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Chapter Fourteen
Secrets and Half-Truths
I have to confess to you now, granddaughter, that at least half of the details you have read in this telling are almost entirely made up.
What happened to me in real life was nowhere near as coherent as this patchy, ragged story. My actions, thoughts, understanding – as unbelievable as it might seem – were much more confused, more disoriented, more haphazard than portrayed here. It is quite impossible for a writer to convey the confusing chaos and nitpicky details of reality, so I have done my best to fill all the holes and make sure everything makes sense based on what I learned in retrospect.
Let this be a lesson in truth. No human, no ghost, no living creature will ever tell you the full truth, no matter how honorable, how good, or how honest they seem.
Humanity
It happened about a month into the new term.
Neville sidled up to him on the bench in the freezing courtyard and asked, "You didn't really have Ghostitis, did you, Danny?"
"Yeah, Danny," Seamus called from his position splayed in the snow, lazily making snow wizards. "We all know Ghostitis isn't real."
"I don't know," Dean said doubtfully. He was buried under some snow Seamus had patted over him. Despite being stuck, he looked rather content. "He looked pretty ghostly to me when I saw him."
Right. Dean had apparently been the one who had dragged Danny to that fateful Quidditch game.
"Well, I –" Danny started.
"A wizard has a right to his secrets," Theodore Nott, their curious resident Slytherin, cut in from the next bench over, where he had been reading a book. "He doesn't need to tell you anything he doesn't want to."
Theodore had been Neville's potion partner for the year, and strangely enough, they had become friends. He was unobtrusive enough that he had been easily able to slip into their group of friends, albeit with a few strange looks from Seamus. He usually didn't talk much.
"Do you have any secrets you don't talk about?" Neville asked Theodore curiously.
The Slytherin sniffed and looked off to the side. "Of course."
"You can always tell me about them, you know," Neville said. "I won't tell."
"Oooh," Seamus crooned, flailing his arms about, sending white flakes everywhere. "I see how it is. Theodore and Neville, sitting in a tree…"
"Shut up," Danny said, throwing snow at him. He felt he had to repay Theodore for coming to his defense. "You don't need to bother them either."
"Y-you - you threw snow at me!" Seamus exclaimed. Then a grin lit his face, and he got up on his knees, abandoning his attempt at snow wizards. "SNOWBALL FIGHT!" he cried, packing snow together.
"Wait - wait, that wasn't what I –" Danny sputtered as the other boy threw a snowball at him, straight at his face. He wiped off the freezing white dust with a gloved hand, then ducked behind Neville to avoid the next one. "... wanted," he muttered to himself, feeling his cheeks burn at the cold.
Neville turned around and grinned at him cheekily. If Danny hadn't seen how much Neville had changed over the month, he would have called the smile uncharacteristic. "Loser tells everyone all their secrets," Neville crowed gleefully.
Then Neville scampered from the bench and ran off to join Seamus on his side of the… yeah, okay, Seamus had already started building a snow fort. Neville had a knack for choosing the right team.
Danny's gaze drifted to Theodore, who was staring after Neville, then at his book, and then back to Neville. He looked more than a little lost at this sudden turn of events, and Danny took pity on him.
"Guess we're in this together," Danny said. Then he looked down at Dean, who was still happily stuck in his snow pile. Dean gave him a flashing bright smile and a perky thumbs up.
"Good luck!" the dark-skinned boy told them both.
"Great," Danny groaned, before he was pelted with another snowball. So it was just him and Theodore. Against Neville and Seamus.
Why do I get all the weird friends?
Growing Up
It happened, actually, after the snowball fight. Well, really, in the middle of it, but Danny was more than happy to call it quits as soon as the opportunity presented itself. His side had been losing, badly.
Hermione had come barreling into the courtyard. She had apparently been looking for him.
"Danny," she said, pulling to an abrupt stop beside the little sad wall of snow Theo and him had piled up. A goddess of war, she ignored all the snowballs being thrown around her, miraculously managing to avoid being hit. "I've been looking for you. I need to tell you something." She looked around as if noticing the snowball fight for the first time.
Danny looked around, then clasped Theodore on the arm. "Sorry, Theo," he said. "Duty calls." He let go, then nodded to Hermione, grabbed her arm, and high tailed it out of there.
Panting, they stopped once they had arrived safely indoors. Hermione glanced at him, and he found that her eyes were sparkling.
"What was that?" she asked.
"... Seamus spontaneously started throwing snowballs at me."
She laughed. "What, really? Why?"
Danny shifted uncomfortably. "Well, he was teasing Neville and Theodore so I threw some snow at him."
She arched an eyebrow. "And you say he started it?"
"Well," Danny grunted, then decided to change the topic. "Anyway, what did you need to see me for?"
Her expression turned sober, and she surreptitiously glanced around. "Not here," she said, and pulled him further around the hall to a secluded corner.
"Danny," she whispered, "Do you remember that trapdoor I told you about? On the fourth floor, in that abandoned corridor?"
"And the three-headed dog?" Danny whispered wrly. "I remember."
Actually, he had almost forgotten. So much else had been going on.
