffed quietly. "Danny, don't worry about our shameful excuse of a brother, we're just happy that you're here." Fred said with a sincerity that made Harry think he was still trying to make up for what was said all those nights ago.
"Thanks you guys. ...You know when we'll be leaving to go and visit your Dad?" Danny asked.
"Whenever your escorts get here." Sirius called down the table, obviously having heard Danny's question, followed closely by the chime of the doorbell. "Which is apparently right now." Sirius said chuckling lightly, rising out of his seat to go and open the door.
As he helped Ginny clear up the plates, he heard Sirius' laughter from the entryway, and his and their escort's approaching footsteps.
"Professor Lupin! So wonderful to see you! Happy Christmas!" Hermione greeted their ex-Defense Professor happily, Harry and the others joining in and offering greetings and Christmas wishes to Tonks and Mundungus as they followed after Sirius.
Harry glanced at Danny when he felt the ghost boy flinch slightly as Lupin entered, and then adopt a look of dawning realization when Lupin made his way over to introduce himself.
"Hello Harry, good to see you're doing well! And you…" Lupin turned fully to Danny then, and held out a hand for him to shake, "Must be Danny. Sirius has told me a lot about you, but I'm hesitant to believe it all. Padfoot has always had a penchant for over-exaggerating things." Lupin quirked an eyebrow as Sirius gasped dramatically.
"Moony! I would never lie to you!" Sirius grinned sharply, as Mundungus snorted beside him.
"My confidence in your sincerity is minimal at best." Lupin said rolling his eyes, and then smiling at Danny as he took Lupin's offered hand.
"Nice to finally meet you Professor Lupin; everyone's told me how you were an amazing Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Lupin laughed lightly.
"Well that was certainly nice of them. Now, we should get going if we want to make it to St. Mungo's to see Arthur, right Mundungus?"
"Aye, the car's out front."
And so they all said a quick goodbye to Sirius, and filed into the obviously magically expanded car that Mundungus had 'procured' for their trip today, since the Underground doesn't run on Christmas Day.
The journey was quick, as there weren't many people out and about early Christmas morning, and before Harry knew it they'd pulled up alongside the curb outside the magically hidden entrance to St. Mungo's Hospital.
As they all piled out of the car in front of the dilapidated store that hid the Hospital entrance, Harry noticed that Danny had his brows furrowed in a look of concentration as he looked out towards the few people across the street.
"Danny? Is something wrong?"
Ron, Hermione and Lupin, who were all standing nearby, looked around in interest.
"Hmm? Oh it's just… I never noticed…"
"Noticed what?" Hermione asked curiously.
"I never noticed that all of you guys… I can sense your magic."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I guess I was just never able to tell before, since everyone around me, and Hogwarts itself was just swimming in the stuff. But out here, only you guys have a sort of… I don't know how else to put it… like a buzzing sort of feeling on the back of my neck. I can just tell you guys have magic, while everyone else around here doesn't."
"Fascinating…" Lupin said thoughtfully. "Can you sense anything else?"
"Oh yeah, I can tell when someone magical is an animagus, or has another sort of- extra energy."
Lupin promptly choked in surprise, as they passed through the dusty glass leading into the St. Mungo's waiting room. He gave Danny an incredulous look of utter disbelief, but couldn't say anything else as they followed everyone up the stairs towards Mr. Weasley's new ward.
When Lupin still looked as though his eyes were about to fall out of his head when they reached Mr. Weasley's floor, Ron snorted quietly.
"Great Danny, you've broken him."
"And why would Danny break our esteemed Defense Professor?" Fred asked jokingly.
"Cos' he knows if he breaks Lupin he'll have achieved his goal of surprising and befuddling every adult he meets." Ginny said sagely.
"Hey! I woul- … Okay, I would do that."
They trailed into laughter at Danny's grin, which seemed to knock Lupin back into his senses, who followed Mrs. Weasley through the door shaking his head with a tired sigh and a small smile.
Mr. Weasely was sitting up in his bed, propped up by a few pillows, an opened Daily Prophet sat on his bedside table. He greeted Mrs. Weasley and his children with cheerful smiles and happily shook Lupin and Tonk's hands. He then turned his attention onto Danny and himself, excitement and wonder filling his eyes as he smiled.
"Harry! So good to see you! And you must be Danny Fenton! Oh! I am so happy to finally meet you! I have so many questions!"
Danny blushed and immediately began to rub the back of his neck as Mr. Weasley began gushing over him and asking him a million questions, but he could see a small smile just the same.
"-and I heard that you protected your hometown? Did you use any muggle technolgics when you fought or just your abilities as a-"
"Actually Mr. Weasley-" Danny interrupted quickly, "Are you feeling alright?"
"Alright? Why wouldn't I be?" Mr. Weasley sat up a little straighter, but Mrs. Weasley's eyes suddenly sharpened.
"Arthur, your bandages have been changed! They weren't supposed to be changed until tomorrow!"
Swallowing thickly, Mr. Weasley quelled under Mrs. Weasley's sharp look.
"Well, now that you mention it… You lot didn't happen to see Healer Smethwyck on your way up did you?" He asked a bit too heartily.
"No. Arthur is something wrong?" Mr. Weasley seemed to deflate a bit under her piercing gaze, and sharp, sharp tone.
"No, Molly really… I, well… Now don't get upset." Famous last words. He watched as Tonks and Lupin left to go and get something from the Hospital lobby, and Fred and George quickly following after as Mrs. Weasley's expression darkened.
"Well, Augustus Pye, the Trainee Healer is quite a brilliant young man, and he is very interested in… um… complementary medicine." Mr. Weasley sent a quick glance at Danny before continuing. "When the wounds weren't closing with magic, we, um, we decided to try… well they're called stitches."
"Stitches." She deadpanned slowly. "Arthur… please… tell me you haven't tried some… some crackpot muggle remedy like sewing your skin together."
"I wouldn't say it's a crackpot remedy, Molly, but that is the general idea-"
"What do you mean that's the general idea!"
