Harry smiled at his wand. His first wand had been repaired.
"You could give me the elder wand," Ron complained. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Ron, stop whinging. It's Harry's and he's made up his mind. That's that. Let's move on," Hermione grumbled. Harry smirked at his friends. He glanced at the elder wand. He was going to return it to Dumbledore's grave. He sighed. He should probably do it now. That way no one would be watching him and he wouldn't forget.
"Come on. Let's put this back in Dumbledore's grave," Harry mumbled tiredly. He'd much rather go to some warm bed and have Kreacher, who had returned to lead the Hogwarts house elves into battle, bring him something to eat.
They quietly walked through the wrecked school, Filch was going to have a hard time cleaning the mess up. They stepped out into the mid-day sun and crossed the grounds to the marble tomb beside the Black Lake. Harry stepped forward and brushed a hand over the marble, still cracked from when Voldemort broke inside and took the wand. Harry gingerly slid the wand back into place, underneath Dumbledore's cold limp hands. He stepped back and lifted his wand. He smiled to himself as he repaired the tomb. Everything was as it should be. The trio stood there in silence for a few moments. The lake sploshed softly in the gentle, warm breeze. The distant forest whispered. Birds twittered happily. The war was over. This time Voldemort wasn't coming back. His body lay in a dark chamber of the school alone. They turned away from Dumbledore's grave and walked calmly back to the castle.
"What do you reckon will happen now?" Hermione muttered.
"Dunno. Right now, I don't really care. Kingsley's minister right now. He'll repair the damage Voldemort did. In a few days, I guess we'll all be back home, everything back to normal," Harry replied.
"Normal? When have things ever been normal?" Ron snorted. Harry chuckled. He knew what Ron meant. The trio rarely had nothing to worry about or didn't have a mystery to solve. They came to an uncertain stop though when they saw a blue-skinned, white suited ghost ahead of them.
"Daniel! Daniel!" the ghost shouted, worry clear in his voice. Harry glanced at Hermione and Ron.
"Hey! Can we help you?" Harry called. The ghost faltered, mid-shout and turned to them.
"Have you seen King Phantom?" the ghost asked. The trio glanced between themselves before shaking their heads.
"No. We haven't. When was the last you saw him?" Hermione answered. The ghost bit his lip fearfully.
"The Great Hall. After that Voldemort person called a time-out in the war. He ordered the ghosts to return to the Ghost Zone and left to do some job or something. He hasn't been seen since," the ghost informed them.
"We'll keep an eye out for him. But I'm sure he's around," Harry offered. The ghost nodded distractedly before floating away, resuming his shouts.
"I didn't know Danny was in the Great Hall," Harry remarked. Hermione and Ron nodded.
"I saw him. He was kneeling in front of… of Remus and Tonks. He looked really upset. But he was gone when I looked back," Hermione admitted.
"George told me that Danny stopped most of the dementors joining the fight with a couple of ghosts," Ron added softly. Harry blinked.
"I didn't know Danny and Remus were friends. I mean Phantom, not Danny Fenton," Harry commented. Hermione and Ron shrugged in reply.
They were walking through the courtyard back into the castle when Hermione came to an abrupt stop, her gaze on a mound of rubble and gasped.
"Harry. Ron. I think someone's trapped over there!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger at a mound of rubble, a human hand poking out. Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed across the courtyard, pulling out their wands. They quickly but methodically removed the rubble and slowly they uncovered a person, wheezing for breath. Danny Fenton. The trio froze in stunned disbelief. Ron recovered first and pointed his wand at the injured, unconscious teen.
"Traitor! Because of him Moody died. And Fred. And Remus! And Tonks!" Ron exploded emotionally. Harry grabbed Ron's arms, forcing his wand away from Danny.
"Ron, wait! Remember what we thought about Snape. Remember. We thought he was a traitor too. But he wasn't! We should wait and see what Danny says!" Harry argued. Hermione nodded in agreement silently, taking in the teen's injuries. There was a nasty wound on the teen's right leg, his left arm looked broken. From the sound of his breathing, Danny had some broken ribs too. Not to mention the numerous bruises and bloody cuts all over his body. Ron shrugged off Harry and took a few steps away.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other uncertainly. They didn't know what to do. Danny was injured. Should they bring him into the castle and get him help or wait for the teen to wake up? Harry sighed. They needed answers. He pointed his wand at Danny.
"Aguamenti," Harry mumbled. A jet of water rushed out of the wand tip and over Danny. Danny coughed and spluttered, jerking up slightly in shock before crying out in agony and falling back where he had been lying. He groaned and slowly reopened his eyes, staring at the bright blue sky.
