"OhHo! Hang on tight kids, we're taking this corner hard!"
Despite himself, Danny liked George.
"Gah-! Merlin's pants!"
His friends... didn't.
Maybe it had something to do with how the guy's driving skills reminded him of his Dad's. Danny grinned as he braced himself against the metal seat in the back of the GIW van, and watched as Ron and Hermione flattened Harry and Draco against the van's wall.
"Holding up alright back there?" George called through the metal mesh separating the driver's seat and the van's prisoner hold. "Got to do another round through downtown before I can go by Casper! Almost there though, hold on!"
As Danny braced Ellie through another wild turn that sent his magical friends flying once more, Danny sighed in relief at how much thought Amity's rebellion had put into making sure the GIW didn't know about the base at Casper High.
After thanking Reece and his parents for their help and promising to take the GIW down for good, they'd needed to wait for a minute or two for George to maneuver the large, terrifying, GIW van back down their street. The side door had been automatically opened, and Danny and his friends had pelted out into the dark night onto the still moving vehicle. All so that the tracker on the van wouldn't alert the GIW base that George had stopped the van where he wasn't supposed to.
Thus, their rather roundabout route to his old high school.
"Will we even be able- ah!- be able to get into Casper High? Won't there be alarms and things that go off once we break in?" Hermione gasped out between harsh turns and bumps.
"Oh! No need to worry! There's always at least one adult member of the rebellion in the school, for precisely this kind of situation! Ambitious kids like you like to make some big statements against the GIW, so we have a system of getting them out of trouble and into hiding until it's safe for them to return home!" George said cheerfully, dark glasses glinting in the rear view mirror, as the sun just barely began to rise. "Just make sure to tell whoever's there tonight what your parents should tell the GIW when they come asking around, and we'll all be in the clear! Maybe let the rebellion leaders know what you're up to before you go making a scene in the middle of the night next time, alright?"
Oh yeah.
With a well earned stroke of luck, George hadn't been able to get a good look at them, so he'd just assumed they were random Amity Park residents.
Danny wasn't going to correct that assumption. He may like George, with his easy cheerfulness and crazy driving skills, and George may have been the rebellion's spy... But Danny was still wary of the dark shades and pristine white suit the man wore. He'd let George think they were just some crazy teens pranking the GIW by messing with their alarms.
"Ugh... Hey Danny, there better be food at Casper, or I'm gonna be eating my beanie." Ellie grumbled quietly, shifting uncomfortably on the seat beside him. "I forgot how heavy and needy a human body was."
Ron choked in surprise and Danny looked up to find all his magical friends giving him and Ellie looks of surprise. Keeping quiet to make sure George wouldn't overhear, Danny chuckled.
"She has a point, you guys, being in human form takes some getting used to after being in ghost form for so long. Speaking of-" Danny turned an appraising eye on Ellie; her still too-pale skin and her shaky hold on his sleeve as the van took another rough turn. "We'll get you fixed up with food and water as soon as we can, I promise, but don't think I didn't notice how quickly you got better after the glass of water Reece gave you. Anything you'd like to share? Some new advanced healing powers maybe? I know I couldn't have healed that fast after a year of no food or water."
Ellie merely gave him a sly side-eye and a sharp toothed grin. "Something like that. You probably wouldn't even have gotten sick though. Remember, I'm more ghost than you Mr. Perfect-Balance-of-Life-and-Death."
Danny scoffed and rolled his eyes fondly, but had to refrain from anymore questioning as George flew around another sharp corner. This time Harry and Draco flattened Hermione and Ron against the van's wall.
"Alright kids! We're coming up on Casper! When I give you the signal you have to throw the door open and tuck and roll out of here, alright? I'll try and slow down as much as I can!"
Ellie tensed beside him, and all of Danny's magical friends righted themselves with grim looks and prepared for another hectic dash; only this time it was off of the moving vehicle instead of onto one.
"Agent G. The search has been moved to sector theta for the invading ectoentity. You are to head back to sector gamma and provide transport for Agents P and R-"
"GO! Gogogogo! Now!" George hissed as he swung his head around to look at them, drowning out the GIW radio chatter. The van lurched as it suddenly began slowing down.