As the others scurried to the door to escape the coming storm of Mrs. Weasley's wrath, Harry quickly grabbed Danny by the sleeve to follow after them.
They made it out the door before Mrs. Weasley fully erupted, making them grimace in sympathy for Mr. Weasley.
"Shouting on Christmas, now that's a little more familiar." Danny said shaking his head.
"In what way?" Ginny asked as they made their way up to the cafe on the fifth floor of the Hospital.
"My parents always got into this huge fight during Christmas on whether or not Santa Clause was real. It always made Christmas time kind of awful." Danny said in barely hidden bitter sadness.
Ron huffed softly after a moment of silence.
"But stitches, honestly. Dad's mental."
"But it is a very effective treatment in muggle medicine!" Hermione argued.
"Sure is." Danny agreed, and Harry's eyes were drawn to the pale scars on his friend's face and neck, and he tried not to think of the stories Danny had told of his time protecting his town, and the much larger scars he'd seen on Danny's back as he'd changed in the dorm. He tried not to think of what could have hurt Danny enough that he'd actually gotten scars, despite his fast healing.
His own scar prickled uncomfortably at the thought, and Danny glanced sharply at him, before the temperature in the stairwell plummeted and the prickling went away as suddenly as it had started. He gave a small nod to Danny, who grinned back at him, his eyes swimming with green.
"A bit chilly isn't it?" Ginny remarked as they made it to the fourth floor.
"Is it? Maybe they've left the windows open in the-" Hermione cut off with a small gasp as a very familiar grinning face appeared in the window to the long-term ward on the fourth floor.
"Professor Lockhart!" She breathed, a light blush on her cheeks as their old Professor, gleaming smile and perfect blond hair just as he remembered, pushed the door open.
"Ah! Adoring fans! You want my autographs then?"
"Oh… Lockhart, as in the Memory charm guy?" Danny asked in a whisper as Lockhart bounded over to Hermione and Ginny. Ron nodded with a frown, and grumbled making sure to keep an eye on Ginny.
"Oh, there you are dear! What are you doing out here?" A sweet looking Healer appeared from the ward doors, and before he knew it, Harry and the others had been bustled into Lockhart's room. Of course, with their luck, they then ran into Neville and his imposing Grandmother.
He felt for Neville, he really did, and in the awkward silence that followed Mrs. Longbottom explaining who they were there to visit, Neville looked anywhere but them as the Healer returned with Christmas gifts for the patients.
It was so much easier to focus on her than it was to listen to Mrs. Longbottom go on about just how proud she was of her brave son and and daughter in law for fighting until they were no longer sane enough to recognize their own son.
"Here you are Gilderoy, a few lovely letters from more of your fans! And for you Agnes, your son just sent an owl to say he's visiting tonight, isn't that wonderful!" The Healer said cheerfully to one of the two other residents in the ward apart from Lockhart and Neville's parents, who were behind a flowery privacy curtain.
The healer then turned to a sallow faced man who was mumbling and staring at the ceiling.
"And here you are Broderick, someone has sent you a lovely calendar and pot plant!"
"Broderick? As in Broderick Bode the Unspeakable? Wasn't what happened to him in the Daily Prophet?" Hermione asked, clearly having paid more attention to the Healer as well, and bringing everyone's attention away from Neville and his Grandmother, something Neville looked distinctly thankful for.
"Yes dear. He's getting better after that accident in the Department of Mysteries; able to speak again, it's just we don't understand the language he's speaking just yet." The Healer grinned, and was about to make her way out of the ward once again, but a shaking voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Wait!" All eyes tuned to Neville, but his eyes were fixed on the ugly little plant with swaying tentacles. "That's- That's Devil's Snare! It'll strangle anyone who touches it!"
Hermione gasped, and Ginny and Ron stumbled back, and Mrs. Longbottom quickly grabbed Neville by the shoulders.
The Healer's mouth dropped in shock and she rushed out of the room while shouting, "Don't touch that plant!" over her shoulder as she went. They all stood in breathless silence for but a moment before a hoard of Healers made their way back in, ushering all the visitors out while trying to keep the patients calm while they took the Devil's Snare cutting away and tried to figure out who sent it. Harry shuffled closer to Danny and Ron as a few frantic Healers began questioning them in an unused conference or break room of some kind. When they had no answers to give, they were left to listen to the increasing noise out in the corridor, and Harry could only wonder what on earth was going on.
Suddenly, the door burst open and shut just as quickly, Lupin and Tonks panting as they all but held the door closed, their wands at the ready.
"Professor!" Ginny exclaimed, rising out of one of the uncomfortable wooden stools they'd been provided with. "What's going on?"
"Professor Lupin?" Neville asked confused.
"Neville, Mrs. Longbottom." Lupin acknowledged with a slight nod, before turning back to the room at large.
"As for what's going on… It seems the Press has found out that there was an attempted attack on one of the patients here, and that both of you," He nodded towards Danny and himself, "were in the thick of it all."
Harry groaned, he'd almost forgotten his infamy in the wake of Danny entering his life and taking the attention off of him for a bit. He should've known it couldn't last forever.
"None of that now, Harry. We need to get out of here." Tonks spoke up, uncharacteristically serious.
"What about Dad? And Mum and Fred and George?" Ron asked worriedly, Ginny nodding after him.
"Bill came and got them out before it got too crazy. They should be out and waiting in the car with Mundungus. Now come on, we need to fight our way through the crowd before it becomes impossible. Mrs. Longbottom, we would be happy to escort you out of here as well-"
Harry took a breath as the adults hashed out a plan on how they would be fighting their way through the Press.
"Ugh." Danny moaned quietly, head in his hands, displaying the exact amount of dismay Harry was feeling himself.
A few moments later, they were getting ready to face the hoard. As soon as the door opened, too bright flashes were blinding him, and puffs of colored smoke were making it near impossible to breath. The witches and wizards for all the different papers or magazines were shouting questions in their ears, deafening him as all the bodies got too close for comfort. A hand grabbed his shoulder for a second before Ron smacked it off and took Harry's hand so that he wouldn't get separated. Harry reached for Danny's hand, as Hermione grabbed both Ron's and Lupin's as they forced their way through the chaos, not acknowledging let alone answering any of the questions being thrown at them.