"Ow," he breathed.
"Danny," Harry called coldly. He may have stopped Ron, but that didn't mean that he thought that Ron was wrong. Danny had apparently abandoned the order, switched sides which may have led to so many deaths.
Danny blinked and slowly tilted his head to look at Harry. Harry could see that Danny was having difficulty in focusing. It was possible that he had a concussion. That worked to their advantage. If Danny was finding it hard to focus, then he wouldn't be able to lie to them.
"H-Harry?" Danny rasped.
"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded. Danny blinked.
"Er… fi-fighting," Danny mumbled uncertainly.
"Harry, maybe we should wait. I don't think we're gonna get our answers," Hermione whispered, taking pity on the confused teen. Harry glanced at her. He sensed that she was right. But he wanted to ask one more question before he got help for Danny.
"Why did you leave the order?" Harry asked sharply. Danny blinked.
"Wha?" he wheezed.
"Why did you leave the order?" Harry repeated impatiently. It was a simple question.
"I left?" Danny retorted dumbly. Harry growled in annoyance.
"Yes! You did! You had a big argument with Remus and Moody and a load of other order members and walked out!" Harry reminded the teen angrily.
"I did-didn't argue w-with Remus. Sev-Severus I did. B-before we made fr-friends," Danny slurred. Harry frowned in confusion. Danny wasn't making any sense. Maybe it was the concussion but somehow, he thought that Danny was telling the truth.
Harry sighed and turned to Hermione and gave her a nod. He would wait to interrogate Danny further. She grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him into the castle with her. Harry stayed with Danny. He sat down beside the teen.
"Who won?" Danny mumbled after a few seconds of silence. Harry frowned and turned to the teen. He had his eyes shut, brow furrowed slightly, clearly in pain.
"Voldemort's dead if that's what you're asking," Harry answered uncertainly. Danny nodded.
"Good. You're alive. I'm not dead," Danny remarked softly. Harry raised an eyebrow before sweeping his gaze over Danny. He could understand why the teen might have thought he'd been killed. He had been buried alive. But he couldn't decide if Danny said it was good Voldemort was dead or if it was good Harry was alive. Because those two things meant completely different things. If he was glad that Voldemort was dead it meant he didn't want Voldemort to win. Danny was still loyal to the order. But if he meant he was glad Harry was still alive, it either meant he was glad that he wasn't dead or that he didn't want Harry to die, which begged the question, why he joined Voldemort?
Hermione and Ron ran back to Harry and Danny with McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey trailing behind them.
"Danny!? Thank goodness," McGonagall gasped, dropping down to Danny's side.
"What happened?" she demanded fearfully. Harry glanced at Hermione and Ron, taken aback by the worry McGonagall displayed for an apparent traitor. Danny opened his eyes and tilted his head to face McGonagall.
"Uh, I th-think Grawp and th-those giants b-buried me a-alive," Danny answered uncertainly. McGonagall gasped and turned to Madam Pomfrey. The nurse looked confused.
"I thought he was a Hufflepuff student. Why is he wearing that?" She muttered, gesturing to the dark robes that showed that Danny was a Death Eater.
"It's a long story Poppy. Just treat him," McGonagall retorted. That really didn't make any sense.
"What's going on?" Harry interjected as Madam Pomfrey knelt down beside Danny and examined the teen's left arm.
McGonagall spared a glance at Harry before turning her attention back to a confused, concussed Danny.
"Danny was the order's spy after we thought Severus betrayed us. I think I ought to let Danny explain the details," she informed them. Harry blinked in shock before turning back to Danny. One thought passed through his mind. Danny was a spy, then that meant everything he had done was an act. Madam Pomfrey magically lifted Danny out of the rest of the rubble scattered around him and rushed him to the hospital wing, still moderately intact thanks to the ghosts King Phantom brought to Hogwarts.
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down nearby the teen as Madam Pomfrey drew some curtains around the bed and began to treat the teen's numerous injuries. McGonagall watched the curtains worriedly. All exhaustion, hunger and joy from the battle that morning faded to the back of their minds as they waited for news on Danny.
At least Danny's alive right? And Harry and his friends are going to get some answers.
Let me know what you guys think so far.
We are nearing the end of this story now. So make sure you check out my facebook page and watch the advert for the next fanfic I'll post. There's a link on my bio.
And lastly, happy New Year! I hope everyone has a brilliant year.
Until the next chapter.