Hermione flung open the door to the van, and then leapt out into the grey morning. Ron, Harry and Draco were quick to follow. Danny grabbed Ellie up, ignoring her weak protests, and then jumped out and rolled onto damp grass. Harry was at his side, helping him and Ellie up, and then they were all running full pelt to his old High School, the gray sky of early morning not giving them nearly enough cover as he would've liked.
Just as they were nearing the back doors leading to the gym, one of the doors swung open and they dashed inside, panting.
"Into the Wild! Are you alrig-"
Danny's head snapped up at the sound of that voice, and he and his old English teacher locked eyes at the exact same moment.
Mr. Lancer's jaw dropped in surprise and his words caught in his throat. Before Danny could say a word he was staggering back under the weight of Mr. Lancer's crushing embrace.
"Oh, Mr. Fenton... Danny... I've been so worried... The whole town has been so worried..."
"Uh- Um... Mr. Lancer?" Danny's voice hitched, a warmth blooming in his chest at Lancer's concern.
He turned wide eyes to his friends over his teacher's shoulder and all they could offer him was looks of apologetic confusion.
Of all the teacher's in this school, Lancer was the only one who'd never given up on him, never stopped trying to help him get his grades up when even his own parents had lost hope. The man may not have been perfect, but Lancer had always cared.
Danny was suddenly pushed back, held fast at arms length while Mr. Lancer looked him over.
"The things those despicable agents said they would do to you- How on earth did you get through the shield surrounding the town? Where have you been all this time? What have you been-"
"Mr. Lancer!"
The empty gym echoed with his loud interruption, and Mr. Lancer's jaw snapped shut. Danny breathed out a sigh and gave his old teacher a tired smile. "It's good to see you too, Mr. Lancer. There's a lot we need to talk about. But first," Danny gently removed Mr. Lancer's hands from his shoulders and walked over to his friends, taking Ellie's hand, "My friends and I have had a rough couple of days. Would the cafeteria be stocked by any chance?"
"Oh." Lancer blinked as he took in Danny's friends, suddenly remembering they were there, and casting a quick questioning look at Ellie. "Oh- Of course, this way."
Danny could feel Lancer's gaze on him as they all trekked through the darkened halls of Casper High. He tried to ignore it for the moment.
Ellie suddenly tightened her grip on his hand, and looking at her, Danny found her trying extremely hard not to laugh at Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco.
"This- Is a school?" Draco asked, tone disbelieving as he scowled at the metal lockers lining the walls, his shoes squeaking as he scuffed the stained linoleum.
Ah. Danny knew what was so funny now.
Chuckling, Danny answered, "What? American public high school not up to Hogwarts standards, oh privileged one?"
"If this place has any standards I'll eat a blast-ended-skrewt."
"So you did learn something in Hagrid's class!" Harry said with only a hint of mockery. Clearly he was more used to muggle schools. "After third year and what happened with Buckbeak, I'd wondered..."
"Shut up Potter."
Harry and Ron snorted with laughter and Hermione sighed with exasperation.
"Not from around here?" Lancer cut in, eyeing the wizards curiously as he held the doors to the cafeteria open for them.
"Um... No. Not really. We uhm..." Hermione shot a questioning glance at Danny, asking something he wasn't sure there was a right answer to.
"Mr. Lancer." Lancer turned to look at him, curiosity and worry burning. Danny swallowed. "It's been a long year, and my friends... they know about me... about Phantom..." Danny paused as Lancer gasped, but continued before any other questions could be asked. "They're here to help get rid of the GIW for good. It's why we're here. Why I came back."
Lancer was giving him his full attention, and Danny could feel the weight of his friend's gazes on his back. Danny bit his lip quickly, before sighing and running a hand through his hair.
"Mr. Lancer... I know you want answers and I know I'm asking for a lot here... but first we have to know... What Amity Park is going to do... after we drive the GIW out."
Mr. Lancer blinked.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"I mean... Will Amity keep my secret? Or will the world know about me? About ghosts and the Infinite Realms and... everything else."
Danny met Mr. Lancer's eyes and they held each other's gaze for a long, quiet moment. Finally, Danny's English teacher gave him a soft, reassuring smile.
"Danny, if we Amity Parker's have learned anything in the last year, is that the only people who will look out for us... is us. Once those reprehensible government agents are out of our town, you'll be safe here. Your friends will be safe here. You protected us for nearly two years after all, and all Amity Park ever gave you was grief for minor inconveniences that would have turned into major casualties had you not been there. We'll be doing everything we can to make sure that you'll be safe here from now on, no matter what."
