Chapter 9 - Quarrels

The room whirled as Danny tried to madly think up an answer to Vlad's question. Nothing that he thought of would work, what could he even say!? That he was a time-travelling half ghost from the future and that they were both enemies due to the fact he was Jack and Maddie's son? No way, that would be disastrous!

Yet with each passing second Vlad was becoming warier, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Danny panicked, realizing that if he didn't do something fast he was going to have a very irritated Plasmius on his hands.

"Um, well! … You… um, see…my… my name's Phantom." He mentally slapped himself. Of all the stupid things to say, he just had to screw up! Not only did that sound incredibly lame, but now he had just royally mucked up the future even more.

"Phantom?" Vlad repeated it in scepticism. "That can't be your real name."

"Is for a ghost." Danny swayed, gripping his head. His vision went double and the pressure in his temple grew. Why wasn't his ghost form getting rid of this headache? Normally he should be recovering by now. So why wasn't he healing? He reverted suddenly, losing control of his powers.

The other half ghost's scowl abruptly disappeared as the white light faded. "Ghost…" He looked back at his hand, wiping the green off onto the ground swiftly.

Danny struggled to think of something to say. With his head aching as it was, he was finding it difficult to concentrate on Plasmius at all. "Yeah, ghost. You know; the folks that float around yelling "Beware!" and drive you mad all day. Or in this case the ghost that decided it would be fun to body slam someone into a wall!"

He sighed and turned back to the wall when it became clear Plasmius preferred to stare at him than apologise. Slowly he began to build enough power to be able to phase through, though he didn't know how long he could hold it. But Danny hesitated, looking back towards the man. Should he leave him here? Which was more dangerous? An unpredictable Vlad Plasmius or a loony ghost that wanted to destroy the future? Both were just as bad as each other.

He made his choice. "Go home."

"What?"

"I said; Go home Plasmius!" He jabbed towards the portal. "Right now I'm kind of busy. So if you could listen to me for once and clear off. That…would be great."

Another dizzy spell came, the black dots returning. Ignoring the speechless look Vlad gave him Danny walked through the wall, tumbling to the ground on the other side.

Leaning heavily on the damp floor, he tried to shake the fogginess out of his mind. Damn, he couldn't afford to be like this, not when Luna was out there likely causing havoc! Huffing he stood, pausing a moment to test how he felt. When he was sure he could walk without fainting he slowly made his way through the dungeon. All that was on his mind now was getting to Albus. At least then he could rest then knowing that Harry was safe.

When he finally made it to the first level of the dungeons his legs buckled underneath him, sending him crashing on the stairs. A sharp pain pierced his stomach and before he could stop himself Danny heaved, emptying what little his gut had. It brought little relief as shivers ran through his body, seconds from passing out.

No, this wasn't normal! He had never felt like it after a fight before! But then…those times he'd been a ghost. He'd be shocked, knocked out and blasted with ani-ghost weapons before as Danny Fenton, but never had he been smashed into a wall that fast. Plasmius must have been travelling at full speed when they hit, and he had taken the impact of it. But even so, he still had ghost powers! His healing should have immediately kicked in after he took damage like it usually did.

He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that nothing serious was wrong with him. Had Luna done something to him when she had encased him in water? How long had he even been knocked out anyways? Guess he should have asked Vlad. Though, Danny thought with a scowl, not like Plasmius would have told him the truth.

As he waited for nausea to pass, he didn't hear the slow footsteps approaching. Nor hear the soft chuckle as they came to a stop in front of him.

"If I had known this would happen, I would not have left."

Danny blinked at the voice, surprised to find himself no longer alone. Straining to get his vision to focus through the muddled haze he could just see a blur of a person. But the voice he knew all too well.

"Severus…"

He watched as the figure bent down to his level, grunting as he leaned on his bad leg. "Seems you lost again."

"I-" He tried to get up, but found himself tilting sideways, staring dazedly at the floor. Shaking his head Danny tried to clear the fog. What was he doing again? That right, he had to get to Albus, oh and Plasmius was down below too…

"Lumos." Danny felt his head tilted up, his sight abruptly blinded by a white light that came out of nowhere. He winced and tried to look away, it was so bright that it hurt everything. But the wizard held his chin in place, moving the light till Danny squeezed his eyes shut.

Severus huffed and to Danny's relief, the light faded from his eyelids. He heard him stagger up, dragging him up as he went. Danny gasped at the sudden movement, grabbing the arm that was propping him up. Both swayed as Severus grunted under the sudden weight, his injured leg aching. But still, the wizard held his grip underneath his arm.

"If you have the capacity to, you need to walk. If you suddenly feel sick or about to collapse, tell me at once."

Danny didn't trust himself to speak. Instead he nodded, letting the wizard drag him forward. Every step was jarring, the dark corridor seeming to go on forever. Somehow without warning, they were in front of a door set deep in the stone. Severus pushed it open with a creak, hauling the two of them into the dim chamber.

Familiar with years of use, Severus led the way around his office. Taking out his wand he gestured to where his fireplace was and with a flick, the dancing light lit the gloomy space. A glance confirmed that everything was in its place; his desk was in order, the cabinets and shelves filled with their correct ingredients, and his private chamber door was still firmly closed and warded. All good signs that no one had snuck into his office uninvited. Content, Severus used his good leg to kick one of his chairs outwards, dumping the disorderly boy into it.

