Alrighty folks, here you go! Sorry for the long wait, I was fleshing out the plot for the rest of this story, since my original outline was made over a year ago.
A year since I started this story, can you believe it! Never would've thought that I'd write something this long and complicated, or that I'd have this much fun doing it!
I'm really excited to get into this next story arc, and I hope you all enjoy it as well!
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Draco could say for absolute certain that this was the filthiest and most terrifying contraption he'd ever been within five meters of, let alone riding within.
The... taxi, Hermione had called it, smelt of smoke and mould, and the floors stuck to his shoes and the seats squeaked and groaned...
All of that was nothing in comparison to when the half asleep and confunded muggle driver turned a jagged metal key and the monstrosity rumbled to life. He sat tense and still in his seat and forced down his sudden nausea at seeing the driver fiddle and twist millions of buttons and knobs and maneuver them on roads around other metal beasts that he was sure they were going to crash into.
He had a death grip on one of Danny's jumper sleeves and on the fabric of his trouser leg. He told himself that it was to keep Danny from falling down onto the filthy floor, but by the look Hermione had just given him, she could surely see right through him.
Tearing his eyes from the dizzying motions of the outside world zipping past them, Draco looked at Hermione and found her gazing calmly out the grimy window. Her shoulders slumped with obvious relief that they were now out of London.
As he watched, she sighed and gently put the back of her hand against Danny's forehead and then cheek.
"He'd burning up." She said softly. "We'll need to find a way to cool him down quickly, once we get to Harry's house."
When he gave her no response, she merely nodded to herself and held Danny's shoulder steady against the bumping motion of their transportation, looking determinedly out the window once more.
It struck Draco then how well she was taking this... all of this...
But then, she was used to this taxi thing, right? Hermione was muggle born and had grown up riding in these things and knowing any number of other non-magical things. She'd grown up without knowing anything about the wizarding world at all.
Is this how she'd felt? After she'd just been told one day that she was magical and now she belonged to a world she knew nothing about, did she feel this off-kilter? This out of place? Surely not... right?
Hermione was known as the brightest witch of the age, knowledgeable in all things from intricate charms work to the minutia of Ancient Runes. How hard had she worked to gain that knowledge and become so proficient in that magic he'd been so proud to know all his life? Learning and mastering skills that bested witches and wizards far older than her, who'd been immersed in the magical world from the day they were born?
How was any muggleborn expected to come to Hogwarts with any expectation to do as well as the rest of them, without putting in as much if not more effort than Hermione had?
A pit of shame hardened within him at the realization that he'd put down and belittled anyone who'd had anything less than a perfect understanding of the wizarding world; hell, he'd done the same thing to Harry the very first time they'd met in Diagon Alley all those years ago.
No wonder Harry hadn't wanted to become friends with someone who'd make him feel lesser for not knowing something that he'd only just been given access to learning for the first time.
He let out a long breath, headache blooming behind his eyes.
He couldn't fathom it. Not right now at least. He was still reeling from the utter destruction of their magical government that they'd just left behind.
They had just escaped certain death within the Ministry of Magic; wherein they'd seen their friend in chains, before fighting in a brutal battle that resulted in said friend being pushed through a magically made portal that meant certain death, before Harry Potter, the Magical World's golden boy, was possessed by the Dark Lord himself!
And then amidst what should have been a hopeless unwinnable situation, Danny had returned in ripping waves of intense energy, tore the Dark Lord from Harry's body before utterly destroying the Dark Lord's familiar in a whirlwind of impossible feats that had given Draco hope of somehow surviving long enough to see the sun and moon one last time.
That small hope, ripped away in an instant when the Dark Lord's dementors swooped down and flooded the Ministry with despair and hopelessness all while solely attacking Danny and finishing off whatever impossible power he'd somehow managed to gain.
Never had he felt more useless than in that moment. Even if he'd overcome his shock and despair in time, he'd yet to conjure a corporeal patronus, only ever managing formless mist in practice.
And now here they were; traveling out of London in a muggle death trap, with two unconscious friends that they had no idea how to help if their symptoms got any worse than they already were.
But looking to Hermione again, he found her completely calm if worn down with exhaustion. No panic, no jittery disbelief of what they'd just experienced, what they'd managed to survive, nothing.
Of course, as Draco was still trying to comprehend their most recent brush with certain death, it was muggle transportation that had sent him over the edge into a mental spiral.
It reminded Draco just how stunningly sheltered his Hogwarts education had been. Hermione, Ron and Harry especially, had been put through situations like this and worse if the rumors of the trio's adventures were to be believed.
What had he gotten himself into, befriending them?
...He'll have to ask them for their accounts of their adventures sometime.
Draco took another breath and forced himself to calm down and center his thoughts. They weren't out of danger yet. He could do this. He wouldn't drag his friends down. He could deal with this and Merlin knew what else now that he was entering a word he knew absolutely nothing about.
If muggleborns could be thrust into the magical world at eleven years old and thrive, he could surely do the same now, in the muggle world.
He huffed a laugh at the thought, which drew Hermione's gaze.
"You alright?"
"Yes, just... processing. I'm alright."
"Good, because it looks like we're here." Hermione nodded out the window towards fake looking little houses that all looked alike, save for a slight difference in the shades of grey paint.
There was no-one outside, thank Merlin, but it was now mid-afternoon by the look of the steadily lengthening shadows cast across too perfect lawns and symmetrically trimmed hedges.
This is where Harry lived? Where he'd grown up?
"Stop here please." Hermione called to the driver, and the awful metal monster rumbled to a stop next to shadowed gap between two houses. Draco grabbed Danny and held him steady as Hermione got out and then followed after, carefully maneuvering their friend into leaning up against one of the stone walls of the gap. Danny's face was flushed and feverish and his breaths were now coming in short pants that sent a spike of worry through Draco's already wrung out nerves. Ron and Black got out of their taxi and maneuvered Harry down next to Danny. Harry was unconscious again, and in contrast to Danny, had begun to violently shiver and shake. He noted both Ron and Black's cloaks were wrapped around Harry in an attempt to help warm him up, but it seemed to be doing little help.
