"Daniel Fenton?"
His mind stalled and then reeled in so much panic that he couldn't even tell if he recognized the voice.
His legs wouldn't move, and his breath hitched as he heard the crunch of snow under the unknown peoples feet as they came even closer.
"Danie-" He felt the brush of a hand on his shoulder, and it was like hot iron had been pressed against his skin despite the soft sweater that Mrs. Weasley had (surprisingly) made for him.
He immediately spun around, knocking the hand away, stumbling back while trying to pull himself together enough to defend himself, despite his exhaustion and panic.
His eyes snapped to the people who'd, incredibly, -impossibly-, recognized him, and his mouth fell open in shock.
"Oh. It is you!" Pamela Manson gasped out, gloved hands clasped in front of her mouth with tears in her eyes; as her husband, Jeremy, brought his hand back to his side with a stunned look.
How…? What…? What are the odds that Sam's parents, of all people…
"What are you doing here? How did you even make it all the way to Europe?" Jeremy asked breathlessly, still stunned.
But Danny couldn't even begin to answer that, couldn't even bring himself to lie as he stood and took in the parents of one of his best friends. Sam probably would have been more shocked, seeing as how both of her normally very colorful parents were wearing black; black coats, black gloves, black, black, black.
Mourning clothes.
Pamela's hair was now a chestnut brown, what he assumed to be it's natural color, and it hung loose around her shoulders. Jeremy's chin had a faint stubble that he hadn't cared to shave. They both had deep, dark bruises under their eyes, their plastic smiles nowhere to be found. The pair were a far cry from the aristocratic, arrogant millionaires that he'd come to expect whenever he ran in to them at Sam's mansion.
It was a stark reminder that his loss wasn't just... Sam and Tucker's parents must have been devastated. Did they even know what really happened, or did they believe whatever GIW coverup story they'd been told?
"-niel? Daniel?"
"What?" He was brought roughly back to the present as Pamela took another step towards him, hand outstretched and yearning, as if she wanted to make sure what she was seeing was real. "Mr. and Mrs. Manson... What are you... I mean, I'm not..."
Jeremy held up a hand, cutting Danny's gibberish off, he looked over his shoulder, and then traded a quick glance with Pamela.
"Daniel, our house is just up the way from here. Why don't we trade stories there, where it's warm?" Jeremey asked gently, taking another step towards him, just as Danny took a reflexive step away.
"I- I um..." Could he? Should he? What if...
"Please... We never... We never thought we'd see you again." Pamela asked desperately, eyes watering once again as her breath curled in the cold air.
He stilled, holding the two grieving parents gazes for a moment, and saw nothing but relief and sadness. Danny folded, shoulders slumping with fatigue. With his small nod and quiet okay, they led him down the street to the gates of an impressive looking mansion, lit up with warm light and blue and white lights lining the house edges, a menorah sitting in one of the front windows.
Once inside, Danny gave a breathy sigh to let off some nerves. He pushed a shaking hand through his hair to try and fight off the weariness he felt, but this... this was getting to be too much. Then, without any warning, he was suddenly crushed in a tight hug by both adults.
The sudden movement and constriction surprised him so badly that he instinctively phased out of their grip with a gasp, pushing the limits of his already drained energy reserves, his vision blurring at the edges.
"Oh my-" Both parents stumbled after he'd escaped their embrace, and then turned to him with a weird sort of resigned shock. "So those horrible GIW weren't lying about that? You... You really are... Danny Phantom?"
"Uh... yeah." He faltered, regaining his balance.
"Did Saman- Sam know?" Pamela choked back a sob.
Danny could only nod, rubbing his arm awkwardly as both parents clasped each other's hands with tears in their eyes.
"Before anything else-" Jeremy said shaking his head slightly, "Daniel, how on earth did you get to Europe? You can't possibly have flown all the way here, especially with the GIW still after you."
"That's... It's a long story, most of which I can't tell you without endangering the people that have been helping me." He said. "But, what about you? What- What are you doing in London?"
Jeremey sighed, and rubbed his jaw as Pamela took his other hand and rubbed his arm consolingly.
"We... My mother passed away about a month ago, but she was determined to help get you back safe. She had contacts here that she thought would be able to help, but she knew that those government goons wouldn't let us leave and so told us to make it seem like she wanted to be laid to rest here, when she knew that her health was failing. She never gave up on you though, Daniel."
"Grandma Ida?" Danny breathed, willing himself not to break down. He hadn't known...
"It was all we could do to make it out of Amity to 'respect her final wishes'. We had to make some god awful meeting with a drill company of all things to convince those white suited bast-"
"What do you mean?" Danny asked, cutting Pamela off from saying what he was sure was a swear Sam would have been both shocked and proud to hear her mother say. "Make it out of Amity, government goons- The GIW aren't still in Amity, are they?"
The two adults looked at him questioningly, before glancing at each other in worry.
"Daniel... The GIW are still occupying Amity Park. It's still being held under martial law. We were required to sign every form under the sun, promising not to alert any form of media or tell anyone about what is happening. There's very little news going in or out of the town." Jeremy shook his head angrily.