"Well," Hermione said, "we figured out what it's protecting. It's the Sorcerer's Stone. Look." She pulled out a piece of parchment, with a rough sketch of a red stone and messy scribbles written in ink everywhere. "The Sorceror's Stone," she said with exactness, in a lecturing tone, "is used to create the Elixir of Life. When someone drinks it, they become immortal." She took a deep breath, looking at him with wide brown eyes. "We think that Snape is going to steal it to bring it to Voldemort. Can you help us stop him?"
It was the craziest thing he had heard in a long time.
"Wait," Danny said. "Isn't Voldemort that Dark wizard that murdered…"
"Yes." She nodded emphatically
"Isn't he…" He was going to say dead, but then frowned, thinking about all the conversations he had overheard in Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster certainly hadn't been acting like he thought the "You-Know-Who" was gone. "Why do you think Snape is trying to steal it?"
Remus had explained to him Snape's role in the last war, though only very briefly, after Danny told him about Snape invading his mind. The man had said that Snape was acting like he was still at war, not in a school in peace-time full of innocent children. The war had been hard for him, and Danny had appeared as a potential threat to him. It didn't make his actions forgivable, Remus had said, but perhaps understandable. In the last war, after all, the Death Eaters hadn't hesitated to employ children.
Danny didn't like the man, especially after seeing all the nasty glances Snape gave Remus, but stealing this Sorceror's Stone for Voldemort, of all people, seemed inconsistent with his efforts in the war. And Snape didn't seem to be the type to be after immortality, other than the immortality of being known as one of childhood's worst nightmares.
"Someone tried to steal it," Hermione whispered furiously. "It was in the papers, first day of school. The Stone had been in a vault in Gringotts, that Harry saw Hagrid take a small parcel out of to bring to Hogwarts. The next day, someone had just tried to break in into that same vault." She pulled out another piece of paper from her satchel. "Here, I have the article." She passed it to him, and he hesitantly scanned it over. "And there's more. On Halloween, Snape's leg was scratched up – by Fluffy's teeth. He was limping for the rest of the week. He must have made an attempt at the stone then."
"Fluffy?"
"Hagrid's three-headed dog. And there's still more. Snape was the one trying to jinx Harry's broom at his first Quidditch match. Plus, Harry's scar hurt while looking at him."
Danny frowned. "What does Harry's scar have to do with anything?"
"Some link with You-Know-Who." She grimaced. "I've tried looking into it, but there aren't any books at the library about any connection like that. But he says it gives him a bad feeling."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Snape gave everyone a bad feeling," Danny muttered. "But are you sure it's not… Quirrell?"
He had discussed Quirrell a lot over the past month with Remus, and even with Headmaster Dumbledore. The more they talked and the more he remembered, the more suspicious he became of the turban-wearing, stuttering professor. And the more he wondered why the Headmaster had refused to fire him, after all that had happened to Danny. Remus had certainly aired his concerns enough to the old man. Even Snape had been against keeping the man in Hogwarts.
Obviously, Danny had never met with Professor Quirrell in private again after the whole fiasco had settled. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Remus was always there to watch over him, a quiet sentinel who claimed, to the other students, to be there to observe and learn just like them.
"Quirrell?" Hermione said, obviously surprised. "But – he's not – why would Professor Quirell do anything? If anything, he's been standing up to Snape."
Danny's eyebrows raised. "Standing up to Snape?"
Strange how different their understanding could be.
"Yes," Hermione said. Their voices had grown far past a whisper, and she quieted again, looking around quickly before continuing. "We overheard Snape questioning him, once. Professor Quirrell didn't say anything. We thought that Snape was hoping to get clues to whatever protection Quirrell put on the Stone."
"Protection?" he whispered back, confused.
"Yes, each of the professors put their own guard around the Stone. We only know about Fluffy, but there are sure to be many others…"
Danny scowled, and wondered again at what far-off kind of game the Headmaster was playing at.
"Hermione," he said. "You shouldn't get involved in this. Quirrell, Snape, whatever. They're both dangerous." He knew that from personal experience. "You should tell the Headmaster about this. Maybe then he'll kick them both out."
Hermione stared at him, wide-eyed. "But – I thought –" She recovered herself. "Harry and Ron didn't want to talk to the professors. I thought that they probably already knew all about the Stone, so there wouldn't be any point in telling them. And it all so very exciting, you know, figuring this out all by ourselves… "
The Headmaster had never told him any of this. The elusive snatches of conversation regarding the "Sorcerer's Stone" that he had overheard in his time with Dumbledore suddenly became much more significant. If it was related to Quirrell, and what had happened to him, he wanted to know. And if Hermione was getting mixed up in it too, well, then he really couldn't stay out of it.
"Besides," Hermione added, "we did tell Hagrid. He thought we were just being silly."
"Hagrid?" Danny asked, feeling as if he had so much to catch up on. "The groundskeeper?"
She nodded.
Danny sighed. Hagrid had never been in one of Dumbledore's secret meetings – at least, not in the week he had been holed up there.
"Let me talk to Harry and Ron with you," he said, finally. "I don't think you three know what you're up against."
He didn't want them to go through the misery that he had. Some glimpses of memory of that month had returned, and they were anything but pleasant. He shivered thinking of any of his friends – or Hermione – going through that.
"So you'll help?" Hermione asked, eyes shining again, huge smile on her face. Danny could see how she was excited by the adventure.