Draco found Ron's eyes and saw that they were just as worried and lost as Draco felt. Glancing at Black made it clear that all purebloods present were thoroughly out of their depth with this situation. It made Draco curse the fact that there was no healing elective at Hogwarts.
"Right." Hermione straightened and stood before them after watching the two taxi's drive away. "We're only a block or two away from Harry's house, but we've got to sort out how to make it there without raising any alarms around here." She gestured behind her at the truly awful, identical houses lining the streets.
"That'll be a bit difficult, seeing as how we'll look like we're draggin' two blokes through the streets while we're all wearing ripped up robes and covered in blood and bruises." Ron attempted a weak smile, but it dropped when Harry gave another painful looking tremor that shook his entire frame. Danny was still terrifyingly still.
"Hmm." Hermione pondered, looking over each of them one by one, before nodding to herself and crouching down beside Harry. "You're right Ron, we'll have to look less suspicious, soo we'll use-" She was carefully lifting and shifting the cloaks around Harry until she found the deep pockets of his Hogwarts school robe, "There it is- We'll use this."
Hermione stood up holding a shimmering material that Draco recognized as a large cloak. A magnificent cloak that was obviously very old but ridiculously fine. And it was-
"An Invisibility cloak." Draco breathed in awe. "How on earth do you have one of those? Demiguise fur has been impossible to collect for decades! And that cloak isn't enchanted by any old charm either with how old it looks! It's still in perfect condition!"
Draco lifted up a corner of the cloak and felt the fluid fabric, marveling for but a moment before realization slammed into him. He snapped his head up to face at Hermione and Ron.
"Wait a minute! Do you lot go gallivanting around Hogwarts at night under this? Is this how Harry got into Hogsmeade third year?" He gasped dramatically. "Is this how you smuggled the bloody dragon past me first year!? It is, isn't it!"
"Shhh! Draco!" Hermione tried to quiet him while both Ron and Black tried and failed to conceal snorts of laughter. "Really, now is not the time! We need to get Harry and Danny help!" That sobered them up.
Hermione sighed before continuing. "Alright, once we get Harry and Danny settled and safe we'll have time to tell you all about how many rules we've broken over the years, but for now-" She shoved the cloak at Draco and turned to Black with a sharp look. "Draco and Sirius, grab hold of Danny and then get the cloak over you."
Draco watched as Black's mouth immediately opened in protest, likely to try and say that he should be out in the open, able to protect them better against any unknown threat, but Hermione cut him off by pointing at him with a finger.
"Wanted felon." She then pointed to Danny on the ground. "Hunted by the muggle government." Finally she pointed to Draco. "Never been to an actual muggle suburb before, judging by his expression when he saw the houses. Harry grew up here, so it's not such an odd sight for him to be here. Ron's been to the Dursley's house before-" Here Ron muttered something quietly, and the only words Draco caught were 'car', 'bars on the window', 'living room', and 'blown up.'
Before Draco had any chance to process the kind of situations that required those words, Hermione was continuing. "They should recognize him at the very least. And I'm the only one who's ever lived as a muggle, besides Harry. Hopefully that will be enough to get us into the Dursley's house, and then we can work it out from there." Black scowled, but eventually nodded in acceptance.
Draco sighed in relief, for that was as solid a plan as they were going to get at this point, and knelt down beside Danny. While it was a bit of a surprise to learn that Danny was hunted by his own government, it explained a few things as well. Such as the fact that he stayed at Hogwarts at all after he'd been summoned.
Black joined him after a moment, and they hoisted Danny up so that his arms were slung over their shoulders. Hermione and Ron took a moment to maneuver the magnificent invisibility cloak over them, before hoisting the still shivering Harry up between them as well.
Their brief respite died the moment they stepped out of the secluded little alley. Draco's heartrate leapt with worry at being so exposed, despite being invisible under the cloak. He and Black kept pace with Ron and Hermione, moving as fast as they dared with their friends so ill.
After a minute that felt like an hour, Hermione steered Ron off of the pavement and up to a house that looked like all the others, except this one had two of those dreadful car things in the drive instead of one, and a shiny number four on the wall beside the door.
Draco heard the faint sound of a deep voice, and a shrill trilling that could possibly be a laugh, beyond the door. Black was tense and had his wand gripped tightly in the hand not supporting Danny. Draco's nerves were frayed enough that he very dearly wanted to rip the door off it's hinges and rush inside into relative safety, but Hermione again showed astounding resilience and self control as she squared her shoulders and knocked loudly on the wooden door, Ron gently taking more of Harry's weight so they didn't jostle him too much.
The sounds from within the house abruptly cut off and Draco tensed beneath the invisibility cloak as heavy footstep after heavy footstep pounded towards the door.
When the door is nearly ripped off it's hinges, Draco bites his tongue to stifle a gasp at the red faced walrus of a man that was now glowering down at Hermione.
"Hel- Hello Mr. Dursley. Please, we-"
"No! No solicitations! I won't buy anything! I'm very busy so you can go and-" Dursley seemed to choke on his words as he registered who Hermione and Ron were supporting between them.
Draco had expected confusion, questions and maybe a little worry from their muggle hosts who just so happened to be the relatives of the famous, (or perhaps infamous now) Harry Potter.
What he hadn't expected was for the enormous man's face to morph into a look of utter contempt and hatred, skin flushing a scarlet so deep it matched the scales of a Chinese Fireball. Black stilled beside him, shock flashing across the man's face and Danny's arm slipped off his shoulder.
Draco almost missed the next thing Dursley hissed at Hermione and Ron as he tried to silently grab more of Danny's weight before he fell.
"-see you here! Get off my property and stay away from my family! That boy isn't supposed to come back for at least another week, and I won't have him here now of all times! I'm about to close the deal of a century and I'll not have that boy and his kind ruining it again!"
"His kind?!" Ron sputtered.