"The only thing those- people ever told us was what they were going to do to you when they caught you. They told us that you'd blown up your own house with everyone you loved inside to get away from them, but it would all be in vain because you wouldn't be able to evade them forever." Pamela added, seething hatred lacing her words.
"What!?" He straightened up, eyes wide. "They said that I-?"
"It's actually what we really wanted to ask you, Daniel." Jeremy interrupted gently. "What really happened? How... How did..." The father trailed off, unable to say any more.
Danny slumped again, looking anywhere but the grieving parents. He felt the light brush of a hand on his shoulder again and flinched slightly at the contact, but didn't shrug the hand off. He looked up and found Pamela and Jeremy looking at him with desperate sadness.
He took a shaky breath.
"She... They were trying to protect me. The GIW attacked and Sam and Tucker... My family... they were taken out because... because the GIW knew they would get in the way. But... but in the firefight, a stray shot hit the safety containment on the portal and it... well it overloaded. That's what caused the explosion. But they'd already been... It wasn't the explosion that... Everything... Everyone was gone and I... I didn't know what else to do but run..."
He trailed off as tears spilled down the parent's faces. He swiped at the tracks on his own cheeks, and took another breath.
"I'm- I'm so sor-"
"Thank you, Daniel."
"Wha- what?" He gaped.
"Thank you for telling us. You meant a whole lot to our Sammie, and nothing could have stopped her from trying to protect you. I'm sure she doesn't regret her choice in friends, and I'm sure she wouldn't want you blaming yourself." Pamela said firmly, tears still falling steadily, smudging her makeup. She didn't seem to notice.
"None of them would. We certainly don't." Jeremey added, placing a hand on Danny's other shoulder and slowly bringing him in for a much more obvious and warm embrace. Danny accepted the contact and hugged them back fiercely, his chest shuddered with sobs that he desperately tried to hold back.
He couldn't fall apart just yet. He had to make it back to Grimmauld place, to make sure everyone was alright after that whole thing with the soul shard in the locket. He'd told them he'd be back soon.
He eventually pulled away after all of their breathing had evened out a bit, giving the Manson's a small, watery smile. He opened his mouth, not knowing what to say next, when his tired mind registered what Jeremy had said before about Amity, and words came out without his permission.
"The GIW... are still in Amity? Still hurting and controlling everyone there?" An edge of anger found it's way into his voice.
"Yes, like we said, it was everything we could do to make it out, apparently my Mother's final wishes weren't enough of a reason to let us go. They only caved once I made that meeting with a drill company owner, while also inferring that whatever capital I made with this new venture, it would be donated to them to help them come after you." Danny blinked in surprise at that, but Pamela was quick to jump and explain further.
"We were able to convince them that we believed them and their bogus story about you, and that all we wanted was revenge against you for dragging Sam into all this. They were oh-so-kind enough to give us these few months to mourn Sam and Ida, and lay them to rest here; It's why the meeting we made is in April, to give us as much time as we could to come up with some way to take the GIW down for good." Pamela said savagely, and Danny was vividly reminded of Sam, her efforts in activism and doing what she thought was right.
Jeremy nodded as Danny's mouth fell open once again in shock.
"You want to take down the GIW?" He asked, not daring to hope.
"Oh, it's more than a want, we plan on succeeding. Everything they're doing in Amity... Even if the Foley's are on a warpath there, with the rest of the town right behind them... They think they can get away with whatever they want!" Pamela growled, before sighing.
"But that can wait for now, you said something about people helping you? You're staying with them?"
"Yeah, I am. I met them under... unusual circumstances, but they're my friends." Danny said nodding, but he stopped quickly when the world swayed and his vision blurred again. Something was wrong.
"That's good, as long as you trust them... the GIW are coming to meet with us to make sure we're adhering to our secrecy agreement in a few days, so it won't be a good idea for you to be here. Even though you would be more than welcome to stay here, otherwise." Jeremy assured, but Danny's head was filling with static at the implications of what Jeremey had just dropped on him.
"The GIW... are coming here? To Europe?" He couldn't keep the tremor of fear out of his voice.
Which of course, made him jump all the more violently when there was a tremendous crash against the front door, followed by thunderous growls and barks.
"What in the world?" Jeremey exclaimed, moving to get up, but Danny had already made it to the window, pushing yet another shocking revelation down, since he honestly didn't think he could handle any more that day. He gasped and raced to the door.
Throwing it open before the Manson's could object, he was instantly bowled over once again by a large, black haired canine. What a strange and incredibly draining Christmas day this had been.
"Siri- Snuffles?" He asked, sitting up and getting a good look at the enormous shaggy black dog that he was sure was Sirius's animagus form. He'd have to ask his friends what magical creature Sirius' form really was, because it certainly wasn't a normal dog anymore, if it ever was. Sirius' form had a deep kind of energy that was almost familiar to his own.
"Daniel! Oh my goodness!" Pamela shrieked as she and Jeremey stood a good distance away from them, taking in the sight of Sirius standing over him in front of the open door.
"Wait! This is Snuffles, my friend's... dog. They must be getting worried about me, I should be getting back." He stood shakily, feeling the weight of everything that had happened that day drag on his very last frayed thread of energy. Sirius allowed him to get up, but refused to take his eyes off of the Manson parents, pushing Danny behind him towards the door.