When it got to be almost overwhelming, he felt a flickering of cool energy that he recognized as Danny turning them intangible or invisible; most likely on accident as it seemed to stutter through their linked hands. The following increase in noise of exclamations of shock rather than questions told him that it didn't go unnoticed by the crowd of reporters.
Finally, Harry breathed again, as they hurried through a door, and he leant against an old brick wall beside his friends as Lupin stood before them, panting slightly but with his wand still at the ready.
Looking up, Harry's stomach dropped as he noticed that there were people missing.
"On no. The others! Ginny, Neville, Tonks-!"
"We got separated," Lupin said, straightening up, "they were pushed towards the front exit, but we were getting pulled deeper in, until a Healer pointed me to this door. It must be some sort of Healer and employee entrance."
Looking towards his friends, Ron looked a bit shell shocked while Hermione had sunk to the ground and was still breathing rather hard. Danny was pale, or… paler, and his hands had a bit of a tremor to them, but he balled them into fists as he took a deep breath.
"You lot alright?" Lupin asked, carefully offering Hermione a hand up. They nodded, even if Harry was still reeling a bit.
"Sorry…" Danny said suddenly. "Sorry for losing control a bit back there, I think I may've made it worse."
"That was you?" Lupin asked quietly, just as Ron slapped Danny bracingly on the shoulder.
"It's alright mate. Pretty sure you making us intangible for a moment stopped this one bloke from grabbing hold of us to force us to answer his questions."
Hermione gave a short laugh.
"What a bunch of vultures. They weren't even asking us about Bode or the plant."
"You could hear what they were shouting at us?" Harry asked incredulously, feeling the tension in his shoulders ease now that he was away from that mess.
"I wouldn't question it mate, what can't Hermione do?" Ron said, making Danny laugh, and Hermione smile.
Lupin sighed with a small smile himself, before adopting a more serious expression and looking around at their surroundings, wand at the ready.
Harry did the same, and he finally realized that he had no idea where they were.
"Where are we?" He asked quickly as Lupin peered around the corner of their little abandoned alleyway and out onto the snow covered street. The door they had come out of had disappeared once they'd closed it, leaving nothing but a rough brick wall, with an empty trash bin in the corner beside the building they were taking refuge beside.
"Well, If I remember right, all the entrances to St. Mungo's apart from the visitors entrance are hidden beside muggle hospitals and clinics. This is… Finchley Memorial. We're on the other side of London." Lupin sighed, before putting his hand still holding his wand into his pocket. "Looks like we've got a bit of walk ahead of us. Be on your guard."
They nodded again, and followed Lupin out into the open, just as it began to snow softly once more.
They walk in amiable silence for a while, their footsteps crunching the thin layer of snow on the ground, their ears and noses now tinged red by the cold.
"Wow." Danny breathed, breaking the silence. "I'm really in London."
Ron snorted.
"You're only just now realizing that?"
"Well, this is my first time in a completely different continent, outside of a magic school, thank you. I didn't exactly fly here myself you know. It's just… I've only ever seen Big Ben in pictures before." Danny pointed to the tall clock tower in the distance, and Hermione smiled and happily began telling Danny everything he could ever want to know about one of London's most well known landmarks.
Lupin was still tense, but spared them a small smile. Harry fell into step beside their ex-Defense Professor.
"Professor-"
"Really Harry, I'm not your Professor any longer. You can just call me Remus."
"Mmmm, how about Lupin? Calling you Remus feels like calling Professor McGonagall, Minerva." He said, scrunching his face at the very thought.
"How do you think I felt then, when I had to call her that when I became a fellow teacher." Lupin chuckled.
Harry laughed lightly at that, he couldn't imagine how awkward that would be.
"Anyway, you wanted to say something?" Lupin asked, with another quick look around them.
"Ask something actually. Why don't we just call for the NightBus?"
"Well, it doesn't run during the Holidays, just like the muggle Tube, which is why Mundungus kindly, ah, provided transport for us this morning."
Harry chuckled, and they fell into comfortable silence again as they walked beside an abandoned park. He could just see through the thick tree trunks, an open space covered in a thick layer of untouched snow.
There was a sudden gasp behind them, and Harry and Lupin turned sharply to see Danny standing stock-still, staring before him as his breath shimmered blue.
Harry only got a glimpse of shocked blue eyes before Danny was body slammed off the pavement and through the trees beside them by a force none of them could see.
He couldn't move for a moment, only staring at Hermione and Ron who seemed just as stunned, but they all jumped into action as they heard Danny's shocked shout from within the park.
"Danny!" They exclaimed frantically as they rushed to find the entrance into the secluded park. The sight that awaited them once they'd finally made it in had them freezing in their tracks.
Danny was sprawled in the snow, half buried in it, being held down by an enormous glowing wolf with inky black fur. If that wasn't alarming enough, the creature was wearing bright green shorts and hooded jumper like Danny's, and Danny was… laughing.
Danny was laughing and now hugging the giant glowing wolf wearing muggle clothes.
"Blimey." Ron breathed, still frozen in shock.
"Wulf!" Danny exclaimed happily, and to Harry's now further stuttering shocked mind, the wolf began to speak.
"Amiko! Mi finfine trovis vin! Mi serĉis ĉie!" It wasn't a language he recognized, and he could only stand in utter disbelief beside Ron and Hermione, Lupin still had his wand pointed at the wolf with tense lines etched deep into his face and shoulders.
"Ĉu vi serĉas min? Kial?" Danny surprised him by answering back in kind.
"Vi mankas de monatoj mia amiko. Ĉiuj portaloj fermiĝis, kaj la naturaj portaloj rifuzas malfermiĝi. Ĉiuj viaj aliancanoj zorgas pri vi en la Sferoj." The wolf finally let Danny up, and Danny looked around a moment before transforming into Phantom. Lupin choked quietly beside them in surprise.