The empty cafeteria sat in momentary silence after Lancer finished his declaration. Danny's eyes burned. He could tell that Lancer meant every word, and after seeing Tetslaff, Reece, Reece's parents and learning about what George was doing and the pains they were all taking to mess with and get rid of the GIW... Danny knew he could trust the rest of Amity too.
Danny gave a shaky laugh and turned to look at his friends. "I believe him. If Amity's going to keep my secret, they'll keep yours too, but it's your choice if you want to tell him and the rest of the rebellion about all that."
Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, then exchanged looks with Ron, Draco and Hermione. "'Mione? If the Ministry were still functional, would they be able to tell if we break a certain law, even though we're all the way in a little American town?"
Hermione hummed. "No. The Ministry's trace doesn't work over international borders, and MACUSA can't track us either since we didn't come here through... traditional means."
"Those white suits already saw us and what we can do back in Privet Drive anyway. We'd just be limiting our options if we don't do everything we can to help boot these buggers out." Ron said, bending to inspect a lunch table with half smudged graffiti on it's surface.
Draco merely sighed in resignation, and nodded his agreement.
"I'm sorry... I think I'm missing something here." Mr. Lancer glanced nervously at Danny and Ellie before turning back to the black-robed wizards.
Danny chuckled as Harry and the others all came to their decision. "Let's just say that I have a knack for making friends with the interesting people. While you guys start explaining," He nodded to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco, and they all give him a firm nod in return, "I'll get us some food. Be right back. C'mon Ellie, let's go pig out on the lunch lady's secret pudding stash."
"Yes!"
As Danny showed Ellie to the kitchens to find some much needed human food, he looked back just in time to see Lancer sitting down across from the wizards and listening intently as they began.
"Well then, let's start off with introductions. I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. We're... well... we're wizards."
A beat of silence.
"The Color of Magic! You're not joking!"
Danny and Ellie laughed softly as the kitchen door closed behind them.
.
.
Mr. Lancer, the balding, middle-aged muggle, who'd apparently been Danny's teacher while he'd attended this... school... surprised Draco more than he'd like to admit.
In all honesty, all of these muggles from Danny's old town were confusing him to no end. His father had told him all about how barbaric and cruel muggles were to each other, how those of pure magical blood could better the world if they just managed the muggles, ruled over them and made sure that everyone did as they should.
Those muggles in white suits, with their darkened glasses and horrible weapons; they were everything he'd been expecting from the majority of muggles from what he'd been told all his life. He'd almost hoped that Danny and Hermione were exceptions to the mold muggles and muggle-borns were meant to fit. It's difficult to just let go of something you've always seen as irrefutable truth.
But then he'd met the Manson parents, Harry's cousin, Dudley, Danny's little sister, Ellie, the loud woman who'd shouted at and distracted the agents just in time, the little boy, Reece, and his parents... and now Mr. Lancer.
The man took the knowledge of magic and a hidden magical community with incredible grace. After the initial shock, he and Hermione spent a long time discussing magical curriculum and the subject of how magical history may have affected muggle history throughout the years. Apparently, Grindlewald was at large during a muggle world war? Who knew?
By the time they'd gotten around to how they all met Danny (aka. summoned him), Danny himself had long since returned with Ellie, both laden with many different food items that Draco had never seen before, and would never like to know what they were made of, thank you very much.
They explained how the GIW found and attacked them in Europe, how they escaped through the green swirling dimension with the enormous yeti ghosts that were surprisingly friendly, and then how they came through another portal to this town, the GIW's main base of operations, to destroy them once and for all to make sure that Danny, Ellie, and the entire European magical community remained safe. By the time the conversation lulled, shafts of sunlight were filtering through this school's miniature 'Great Hall' windows.
Ellie, while looking much healthier than she had the moment she'd morphed into her human form, had fallen asleep against Danny's shoulder. The pair of them looked remarkably similar, save for subtle details. Ellie's ears were just a little more pointed under her knitted hat, her movements just a little too fluid, and of course, she and Danny were different ages and genders.
Danny had briefly explained that she wasn't born human, like he had been, so Draco supposed it made sense for her to not act or appear as human as Danny did in his human form.