"Oh." Pamela, while still wary of Sirius, bravely made her way forward, only stopping a few paces from the front door. "Daniel... It was good to see you. Thank you... for telling us about Sammie."
Jeremey placed his hands softly on his wife's shoulders.
"Daniel." He locked eyes with Sam's father and held the man's gaze. "Stay safe."
He couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips as he heard the full weight behind those two small words.
"I'll do my best."
He put a hand on Sirius' back, and they both made their way through the door, down the front lawn, and away from the sprawling suburbs of the filthy rich.
Sirius stayed glued to Danny's side as they trudged through the snow. He knew he should be more on edge about... everything. The GIW, Amity, the Realms, the soul piece that was definitely not the size of a half soul, which meant there were more, which meant that it was very likely that Harry-
But he felt stretched out and flimsy with the day's events. And he was so, so tired.
A deep growl echoed through the quiet of the darkening evening, and his eyes snapped to Sirius's flattened ears and dark eyes fearing the worst. But Sirius wasn't growling at anyone but him.
"What?" Danny asked confused.
Sirius' ears flicked up, as he looked back at where they'd walked from, then looked back up at Danny.
"Oh. They're my friend Sam's parents. I ran into them accidentally, and they wanted to know... how Sam..." He shook his head slightly, as his vision blurred again, his feet stumbling and slipping a bit on the snow covered pavement. Something was definitely wrong. His core was pulsing and oddly warm. He wouldn't last much longer.
Sirius whined worriedly, and nudged him slightly to keep him walking.
He didn't know how long they walked through the dark, snow covered streets, but before he knew it, Grimmauld Place came into view. As soon as they were both inside and the door had shut, Sirius was there and wrapping his arms around him as Danny finally succumbed to oblivion.
It's been too long. Danny should have been back ages ago.
Harry had taken to pacing the length of the kitchen while they waited for their friends return. Ron sat by the rekindled fire, looking pale and worried, and Hermione was sat at the table wringing her hands. Ginny and Fred and George had all been sent to bed after the incredible, if barely eaten Christmas dinner they'd had.
He'd felt bad about that, but he had felt a lot worse about not going with Danny to make sure he made it back alright. Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong that day, and he shouldn't have given fate the chance to throw more at them than it already had.
As the evening had turned into night, the search parties went out, and the adults were hard pressed to keep him, Ron and Hermione from joining them. Sirius had insisted on going as well, since he could track Danny better than anyone else could at the moment. Even if Harry and his friends couldn't be part of the search party, they had all refused outright to just go to bed and hope that Danny would be back in the morning.
The look on Dumbledore's face as he'd blatantly refused to listen to his orders probably would have held more weight in Harry's conscience if Dumbledore hadn't been staring at a point just over his shoulder for the entire confrontation.
"Oh, this is unbearable." Hermione whispered, head falling to the table. Harry couldn't agree more, it was like the night of waiting to hear news of Mr. Weasley's condition all over again, only this time they had no idea if where Danny was, or if he needed help.
"Yeah. As soon as that idiot gets back he isn't to leave our sight ever again." Ron said.
It was said somewhat jokingly, but Harry knew Ron was serious. And as he and Hermione nodded in agreement, he fully appreciated how integral Danny was to their lives now. How much their lives had been changed when Trelawney had activated that summoning that wasn't even supposed to work.
Then, they heard the front door swiftly open and close.
They were all through the door, down the hallway and across the landing before Sirius even called out to them.
"We're back! Danny's... well..." Sirius sounded drained and sad, no doubt the effects of whatever Kreecher had said about his younger brother still lingering, but as soon as Harry rounded the corner only to find Sirius holding an unconscious and terribly pale looking Danny in his arms, his concern increased tenfold.
"What's happened? Is Danny alright?" They all asked quickly as they skidded to a halt at Danny and Sirius' side.
Sirius gave a heavy sigh, and hefted Danny up into a more comfortable position in his arms.
"I'm not sure." Sirius said. "He just passed out. I think it's exhaustion, but..." Sirius shook his head, "After what he did to the ho- locket, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of backlash. Souls are mysterious and powerful things, not to mention, near impossible to destroy completely like Danny did."
Hermione gasped worriedly.
"You think he might be sick? Or- Or that destroying the locket hurt him somehow?" She asked quickly.
"I don't know." Sirius shook his head as he began walking up the stairs towards their rooms.
Harry exchanged a quick look with Ron and Hermione as they collectively realized that if Danny really was hurt or sick... they would have absolutely no idea how to treat him, seeing as how magic doesn't do anything for him. They wouldn't even be able to rely on non-magical help, since Danny wasn't entirely normal in that respect, either.
Sirius placed Danny down gently onto his cot in their room, and then they just stood there, not knowing what to do for their friend, and feeling utterly useless for it.
"Sirius, where did you find him? Why didn't he come back on his own?" Ron asked, taking a seat on his bed, as Hermione put a careful hand on Danny's forehead.
"I found him with two people I didn't know. Muggles by the look of them and their house." Sirius answered.