"Adventure". As if.
"I'll help," Danny said, gut churning. "Just promise me you'll be careful."
"Of course I will. You know me." She grinned at him. "Shall I return you to your snowball fight?"
Danny eyed her sideways. "I think that ship has sailed. How about we meet in the Gryffindor Common Room later tonight to talk more? You can ask Harry and Ron to come."
She looked disappointed, but nodded briskly and took a step back. "6 o'clock? We can finish up our Charms homework at the same time."
Danny nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
After she walked off, Danny slumped against the wall.
Sorcerer's Stone. Ghosts. Quirrell.
There was too much going on, coming from too many different directions. At least his classes were going well again. His parents were coming soon – tomorrow, if all went well. At least his friends were happy, mostly. Maybe he could just think about the good things. Keep being optimistic.
"Danny."
He startled, nearly jumping out of his own skin. He spun around, panicked until he spotted golden eyes in the darkness of the hall.
"Remus?" he asked. "How long have you been there? No, don't tell me. You heard the whole thing."
"You shouldn't be alone," Remus said, moving closer, eyes flitting around the hall. He looked worried, taut. "It came close this time. If I hadn't been near…"
Danny felt a thrill of fear through his chest.
"What if it attacked Hermione? Or Neville? Or…" His mouth felt dry.
Remus nodded, smiling briefly. "Good. You're worried about your friends." The smile dropped and his eyebrows drew together. "I wouldn't worry too much about them. The ghost, so far, has only been interested in you. Prof – Headmaster Dumbledore is doing his best to keep any other threats in check."
Well, that was a relief.
"There's also good news. Your parents' transport has finally been arranged – they'll be brought here tomorrow afternoon."
Danny smiled. Finally. "Do you know what kept them so long?"
Remus shook his head, then gave Danny a wry smile. "It hasn't passed down the grapevine to me yet. I wouldn't know." He then hesitated. "Danny… about that meeting you're having today, with Harry and… Do you think I could come?"
Danny blinked. A dozen questions ran through his mind. He settled on two of them. "Because you were friends with Harry's dad? Or did you know about the Sorcerer's Stone?"
Remus winced.
"Dumbledore doesn't tell me as much as you'd think," he said. "But yes, I want to make sure you kids are as safe as you can be."
Danny frowned. "I'm not a kid."
Remus just looked at him, a slight twitch of a small on his face. It pulled up at the scar on his lip, and Danny wondered at it before he sighed and looked away. "I guess you could come," he said, finally. "You probably would have followed me there, anyway."
"Good boy," Remus said, smile growing for a second before it disappeared. Then he ruffled Danny's head, and began walking away.
"I'm not a child," Danny grumbled after him, rescruffing his hair into the appropriate messy hairdo.
If it was anybody but Remus, he probably would have been much more upset. But Remus had some quiet way about him, that made it impossible to get angry. Even if he called Danny a kid, followed him around places "for his own good", and ruffled his hair, Remus still was the one who sat down and talked with him like he was a thinking human being, who wanted to play Exploding Snap with him, and who often stared off into the distance with a sad look on his face.
Humanity
Charms for the day was over in a jiffy and Herbology passed by no slower. It was 6 o'clock soon enough after that. Danny scarfed down some food, then ran off to the Gryffindor Common Room.
He had been waiting all day for this, thinking about what he would say, what he would tell Harry and Ron. He was nervous about Remus being there. He had to fight to keep it in while in class; he didn't want to risk anybody overhearing him whisper something to Hermione or the other boys. Then there would be far too many questions about things he shouldn't answer. So he had held it in.
"Sorry I'm late!" he said, bursting through the doorway as soon as the Fat Lady deigned to open the door. Three curious faces peered at him from the couches surrounding the hearth, and he could see Remus's tall head poking from above an armchair. He looked like he had dozed off.
Hermione beamed at him. Harry quietly said, "Hi, Danny." Ron grunted at him and nodded in welcome. Danny scurried over to one of the couches, next to Hermione. He looked at Remus.
"Let's wake him up?" He looked at the other three, who looked confused. "I told him he could come. He overheard Hermione and me talking."
"No need," Remus's voice suddenly came from the armchair. All four jumped, and the man raised his hand, yawning. "I woke up when you came in, Danny. Sorry for not showing it. Old war habits."
The rest of them traded glances.
"The war with Voldemort?" Harry asked eagerly, and Remus smiled fondly at the boy, before memories seemed to cloud his eyes.
"Yes… the one your parents fought in. They were the bravest, most loyal friends you could find, your parents." His eyes seemed to clear. "That reminds me. I found something for you, Harry. Some old photos I've been keeping." He reached into his torn coat pocket and pulled out some faded photos, handing them to Harry, who had an eager light in his eyes. "I thought you'd like to have them."
Harry gazed down at them, and he flipped through the photos eagerly, wide eyes tracing every movement, every smile, every photographed laugh. Ron leaned in from the side to get a look.
"Those are your parents?" he said. "Your dad – he's the seeker, wasn't he?"
Remus laughed softly. "He was. A good one, too. With him on the team, Gryffindor always won the Quidditch Cup."
"Wicked," Ron said. He nudged Harry, almost gently. "Your parents sound like they were incredible, huh?"