Harry and Hermione had gathered up the crinkled remains of the food, and thrown it all away in a bin in the corner. They both were far more comfortable in this muggle school than he and Ron were; which meant he and Ron were doomed to perpetual confusion and incomprehension of the fact that anyone could come to this building and actually learn things.
What would one learn, Draco wondered, if you didn't know that Potions or Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures existed? All the non-Wand Core classes Danny had been taking didn't exist in muggle education, right?
"Rising Sun! Look at the time! we've only got two or so hours before school starts!"
"Wait. School is still in session?" Danny asked incredulously.
Mr. Lancer huffed as he stood up.
"We may be in an indeterminate state of martial law held by a cruel subset of our government, but education is still important, Mr. Fenton. I shudder to imagine the amount of curriculum you've missed while on the run."
"Hey! I've been going to school!"
"Magic school credits do not transfer." Mr. Lancer deadpanned with a swift look at Danny and the snoozing Ellie. Draco had noticed the man giving the young girl quite a few questioning looks. He wondered when Lancer would finally break down and just ask.
"Now, follow me, let's get you all settled in the rebellion base before the other teachers and students start arriving. If you want to get washed up, there are showers in the gym locker rooms and spare clothes in the lost and found."
Draco was up in an instant. Merlin, it's been ages since he'd felt clean. He'd been far too worried for Danny after the Astronomy OWL to really care for personal grooming beyond changing into a new set of robes before the student's plan to sabotage the school and get Danny back really went underway.
Their battle within the Great Hall, their journey to the Ministry, their fight and flight for their very lives, their escape to Privet Drive, their second escape to the Infinite Realms and then their extremely stressful arrival to Amity Park had left them all with bandages that needed to be replaced, only just covering their still healing bruises and cuts. Their robes were soiled with blood and sweat and Draco didn't even want to know what his hair looked like at the moment.
By the state of everyone else, Draco knew that a chance to get properly cleaned up and well rested was something that was dearly needed and whole-heartedly appreciated.
After Danny had gently woken Ellie up, they all dutifully followed after Mr. Lancer as he led them to this 'lost and found' to pick out suitable clothes. Draco had a difficult time finding anything that he would willingly wear, as he'd never before worn muggle clothing, let alone second-hand muggle clothing. Eventually, Danny and Hermione had noticed his plight and helped him pick a few items out.
Draco was actively trying to be openminded about all this. About the metal cabinets set into the walls, the sticky, squeaky floors, the too-bright muggle lights suddenly coming on as they passed underneath. He thought he was doing a relatively good job at masking his disgust at how filthy the place was, since this was where Danny had come to school and this was where Mr. Lancer currently worked.
When they made it to these 'gym locker rooms' Mr. Lancer had mentioned, Draco tried really, really hard not to think to harshly about the place. Or think about it at all. Danny helped them figure out the silver knobs on the wall, which controlled the water's temperature in the absence of magic, and soon enough they were all washed and clothed.
Despite the culture shock of it all, Draco felt much better. Running a hand through his now loose, slightly damp hair and pulling at the soft jumper he now wore with a strange symbol on the front, Draco could safely say that if his father saw him now, he would likely die from sheer shock alone. The thought was oddly comforting.
"Just down here. There's cots set up and a first aid station if you need any patching up, and other things scattered around, too. I have to go now, since students are beginning to show up, but I'll come back down to check up on you throughout the day." Mr. Lancer flicked a little switch on the wall, to illuminate a large underground space with beds and tables littered with papers and maps.
Harry and Ron immediately went to inspect the strange metal contraptions in the corner, that seemed to be made up of weights you were meant to lift. Draco followed Hermione over to the tables to look over the books and papers. Danny stayed by Mr. Lancer while Ellie hopped up and bounced on one of the cots against the wall.
Draco eventually looked back to Mr. Lancer and Danny after realizing that the muggle English teacher had not left yet, but was talking seriously with Danny about something he couldn't quite make out.
Handing Hermione a paper with an oddly still picture of a white building, Draco made his way over to Ellie, who was also looking over at the conversation between Danny and Mr. Lancer with narrowed eyes.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" Draco asked her softly, to which she nodded, her eyes not wavering from the pair. "What are they talking about? Anything bad?"
"Hmm... Lancer is telling Danny to be prepared for what may happen when the rest of the rebellion learns that he's here." Ellie replied lowly, obviously trying not to give away that she was listening in.