"He was in their house?! Who were they?" Harry asked in surprise.
"He said they were the parents of one of his friends, that he ran into them accidentally. They wanted to ask something about his friend; Sam I think he said their name was. He couldn't say much else before..." Sirius looked at Danny's prone form, before noticing the stricken looks on Hermione, Ron and Harry's faces.
"He ran into Sam's parents..." Ron repeated quietly.
Sirius looked around at them a moment.
"Alright, I know I haven't known Danny as long as you lot, but I'm tired of one surprise after another today, so please," Sirius sat down on Harry's bed, and gestured at them tiredly but determinedly, "Explain. Why's it matter that Danny ran into the parents of an old friend? Isn't that a good thing?"
There was a moment of silence as Harry met both Hermione and Ron's eyes.
"Before anything else," Hermione stated worriedly, "Danny's burning up, and considering his normal temperature and ice powers, that's likely not very good for him. I think we need to find a way to cool him down."
"Right." Ron stood up quickly and left the room, while Sirius summoned some towels and coats, both of which he gave to Harry and Hermione before striding over to the window and throwing it open.
Ron then came back in quickly, carrying ice in a bucket.
"Good thinking Ron." Harry said, as they doused the towels in ice water, before placing them on Danny's forehead and on the pillow beneath his neck. Harry also wrapped some ice into another towel and placed it onto the center of Danny's chest, remembering where his friend had gestured when he was explaining what a ghost's core was.
Hoping it would be enough, they took a step back and carefully watched as Danny's chest rose and fell slowly, his face still deathly pale.
With a shaky sigh, Hermione collapsed onto a bed, Ron sitting down next to her and wrapping the cloak Sirius had offered him tightly around himself as the winter chill spilled in through the open window.
Harry sat down opposite them on the third bed with Sirius right beside him. After another moment of worried silence, Sirius spoke up again.
"Alright now, spill." His tone brokered no argument, but was laced with worry.
Harry sighed before leaning tiredly into Sirius side, surprising them both.
"It's not a nice story Sirius, and it really isn't our place to tell you everything."
"But," Ron said slowly, "We might be able to tell you enough so you can understand."
Hermione nodded, keeping silent while continuing to watch Danny worriedly.
Sirius huffed a bit, before throwing his arm over Harry's shoulders, drawing him closer.
"Not a nice story, eh? Well, what's one more." Sirius said gruffly, and Harry wondered what Kreecher could possibly have told Sirius to make him so upset.
"Well, first off, Sam wasn't just a friend to Danny, she was one of his best friends." Hermione spoke up quietly. "She and Tucker and Danny... The way Danny spoke of them always reminded me of us." She gestured to Ron, Harry and herself with a small smile. "They were with Danny during his accident, and so knew he was half ghost from the very start. They were there as he got control of his powers, and then got into and out of trouble together, and always looked out for one another..." Hermione trailed off sadly.
Sirius had stiffened slightly at the mention of Danny's accident, but kept silent.
"Then, Danny was targeted by that government group that hunts ghosts." Ron continued when Hermione didn't. "They had this huge plan, and then attacked Danny, and his... family and friends were there and... well, they died trying to protect him." Ron finished in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Wait-" Sirius said suddenly, "That night when you lot got back from your first trip to the hospital, when Danny said he was there when his family... that he couldn't save them..." Sirius trailed off in dawning horror.
"He blames himself," Harry said, drawing Sirius' shocked gaze, "We know he does, even though it really wasn't his fault. But, we're worried about how Sam's parent may have reacted to seeing him."
"And what rotten luck that is, right? How in the world did Danny manage to cross paths with someone who'd actually recognize him from before he was summoned to Hogwarts?" Ron asked incredulously, making him and Hermione grin despite themselves.
"What were they saying to him, Sirius? Sam's parents weren't horrible to him, were they?" Hermione asked.
"No- No they were worried for him and told him to keep safe." Sirius said haltingly, still in shock over learning more of Danny's story. They gave a collective sigh of relief at that, before Sirius spoke up again.
"Before Danny was summoned- he was running from these... ghost hunters? Government ghost hunters?" Sirius bit out angrily.
Harry watched Ron's and Hermione's expressions darken to match his own feelings towards said government group.
"Yes. Danny won't tell us much about what, exactly, they were chasing him for, or for how long. But... we can take a few guesses, and I'm sure we aren't overestimating how hard it was for Danny after he began running from them." Harry said, tone brittle.
"Those gits won't know what hit'em if they ever get close to Danny again." Ron said viscously, voicing what they were all thinking. "I'm just glad that they aren't here in Britain. Imagine if they found Danny like this..." Ron turned worried eyes to their still unconscious friend. They all looked back at Danny then, and Harry didn't know how to feel about Danny not looking any worse, but also not any better than before, either.
"But was it really the locket that did this to him? Sirius-" Harry turned serious eyes onto his godfather when he felt Sirius shifting uncomfortably. "We know that what Danny destroyed was a piece of someone's soul, but you called it a... Horcrux?"
"Yes. What does that mean, exactly?" Hermione asked quickly.