"Please, Mr. Dursley, it isn't safe for Harry anywhere else! We need help-"
"Do I look like I give a da-"
"That's it!" Black bulldozed out from under the cloak, Draco scrambling to keep Danny from dropping. When he looked up again, he found the door wide open, Black at his full imposing height with his wand raised and snarling obscenities down at a now sheet white and staring Dursley pressed against the opposite wall. The invisibility cloak slipped to the ground, and after the briefest of glances between them, Ron moved to help him with Danny while still holding onto Harry, and Hermione quickly snagged the cloak off the ground before they all jumped across the threshold into the house.
They quickly settled their unconscious friends onto the floor, and Draco quickly turned to shut the door behind them, baffled and insulted at the unexpected reaction Harry's relative had to them. He didn't blame Black for losing his temper.
"-treated Harry like this! If I'd known-"
"Sirius Black!" Shrieked a horse faced woman with dark hair, wearing what Draco thought was the muggle equivalent of peach colored dress robes. She began clutching at the arm of a simply enormous boy that could have been their age he supposed, if the boy hadn't been three times their mass with beefy arms hanging limp at his sides. He was wearing something close to dress robes as well, remarkably similar to Dursley still cowering at Black's feet.
Draco was already confused enough by Harry's muggle relatives apparently hating magical people enough to rival the intrinsic hatred pureblooded magical people had for muggles, but add to that the fact that they were apparently dressed for a ballroom dance in their own home for no discernable reason and Draco's headache got just a bit worse.
At the woman's hysterical cries of 'murderer!', 'criminal!', and 'Diddykins!' reaches near incomprehensible levels, Draco's gaze was drawn to the boy she was currently clutching as if her life depended on it.
The large boy wasn't acknowledging the woman at all; in fact he wasn't staring at Black or what Draco assumed to be the boys father either. No, the boy was staring down at Harry, eyes wide with surprise and something Draco couldn't recognize.
Before Draco could parse out an understanding to that, Black had rounded on the woman, rage apparent in every line of the man's body. He took one shaking step towards her, leaving the ashen pale Dursley at his feet.
"Petunia." Black growled. Hermione had long since rushed forward to try to calm Black down, but to no avail. He and Ron were crouched low, protectively over Harry and Danny.
The now named Petunia squeaked and clutched tighter at what had to be her son, Harry's cousin, words failing her in the face of Black's fury. Movement in his peripheral almost drew his attention, but it was quickly forgotten in the face of Black's next words.
"Lily always spoke so highly of you." The entire room stilled at that, Black's voice shaking with the effort it took to reign in his anger enough to stop shouting. All three Dursley's stood in shock at hearing the name of Harry's mother. Draco knew her name, as did every other magical child in Britain.
"She always loved you, and mourned the fact that she'd be putting you in danger if she ever came to visit. It tore her up inside when you never replied to her letters. When Lily and James went into hiding to protect themselves and little Harry from the war they'd fought so hard to stop... did you even notice her letters stopped coming?"
Silence was the only answer, and it was the only answer needed. Black stood tall, eyes downcast and wand held loosely at his side as Dursley scrambled over to his wife and son. Hermione stood beside Black with wide eyes, not moving to stop Black when he stepped towards the now trembling family.
"And now we come to you with Harry, her son, your nephew, hurt and in need and your help, and you-" Black's gaze is scorching as he leans forward towards Harry's Aunt and Uncle, nose mere inches from their bloodless faces, "-would turn him away? For- what was it again?- the deal of a century?"
"He'll be making no deal with me if this is how he treats his family." Draco whipped his head towards the American accented voice so quickly his neck cricked. There, in a backlit doorway leading deeper into the house, stood two unknown people. They looked very posh indeed, in fine clothes with accents of precious metal glinting. The woman's hair was a soft brown in perfect curls, while the man's blond hair was slicked back and shining.
Muggles.
Draco's stomach swooped in unease at the thought of how much trouble they would've been in if the Ministry wasn't currently burning down in their wake.
The blond man glared at Dursley, completely unfazed by the shock pervading the room and Black's instinctual movement to hide his wand. The woman knelt down next to Harry and Danny, and Draco realized that Harry had stopped shivering, but now had lips tinged a worrying shade of blue, seen easily against the icy white of his skin. Danny wasn't faring any better with sweat gleaming on his feverish face; but he wasn't panting anymore, instead he was hardly breathing at all, barely alive.
"We'll be sure to get the full story from all of you later, but right now we have to get these boys fixed up." The woman said decisively, leaving no room for argument. Hermione and Ron rushed forwards to help without a second thought, Black staying put to keep the Dursley's in place.
Draco moved to help get Danny up off the ground again with the unknown woman's help, and thus was close enough to hear her mutter under her breath.
"What have you gotten yourself into now, Daniel?"
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The first thing Harry registers, is warmth. Surrounding him, covering every inch of his body, he feels buried under it. His mind may be swimming with drowsy confusion but at least he was warm.
Rising slowly, ever so slowly, into consciousness, Harry eventually recognizes how bad he felt under the soft warmth. His head is pounding and spinning with enough pain to beat out how bad he'd felt after he'd seen Mr. Weasley attacked.
The sound of voices, muffled and far away, comes filtering through. He ignores them, trying to sink back into the warmth surrounding him by ignoring the pain behind his eyes. He's always been a light sleeper though, and the continued pounding within his head and the bone deep soreness throughout Harry's body would surely keep him from returning to sweet dreamless sleep.
Harry sighed.
Slowly, he moved to sit up. It took more effort than he thought it should've, but soon he realized that he was being held down under a mountain of blankets and quilts. Thoroughly confused, Harry slowly starts pushing the layers of fabric off of him, groaning softly as his body ached with the small effort it took to sit up.
As soon as he'd extricated himself, cool air washed over him and had him shivering slightly. Vision blurry without his glasses, Harry wasn't surprised to find that he couldn't recognize the dark room he now found himself in.
It probably should have concerned him, the fact that he was in an unknown room, buried under blankets when he should rightly be in Gryffindor Tower at Hogwarts.