From beside Danny, Hermione nodded empathetically too, but he could tell she was at a loss for what to say.
Harry nodded, eyes still glued to the photos. "I've never really seen them before." He finally tore his eyes away to look at Remus, "Thank you."
The man smiled lopsidedly, looking simultaneous pleased and pained. "Of course, Harry. But we came here to talk about your adventures, didn't we?" He lowered his voice. "The Sorcerer's Stone."
Danny realized finally that Harry and Remus must have talked before. Of course, Remus wouldn't have gone for a month without talking to his dead best friend's son. Danny abruptly felt guilty about his thoughtless assumption that protecting Danny was Remus's only priority. Of course the man had a life outside of him. It was astounding that Remus was doing so much for him, little freak Fenton, at all, to be honest.
He felt sour at the thought, and then immediately felt guilty for that too.
"Well," Harry started, hesitantly, holding the photos tightly in his hands. He looked at Ron and Hermione for support. "We, er. It was an accident?" He looked back at Remus, who wore a bemused expression.
"We didn't mean to go into the Fourth floor corridor," Hermione said in a rush, feeling as if she needed to explain. "It had been, er…"
"Malfoy tricked us," Ron scowled.
"Right," Hermione said thankfully. "And after that, we figured out that Fluffy, er, the three-headed dog, was guarding something… and that, um," she looked like she was having difficulty deciding what to say, "Um, that that thing it was guarding was the Sorcerer's Stone. We didn't mean to stumble into any trouble, promise." She nodded, looking up at the adult with wide eyes.
Surprisingly, Remus chuckled at her concern. "Relax. I am not a professor here. You won't get into trouble talking to me." He looked briefly at Danny. "Actually, I was hoping that I could keep you out of trouble."
Hermione positively swooned with relief. "Oh, I was so worried about being expelled," she breathed quietly, so that only Danny heard. He looked at her with an eyebrow cocked. When she noticed, she turned her head away, embarrassed.
"Actually," Remus continued. "I was hoping that if you knew anything, I could pass on your worries to Dumbledore – anonymously, of course. We all would like a safer school."
Hermione, Danny, and Harry hesitated, glancing at everyone but Remus and wondering how much they should say. Danny, for his part, hadn't known very much about it to begin with and felt that he shouldn't be the one to speak.
"Well," Ron finally broke in, encouraged by Remus's support and fed up with his friends' over-caution. "We all know Snape is a greasy git. He tried to jinx Harry off his broom, in the first Quidditch match this year."
"Jinx Harry?" Remus looked alarmed. "When did this happen?"
The three original conspirators then traded off the story haltingly, explaining how they had seen Harry's broom jerking one way than another, and how Hermione had gone and set the teacher's stand on fire to distract Snape, before Hermione finished off with saying "and that was when Danny and I were found passed out in the tower connectors."
Remus turned to stare at Danny, his expression inscrutable. Danny squirmed.
He looked back at Hermione, suddenly smiling pleasantly. "Would you mind if I cast a quick spell on you?"
Hermione frowned, nonplussed by the sudden request. "What kind of spell? What for?"
"Only for something I am investigating. It reveals the presence of an unusual element." He glanced at Danny, pulling out his wand.
"I suppose…" Hermione said reluctantly.
"Wonderful," Remus smiled, then twitched his wand. "Ectonum Revelio."
After casting the spell, he stared at Hermione for a long, hard moment. Nobody moved. Everyone felt a building tension.
Then he relaxed. "All good," Remus said, smiling. Danny noticed that he still looked troubled though, and resolved to ask him more about it later. He still didn't want to reveal what had happened to him to his friends, at least not fully. Not yet.
"What was that?" Hermione demanded, having no such reservations.
Remus stared at her, almost looking through her, the smiling dropping from his face as if it had only been held there by fragile pins and now had been knocked clean off. "It was a diagnostic spell, for ectoplasm. I found trace elements in your core. Nothing serious, but… I will have to investigate." He looked up, suddenly sharp. "Do you remember anything about the Quidditch tower? When you passed out?"
Hermione looked taken aback. "N-no. Just seeing Danny, feeling a little dizzy, and then waking up in the Hospital Wing."
There was a brief silence. Remus looked lost in thought again, the sharpness fading from his eyes.
"About Snape," Remus muttered absentmindedly, pocketing his wand. "It is quite possible that he was casting a countercurse. If Quirrell was also in those stands…" He stood up. "I will have to go investigate. Thank you. This might have been exactly what I needed to convince Dumbledore. I will do my best to resolve this."
He turned, and without waiting for a goodbye, left the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Well," Hermione said. "That was strange."
Harry and Ron nodded emphatically in agreement. Danny said nothing.
"At least we didn't get into trouble," Hermione said.
"Remus wouldn't have done that," Harry protested.
"I don't know, he looked pretty scary at the end there, mate…" Ron said.
Danny scowled. "He was just doing his job. There are things going on that you three don't know about."
They all turned to look at him. He realized he had said too much and tried to back up. "I mean – the way he was acting – of course there's some reason why he's here –"
"What do you know about him?" Ron said suspiciously. "I've seen you two around each other a lot. Do you know something we don't?"