Sirius wouldn't meet their eyes for a moment as he withdrew his arm from around Harry's shoulders. Harry forced his face to remain neutral; this was important information that they needed, so he couldn't begrudge Sirius needing to take his arm back if it meant that he'd explain more about the soul piece. (Even if it had been nice.)
When the silence dragged a bit to long, Sirius finally sighed.
"Dumbledore'll do his nut if he finds out I told you about that." Sirius said gruffly.
"Sirius, this isn't just because we're curious. This isn't even just because of how it affected Danny, even if that is a big part of it." Harry said seriously.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked sharply.
Harry glanced to Ron and Hermione and met their eyes. They nodded slowly in encouragement.
That's right. He could trust Sirius. He knew he could.
"Well, we think the soul piece Danny destroyed may have something to do with... my vision of Mr. Weasley. But! We want an explanation of the Horcrux first, and then if it's what we think it is, then I'll explain the rest." Harry said quickly, cutting off Sirius' concerned interruption.
Sirius just stared at them dumbfounded for a moment.
"You think that- but- how could they be connected?"
"Please Sirius?" He asked.
Sirius blinked, and then sighed heavily.
"Alright, alright, but I want a full explanation once I'm done." At their nods, Sirius sighed once again before beginning.
"A Horcrux is, quite possibly, the most evil act against nature someone could hope to commit. A soul is everything to a living being. Not even death will damage a soul, as Danny could probably attest to. A Horcrux... is essentially a magically enhanced container for a piece of soul that has been intentionally separated from the whole."
Sirius looked to the floor angrily.
"The theory was that if you created a Horcrux, and were then attacked and your body killed, the piece of soul you'd separated would still live, tethering the soul in your main body to this plane. It was thought to be a way that wizard and witches could become immortal." Sirius scoffed, before continuing angrily, "I only know about this because my dear parents were entranced with the idea of immortality, if the portrait of my mother is any indication. Horcruxes are not common knowledge by any means and nor should they be. Once created, a Horcrux is ridiculously difficult to destroy, since you need to destroy the container before destroying the soul within. There are only a few substances in the world that are known to have any affect on them, which are Basilisk venom or Fiendfire, and that's just a way to destroy the container, it's never guaranteed to kill the soul within as well. It's also considered suicide to use Fiendfire, and you're more knowledgeable than most, Harry, at how difficult getting venom from a Basilisk is. Actually, the easiest way to destroy a Horcrux for sure, is if the creator of the Horcrux kills it themselves with the killing curse."
Sirius paused, brows furrowing in thought. "Which is why it's so surprising that Danny was able to just... crush the locket and the soul piece inside. The power I felt off him though, and his eyes... I wouldn't be surprised if he exhausted himself so much that he's gotten sick."
Harry could only sit and hope his dread didn't show. He'd suspected, had even somewhat accepted the truth; but to have Sirius explain the mentality one would need to create a Horcrux, let alone multiple...
"Does the container have to be an inanimate object?" Ron asked softly, obviously thinking along the same lines.
Sirius' head snapped up, a look of horror on his face.
"I'd shudder to imagine what it would be like for a living being to house a soul piece belonging to someone deranged enough to actually go through with making a Horcrux, but... I suppose it would be possible to use both inanimate objects and a living host as a container, I'm not sure it would be recommended to use a live container though, since they could die, and leave the soul piece defenseless." Sirius' eyes narrowed then, as Harry, Ron and Hermione traded significant and resigned looks, their suspicions finally confirmed.
"What? What did you just figure out?"
Harry sighed. Here we go.
"Sirius, do you know how Danny knew where the locket was?"
"What? He sensed it didn't he? He and his wolf friend."
"Yes. Danny sensed it; and he told me a little while ago about something else he'd sensed on the night that I- that Mr. Weasley was attacked." He amended quickly at the sharp looks they'd all given him, before continuing. "He said that while I was still asleep or having the vision... he felt something in... me. In my head. Something dark and evil that he could almost, but not quite, recognize."
He sighed and looked away as Sirius' mouth fell open in shock at what he was insinuating.
"After Danny destroyed the Horcrux, he looked at me, and then... well, I'll be sure to ask him when he wakes up, but we're pretty sure that the locket won't be last piece of soul we have to deal with." Harry finished lamely, rubbing the back of his neck. He couldn't bring himself to look at his godfather now, not when he had no clue what his reaction may be.
Suddenly being crushed in a hug was not what he was expecting.
"Oh Harry. You're the strongest, bravest, and most stubborn person I think I've ever had the pleasure of knowing; and we all know Minerva McGonagall."
That surprised him enough that he laughed a bit, along with Ron and Hermione.
"Ugh, what's- what's so funny?"
All four of them whipped around to see Danny's eyes open blearily, as he slowly sat up.
"Danny!" He shouted along with Ron and Hermione, as they launched themselves at their ghostly friend, so relieved to see him awake.
"Ah!" Danny cried as they all landed on him in a heap, scattering the semi melted ice and wet towels. Then Danny disappeared. Simply faded out of existence.
"Danny!" They exclaimed frantically, as they got up from the bed and tried to search for their friend.