That's right, they'd just finished their exams... they were going to celebrate... but...
Harry gasped harshly as memories slammed into his mind. Danny taken to the Ministry, their stand against Umbridge, their flight through the Ministry, the Hall of Prophesy, the battle within the Death Room, Danny saving Sirius... Danny disappearing behind the veil...
Harry shoved himself away from whatever he'd been laying on, nerves suddenly on fire as his mind caught up to why his body hurt so much. He landed hard on a carpeted floor as he remembered more.
The despair, the panic, the grief of seeing Danny disappear, a writhing shadow burrowing itself into his mind and taking control of his body. His scar alight in white hot pain as horrible darkness seeped into the deepest crevices of his mind, crowding him out, shutting him down.
He remembered fighting back, pushing back and trying to regain control through broken feelings and senses and pain, so much pain.
And that's... that's when the cold crept in.
Harry shivered violently, gasping as he remembered feeling frigid fear, broken relief and then... a cold fist through his chest.
Harry hacked and coughed suddenly, hand clutching at his chest, gasping in a panic.
He flinched harshly when he felt the weight of a hand on his back, which lifted off quickly. Through his panic he heard a soft voice, words he didn't understand floating gently through the haze of fear. He latched onto the voice and focused on it as he fought to even out his breathing, pushing the thoughts of fighting for his mind and body aside in favour of trying to understand what the gentle voice was saying.
"-at's right, just breath. Deep breath in and now deep breath out, there you go."
He didn't recognize who was speaking, but it was a man's voice. Calm and gentle, helping Harry ground himself to where he was, calming him down. It was soon after that that Harry realized the man had a strong American accent, like Danny's when he'd first shown up at Hogwarts.
Raising his head, Harry squinted towards the voice's owner and found the blurry image of a man with blond hair.
"Oh. Here you go, we took your glasses off when we were working on getting you warmed back up." The man's form moved away from him for a moment before coming back with a hand extended down to him. Harry hesitantly reached up and grabbed his glasses from the strangers hand, putting them on quickly to find himself looking up at a very posh looking man in a well tailored suit.
What may be even more surprising, and yet far more distressing, than waking up to a complete stranger helping calm him down, was the fact that he was in the Dursley's living room. He recognized the garish knick-knacks and gleaming photographs lining the walls (he'd cleaned them enough times to recognize them anywhere).
Harry's back was currently pressed against the Dursley's living room sofa, the mound of discarded blankets and quilts laying haphazardly beside him the only evidence left of him apparently ending up sleeping... on the sofa... in the Dursley's living room.
How?
What?
Why?
Muffled angry voices made themselves known again, and the stranger kneeling beside him sighed in resignation.
"There they go again." The man turned back to Harry and offered a hand. "You alright to come into the kitchen? That's where your friends and family are. We'll get you some food and answer your questions all at once, alright? I'm sure everyone will be very happy to see you awake."
After only a moment's hesitation, Harry grabbed the offered hand and was gently hauled to his feet. At the reignited burning soreness of his limbs, Harry was more grateful than embarrassed to have this American stranger help him walk towards the Dursley's kitchen.
The moment the door swung open, Harry blinked the sudden bright lights from his eyes, and the angry voices abruptly fell into silence before-
"Harry!"
Harry was almost bowled over by both Hermione and Ron colliding with him and holding him in a tight hug. He relaxed into their arms and breathed a sigh of relief at knowing they were alright. Then another pair of strong arms wrapped around all three of them and Harry sagged with further relief.
"Oh Harry, I'm so glad you're alright." Sirius' voice was choked up and so utterly happy that Harry's own eyes pricked with tears.
"I was coming back down from checking on Daniel and Draco and found him on the floor in a bit of a panic." The man with the American accent said off to the side.
Extricating himself from Ron, Hermione and Sirius' arms, Harry glanced around the spotless Dursley kitchen to find plates of sandwiches and bags of crisps on the table, a large and very fancy looking roast being cut up by another unknown adult, a woman in a very fine looking purple dress with black accents.
Then Harry spotted the Dursley's. Aunt Petunia and Dudley were sitting down on kitchen chairs, a little ways away from the table, his Aunt determinedly looking anywhere but him, while Dudley, strangely, looked like he had half a mind to stand up and greet Harry as well. Uncle Vernon stood in front of them, face red- turning purple- in anger at the very sight of him.
Harry cast his eyes away, not surprised by Uncle Vernon's predictable hatred or Aunt Petunia's avoidance. He was a bit surprised by Dudley's supposed lack of fear with so many other wizards nearby, but mostly he was taken aback at what the Dursley's were wearing.
The Dursley's were all done up in their very best; Dudley and Uncle Vernon in their suits, and Aunt Petunia in her salmon colored cocktail dress.
Suddenly, the fancy roast and unknown American couple made a little more sense, but not much. If this was anything like the summer before his second year with Dobby and flying puddings and bars on his window... then what were Uncle Vernon's dinner guests still doing here? Helping serve up food and going to check on- wait-
"Danny and Draco are here? They're alright?!"
"Yes, they're fine, we're fine, and- oh Harry! I'm so glad you're awake!" Hermione said tearfully.
"What about the others? Ginny, Neville, Luna? What about the Order and the Ministry?"
"One thing at a time Harry, lets get you some food first. You and Danny were in the worst shape when we finally made it out of the Ministry." Sirius said firmly, guiding him to sit at the table. Ron and Hermione took the seats beside him, while Sirius stood between them and the Dursley's, glaring menacingly at Uncle Vernon.
Ah, so that's why his Uncle hadn't said anything yet.
As Ron shifted to help the still unnamed woman put sandwiches on a plate for him, Harry noticed he had bandages on his arms and face, Hermione too, covering whatever injuries they'd gotten in the multiple fights they've been in today.
Ron, seeing him eye the bandages, chuckles lightly.
"Yeah, we were all a bit roughed up, mate. Mr. and Mrs. Manson helped patch us up after we got you and Danny stable. It's not like any of us know any healing magic."