Danny shrunk.
"No?" he said, making it a question.
"Oh, Ron, this is ridiculous," Hermione said, coming to his defense. "Danny is my friend. He didn't know anything about the Stone until I told him."
"Hermione," Harry reluctantly said. "It did sound like Danny knew something about what Remus was doing. Wouldn't it be better if he told us? How Remus was acting… it made me worried about you."
Hermione stared at him, then visibly calmed. She looked at Danny.
Danny squirmed.
"We won't be angry," Ron promised, looking rather conscientious.
Liar, Danny snapped.
He held his breath, trying not to show his anger. He still couldn't divorce his image of Ron from his childhood bullies, after what he had said to Hermione on Halloween. Even though Ron had long since apologized.
"... Is there something you're not telling us, Danny?" Hermione finally asked, hesitantly.
"No." Danny looked to the side, feeling guilty again for his thoughts. Maybe, he told himself, I am just being completely unfair to someone who made a mistake and is really only trying to be a good friend. "I mean – maybe. I suppose. But I don't want to talk about it." He crossed his arms stubbornly. "I can't talk about it."
"Is it about that month you went missing?"
Harry could be surprisingly perceptive.
"Well…" Danny hesitated. What really was the reason why he hadn't told anybody? Because he was ashamed of having been possessed? Because Dumbledore, Quirrell, and Snape had all warned him against telling anybody? Because he couldn't remember anything anyway, so what was the point?
Because he was scared of how they might react?
Maybe they needed to know, for their own safety. If they were already getting involved with the Sorcerer's Stone – and Danny suspected Quirrell and the ghost also had something to do with this Sorcerer's Stone – then they needed to know what they were up against.
Maybe he could just tell them about the ghost. Not about what it did to him. Not about the snatches of horrible memory that were coming back to him in nightmares, impression of blood and terrible pain. Memories that he almost suspected were not even his own.
"Well," he finally said. "Fine. You're right. There is something I know that you don't. Remus is investigating a ghost in Hogwarts."
"A ghost?" Hermione was frowning.
Right. Of course. They'd be thinking of the Hogwarts type of ghost.
"Not like Nearly Headless Nick… Or like the Bloody Baron, or even like Peeves. They're different. They're, er, muggle ghosts. Made from ectoplasm. They're… really dangerous. And Dark." Danny scanned their faces, then flicked his eyes to the ground. "You need to be careful."
"But what does that have to do with," Ron gesticulated, "with the whole thing that happened with Hermione just now?"
"Um," Danny grimaced. He couldn't see a way out of explaining it. "Ectonum Revelio is a diagnostic spell that checks for ectoplasm in a small area. Ectoplasm is what those ghosts are made of. Er, like I already said."
When he paused, they all looked at him, waiting expectantly for him to continue. He took a deep breath. "So since Quirrell was involved and Hermione and I passed out at the Quidditch match and…" maybe if he said it really fast they wouldn't actually hear, "and I was also kind of possessed by the ghost," he checked their expressions – very owl-ish and wide-eyed, "he probably thought Hermione might have been in trouble too, and so checked her. But I think it's all good? And it looks like he might be able to get Quirrell fired soon because of it, so, uh, that's good."
He still wasn't sure how he felt about the professor (which was strange, because he was almost sure by now that everything had been the professor's fault), but he did want Quirrell gone.
Ron blinked. "What's this about Quirrell?"
Hermione's mouth was hanging open. "You were possessed? Oh my goodness, that explains everything, why you were – Danny – I – I'm so sorry, I didn't know – and I thought you –" She grimaced, then took a breath. "I'm really sorry."
"For what?" he asked, feeling dizzy. "You didn't do anything."
"But I – I ignored you, because I was upset and thought you didn't care. If I had been there – "
A memory surfaced. A torn portrait. Who –
"It was better you weren't," Danny said, suddenly not able to meet her eyes.
"Er, I'm really sorry, Danny," Harry said, tentatively interrupting the scene. "That that happened to you. But I think Ron is also right to ask… if it's alright for me to say. What did Professor Quirrell have to do with it?"
That was a little easier to answer, since he had already thought it through logically. He focused on Harry, trying to forget Hermione's self-damning expression.
"Professor Quirrell," he said, chewing on the words, "was probably in some way responsible for me being possessed. At the very least, he did nothing – or chose to do nothing – on the excuse of me losing my memory if he tried to forcibly remove the ghost." He grimaced. "Which happened anyway."
Ron and Harry traded looks. This was news to them.
"Your memory?"
"Yeah." Danny's mouth tasted like ash. At least Hermione hadn't shared everything with them, without asking him. That stood for something. "I don't remember much of that month. Some of it is coming back to me now, but… after I woke up in the Hospital Wing, I didn't even think that more than a day had passed. But somehow it was November, nearly December."
"Blimey," Ron breathed. "That's awful, mate."
Danny tried to gauge his sincerity, but he could only see earnestness on Ron's face.
"Thanks. I think." He considered. "I don't know why the ghost left, though. I mean, it's still here, in Hogwarts, but Remus has been protecting me. It hasn't been close since."
"So that week you spent, with Ghostitis –" Ron said, realization dawning.
"– was when the rest of the professors found out about it," Danny said. Relief flashed in the redhead's eyes.