"I'm okay!" Came Danny's muffled voice from under the bed. Danny slowly extricated himself from under the bed, still shaky and pale, but his eyes were clearer if a bit confused and annoyed.
"When did I... Ah!" As soon as Danny was free from beneath the bed, he floated up towards the ceiling, clearly not by choice as he flailed his arms trying to gain some control.
"Danny what are you-?"
"I- My core! I can't control my powers!" Danny exclaimed, half panicked and strangely, half exasperated.
They could only stare and then jump as Danny gave a small yelp of surprise as gravity crashed into him all at once and he landed back onto his bed with a thump.
"Ugh! It's like the first month all over again." Danny despaired.
"Oh Danny!" Hermione cried as she hurried to his side, followed quickly by the rest of them. "Are you sure you'll be alright? We- we had no idea what was wrong or how to help-"
"I'm... well, I'm not fine I guess." Danny interrupted with a tired grin "With my core all screwy, getting rid of that soul piece must have taken a lot more energy than I thought. And then with everything else that happened afterward... Why is it always Christmas that I have the worst time?" Danny slumped back onto the bed, but then jerked slightly in surprise as he found the towel filled with ice.
"Were you guys... trying to cool me down?" Danny asked, as he eyed the open window, and the cloaks they were bundled up in.
"Well, yes... we didn't really know what else to do." He said, a bit embarrassed at how useless they were in caring for their friend when he needed them. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize! It's helping, really, it is! The only other time this has happened was when I fought Pariah Dark, and Sam and Tuck had me in an ice bath for a day to help get me back on my feet!" Danny grinned tiredly, as he sat up fully with a quiet groan. "It didn't short out my powers, but..." Danny sighed as his breath misted and frost crawled up his arms a moment before melting, "I'm sure it'll pass... eventually."
"You sure you're alright, Danny? You still look awfully pale." Hermione worried. "And... And Sirius told us how he found you with Sam's parents?" She asked softly.
Harry narrowed his eyes as Danny tensed slightly as he remembered. But Danny took a breath and forced himself to relax his shoulders.
"Yeah. Yeah he did. I'll- I need some time to think about what they told me, but I'm sure you'll hear the whole story soon enough." He said quietly, his voice gaining an echoey quality as he spoke before it faded.
"But-"
"I should be fine in a few hours, especially if I get some food and more rest." Danny reassured firmly.
Hermione glanced at Ron, as he placed a hand on her shoulder with a subtle shake of his head, and finally she relented.
"Well I'm glad, you looked a right state when I found you in that bloody mansion." Sirius sighed in relief, but his expression snapped into something far more intense before he continued. "But now that you're up, I have to ask... what did you sense when you destroyed that locket, and... do you sense the same thing in Harry?"
The atmosphere immediately turned tense at the question, and Harry locked eyes with Danny in anticipation for the answer he already knew.
There was a pause before Danny made his answer.
"Yes." Danny sighed. "As soon as I touched that locket, I knew it was the same thing I felt in Harry."
"But you didn't, I don't know, go all-powerful-ghost-judgement or whatever, whenever you touch Harry like you did with the locket. Why's that?" Ron asked.
Danny's brows knit together as he thought about it.
"Because Harry is alive and has his own soul, I think. The wounded soul piece hides most of the time, and only seems to affect Harry when the person who the soul piece came from is reacting strongly to something. At least, that's what I think may be happening; souls are something that you just don't mess with, so to find a piece of one that was removed intentionally-" Danny shook his head with a frown.
"So, first things first, we've got to figure out who split their soul and somehow put a piece of it within Harry." Sirius said, putting a hand in his chin in thought.
Harry just looked at him disbelievingly, while Ron and Hermione shared an incredulous look behind him.
"Erm... Sirius, I think it's pretty obvious who's evil enough to split their soul. You might remember that I watched as his snake attacked Mr. Weasley? Why my scar hurts whenever he feels an emotion too strongly?"
"You know, if V- Voldemort was possessing his snake to make sure it did what he wanted in the Ministry, it would explain why you saw through its eyes Harry, because he was also seeing through his snake's eyes at the time." Hermione said thoughtfully.
"But that's not possible!" Sirius near shouted at them in a strange panic. "It can't be Voldemort's soul in Harry!"
Harry ignored Ron's flinches to pin Sirius with an incredulous stare.
"Why's that?" He asked pointedly, just as Danny opened his mouth to say something, effectively cutting him off.
"Because it-! It's just not possible! Kreacher said-" Sirius cut himself off then, and Hermione gasped loudly just as Danny tried to say something again.
"But-"
"Kreacher knew who's soul piece was in the locket?" She rushed to ask.
Sirius' face morphed into abject sadness as the memories of whatever Kreacher had told him of the locket came back to him. Harry had no idea what to do to comfort his godfather, and he again felt utterly useless in the face of a loved one's troubles.
"And if you say it can't be You-Know-Who's soul in Harry, then Kreacher must have said that it was You-Know-Who's soul in the locket." Ron said plainly, drawing all of their attention onto him and away from Sirius' grief. "Meaning that it must be someone else's soul piece within Harry? That doesn't make any sense though?"