"Prepared for what?"
"Well, when Danny first started out as Phantom, he had a hard time figuring out how to control his powers. There were a few times he messed up or was tricked and that led to a majority of Amity hating Phantom and demonizing everything he did... Danny's parents especially. But now... the GIW revealed Danny's secret to everyone in Amity right before he escaped, so the town was left with all the questions ever, but no one around able to answer them. Lancer's just preparing Danny for that."
Draco hummed in thought, turning his attention back to Danny and Mr. Lancer at the foot of the school's hidden basement stairs.
"Why would the GIW reveal Danny's secret like that?" He thought aloud.
Ellie huffed. "They probably thought that everyone would feel the same way they did. Who in their right mind would help or protect a ghost, right? Especially if the ghost was a half-human freak... Maybe the agents thought everyone in Amity would turn on Danny once they knew... make it easier to capture him. Who knows?"
Draco glanced at Ellie quickly, suddenly very aware that his thoughtless question had made her upset. She was curled up on the cot, knees to her chest and eyes unfocused. He reached out, hesitated, and then put a hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
"I... I'm glad they didn't...turn on Danny that is... I'm sure they'll feel the same way about you once we get rid of this farce of a government agency. You're Danny's family after all."
Draco had no idea what he was doing or saying, but it seemed to do some good, since Ellie gave him a small smile for his efforts.
"Miss?"
Both Draco and Ellie jumped in surprise, Ellie's eyes flashing green, making the source of their surprise gasp from his position standing right in front of them. Both Danny and Mr. Lancer had walked over to them while they'd been distracted.
Draco caught Danny's eyes, and he averted his gaze quickly when he caught sight of the grateful smile sent his way. Curse half-ghosts and their enhanced hearing.
"Oh my, I'm sorry for startling you both, it wasn't my intention." Mr. Lancer cut into Draco's mortification with a nervous sounding chuckle. "But I'd only just realized that I haven't had the chance to get properly acquainted with you Miss..." He trailed off looked at Ellie.
Ellie blinked in surprise and threw a quick questioning glance at Danny, to which he nodded with a smile.
"I'm Ellie! Danny's little sister! Nice to officially meet you, Mr. Lancer!" Ellie, with a sharp grin, grabs and shakes the hand of a dumbfounded looking Mr. Lancer.
"Sister?" The man sent an incredulous look to Danny, who merely chuckled at the look and allowed Ellie to climb onto him and wrap her arms around his shoulders from behind. Now, with Ellie's head resting on Danny's shoulder, it was impossible not to see the resemblance between the two.
"Another long story," Danny began, "but the only thing you really have to know is that Ellie... is like me." Danny grinned the same sharp grin as Ellie, and they both flashed their eyes deathly green for a moment, making Mr. Lancer gasp sharply.
Besides the initial shock, Draco was impressed and somewhat amused when Mr. Lancer proceeded to let out a long, put-upon sigh while rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"I'm too old for this." The man muttered lowly, before startling at the sound of a tinny ringing coming from above them. "The Little Prince! That's the first bell! I have to go, but I'll be back down during lunch! Mr. Fenton, Miss Ellie, please don't cause too much trouble while I'm gone!"
"Wait! Why are you telling just me and Ellie to behave?"
"Ellie and I, Mr. Fenton; and I will never again underestimate a Fenton's ability to find trouble! Now if you'll excuse me!" Draco tried to hide his amusement as the English teacher dashed up the steps to the main school floor.
The instant the secret entrance to the rebellion's base slammed shut, silence reigned.
But only for a moment.
Ironically, Harry was the first to crack.
Harry snorted and then fell into a fit of laughter that was quickly joined by Ron, Hermione and Draco himself. Even Ellie was giggling from her perch on Danny's back. Danny had covered his face with his hands, but since Draco was standing so close to the two half-ghosts, he could see the smile Danny was trying to hide.
Laughter echoed around them, and the last of the tension Draco hadn't known he was carrying eased with the joyful sound. Their good spirits filled the drab rebellion base and Draco had a sudden thought.
When was the last time he'd been this happy?
.
.
After all his traitorous friends finished laughing at him, (even Ellie! The betrayal!), time passed pretty quickly. They spent most of the time sleeping, actually. The six hour time difference hit everyone pretty hard after all the excitement died down, and that's not even considering the fact that they had no idea how long they'd slept in the Far Frozen, since the Realms didn't exactly adhere to any strict day/night cycle.