"Um. Danny…" Hermione asked hesitantly, a hand covering her mouth to try to hide her shock.
"Oh! Sorry you guys, but it's alright! This is my friend Wulf!"
"Accurate name." Ron said a little absently, as the apparent ghost wolf… named Wulf, tilted his head as he considered them for the first time.
"Amiko, ĉi tiuj homoj odoras je magio. Ĉu ili estas malamikoj?" Wulf asked Danny, with a slight growl that had Lupin tensing further, like a coil being tightened until it creaks.
Danny looked around quickly, shaking his head.
"Ne ne! Ĉi tiuj estas miaj amikoj, Wulf. Ili helpis min."
"Danny, what are you saying? What language are you speaking? And how… how are you friends with a werewolf? It's not the full moon-" Lupin cut in sharply, wand still raised.
"What? Okay, first, Wulf isn't a werewolf, he's a ghost. Second, he was just asking who you guys were, and I told him you were my friends and that you've been helping me. It turns out he's been looking for me, since my friends in the Infinite Realms are worried about me. And finally, he's speaking in Esperanto; it's a kind of made up language that a lot of ghosts use. I mean it's either this or Ghost speak with Wulf, and I'm told Esperanto sounds a lot nicer to the living than Ghost speak does so…" Danny shrugged as he floated up beside Wulf, Lupin slowly lowering his wand.
"This is… a ghost?" Lupin repeated astounded.
"Ghost speak? Wait a moment. Isn't Wulf the friend who protected you from that jailer ghost who wants to lock you up for a thousand years? The friend that can open portals?" Hermione asked, taking a tentative step closer.
Danny grinned wide and nodded.
"Yep! He's a good friend of mine, helped me out of a few tight spots before. But hey, now we can-" Danny tensed suddenly, just as Wulf flattened his ears. Both ghosts then looked towards the edge of the park simultaneously, sending a shard of unease slipping down Harry's spine.
"What-?"
"There's another couple of wizards over there." Danny said quickly. Lupin tensed up once more, looking to where Wulf was now staring as Danny flew towards them.
"C'mon. Now that Wulf's here, we can fly back."
Lupin hesitated a moment, before nodding curtly.
Danny turned to Wulf, speaking quickly.
"Wulf, ĉu vi povas helpi min porti miajn amikojn? Ni devas atingi sekurdomon, for de tiuj aliaj sorĉistoj."
"Jes, jes, ni iru. Tiuj magiistoj estas malhelaj, kaj malbonaj por vi kaj viaj." Wulf nodded, holding out large paws towards Hermione and Lupin, inviting them to grab on.
Hermione hesitated for only a moment before grabbing hold with a quiet 'thank you.' Lupin looked pale and tense still, but with another look at the apparently hidden wizards at the edge of the park, decided that Wulf was less of a threat and grabbed on.
Harry looked to Danny, and grabbed his friends hand along with Ron, and he felt them all turn invisible as they rose up past the trees surrounding them. One last glance at the now disturbed snow within the park, and then they were barreling through the sky towards Grimmauld Place.
Only a few minutes and a chilly flight over London later, and Danny flew them straight through the door of his Godfather's family home, where they collapsed onto the indoor landing, Wulf coming in not a second after them.
"Are you alright?" He asked Danny, as the ghost boy helped him and Ron to their feet, before heading over to Wulf, Hermione and Lupin.
Danny snorted, as he helped haul a strangely tired looking Wulf to his feet.
"Funny, I was just going to ask you guys that same thing. Woah, you okay Mr. Lupin?"
Lupin did look a little pale and very windswept, but otherwise alright.
"I'm fine... just... processing that we just flew invisibly across London, that's all."
Ron chuckled, and Harry smiled.
"It's fun isn't it? No wonder Danny goes flying around Hogwarts all the time." Ron playfully shoved the now floating Danny's shoulder, making him tip a bit in midair, grinning all the while.
"Oh Wulf, are you aright?" Hermione asked, concern in her voice.
The ghost was panting and his glow seemed to have dimmed a bit, even though they were now inside and could more easily see it. Wulf then stumbled, and Danny was there in a flash supporting his tired friend under the arm.
"Wulf, ĉu vi estas en ordo? Kio estas malbona?" Danny asked worried.
"Mi estas... malforta. Mi ne povas resti en ĉi tiu dimensio multe pli longe amiko, sed estas tro da magio por malfermi portalon ĉi tie. Mi devos foriri baldaŭ kaj reveni al la dezerto por trovi ien por reveni al la Senlimaj Regnoj." Wulf said.
"Oh no." Danny said, as Wulf managed to stand up again on his own.
"What's the matter?" Harry asked quickly.
"Wulf is-"
Danny was interrupted by a shrill shriek that made them all jump. Mrs. Weasley, the one who'd screamed was surrounded by Tonks, Moody, Sirius and, incredibly, Dumbledore. They all stood at the end of the landing, wands pointed directly at Wulf.
"Wait!" Lupin stepped forward quickly, hands raised and empty. "I am Remus Lupin, and I bring Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Danny Fenton and Danny's friend, Wulf. All of whom are not a threat to the Order."
There was a silent stand-off then as Sirius and Tonks lowered their wands a bit, but Moody and Dumbledore kept theirs raised.
"How did you bring this... wolf here Lupin? You aren't the Secret Keeper." Moody growled, keeping his eyes on the two ghosts beside the door.
"Um, Wulf is a full ghost, so whatever magic you're using to keep this place secret, which is what I'm assuming you're saying with the whole secret keeper thing, probably doesn't work on him." Danny chimed in, shifting to be in front of Wulf.
"A full ghost?" Dumbledore repeated, finally beginning to lower his wand.
"He's apparently been looking for Danny. He found us while we were walking back here from Finchley." Lupin added.
"Finchley! That's well across London!" Sirius exclaimed.
"So that's where you ended up? We were going to go out looking for you since it wasn't likely you were goin' to make it out of the front entrance of St. Mungo's in once piece with that bloodthirsty mob." Tonks said.