"Actually-"
"No it doesn't make any sense! Who else would-"
"No one else would! The only explanation would be if-"
"EXUSE ME!" Danny called, silencing all their confusion in an instant.
He was standing up, if a bit shakily and standing right in front of the open window. It would have made for a powerful image if he wasn't sinking slowly into the ground.
"Ah! Darn it!" Danny stumbled but managed to get his feet solidly back on the floor before any of them could reach him to help. Once he was settled, he took a breath and then looked at them steadily.
"It might interest you to know that the soul piece in the locket and the one in Harry are from the same original soul." As Sirius was about to speak up again, Danny held up a hand that promptly vanished without his consent and he huffed in annoyance before continuing. "But that's not the only thing that you should know; the piece in the locket wasn't even a third, or even a quarter of the size of an entire soul, so it wasn't the first one that Mr. Moldywarts made."
As Hermione gasped once more and Ron sputtered on a laugh of surprise at the nickname for the most feared dark wizard of their age; Sirius' mouth fell open in shock, but Danny wasn't done yet.
"Not only that, but Harry's is considerably smaller and it felt... different than the one in the locket. The locket piece felt clean and almost clinically removed, while the one in Harry feels ripped and torn, almost like it was... an accident. But the main point I'm trying to make it that Voldy hasn't just separated his soul into one or two pieces, but into multiple." Danny's voice filled with venomous disgust, angry that anyone would do such a thing. But, his friends eye's were filled with a determined promise; a promise of rectifying this terrible wrong.
Silence fell on the group as they digested the news of there being multiple items that tied Voldemort to his 'life', one of them being within their reach and yet-
"Dear Merlin." Sirius breathed. "Can you help get the soul piece out of Harry without hurting him?" Sirius asked Danny, breaking the solemn silence.
Danny's eyes met Harry's and he didn't dare blink.
"I don't know yet. I don't want to try anything that may hurt you Harry; and the only way I can think of to make sure I won't is to have one of my friends take a look at the soul piece, the only problem is... they're in the Infinite Realms."
Harry blinked in surprise.
"What-"
This is of course when the front door banged open, making them all jump, and Danny to disappear for a moment before flickering back into reality panting.
"Has anyone found him!" Came the hysterical shout of Mrs. Weasley, followed by the low tones of Lupin's voice. He couldn't hear what was said, but the worry in the tone was clear.
"Ah, bugger! I forgot to notify the other search parties that I found you." Sirius said, with a fleeting guilty look. "Come on then, we can pick this up later. Better not keep them in suspense, and you look like you could use a good meal, Danny." Sirius started towards the door with all of them following after him, but as soon as he took a step, gravity decided to leave Danny once more, and he flipped up and hung there with a resigned look on his tired and pale face.
"Oh dear, I'm a balloon again." Danny deadpanned, making them all snort in amusement, thoroughly lightening the atmosphere. It was Ron and Hermione who stepped over to grab each grab one of Danny's hands to drag him across the room and out the door towards the kitchen. It may be late, but not late enough that Christmas dinner couldn't be reheated for their exhausted friend.
Harry chuckled a bit, and then looked to Sirius who had fallen into a contemplative silence.
"Sirius?" He asked quietly.
"Hm?"
"You'll have to tell Dumbledore about all this, won't you?" He asked after a moment.
Sirius tensed, and a sour look crossed his expression.
"Yes. At least parts of it. Hell, he may already know about all this, and just kept it to himself. But, if I bring the information to him, he'll have to include us in his grand plan." Sirius finished bitterly.
Harry sighed at that, but accepted it. Sirius was right, Dumbledore probably already knew.
Sirius looked at him with sad eyes, and before he knew it he was being held in a tight hug once more. Sirius' arms began to shake with emotion and he held onto Sirius' cloak tightly, not knowing what else to do.
"Oh Harry. We're going to figure this out. No matter what, I won't make you do this on your own, I promise." It seems Sirius was saying this to reassure himself more than Harry right now, but the words still made an incredible warmth blossom in Harry's chest. Despite everything they know being based on guesswork and conjecture and Danny's abilities, he trusted his friends and appreciated Sirius being there for him. It was nice to have an adult on their side for once.
"Thanks Sirius." He said quietly.
But, he knew that his godfather was still hurting from another bad story he'd been told that day. "Sirius... what did Kreacher tell you? About the locket and your... your brother?"
Sirius said nothing for a moment, and just hugged Harry tighter to his chest. Then he took a shaky breath.
"My brother... died a hero, Harry. He tried his best to make up for the life he was forced into because I couldn't protect him from my parents. Maybe some day... I'll tell you the story. To tell you how brave he was to do what he did." Sirius whispered. "Alright?"
"Alright." Harry agreed, and a comfortable silence fell around the room once more, and they stopped and listened to the muffled chatter coming from the downstairs landing. There was a sudden thump and an emphatic 'Darn it!' that had them chuckling softly.
Harry sighed. He and his friends were safe for now, even if Danny was currently on the mend. It was clear that Danny had learned some things that were troubling him, but he'd tell them eventually, and then they'd work on fixing it. Everything would work out. He was sure of it.
.
.
.