When Danny finally made it to semi-consciousness once more, it was to find packaged food nicely placed on one of the tables nearby. Looks like they'd slept through lunch, which meant the end of the school day couldn't be too far off.
Danny groaned a he stretched and woke up the rest of the way. Yawning widely, he felt his ears pop and once again thanked his ghostly healing for his continued ability to hear things. Those alarms had hurt.
Picking up one of the packed lunches, he looked back and smiled at his friends still sound asleep in varying states of disarray. Just as he'd sat down and started unwrapping what looked like a sandwich, he heard the tell-tale thud of the secret door to the school's basement being opened and soft steps coming down towards the basement.
Figuring it was just Mr. Lancer checking up on them again, he picked up one of the maps on the table and began looking over the schematics of Amity Park's sewer tunnel system.
When he was sure that Lancer had made it to the bottom of the steps behind Danny, he said-
"You know, I'm not sure how you got your hands on these schematics, but these tunnels may be really helpful for some hit-and-run distraction tactics, especially since the GIW are too afraid of getting stains on their perfect white sui-"
Danny turned around as he spoke and promptly choked on his words and his single bite of sandwich as he scrambled to his feet.
It wasn't Mr. Lancer at the bottom of the stairs.
"You." Valerie Grey stood stock still, and Danny couldn't tell if she was angry or sad or something else.
Then her backpack dropped to the floor, her fists clenched and her expression darkened.
Oh. She's angry.
She stomped towards him and he couldn't help but stagger back, hands raised in surrender.
"Wai- Wait! Val, just let me explain-"
"YOU!" She grabbed a fistful of his sweatshirt and dragged him down to her eye-level. "You absolute IDIOT, Danny Fenton!"
"I-"
"Shut up!"
Danny's jaw snapped closed and he flinched when he saw her hand come up to slap him, closing his eyes in anticipation.
When no such violence came, Danny carefully peaked one eyes open. Valerie was still poised to smack him, (and really, he deserved it), but she was just staring at him, emotions warring against each other. The basement was completely silent, and Danny let the silence settle to give Valerie time to decide what she wanted to do.
Finally, she lowered her hand and Danny allowed himself to relax just a bit. Which left him completely unprepared for when Valerie tackled him in a ferocious hug, trying but failing to hold back tears.
"You- I can't believe you!" Valerie said brokenly. "You knew I knew about Dani and then I went back and found out about Masters! All those weeks after that mess, and you never told me! Why! Why didn't you tell me! I could've been there, I could've helped-"
"Valerie." Danny cut her off softly, finally gathering himself enough to hug her back. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never told you. I'm sorry for everything that happened with your Dad's job and I'm sorry for outing your identity to him during the Ghost King's invasion. I'm sorry for so much..." Danny gently pushed her back so he could meet her eyes. "But the one thing I was thankful for back then, was that you weren't there to get killed with the rest of my family."
Her breath hitched as she scrubbed at her eyes and tried to get her breathing under control, and Danny fought back the burn behind his own eyes.
"You don't know that I would have died. I could've stopped them... could've helped you..."
"Maybe... I'm just glad you're alright Val. Or- well- as alright as you can be since the GIW are occupying Amity and all-"
She scoffed but returned his careful smile.
"Some of the other's were saying that it could've been you who set off the ghost alarms last night. We knew it wasn't anyone in the rebellion, since it wasn't planned, but not much else." She huffed a laugh. "I shoulda' known that the only one dumb enough to set off that alarm without a plan would be you, Phantom."
He grinned. "Well, I hate to disappoint. Nice to know how much you care, Red." Danny laughed as Valerie punched his shoulder.
"Hey!" Valerie was nearly knocked off her feet as a small half-ghost girl slammed into her full-force. "We didn't mean to set off those alarms you know!"
Valerie's face lit up as she hugged Ellie close. "Hey! How've you been Dani-with-an-I! I've been worried about you!"
"Better now that Danny's back and I know he didn't get himself eaten or something else ridiculous. And I go by Ellie now!"
"Yeah? It suits you!"
Danny slowly backed away from the pair, resigned to the fact that he was now going to be the subject of much ridicule. Looking up, he found the four wizards watching silently from in front of their cots. He made his way over to them with a sheepish look.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."