"Oh." Harry replied intelligently, another moment passing before Ron's words fully clicked into place. "Wait... Manson?"
"Oh, right we haven't introduced ourselves, have we?" The woman says. "It's pleasure to meet you Harry, I'm Pamela Manson, and you've already spoken to my husband, Jeremy." She smiled warmly, setting a glass of water beside his plate before going to stand beside Jeremy, her husband.
"You're-" The parents of one of Danny's best friends. Sam. Sam, who died trying to help and protect Danny. Harry swallowed.
"They helped us get you and Danny stabilized, Harry. They also took the revelation of magic being real rather well." Hermione said.
"Yes, well, when you live in Amity Park through ghost invasions and other inter-dimensional nonsense, you don't get surprised by much." Mr. Manson chuckled.
"Sammie would have been thrilled to learn that magic existed. We were happy to help in any way we could." Mrs. Manson said. Aunt Petunia sniffed and Uncle Vernon scoffed.
"Wait- you- you told them? About- about magic and-" Harry turned wide eyes to his friends.
"We told them everything." Sirius confirmed, giving his shoulder a light squeeze.
"Everything." Harry echoed vacantly, before his mind caught up with him. "Everything?! I don't even know everything! Where's Danny and Draco, now? What happened at the Ministry after Danny went through the veil? Where's Voldemort and the Order and- mph!"
Ron shoved a sandwich into his mouth, and while Harry was occupied with trying not to choke, Hermione quickly spoke.
"Danny was in as bad a shape as you were after what happened at the Ministry, Harry. He's up in the bath upstairs. We put him in with all the ice and frozen things we could find to try to cool him down. Sirius even used a freezing charm to keep the water as cold as it could get without freezing solid, but... Danny... We just don't know how to help him really."
"He's been getting better!" Ron assured in the face of Harry's renewed panic for the wellbeing of their friend, "He's breathing easier, and we've been taking turns watching over him but... we just can't know for sure."
"We aren't much help to him, either." Mrs. Manson added. "We found Sammie's journal of how they treated Daniel's wounds from when he was protecting Amity as Phantom, but this was beyond anything they'd encountered back then. The best thing we could think of was the same treatment he got after he fought the Ghost King." Mrs. Mason said with measure of awed sadness, as if remembering the day that Danny had fought that battle, long before he'd ever been summoned to Hogwarts.
"Yeah, after what we saw of him after he came back from the veil... I was afraid he wouldn't even have a human form to turn back into..." Ron said quietly.
Harry took a steadying breath, ignoring the new mutterings of 'preposterous' and 'demented' from where Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were huddled, Dudley still strangely quiet.
"What happened?" Harry asked. "Tell me everything."
Hermione and Ron exchanged a quick look.
"What do you remember?"
Sirius went back to glaring at the Dursley's as Hermione and Ron finally answered his questions, keeping Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia silent, but Harry was surprised to see Dudley listening in with a sort of horrified fascination.
Hermione told him how Voldemort had possessed Harry's body after Danny had disappeared through the veil. Ron described their flight to the Ministry Atrium, and then Danny's reemergence and startling new power.
When Hermione haltingly described how Danny had ended Voldemort's possession, Harry's hand instinctively went to his chest and he shivered at the vague feeling of remembrance.
It was soon overtaken by the shock of learning of Nagini's sacrifice, how Danny had lost power quickly afterward and was then swarmed by Voldemort's dementors. He was in open-mouthed shock by the time Hermione explained how they'd taken taxis from London all the way to the Dursley's house because it was all they could think to do.
"But- but- here? Why here?" Harry asked weakly. "Why not- why not the Order Headquarters?" Harry looked to Sirius. "Surely it'd be safer?"
"Unfortunately, none of us are the secret keeper, despite it being my house. I didn't think you'd want to leave behind your new friend, Malfoy, to be swarmed by dementors and death eaters and the like." Sirius replied.
"What about..." Harry cast about for another option, any other option, before his eyes landed on Hermione. "What about your parent's house? If we needed to hide out as muggles, surely they would've helped?"
Hermione sighed. "My parents live in a little town called Ripon, in North Yorkshire, Harry. It's four hours away from London by train. You and Danny were in no shape to travel that distance."
"What about-" Harry's eyes found the Manson's, standing to the side and watching quietly, "you! The Manson's! Danny said you have a mansion in London?"
"We honestly didn't think of it at the time, mate. Plus, Danny never told us where their house was." Ron reasoned.
"It's all the better you didn't bring Daniel to our house, actually." At Harry and the other's confused looks, Mr. Manson quickly clarified further. "Oh, not that you wouldn't have been welcome! It's just that ever since the new year began, those blasted GIW agents have been swarming all over London. It's a miracle they didn't detect Daniel while on your way here, really."
"Wait, those people who've been hunting Danny down are in London?" Sirius asked.
"Yes." Pamela said seriously. "We didn't have a way to warn Daniel away after meeting him Christmas night, but that's likely when the white suits spotted him or caught a blip of him using his powers on whatever sensors they'd planted."
"Spotted him..." Sirius murmured, gaze far away.
"The suits will most likely have long range sensors as well, all out looking for Daniel now, but we should be far enough away from London that they shouldn't reach him here, if the GIW's equipment works at all that is-" Mrs. Manson's scorn was cut off as Uncle Vernon seemed to finally snap.
"Rubbish! Utter nonsense! All of you freaks should be hunted down and locked up!" Uncle Vernon was on his feet, face purpling with rage and all previous fear and sense of reason forgotten in his outrage. His Uncle's small eyes pinned Harry in place and huffed a breath like a rampaging rhinoceros.
"You! Boy! You've been nothing but trouble since the day we found you on our doorstep! But now you're getting my own son attacked over the summer and now you've brought criminals and monsters being targeted by the government to my home and threatening my family's safety! I won't stand for it any longe-"
A muffled shout of panic, a blast of chilly wind and his Uncle Vernon was slammed to the ground by a figure falling heavily on top of him through the ceiling. Thundering footsteps from behind revealed a panting Draco, eyes wide with panic.