"Does that mean everyone else is here? What about Dad?" Ron asked, eyes on his mother.
"Yes, everyone made it back alright now that you're all here... and Bill is with Arthur now." Mrs. Weasley said a bit breathlessly, eyes still on Wulf that was still behind a hovering Danny. "How did you make it back here so quickly?"
"Wait. NO!" Sirius exclaimed as he made his way towards Lupin. "They flew you here didn't they! Ah! Danny please, I want to go flying at least once before you lot have to go back to school! I can't believe Moony's been flying with you before me!" Sirius bemoaned, making all the students present laugh a bit.
The tension then, thankfully, broke with their laughter. Mrs. Weasley relaxed as she watched Danny translate for Wulf what Sirius was upset about, and how Wulf then smiled and animatedly began sniffing at Sirius and Remus with interest.
The rest of the adults finally stowed their wands. He kept his eyes away from Dumbledore, not wanting the thing in his head to act up again. But, Dumbledore avoiding him ever since Voldemort returned made a lot more sense now. Even if it did mean that Dumbledore must have known something about something that was going on with his dreams, and his anger and his burning scar.
Dumbledore knew.
But didn't say anything.
Anger that was all his own swelled up then as he followed everyone into the kitchen, where Ginny, Fred and George were waiting for them. There was another round of panic before introductions to Wulf could be made.
As Lupin explained what happened at the Hospital, relaying everything from getting separated, then stranded and then spotted by Wulf, and then finally telling of the unknown wizards that Danny and Wulf had sensed not long after.
"You were being followed?!" Mrs. Weasley asked with a shout. As Lupin nodded and answered the other questions the adults had for him, Harry's attention was caught by Wulf shaking his head agitatedly.
Danny noticed too, and seemed to ask his friend what was wrong in the language he wished he understood. When Wulf gave his answer with a low growl accompanying it, Danny's eyes grew wide with surprise as he asked something else.
Wulf turned and began snuffling and searching around the end of the kitchen, catching the rest of the kitchen occupants attention.
"Mr. Fenton, what are you doing?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
Danny looked up from where he was helping Wulf search.
"I honestly thought it was just my imagination, but then Wulf heard it, too. There's this ringing sound in the back of my head, but it's really faint, and we're just trying to find where it's-"
"Ah! Amiko, ĝi estas ĉi tie!" Wulf said quickly, pointing a hairy finger at Kreecher's cupboard door.
Now, when Hermione found out that Kreecher and Sirius had begun to get along, she insisted on helping to expand and generally improve Kreecher's room. The last time Harry looked, it was now the size of a fairly large closet, with a small bed inside and shelves along the wall below the boiler holding all of Kreecher's gifted treasures.
"Kreecher, come here please!" Sirius called immediately, Kreecher appearing with a sharp snap.
"How may Kreecher be of service, Master Black?" The elf bowed low, his surprise at seeing Danny and Wulf was nothing more than a wide eyed glance.
"It seems there's something in your room that's bothering Danny and his friend, Wulf. We need to have a look to see what it is." Sirius nodded towards the door.
Kreecher turned his large eyes onto Danny then, and he didn't break eye contact, his expression shifting from fearful, to hopeful to remorse. Danny just looked back, confused.
"Of course Master." Harry could only just make out the words, as Kreecher moved to open his cupboard door. The door swung open and they immediately jumped as Wulf suddenly growled, loud and menacing with teeth bared, ears flattening against his head, wicked looking claws extending from the ends of his paws. Danny too, had a strange look on his face as he almost dazedly reached in and grabbed a heavy golden locket. Harry recognized it as the one they'd removed from the dusty cupboard shelf in the drawing room over the summer.
It sat innocently enough in Danny's white gloved hand, but by the two ghosts reactions it was apparently anything but.
"Danny..?" He took a careful step forward, but Ron grabbed his shoulder and dragged him back. Looking back he found that every adult had they're wands out, either pointing at Wulf, who was still growling menacingly or at Danny who had gone very still. The Weasley children, and Hermione were staring at Danny, unmoving. Kreecher huddled away from the ghosts, shivering in fear.
"Ron? What-" He tried to ask.
"Something's not right, Harry." Ron whispered, face pale. "Look at his eyes."
Looking back, he barely suppressed a gasp. Danny's eyes no longer had any whites or pupils; just a pure, lurid green that glowed so bright it reflected off the gold locket in his hand.
"This," Danny hissed, tension rising as the temperature plummeted, "Is a p̷a̵r̸t̷ ̵o̵f̸ ̴s̷o̶m̶e̴o̶n̷e̶'̵s̷ s̷̝̆o̶̻͝u̵̼̒l̵̙̕.̶͇́"
Horrified gasps filled the sudden silence, and Dumbledore took what looked like an unintentional step forward, and Harry couldn't help but glance at him, noticing the shock in his eyes and the white knuckled grip he had on his wand.
Danny turned to them slowly, Wulf moving behind him and straightening to his full height, terrifying in how he dwarfed Danny with exposed teeth and flexed claws. But Harry's eyes stayed on Danny.
There were ripples of intensity crashing into them, Danny's eyes still burning bright, nonblinking. Harry had never truly appreciated how... intensely powerful Danny was.
"T̸h̶i̶s̸ ̸s̸o̷u̸l̶ ̵w̵a̵s̴ t̶͚̀o̸͉͊r̴̰͠n̷̲̈ ̵͕̔a̶͔̐p̷͎͊ǎ̴͖r̸͖̕t̷͈̓ d̸͍̩̆ḛ̸͑͝l̴͉̮͌͛i̷͈̳̿͋b̶̲̀͋ĕ̴̜̏ŗ̵͆͘a̷̞̳͒t̴̠̕e̷͈͑͘l̵͕͛͗y̶͚̦̆̃.̴̞̤͌̀" Danny's echoing voice crashed and scattered against his ears, setting his teeth on edge, the underlying static growing louder and louder.
"Phantom-" Dumbledore tried to break through, but before he could say anything else, Danny's hand clenched, crushing the locket like it was nothing but tin foil.