"I don't think you had much say in the matter, mate." Ron said sympathetically.
Hermione smacked his arm, ("Gah! Hermione!"), as Draco asked,
"Who is she? A... friend of yours?"
Danny hummed, glancing back at Ellie and Valerie still chatting animatedly.
"Yeah. Our relationship had been... complicated before; but now that secrets are out of the way, I think we'll work back up to being friends again."
"Looks like she's real good friends with Ellie, already." Harry stated.
Danny snorted. "I think that's Ellie's secret superpower; making friends with everyone she meets. After all the stories she told me of her time traveling, I think she's incapable of meeting someone and not getting them to like her."
Hermione hummed in amusement. "That's a good superpower to have."
"It sure is." Danny agreed.
"Hey Danny, who are these guys?" Valerie walked up to them, nodding at Hermione and the others.
"These are friends of mine who want to help get rid of the GIW. This is Draco, Harry, Hermione and Ron. Guys, this is Valerie."
"Pleasure to meet you!" Hermione smiled, as the boys nodded in greeting.
Valerie blinked in surprise. "You from overseas or something?"
Danny chuckled. "Yeah Val, they accidentally summoned me to Scotland and I've been staying with them at their school. After a whole bunch of really bad situations, and strangely, more than one corrupt government organization, we ended up needing to come here to get rid the GIW so that I can help them get rid of their own evil fruitloop."
Valerie stared at him for a long, intense moment. "You're messing with me."
"Nope. All true."
Valerie turned back to Hermione and the others.
"He's messing with me, right?"
"No, I'm afraid not." Hermione said sheepishly.
"That's not all, Val, listen!" Ellie cut in excitedly. "They could summon Danny all that way because they're wizards!"
Another beat of silence.
"Now I know y'all are messing with me!"
Danny chuckled and slung an arm around Draco's shoulder as his friends pulled out their wands to show Valerie.
After a few minutes of convincing on the wizard's part, Valerie was now staring with awe at magically conjured flowers and birds flitting and floating above their heads. After a few minutes though, Danny was struck with a realization.
"Hey Val?" Danny asked, brushing flower petals and feathers out of his hair. "Why are you down here anyway? Is school over?"
Valerie tore her eyes from the magical display and shook her head before answering. "Nah, I've got early dismissal this semester. Turns out when there aren't ghosts to hunt, I get more school work done. Who knew?"
Danny crossed his arms at her pointed look. "Don't look at me like that, Red! I was just as tired and behind in school as you!"
Valerie chuckled at that. "I know, I'm messing with you... School should be over any minute-"
Slam!
"-ow! I'm telling you, it all makes sense! The agents have been funneling massive forces out of Amity for the last few weeks, and then suddenly the alarms are triggered and we don't know who did it?! It's gotta be him! I'm serious-"
Danny and Valerie groaned together as the voice descended the basement steps.
Danny knew that voice.
He chuckled as he turned to Valerie.
"How long has be been rubbing the fact that he was right all along in your faces?"
Valerie gave him a withering look. "All. Dang. Year."
"Thought so." Danny sighed, and then turned to face the suddenly silent group of new people that had come down to the school's secret basement.
Danny gave them all a hesitant smile and a wave.
"Hey."
Dash, Kwan, Wes, Paulina, Star, and even Jessica and Lexi, friends of Jazz's that Danny remembered had wanted to take a gap year before heading off to college, all stared back at him. They were crowded together at the base of the stairs, all in varying degrees of wide-eyed shock.
Unfortunately for Danny's poor eardrums, Wes got over it first.
"I knew it!" Wes roared. "Didn't I tell you?! I told you it was him!"
.
.
Lol. I know. Wes gets to have this.
Also, it was really difficult to find a good ending point for this chapter, which is good new for you guys, since that means I have a lot of the next chapter already written up.
Bad news for you guys is that I'll be going on vacation soon, but I'm hoping to post one more chapter before that.
Regardless, we're ramping up to a big plot point that I'm dying to write! I've had it planned for ages, I can't wait!
As for George, my random OC GIW spy... I love him. Him and all the other OCs I'm about to come up with. (Seriously, did Danny's school have any other grades besides his own? Jazz needs friends too, gosh darn it.)
Alright, I'm rambling, I gotta stop.
Next chapter will be a lot of fun, so I'll see you then!