"Where is-"
A groan cut Draco off and all attention was drawn back to his Uncle Vernon, who'd yet to get back up from his position on the ground. Likely due to the soaking wet ghost boy now laying on top of him.
"Danny!" The kitchen burst with chaotic noise, Harry and the others rushing forwards to make sure Danny was alright.
"Huh? Wha- Ah!" Before they could help Danny up he was floating past their heads and then halfway through the ceiling, before falling jerkily a few feet through the air and then freezing the ceiling in a thick layer of curling frost.
"Oh my!" Hermione gasped as Danny suddenly plummeted, landing on the ground with a thud and a hiss of pain. Uncle Vernon had retreated back to his family, shocked and soaking wet in freezing water.
"Danny?" Harry asked. Danny had curled up with his arms around his chest, body flickering and shuddering in and out of corporeality. When Danny's eyes opened, they were glowing so bright the glare shone across the pristinely clean floor.
Danny gasped with pain and Harry and others stared as a new, sliver-white light sparked. But, it wasn't a ring around Danny's chest like his usual transformation rings; it was shining from within the center of his chest, so painfully bright that they could see the shadows of Danny's ribs and spine through his thin jumper.
The light grew so terribly bright until it was near blinding, but then it slowly died down. In the sudden absence of the unknown light and energy, the kitchen felt dim and cold.
When Danny eased just slightly and his eyes opened groggily to reveal his normal icy-blue, Harry and the others breathed sighs of relief and rushed to their friend.
"Danny!"
"Danny?! Are you alright?"
"Daniel?"
"Ugh. Ow. Give me a second, give me a- whoa!" Danny was up in the air again but Sirius reacted quickly and grabbed hold of his hand. Danny blinked in surprise from his position near the ceiling and then let out a weary sigh. "Not again." He groaned tiredly.
Ron snorted with laugher and Harry couldn't help but smile at how exasperated Danny sounded. Hermione and Draco sighed with relief and Harry met Draco's eyes.
"Good to see you up, Harry." Draco said with a small, relieved smile.
Harry smiled back and pulled Draco in for a hug. Draco was tense with surprise but quickly returned to gesture. Harry sighed with relief, now knowing that everyone that'd escaped and come to the Dursley's was alright.
Well... as alright as they could be.
Danny dropped again but Sirius and Mr. Manson were there to catch his fall this time, both of the Mansons sporting looks of awe at Danny's uncontrollable show of ghostly power.
"Wait- Mr. Manson?" Danny asked, eyebrows scrunched with confusion.
"It's good to see you again Daniel." Mrs. Manson said, coming forward to lay a hand on her husband's arm and smiling at Danny.
"What? Where-" Danny's confusion was obvious and he seemed too utterly lost to even voice his many questions, so Hermione took pity on him.
"It's alright Danny. I don't know how much you remember, but Ron, Sirius, Draco and I were able to get you and Harry out of the Ministry after Voldemort's dementors attacked. We were able to make it out of London and made it to Harry's Aunt and Uncle's house. Mr. and Mrs. Manson were already here when we got here, and they were a big help to us in treating you and Harry."
"Oh." A moment of silence as Danny seemed to process Hermione's explanation, tilting his head to the side and body flickering intangible and then invisible sporadically before finally seeming to stabilize again. "Wait. Why are we at Harry's house?"
"A bloody good question!" Uncle Vernon suddenly raged, making both Harry and Danny jump. His uncle opened his mouth again to continue, but he seemed to choke and deflate under the sheer number of scorching glares sent his way. After a moment, Sirius answered Danny's question, voice shaking with barely suppressed anger.
"Harry's dear Aunt's house is protected through strong familial magic. Blood wards." Sirius explained, glare shifting from Uncle Vernon to Aunt Petunia who shrank down into her seat under his gaze. "As long as family willingly takes Harry in and he calls this place home, no magical threat can harm him here."
Harry looked up blankly at his godfather, trying to process... that. Had these wards always been in place? Had his Aunt and Uncle known about them? ...Had Dumbledore? Was that why he'd always been forced to come back here? To a home he didn't feel at home in?
"Oh, so that's what it is. I was going to ask why this place felt so weird-"
"Wait a minute! That's it?! That's why we got landed with him!" Uncle Vernon sputtered, cutting Danny off. Uncle Vernon seemed to forget his fear in the face of this new revelation. "We take in the freak and he's protected from his own kind? Well! If only I'd known! He'd have been out of this house in a heartbeat!"
The kitchen was in silent shock at Uncle Vernon's proclamation, and Harry didn't have it in him to look up to see the expressions on his friends faces, surely only growing worse as Uncle Vernon continued to spew exactly what he thought of Harry. Everything from Harry's looks to his very name. Uncle Vernon went on and on about how generous he and his family had been in taking Harry in; despite his freakishness, his otherness, and any number of other insults that'd long ago lost their sting after being flung at him so many times.
Aunt Petunia was turned away, not daring to look at her husband, or at Harry, or anyone else. Her silence was telling in more ways than Harry cared to count, and for some reason it cut a little deeper than the shouted tirade his uncle was still hurling at him.
Harry sensed Sirius tensing and getting ready to spring forward on his behalf; Hermione and Ron, too. Harry only just kept them from springing on his relatives by holding onto wrists already clutching wands and grabbing hold of cloaks before they got too far away.
Harry had never wanted this. He'd never wanted them, his friends, his real family, to see this part of his life.
He can face down dragons and Dark Lords without a second thought, but he flinches whenever his Uncle shouts too loud, and runs when his Aunt swings a frying pan at his head.
The great Harry Potter, despised by his only living family.
Harry Potter, bullied and belittled, never worth anything more-
"Dad, stop it." The voice of Dudley Dursley breaks through Harry's spiraling thoughts and brings Uncle Vernon's raging diatribe to an abrupt halt. Harry's so surprised, that he manages to raise his head and gape openly at his large cousin.