"So the professors helped you?" Hermione said hopefully.
"Yeah, they did," Danny said, looking back at her, trying on a smile. "The Headmaster asked Remus to come, and he's been helpful."
"And he thinks Quirrell is after the Sorcerer's Stone?" Ron asked, frowning, an uncharacteristically pensive look on his face.
Danny nodded. "I do too. It doesn't make sense that Snape would be after it."
Harry was obviously startled. "But – you don't really think that, do you? It has to be Snape. He's practical evil. Professor Quirrell never…"
Harry paused under the weight of three sets of eyes.
"Well," Hermione said. "Let's think about it logically. What do we actually know about Snape, and what do we know about Quirrell?"
"We know Snape is a greasy old git," Ron piped up helpfully.
"Snape also tried to jinx me off my broom," Harry muttered.
"We don't know that. Didn't you hear what Mr. Lupin said? It could have been a countercourse."
Harry disagreed. "But he's hated me ever since I stepped foot in potions!"
Danny frowned. "I thought that was because of your parents."
Harry looked at him. "My parents?"
He didn't know. That was surprising. Remus hadn't told him?
"Well, er," Danny said, feeling awkward. "Snape apparently loved your mom. That was why he had worked on Dumbledore's side of the war last time, because Voldemort killed her. And I guess you remind him of her death, or something." He shrugged uncomfortably.
Hermione's eyebrows were raised sky-high. Ron was staring at him peculiarly. Harry was positively gobsmacked.
"Don't get me wrong," Danny said. "I still think he's a mean old… git. And a bully. But… I mean, when you go through some messed up things, I guess you can get pretty messed up yourself too."
He must have been spending too much time with Headmaster Dumbledore, to have begun spouting out generic, philosophical-sounding statements like this.
"Danny," Hermione said, sounding pleased. "That was incredibly wise of you. I can't agree more."
Harry was of a slightly different perspective. "But how do you know that?"
Danny shifted uncomfortably. "It's a long story," he said. "I thought you knew, honest."
"But who told you?" Harry pressed.
"Remus did. But that was because Snape –" He shut his mouth abruptly. "I can't tell you what, but Snape did something really bad to me. So Remus explained to me why he is the way he is."
They were all frowning.
"So," Hermione said carefully. "To recount, we know that Snape is mean, was in love with Harry's mum, extremely partial to Slytherin for points, did something bad to Danny, might have cursed or countercursed Harry's broom, and also probably was bitten by Fluffy on Halloween night. What do we know about Quirrell?"
"Actually," Danny said, remembering something else "Are you sure Snape was hurt by Fluffy? When I noticed you missing, Hermione, at the Halloween feast I told Professor McGonagall after the troll showed up. It looked to me like Snape was going to go after you."
Hermione frowned. "Snape wasn't one of the professors who came to rescue us."
"And we saw him headed towards the Fourth floor corridor, not the dungeons or where Hermione was, before we found her," Ron chimed in.
"Huh."
"What about Quirrell?" Hermione pressed.
They all looked at him, again.
"What?" Danny said. "Why do I know everything?"
"Good question," Ron said. "Why you?"
Harry coughed. "I can start. Quirrell stutters, and he's always very nervous. We saw him once talking to Snape, refusing to tell him something. I met him at the Leaky Cauldron this year, before school started, but I remember him once shaking my hand when I was little."
"Was he wearing that turban back then?" Danny asked, interested. There was something about it…
But Harry only frowned and shook his head. "I don't remember. It was so long ago…"
His hands tightened against the photos he still held in his lap.
"What about you, Danny?" Harry asked, and Danny frowned.
"I don't know much more than I already told you. I know he's somehow involved with the ghost, and probably after the Sorcerer's Stone. Both Remus and Snape hate –"
The portrait door slid open, and inane chatter suddenly filled the room.
"... him," Danny finished, then felt a surge of dread. What if they were overheard talking about the Stone?
"Charms homework," Hermione hissed at them, and they hurriedly pulled it out from their satchels, trying to look inconspicuous.
As it turned out, their charade was completely unnecessary.
It was only the other first year boys, Neville, Dean, and Seamus, returning from a merry day spent in the snow. Theodore, obviously, had not come back with them.
"You're working on Charms?" Seamus exclaimed as soon as he had peered over Danny's shoulder to see what he was so intently staring at. "Blimey hell, we just got that today." He stared at Hermione accusatorily. "It's your fault, isn't it."
Danny scowled, elbowing the space-invading boy away from him. "I wanted to do it," he defended.
Seamus shook his head in disbelief, then sauntered over to Ron. Upon seeing his paper, he gasped. "You too!? My only compatriot in this cold, lonely world… How could you?"
Ron's face turned as red as his hair. A nice shade of tomato red, dotted with some orange speckles.
"I, well," Ron stuttered. "Decided to become a good student?"
Seamus tut-tutted. "Well, I never." He pranced off to the stairs, shaking his head at their foolery. "All sane people can follow me, up the stairs. Yes, good people, after me…"
Apparently, only the chuckling Dean was considered one of the "good people", because Neville stayed down with them.
"Could I work on Charms with you?" Neville asked, almost woefully. A big change from his morning cheery self. "I've never been really good at it, and seeing you all hard at work…" He trailed off, smiling hopefully.