Danny was speaking again but this time it was unintelligible and overlaid with static and pieces of sound all jumbled together that sent spikes of fear splintering down his neck and spine. It got so bad that Harry and the others clasped their hands over their ears to try and block out the terrible sound of it.
A ripping scream tore out of the now crumpled piece of gold, it's chain dangling limply. Before their eyes a viscous sort of vapor congealed above the broken locket, and Danny grabbed it tight with his free hand and squeezed, lighting it with ethereal green fire.
The scream intensified brutally before petering into nothing. As the scream died down, so to did the biting cold and tense atmosphere. It almost reminded Harry of when Danny was first summoned, all those months ago.
Everything was still for a shivering second of silence, and then Danny's knees hit the ground with a thud, transforming as he toppled.
"Danny!" His voice rebounded through the kitchen as it combined with Ron's and Hermione's shouts. They scrambled forward from where they had been frozen.
Wulf caught Danny just before his head cracked on the stone floor, and they quickly rushed up to check that he was alright.
"Oh my goodness! Danny!" Hermione gently grabbed the shoulder of Danny's soft jumper as his eyes fluttered open blearily.
"Ugghhh." He groaned, slowly gaining his feet with their help. He opened his fists absently, and sent nothing but soft grey ash fluttering to the ground. "Well... that happened."
"What..." Fred's voice stuttered out, "in the hell, just happened?"
Harry looked up to find that all of the adults still had their wands drawn but they weren't being aimed, Tonk's hair had changed into a curly, mousy brown, and Moody's eye had stilled, as if frozen in it's socket. Everyone had their eyes glued to Danny, who was still heavily leaning on Harry and Ron to stand upright.
"Did you say that that locket... had a piece of soul in it?" Lupin asked, voice tight and quiet and yet Dumbledore gave a very subtle flinch.
Danny's shoulders tightened, and his expression darkened, but his eyes thankfully stayed their human(ish) ice blue.
"Yes. It'd been severed... intentionally ripped apart." Danny shook his head as if to clear it and sighed. "A soul is precious; it's everything. To ghost and human alike. I... When I recognized it for what it was, I was... taken over by instinct, I guess, and destroyed it. I'm sorry Kreecher."
Harry was startled by the apology for a moment, but then saw the elf had crouched down near the pile of ash that was all that remained of the golden locket, tears streaming down his face.
Kreecher shook his head so hard his ears flapped.
"No, Master Danny, do not apologize to Kreecher." The elf said thickly. "You have done what Kreecher could not. Kreecher tried and tried, but he couldn't banish the evil magic from the locket. Kreecher couldn't follow Master Regulus' final order." Kreecher choked on more tears.
"Reg?" Sirius sputtered, finding his voice. "What does a bloody Horcrux have to do with Reg?"
Harry blinked at the unfamiliar term, but before anything else could be said, Dumbledore stepped in.
"That is not something to be discussed here. Sirius, If I may have a private word with Kreecher-"
"Like hell you will Dumbledore! We are part of this Order against Voldemort just as much as you! And if Kreecher has information about my little brother who I wasn't able to protect, then either you'll be hearing the story with me, or not at all!" Sirius erupted, forcing half the room to flinch at Voldemort's name.
Dumbledore's expression shuttered closed, but after glancing at the other adults present and seeing that they were not to be left out of this either, he relented with a sharp nod.
"Wait a minute! What's a Horc-" Ginny spoke up as the adults moved towards the door of the kitchen, leaving everyone else behind, but Mrs. Weasley was quick to cut her off.
"NO! None of you will be leaving this room, you hear me! You are not Order members, and you are not to know anything else about this, until we deem it appropriate for you to know!" She said sternly, raising her voice as the twin's and Ginny's expressions turned mutinous.
"But that's not fair! Danny found the thing and then destroyed it! We want to know what's going on!" George protested.
He, Ron, Hermione and Danny kept silent as they watched the argument unfold. He was sure they had all come to the same conclusion, and a pit of dread had formed in his stomach just thinking about what that conclusion would mean for him.
Danny gently squeezed his shoulder, and he let out a quiet sigh. Looking over to his friends, he found them giving him reassuring and resolute looks. He smiled and nodded in thanks, just as Mrs. Weasley put her foot down and forced the other Weasley siblings to stay put in the kitchen.
As the adults filed out to get Kreecher's story as to why he had the locket in the first place and what it had to do with Sirius' brother, he caught his Godfather's eye just as he was about to shut the door.
There was pain, anger and sorrow written in every line of Sirius' body, but he stopped just long enough to give Harry a small smile as well.
The kitchen door was shut and locked, leaving them all alone in the darkened kitchen, as Danny had blown the fire out earlier while he was destroying the soul piece.
"Amiko." Wulf whined suddenly, startling all of them; they'd almost forggoten the large ghost was there.
"Wulf?" Danny asked, standing up a little straighter despite still looking drained.
"Mi ne povas resti ĉi tie pli longe. Mi devas reveni al la Sferoj antaŭ ol mi komencos malstabiligi." Wulf said, an edge of worry in his tone. "Mi eĉ ne certas, ke mi povos atingi la lokon, kie mi unue malfermis portalon en ĉi tiun Sferon, kun miaj potenco-niveloj kiel ili estas."
"Tiam mi venos kun vi, por certigi, ke vi revenos en ordo." Danny said determidley. Danny then turned back to them, gently removing his arms from around Ron and his shoulders to stand on his own.
"I need to leave for a bit." Danny said resolutely.
"What? Why?" Hemrione asked worried.
"Wulf can't stay in this dimension much longer, he needs to get back to the realms, but he's so low on power right now that I'm going with him to make sure he gets back alright."
"But didn't you say he can make portals? Why not just make one here?" Ron asked.
"What are you lot taking about?" Ginny asked suddenly.
"He can't make portal in London because it's so concentrated with magic. Magic energy and ghostly energy don't mix, remember? So, I'm flying out with him to the spot he came into this dimesnion originally." Danny answered, his transfomration rings passing over him once more to reveal Danny as Phantom.