Dudley was standing tall, fists clenched and shaking with fear but his expression was set with a look of such determination that Harry couldn't remember ever seeing on his cousin's face before.
"Harry saved my life over the summer." Dudley said bluntly into the sudden quiet, forcibly reminding Harry that the last time he'd actually seen his cousin in person was on the night the two dementors had attacked them. "And now Mr. and Mrs. Manson know about m- magic and they don't hate Harry or his friends."
"Diddykins!" Aunt Petunia gasped, Uncle Vernon remained speechless.
"I didn't know my own Aunt and Uncle's names before tonight." Dudley continued, ignoring his mother's shock and her grasping hands on his arm. "Aunt Lily and Uncle James... would they have treated me like you treat Harry?"
Dudley's question was met with very telling silence from both his parents. When Aunt Petunia began to cry, Uncle Vernon's face flushed an ugly puce color.
Dudley turned to face Harry, addressing him fully. "Sorry Harry. Thank you for- for what you did over the summer."
Dudley's eyes swept over the rest, Sirius behind Harry with a hand on his shoulder shaking with rage, Ron and Hermione close to his sides, Draco standing beside them, and Danny now floating above them.
"You have good friends, Harry." Dudley said, eyes finding Harry's once more.
Harry surprised himself by softly replying with a heartfelt, "Yeah, I know. ...Thanks Dudley."
Dudley nodded once, and with that, turned and forced his parents out of the kitchen and up the stairs. They could still hear Aunt Petunia's muffled sobs, but Uncle Vernon remained quiet and Dudley did not return to the kitchen.
"Wow." Danny's echoey voice above them crashed with static around the quiet kitchen, making Harry jump. "Harry, are you okay?"
"Yeah- yeah I'll be fine." He replied.
Harry kept his voice as steady as he could, but he nearly crumbled under the weight of Draco's wide-eyed disbelief, Danny's look that was far too understanding, the Manson's tight lipped anger, Hermione and Sirius' righteous fury. But it was Ron's steady hand on his other shoulder that brought Harry's throughs back to the matter at hand. He could deal with whatever issues he had with the Dursley's later.
Ron ended the awkward silence from dragging on too long by clearing his throat.
"Well, now that- that's- all sorted," Ron gestured towards the ceiling, "And Harry and Danny aren't in danger of dying, -Er, all the way." Danny snorted as his eyes began to glow like deadly green headlamps. "What do we do now? What's our next step?"
Not the subtlest of subject changes, but Harry was grateful all the same.
From there they devolved into questions and speculation, both Harry and Danny being gently urged to sit and eat while they talked. (Or, as best as Danny was able, with his powers still reacting so strongly, and completely out of his control. The power-up Hermione and Ron had described must have been even worse then Danny destroying the locket over Christmas for Danny's powers to be this spontaneous and uncontrollable.)
Despite it being mere hours after coming face to face with looming death within the Ministry and now hiding out in his incredibly unhappy childhood home, Harry found himself easing into a sense of comfortable safety.
"Hmm. We should probably try to get in contact with the Order. Find out what's happened at the Ministry and everything." Sirius said quietly, after they'd tossed around other alternatives for the past hour.
"If the Ministry is still standing at all, what with how the Dark Lord tried to take it over and all." Draco drawled sarcastically, making Ron snort with laughter.
"And why did he try to take it over?" Hermione asked. "Why pull out all the stops with all those death eaters and dementors in the middle of the Ministry?"
"I imagine it was something to do with his far too large ego. With Danny captured in the same place as his desired secret weapon, it would have been easy for him to get in, get Danny and the weapon, and then take over the Ministry and take official control of the entirety of magical Britain in one fell swoop." Sirius answered tiredly.
"Not to mention he lured Harry there as well, so he likely saw it as a golden opportunity to finish off everything standing in the way of his oh-so-glorious rise to power." Ron added.
"Then what's he going to do now? He managed to not only lose a majority of his death eaters to the aurors and the Order, but Danny is free and with us and Harry smashed the stupid prophesy he was after." Hermione said with a wave of her hand.
"Plus we all made it out of there alive, which, technically speaking, is a miracle in itself." Said Draco, an edge of honest disbelief at this particular fact in his tone.
"Wait. You got the prophesy? You smashed it?!"
"Yeah, just before you and the Order got there actually." Harry nodded.
"Then... there's really no telling what Voldemort will do next." Sirius said seriously, but not without a smile of pride and a gentle squeeze of Harry's shoulder.
"Well, we can at least rule out the possibility of him coming after Danny, at least for a little while. After Danny went and scared him stiff with his whole ghostly power-up!" Ron enthused. "With your armor and ice and crown and echoey voice! It was very scary but now that I know you're alright, it was tremendously cool!"
As they devolved into light laughter as Ron continued to describe the look on 'old-moldy-pant's face', and how the Minister nearly peed himself at the sight, Harry's attention was caught when the Manson's spoke up.
"Hmm. I'm starting to understand why Sammie and Tucker were always so protective of you, Daniel." Mrs. Manson said.
"What? Why?"
"You seem to always find yourself in the middle of a mess, don't you? Dark Lords and magical wars, honestly..."
"Hey! They summoned me! How was I supposed to know what I was getting into?" Danny said indignantly, poorly hidden smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, his hair floating and misting in a nonexistent wind.
"Oh, we're well aware of how you ended up all the way in Europe. We're also quite sure that these nice people had no idea how much trouble they were summoning either. Honestly, keeping you out of trouble is a full time job! No wonder Sam was so tired all the time!"
At Danny's gasp of mock offense, Hermione broke into a bout of laughter.
"Don't worry, we've had far too much practice with Harry! They're quite the trouble attracting pair!" Harry joined Danny in looking very offended, but after a moment both he and Danny were laughing along with the rest, the sound ringing through the steadily darkening kitchen as the sun cast the sky into an array of reds and golds.
After a few moments where they all composed themselves, Danny turned to the Manson's with eyebrows quirked in question.