"Er, of course, Neville," Hermione said graciously. "We just got started, anyway."
As he sat down on the armchair across from them, where Remus had been, Danny smiled at his friend, shakily, still feeling rattled by their sudden entrance. "Don't worry, Nev," he said. "We'll get this taken care of in a jiffy."
Growing Up
Later, once Charms homework was all wrapped up and done, the boys headed upstairs, wishing Hermione good night as she went to her own dorm.
"What are those photos?" Neville asked curiously, seeing them clutched in Harry's hand. He had stopped to look at them frequently in their work sesion, and Hermione, though Danny was sure she had noticed, hadn't commented.
"They're of my parents," Harry said quietly, and Neville's mouth rounded into an o.
"I wish I had more pictures of my parents," Neville said wistfully, after a moment.
Danny almost missed a step, looking at Neville, surprised. He almost asked, but some strange instinct stopped him as he took in his friend's crushingly sad expression.
"How'd the rest of the snowball fight this morning go?" he said instead, deliberately changing the subject.
Neville's cheeks got rosy, and Danny cheered at the success of his distraction. "Oh, you know. After you left, we got Theo pretty easy. Of course he didn't give up, but then he argued constantly about not having to give up his secrets just because I said so. He told me he never actually agreed to it, and I supposed I couldn't argue with that. Then he told me that he'd tell me his secrets anytime, as long as Seamus wasn't there." Neville positively blushed.
"Merlin's beard, Neville," Ron said. "You sound like my little sister Ginny. You have a crush, on a Slytherin."
"And a boy," Harry added helpfully.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Danny added quickly. "With either of those." Jazz had made sure he was well educated, with her rants against discrimination and homophobia. Her angry face had made a strong impression on Danny, and he did his best to mimic it as he glared at both Ron and Harry. Ron had the audacity to grin back at him.
"I – I don't – I don't –" Neville spluttered.
"Sure, Neville," Ron said, still grinning, throwing an arm over Neville's shoulder. "We believe you."
All three of them, excluding Neville of course, were slightly disappointed when they actually reached their dormitory. Neville scurried inside as soon as the door was opened, doubtlessly hoping for the protection of Dean and Seamus.
Danny seriously debated letting the two in on it, and had to admit to himself that he had enjoyed Ron's needling of his friend almost as much as the redhead himself had. He decided to remain quiet, for Neville's sake. Besides, it was out of character for Danny to start spouting such things about his friends, especially about crushes. He would preserve Neville's dignity. For now.
It seemed like Ron had similar thoughts, because he said no more on the topic that night. And Harry… Well, Harry wouldn't breathe a word of it to anyone.
While getting ready for bed, Danny realized that he had warmed up to Ron. Well, rather, he now supposed Ron was alright. His dislike really must have been irrational, after all.
He was still thinking about this, when he grabbed the memory potion Madam Pomphrey gave him to drink nightly. It was supposed to help with obliviated memories – and it was helping – but not as fast as any of them had expected.
This time, Seamus, in the next bed over, noticed.
"What's that?" he asked curiously.
Danny eyed him skeptically. Seamus had never been sensitive about people's personal lives, and was even worse at keeping secrets. "It's called 'none of your business'. I named it myself." He downed it quickly, then put the glass bottle back with many of its cousins.
Seamus pouted. "Come on, Danny," he whined. He turned so that he was lying on his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows. "You lost the game earlier today. At least tell us what that potion is, won't you?"
"That's right," Neville said, taking his revenge for earlier. (Though Danny hadn't done anything wrong!) "You still need to tell us your secrets! You practically gave up when you left like that, earlier."
Danny floundered at the logic.
"But… I never agreed to tell?" If Theo could get away with it, then why couldn't he?
"You started it," Seamus said, dramatically. "You issued the challenge, threw down the gauntlet." His voice dropped to a whisper. "You must fulfill the prophecy."
Danny threw his pillow at him. "What prophecy?"
Seamus grinned, looking sheepish but not at all regretful. "No clue! Just popped into my head is all." He leveled a severe gaze at Danny. "The point still stands. Having started it, you agreed to whatever the condition would be."
"What kind of stupid rule is that?" Danny exclaimed. "I'm going to sleep." He buried his head underneath his other pillow, his favorite one. His parents were coming tomorrow. He had his meeting with Remus scheduled for the morning. He had classes, and nefarious professor plots to unhatch. He couldn't deal with this childhood inanery.
Seamus threw his pillow back at him. "Pillow fight!" the boy exclaimed, excitedly.
Danny groaned, suddenly lacking the energy to speak.
"Leave him alone, Seamus," Ron called unexpectedly. "He's had a rough day."
That almost got Danny to lift his head, but being in bed made it an almost an impossible affair. He was tired. He would tell Ron thanks later.
"Well, alright," Seamus said dubiously. He heard shuffling. "I guess I'll let him sleep. Anyone want to play Exploding Snap in the common room with me?"
Mercifully, someone turned the lights off for him.
Humanity
He woke up still feeling tired.
He had had a nightmare. He was being chased, chased, chased, fear dancing in his heart. Feeling an impending, certain sense of doom. Then silence, blackness.