"But..." Harry paused as Danny lifted off the ground.
Danny gave a tired smile, and pulled him, Ron and Hermione into a tight hug. He was surprised by the sudden contact, but welcomed it nonetheless, Ron and Hermione easing into it as well.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Then we can work this all out together, aright?" Danny said quietly, before pulling away. Harry nodded, and watched as both Danny and Wulf flew up through the ceiling.
"Wow." Fred said, in a defeated sort of tone. "He really is... something else, huh?"
"Who'd of thought our lives could get any crazier." George said shaking his head, as Ginny chuckled.
"You can say that again." Ron said with a sigh.
Hermione dropped into a chair near the empty fireplace, and Harry sat down in one beside her.
After a moment of contemplative silence, Ron's stomach gave a loud grumble that had him blushing to his ears and everyone else snickering quietly. It was a good enough reminder as any that it had gotten rather late, and lunch hadn't been on anyone's mind with everything that had happened.
Just then, the kitchen door swung open revealing both a pale Mrs. Weasley and a grim looking Dumbledore.
"Alright dears, I'll be making us an early Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings. But first, the Headmaster..."
"I need to ask Mr. Fenton and his companion a few questions. If you both could-" Dumbledore stopped as he realized the two he was looking for were not present.
Dumbledore's eyes, while still managing to avoid looking directly at Harry, roved the kitchen frantically before he demanded, "Where are they."
"Wulf ran out of energy and needed to get back to his dimension. Danny went with him to make sure he got back safe." Harry answered when the silence dragged out.
Dumbledore seemed to very nearly look at him when he answered, but then looked to Mrs. Weasley when she gasped, hand over her mouth.
"But who'll make sure he makes it back here safe?! The Press and the Ministry is still looking for him! Not to mention we don't know who was following you before he flew you here! Do you even know where he went?! What if he doesn't come back!?" Mrs. Weasley's voice went shrill in panic, and Harry couldn't help but feel unease twist in his gut.
He looked to Ron and Hermione, and found their expressions mirroring his own sudden worry.
But really? How much trouble could Danny get into on his own?
Knowing their luck...
Nagini encircled his shoulders and he softly stroked a finger down her snout, thinking deeply about his plans for the future of this world.
But, much like a bothersome fly, thoughts of two children who found ways to outlive their deaths plagued his glorious plans with a need to know how they did it. How did two insignificant boys find a way to do the impossible, when he, Lord Voldemort, had done everything in this world and more to achieve the same and yet... he felt as if he'd been cheated out of his prize rather than cheating both life and death, as he'd intended.
It just added insult to his progress in achieving the impossible that a muggle child had found a way to do it before he did.
But would he truly lower himself to becoming what he loathed to achieve his right to immortality? A halfbreed creature of something thought of as no more dangerous than a chill breeze on a sunny afternoon? It was already bad enough that he shared Potter's fate as a halfblood wizard; not that any of his followers knew that.
But according to his sources within the Ministry and Severus' intel on the abomination, whatever he may be crossed with, it was anything but harmless.
A warrior.
A leader.
A King.
Powerful, dangerous, and immune to magic. The halfbreed had what Voldemort desired and more, but he would not stoop that low to achieve his goals over life and death. No.
He would much rather have the ability to control a being of such power. His thin lips split in a horrible smile at the thought of it.
The sharp crack that resounded from beyond the door of his chamber within the Malfoy Mansion had the expression wiped from his face in an instant.
"Enter." He commanded softly.
In shuffled two of his lowly followers, barely able to call themselves true wizards with how dirty their blood was. He hadn't deigned to learn their names; it wasn't worth his attention. All he knew of these two was that they were tasked with watching the Hospital over the Christmas Holidays for any sign of Potter or the halfbreed.
With Nagini's attack on the blood-traitor Weasley patriarch, it was more than likely that the boy would go to visit. It was one of the only good things to results from the finding out the man survived. Well, that, and...
"My Lord." The lower rank Death Eaters intoned. The taller of the two raised his head just a enough to let him know he was speaking, but not high enough to meet his eyes.
"We scouted St. Mungo's as you instructed, and we confirmed Potter and his friends entering, including the halfbreed muggle this time." The man's voice wavered in fear as Nagini lifted her head higher, tongue flicking out to inspect the lowly men. "They left not long after, when..."
"When?" His voice was cold and the two men shivered.
"The... There was an attempt on the life of Broderick Bode, and... Potter and his friends were there when it was found out."
His anger flared but he didn't allow it to show. Broderick Bode, the high level Unspeakable that they found to have intimate knowledge of the fabled Hall of Prophesy. It was most unfortunate for him that Rookwood only told them of the dangers of touching a prophesy not pertaining to you after Lucius had the Ministry worker under the Imperius curse, and had already sent him to retrieve the prophesy that had started his hunt for the Potters, all those years ago.
While the repercussions had damaged Bode enough that he couldn't speak of Lucius' use of an Unforgivable, the news that he was slowly recovering his ability to speak had necessitated direct action to keep the man silent. The Ministry was being so kind as to ignore the signs of his return, after all.
"The Ministry was called, the Aurors are launching an inquiry and the Press was notified; everyone from The Daily Prophet to the Quibbler was there to try to get their pound of flesh. They went rabid when they found out Potter and that muggle was there. They fought their way out, but we only saw part of the group leave through the entrance. When Potter and the muggle didn't come out, we assumed they'd left from another exit so we scoured the city's hidden entrances and exits to the Hospital, and then we spotted them near the Clapham Commons park heading south. Potter, the muggle halfbreed, two of Potter's friends and the Werewolf, Lupin." The man was rambling, voice pitching higher and words coming faster as his panic heightened for the crime of delivering bad news.
"We were following them from afar to try to find out where they are based, like you ordered, My Lord... But then the halfbreed was separated from the group without warning, and the rest of them scrambled to get to him, so they weren't expecting it either. But what we saw... the thing that had the boy held down in the park... it was like nothing we've ever seen! It was a huge bipedal wolf, but it was glowing and wearing muggle clothes!"