"Actually, before we get word to or from the Order, what about you, Mr. and Mrs. Manson?" Danny asked, resolutely ignoring the white sparks now dancing up his arms and face, staining his hair white.
"Us?"
"Yeah. I know that it's extenuating circumstances and all, but you know all about magic now, and I've learned from personal experience that a lot of magical people don't like non-magical people very much. It may be better if they didn't know you were ever here."
"Oh, but we have a perfectly logical reason for being here. It's all of you who need to come up with a proper story." Mr. Manson replied.
"Wait, really? You have a reason to be at Harry's Aunt and Uncle's house? What is it?"
Mr. Manson's expression quickly sobered, and he put an arm around his wife's shoulders. The atmosphere within the kitchen shifted from comforting and safe to tense anticipation, as fast and jarring as a bone snapping under pressure. Harry's stomach dropped at the change, and Danny felt it too, if the sudden wave of jittery green sparks popping across Danny's hands were any indication.
Mr. Manson sighed quickly before grimly answering Danny's question.
"We were here to discuss a possible business deal with Harry's Uncle, that Vernon fellow. But, as we told you over Christmas, Danny, it was just a front to keep the GIW busy. At least it was at first, now it was more of a reason to get away from them for just a moment of peace. They decided to say after their check-in with us in January, you see. They're practically swarming the streets of London by now. We... we think they may have caught a glimpse of you that day that we found you."
"What..." Danny's face drained of all color, hoar-frost blooming around his feet, puffs of chilled mist condensing with every shallow breath.
"Yes. It's actually very helpful to our plans in Amity that the majority of the GIW followed us to Europe. Before they'd spotted you, Daniel, their main worry was that we," Mrs. Manson gestured to herself and her husband, "some of the wealthiest and most influential people in America, may just let slip what's been going on in Amity Park. After all, if word got out of what's been happening in our town, there would likely be significant backlash from the rest of the world."
Mr. Manson hummed in agreement, before adding, "But after that night in December, they came here in droves, looking for you. We could only thank our lucky stars that your friend's dog, Snuffles, came and herded you away somewhere where the GIW couldn't find you."
Harry blinked with surprise and could tell that Sirius very nearly let out a surprised laugh, but Draco spoke before he had the chance.
"These... GIW?... people are after Danny? And did you say you have a plan to deal with them?" That's right, Harry thought, they needed to fill Draco in on just how messed up all of their lives were. Harry shook his head abruptly; now was not the time.
Mr. Manson nodded. "The Foley's, the absolute geniuses with technology that they are, discovered that the GIW had been filtering information out of Amity Park to the rest of the world, keeping the ghost fights and invasions a secret so that they'd be able to continue operating with impunity." Mr Manson's arm tightened around his wife's shoulder with a look of pure disgust as he continued softly. "And... We found plans- plans for what they wanted to do after they'd captured you, Daniel."
Danny was silent, and for the moment, completely powered down. Ghostly power now as lost as Danny seemed to be.
Harry wished Mr. Manson wouldn't, but as the man made to continue his explanation, Harry didn't try to stop him. No one else did, either.
"They- Well- They wanted to find out how your powers worked Daniel. They wanted to eventually find a way to either replicate your powers in others-" Danny flinched violently, clenching his left hand into a white knuckled fist, Mr. Manson just took another quick breath before continuing quickly. "Or- If that didn't work, they wanted to find a way to- to control you. Make you into some sort of mindless weapon that only they could control."
"Their endgame to either plan was to-" Mrs. Manson paused to reign in obvious anger, pursing her lips and looking away from Danny's rigid form, "They wanted to reveal ghosts to the rest of the world on their own terms, presenting you, Daniel, as their super weapon to use against the 'new' threat. They planned to control the media's outlook on the entire reveal, painting themselves as heroes to garner favor and gain more control."
Hermione's hands were shaking as she tried to hold back horrified tears, and Harry could only think of how the Ministry of Magic had done something horribly similar to him the past year.
His fists clenched as he remembered how well it had worked, too. The Ministry turned the entire magical community against him and the idea that Voldemort had returned, sticking with a sugary sweet story spun for the masses. Harry had suffered dearly for merely speaking the truth against comfortable lies.
The scar on the back of his hand burned.
"When we found those plans... all of Amity Park came together to come up with a plan." Mr. Manson said. "But we needed time without the suits breathing down our necks to get anywhere with it, thus our distraction here in Europe. We never expected to find you, Daniel, let alone tell you about all of this. But we of Amity Park knew how hard you worked to protect us as Phantom. We just wanted make the world a little safer for you by taking the GIW down for good. To protect you for once..."
All eyes looked to Danny as Mr. Manson trailed off.
In a silent horror, Danny stood completely still, eyes staring off at something none of them could see. It was quiet enough to hear the rumbling of cars on the street outside.
"Danny?"
Despite the question being spoken so softly, as gently as Hermione could manage, Danny still startled like a wounded animal causing his transformation rings to spark and stutter around his chest in bursts of silver stars.
Harry watched in horrid fascination as Danny's eyes cleared and sharpened, chasing away the impending panic to make way for steely, and terrified, resolve. Danny stilled his shaking hands, and took a fortifying breath.
"How far?"
"What?"
"How far are we from London? How long did it take for us to get here?" Danny's sudden frantic energy had Harry unconsciously reaching for his wand.
"About- about an hour." Hermione answered, clearly just as confused and unnerved as the rest of them.
"How long have I been awake? How long have my powers been active?"
Dread pooled into Harry's gut.
"About an hour." He breathed, meeting Danny's eyes in terrible realization.
Danny's head suddenly snapped around to face the window.
"Get down!"
The glass shattered inwards. A deafening blast accompanied by a blinding light and choking white smoke left Harry blind and disoriented. Screams and shouts combined into incomprehensible chaos, but then Harry glimpsed the silver white light of transformation rings.
.
.
I know, I know, I'm horrible.
Don't worry, I'm already working on the next chapter. Thanks for reading!