Then an eruption of glee, terrible, sadistic glee. As if he had become the hunter suddenly, and enjoyed – no, more than enjoyed, hungered for the fear of his prey.
The sick part was how natural it felt in the dream. Danny thought it hadn't been a dream at all, but a memory. He again wondered what he had done, in that month. He thought about that torn portrait he had remembered snatches of yesterday.
Had that ghost made him into a monster?
He couldn't remember. That bothered him more than anything. These tantalizing glimpses, snatches, and he couldn't remember.
Sighing, he stood up, readying himself for the day. He was the first one up. He had his meeting with Remus, after all.
He went to the Great Hall and ate his breakfast quickly. It was quiet; not many students or teachers were awake yet, and those who were, weren't inclined to speak much. Percy was the only familiar face at the Gryffindor table just then, and all they exchanged were friendly smiles and a quick "Good morning."
Danny finished his food, straightened his yellow-gold Gryffindor tie, and went off to find Remus at their usual meeting spot, in a small room by the library.
When he entered, Remus was already there. He looked contemplative, staring at the wall emptily. When Danny wished him "Good morning", he barely responded, and Danny felt the pits of worry begin to stir.
Finally, Remus looked at him, a pained expression on his face. Maybe Danny read into that expression too deeply, but it looked to him like the man couldn't hide it, couldn't hold in his pain and now everything had come bubbling up to show plain as anyone could see.
Danny suddenly felt very awake.
"Danny," Remus said, an almost desperate tone in his voice. "If someone, someone bad, knew something terrible about you – something you're ashamed of but can't ever change – and threatened to tell everyone, unless you kept quiet about the bad things he did, what would you do?"
Danny looked at him, and immediately knew. "Quirrell."
Remus nodded, reluctantly.
"... I would say do it anyway," Danny said, hoping it would help, but worrying that it would not, "if someone else is in danger. You have to do what's right."
Remus pursed his lips and looked away, that far-off expression on his face.
Danny hesitated. "... What did you do?" he asked. When he remained stoic, Danny added, almost encouragingly, "You know, when I was possessed… I think I did something really nasty. I keep remembering now. There was this portrait, and…" He swallowed and stopped talking, seeing Remus look at him. After a moment, the man sighed.
"It's not so much what I did, as what I am," he admitted.
Danny frowned, then said hesitantly –
"How bad can it be? Remus, you're one of the smartest, and nicest adults I've ever met. You listen. You actually talk to me like I can think. You…" He faltered, seeing suddenly a very vulnerable, raw expression on Remus's face.
He barked bitter laughter. "You know, Dumbledore actually offered me a position teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. For the last ten years." He ran a hand down his face. "I never accepted."
Danny had never seen him like this before. "... Why not?"
He was almost scared to ask.
"Because I knew I would scare them," he said, morosely, hopelessly. "Everyone who finds out has run away from me. Everyone except the people who are already dead." His eyes grew clouded again, like they had after he had given Harry those photos. "James. Lily. Peter. And Sirius is as good as."
Remus looked down at Danny and seemed to remember himself. He smiled weakly. "But I shouldn't be telling you all this. You're still so young. Too young to see this heartbreak."
Danny searched for something to say, feeling at a loss. "You… you don't scare me, Remus."
The man crouched down in front of him, so their eyes were level. Danny could still see the pain in them.
"You're a good kid, Danny," he said. "But there are still many things you need to learn. Find the friends who will have your back no matter what, and cling to them. Those kind of people are rare and few in between. They are your best protection for your heart, and for your safety." Remus's eyes hardened. "For the rest… Never trust, unless you truly know the heart of a person. Otherwise, you never know when they'll turn back on you for what they are."
Remus straightened, and gave Danny another sad smile and a wave. "I think I will follow your advice after all. I hope I will see you again, Danny."
Danny stared after him, rooted to the spot, as Remus walked away, the light of sunrise falling down from the windowsill after him.
Growing Up
"We need to stop Quirrell," Danny told his newly-acquired co-conspirators, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, in the boy's dormitory during lunch hour. "Now. Today. He's… he's somehow going to do something bad to Remus."
"Something bad?" Hermione asked, alarmed. "What is it?"
"I… I don't know," Danny admitted. "Remus looked worried. It was, well, it was blackmail. Quirrell had something on him."
"How do we stop blackmail?" Ron asked.
"I - I don't know," Danny said. "But we need to think of something."
"I have an idea," Harry said.
They all looked at him.
He fidgeted.
"My dad's invisibility cloak, remember? We can sneak into Quirrell's office. Maybe we'll find something there that'll help."
"Oh, right!" Hermione said brightly. "Why didn't I think of it before?"
"Your dad had an invisibility cloak?" Danny asked incredulously.
Harry nodded, a ghost of a smile on his face.
"It's wicked," Ron promised.
"But not all four of us can fit under it," Hermione said, frowning. "Maybe three, but…"
She was thinking about the logistics of using an invisibility cloak. Danny shook his head in admiration and disbelief.
"I'll stay out," Ron said. "Unless any of you want to. I don't think I'll be much use, looking through a professor's office, anyway."
The other three glanced at each other, then nodded.
"Alright," Danny said, swallowing nervously. "Let's do this."
Humanity
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