Days passed. The Magical Media storm waged, but they were tucked away in the safety of Sirius' unplottable home, so Harry wasn't too worried yet. Kreacher had needed a few days to mourn/celebrate? his old master Regulus' final order being carried out, but now he served the household with a zeal that even Moody had gruffly commented on.
They'd mostly kept what they'd learned about the Horcruxes and Harry's unwitting part in hosting one, to themselves. Apart from telling Lupin, because Sirius trusted him, and so so did Harry. (Saying he was horrified would be putting it lightly.)
Mrs. Weasley was worried about them all and sometimes the others got a little pushy, but they left it alone after they realized that none of them would be telling them anymore than they already knew.
Dumbledore hadn't returned to Grimmauld Place after leaving with the search parties. After he'd been informed that Danny had been found and returned to the safety of Headquarters, he'd left to head back to Hogwarts and asked for constant updates and information. As far as Harry knew, he'd gotten as much information as he'd needed from Sirius' report on what they'd discovered of the Horcruxes and Danny's ability to destroy them.
Speaking of Danny, it'd taken him quite a while to recover from whatever destroying the locket had done to him. Days of falling through furniture, and uncontrollable flying had really driven home how difficult it must have been for their friend at the beginning. How much worse it must have been when he'd been afraid and confused and had no idea what had happened to him. Now though, he was just annoyed with himself. He knew how to use his powers, he'd said, his core was just on the fritz, and it was getting old, fast. To his and their relief, he was back to full health by New Years.
Soon enough, they were in their final days of the holiday, and Harry wasn't sure he was excited to return to Hogwarts this year or not. His feeling of foreboding intensified greatly when Professor Snape, of all people, came to see him the night before they were meant to return to the castle.
Thankfully Sirius was there to listen to the Potion Professor's demands with him, or... perhaps it was unfortunate, since their very intense discussion of Occlumency lessons ended with both Sirius and Snape with their wands aimed at the other's chests, ready to maim each other, with only Harry standing between them, trying to get them to stop.
What made an already embarrassing situation even worse, was when the rest of the house walked in on them like this, including Mr. Weasley, who'd finally been released from the Hospital, good as new.
"Oh. Are we interrupting something?" The man asked with his eyebrows raised.
"Um, no Mr. Weasley. Sn- Professor Snape was just telling me about a new skill I'll be learning next term." Harry answered quickly, as the two dark haired adults lowered their wands, still glaring darkly at the other.
"Ooooh? What skill's that Harry?" Hermione asked eagerly, as she made her way over to him, followed closely by Ron and Danny.
"Occlumency." He answered quickly, glancing at Snape who huffed and swirled his dark cloak as he stormed towards the exit.
"Oh. The talking hat said I could do that." Danny said nonchalantly, and yet the entire kitchen was silenced at his words. Snape even stopped in his retreat, and turned to slowly stare at him incredulously.
"That's right! I remember you saying something about that right after your sorting, Danny! You said it was some kind of mental shield."
"Cool mate! You'll have to tell us how you managed that!" Ron said.
"Yes. Pray tell, Mr. Fenton, how you could have mastered Occlumency to such a degree that you could keep an incredibly powerful magical legillimency item, such as the Sorting Hat, out of your mind? Despite not having known about magic at all before hand?" Snape asked quietly, but with such intensity that Danny seemed to recoil from him a bit from the condescension dripping from the words that reminded them that Danny was a muggle once again.
Before anyone could stand up for him, Danny stood up to the Potions Professor himself.
"Well, despite what you think, there are things other than magic out there that can hurt people. I, for example, had a nasty run in with mind control, and when I eventually broke out of it, I remembered how it felt to shut my mind off from invading forces like that, so hopefully, it won't happen to me again. Is that enough information for you, Professor?" Danny didn't seem to notice the looks of shock on everyone else's faces at the admission; he kept his attention on Snape, who had gone very still.
"Mind control?" Snape whispered, almost to himself. Danny narrowed his eyes then, and Harry, Ron and Hermione went to flank him, which seemed to snap Snape out of whatever thoughts Danny's admission had brought up. He sent one last unreadable look at Danny, before finally turning to Harry once more.
"Thursday nights, my office Potter. Don't be late." And with a final sweep of his cloak, he was gone.
There was a shivering second of silence as everyone digested what had just happened before Danny broke it.
"Man, I hope he'll be alright, he looked like he saw a ghost." Danny deadpanned.
Fred and George broke first, sputtering with laughter at the horrible pun.
The others slowly came around as well as they came to terms with another tidbit of information from Danny's past. Eventually, the evening became pleasant once more, as they celebrated Mr. Weasley's recovery and the students imminent return to Hogwarts.
Harry smiled at the thought of more DA lessons, and the final rounds of the quidditch season. Despite everything, he was sure, everything would turn out alright.
-UNKNOWN LOCATION-
The small international communication line came alive, and the transponder was quickly pressed against Agent C's ear.
"Agent F; mission report."
"Mission of tailing the Manson's to determine their authenticity and continued support has had a significant development, C."
"Go on, F. I'm listening..."
"You'll never believe who the Manson's ran into on Christmas Day."