This news gave Voldemort pause.
"This creature, it attacked them?"
"No, My Lord, the boy, the ghost boy seemed to be friendly with it, and then... he transformed, and began to fly, hair as white as the snow around them, and his eyes... We tried to get closer to get a better look at what was happening, but the creatures... they sensed that we were there, looking directly at where we were hidden! They grabbed Potter and his friends, and then just vanished. We... we lost track of them after that." The man bowed his head low after his voice petered out, his partner not having moved a muscle during the entire report.
The silence stretched long and painful, as he considered the men on their knees before him. While they did bring him the news of the failed attempt at silencing Bode, his operation truly wasn't under threat if the man talked; only Lucius would be accused of any crime, a pawn that was easily sacrificed.
The confirmation that the halfbreed truly was a creature of a type that had been previously unknown to wizards thus far was far more valuable to him.
"The halfbreed, what color were it's eyes?"
The crackling fire filled the silence as both men refused to answer, but eventually;
"Green." The previously silent man spoke quietly, fear shaking his voice. But it was not fear of his Dark Lord stood before him. "Killing curse green."
"Leave me." They ran, fleeing like rats before a snake.
There was a sudden but very subtle pain deep in his chest, in the back of his mind. It felt deeper than any wound, but it was gone before he could truly take notice of it. He had more important things to think about, such as how to achieve his newfound goals.
Everything he wanted would be his. He wouldn't let anything get in the way of his future. The world would burn and he would hold the ashes in his palms, never resting until he'd heard all the screams of those he'd promised to save.
It took a little over an hour to fly out into the middle of nowhere, far enough away from the magic-soaked city for Wulf to open a portal back to the Realms. It was actually a place that Danny had passed over in his late night flight from Hogwarts to London after the Portkey had left him stranded.
Wulf was panting heavily, his aura dim, and Danny was supporting him in midair by the time they'd reached the place. But... Danny wasn't doing much better.
When he'd picked up that locket, and his mind filled with static and his eyes burned with unshed tears at the thought that someone would rip apart their soul...
Destroying the thing had taken a lot out of him.
He sighed as he landed, setting Wulf down, so he was able to extend his claws and rip open a portal out of this dimension. It was strange though... Wulf's reality tearing claws didn't open a portal as smoothly or as easily as he remembered, it struggled and caught and the tattered edges barely opened wide enough for Wulf to get through, but it was enough.
Wulf sighed in relief as the power of the Realms washed over them both, Danny just closed his eyes and let the feeling of cool energy pool out and surround him. It was nice... familiar.
"Friend... you should come back with me. This world is no longer safe for you." Wulf's low growling voice had his eyes snapping open, finding Wulf gazing at him sadly.
And for a moment... Danny considered it. Who knows if Wulf would ever be able to find him again, especially with how London and Hogwarts seemed to be infused with so much magic, they were practically doing the GIW job for them at being so anti Realm-ghost. And thinking of the GIW... they would never find him if he went to stay in the Realms.
He'd be able to find Ellie, figure out this whole Ghost King nonsense, and maybe even find a place where they could 'live' in peace.
The green of the portal swirled with energy, and he closed his eyes with another sigh.
"Wulf, thank you for finding me to make sure I'm alright, but I can't go with you. At least not yet." His mind made up, he turned back to Wulf. "My friends need me here, I can help them. But... can I ask you to deliver some messages for me?"
"Of course." Wulf nodded in understanding, but his eyes were sad.
"Find Ellie, she's-"
"Your kin. She is the one who asked me to help her look for you." Wulf interrupted with a toothy smile. "She is much like you, very stubborn."
That surprised a laugh out of him.
"I don't know what you mean, I have no idea where she gets that from!" He said grinning. "But I'm glad she's alright. Tell her that I'm alright and that I miss her, but I need to help some people here before I can come to the Realms. When I see her next, I'll tell everything that's happened, I promise."
Wulf nodded, and then stepped towards the ragged portal. Just before he stepped through, Wulf turned back and pinned Danny with a serious look.
"Be careful, friend. This dimension and ours has drifted apart; natural portals no longer form in the weak spots between this world and the Realms and we do not know why. And... be wary of the magic users. They have tried to force their way into the Realms before, and they may try to use you to try again."
Danny didn't have a chance to say anything to that before Wulf had stepped through the portal, and the tear had sealed up behind him, leaving Danny standing alone in an empty field.
It took another couple of minutes for Danny to collect himself enough to fly back to London, his mind reeling with Wulf's parting warning.
Natural portals weren't forming anymore? Wizards had tried to force their way into the Realms before? It confused him to no end, but soon he was more concerned with making it back to others at all as his dwindling energy reserves seemed to vanish just as he made it to the edge of the city.
Just barely making it back to snowy ground invisibly, he hid in an abandoned alley behind a trash bin and transformed, panting heavily and utterly drained. Taking a moment to curse his never ending well of rotten luck, he got to his feet and started to walk in the general direction of Grimmauld Place.
There weren't many people out, seeing as how it was pretty late on Christmas Day, but he'd just have to brave asking for directions once he thought he was close. Thank goodness he memorized the street the hidden house was on.
So he trudged through the soft snow, and reveled in the chilly air thinking of how he'd be sleeping like the dead tonight with how tired he was. He chuckled softly at his own joke, as he passed a couple of people making their way down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.
He didn't notice them stop and stare at him, nor did he notice them turning around to catch up to him with how tired he was. He did, however, hear them speak. And what they said made him freeze in horror, mind stalled as he now found himself within a waking nightmare.
"Daniel Fenton?"
Oooh, I'm sorry for the cliffy, (who am I kidding, no I'm not).
You can thank my sister for getting an update so quick! She said something offhand after reading the last chapter, and my goodness! This chapter just fell into place in my head like a gosh dang perfect tetris game. It was glorious and I've been working hard around my shifts to get it all written.
And now, I give you this monstrosity of a chapter, the longest of the story yet! Muahahaha!
Thank you for reading, and see you next time!