He wasn't going to leave any chances, not with that poltergeist possible lurking about. It had been a fluke that he had heard the ghost boy while patrolling. Why the boy was down in the deeper levels of the dungeons in the first place, was curious. Beyond his office were the vast, ancient rooms collapsed and flooded from the Black Lake. Severus supposed it was a good place to duel without endangering the students. But still, it was interesting as to why down there of all places.

Stepping into the centre he raised his wand, casting a few more wards around the room and a muffler charm for good measure. It was still not a perfect defence, but at least they would not be overheard.

A groan brought Severus's attention back to the boy, finding him doubled over with his head in his hands. He could now see the bleeding wound on the back of this kid's head, the back of his scarf now covered with patches of red, dark brown and odd flecks of green. While he knew dried blood when he saw it, the strange green flecks glowing faintly on the dark fabric were puzzling. With a start the wizard realised, it was ectoplasm. The boy was literally bleeding ectoplasm!

Though disturbed by that, Severus studied the ghost boy while he could still see the injury. He had head trauma, which would explain the severe case of concussion he was showing. Everything considered it was a miracle he was awake. For a moment he debated on letting the Headmaster deal with this, yet he was likely busy with other matters now.

Seeing that it needed attention quickly he headed to his cabinet and began sorting through bottles of all shapes and sizes, running through the boy's conditions in his head.

The wound was bleeding heavily or had been; it was hard to tell with that mass of black hair. But there were no signs it was a cut or gash. Grazing of the skin then? Then there would be bruising, chances that objects had got inside the wound. It would have to be cleaned to stop infection. The boy's complexion was pale. Well, paler than normal meaning he lost a lot of blood.

Choosing three vials he read his written labels carefully, a thought dawning on him. Would his brews even work? Though taking the form of a human, he had shown them that he was by no means "normal". Creatures and Muggles had different reactions to potions depending on their systems. It was possible none of these would work on him, even make him sicker. However, the boy had said he was half living, which meant in theory these should affect him like any normal Muggle. And Severus knew these brews would work.

Reaching up to the shelf above he took a tin box, walking back this… Danny. He knelt in front of the teen, wincing as the cut on his leg pulled. The feeling of warmth ran down his ankle as it reopened. He was going to have to clean those scratches again and brew a tonic for the pain. But first, the boy.

Drawing a small side table closer he opened the tin box, taking out a small wooden bowl and small cup. Placing it down Snape tapped the side with his wand, muttering. "Aguamenti."

Danny looked up as the wizard cast the spell, watching in fascination as water poured gently out of the wand's tip into the bowl. Severus placed it down, opening a large square vial filled with a sickly red liquid that looked awfully like blood.

"What is that?" Danny immediately tensed on the chair, gripping the arms tightly when he realized that wizard wanted him to drink that stuff.

Severus sighed, annoyed that he was still wary of magical items. But as easy as it would be to just pinch his nose and force him to drink it, he knew smart tact was needed here. Even hurt, he knew this boy could become extremely dangerous to him if angered. "Right now, you have what appears to be a severe concussion. These," he motioned to the vials. "are tonics that might help you recover."

"What do you mean by, "might?""

"With your…condition, it's highly possible they won't work at all."

Danny slumped back, blowing a strand of hair out of his face. "Wonderful. So once again my powers mess up my life."

"Are you a Muggle?"

"I guess…"

"These brews work on Muggles. So there's a chance they will work. They just might not work at full strength."

Danny merely grunted in reply, struggling to stare at the fireplace. So, the boy doesn't always feel comfortable with his ghostly connection as he pretends to.

He poured a small amount of maroon liquid into the cup. Placed the vial's cork back Severus held back a chuckle. And why would the boy feel happy with his predicament? In a strange, twisted way he was like a variant of a perfected Inferi. Though no wizard or witchcraft seemed to be the cause of his transformation, the boy's ghost connection was riddled with ideas of Necromancy.

Fascinated by his sudden thoughts he stopped to study him. That branch of magic was such an unknown, almost a failed form of Dark Arts. Of all the forms of magic out there, none was more complex or taboo than necromancy. Many attempted it, only to be driven mad in the process. It was one of the reasons the Dark Lord was so feared. He was one of the rare practitioners of the art to success. Severus had seen it himself, the hordes of Inferi that the Dark Lord had created, the way he used the killing curse without negative effect…

He repressed a shiver, returning to the task. It might indeed be fool's magic, yet here was a perfect triumph of the craft. A boy living, breathing and alive, yet at the same time resurrected from death, still connected to the land of the dead like two sides of a coin.

Severus blinked, unable to stop the theories madly running through his mind. Would that mean the boy to be classed as a Non-being or at least a sub-form of one? Danny stated he had been blasted with some sort of spiritual energy, which must have resulted in his death. Yet it hadn't, instead creating an ability in him to become a poltergeist. So wouldn't that possibly mean that he couldn't die again like a normal poltergeist couldn't? Or due to the fact he regenerated at such an alarming rate, could repair his human body when it began to degrade, making him-

"What?"

Danny's blunt question jolted Severus out of his thoughts. He had been staring at the boy for too long.

"Nothing. I need you to drink this," He held out the cup up.

No, he thought, the Headmaster was right about keeping Danny's existence secret even among the other teachers. This ghost boy was something no one had seen before, let alone believed could exist. Ghost's caused enough controversy within their world without the knowledge that there could be "Half ghosts". His powers were frightening, impossible. They might be trivial to the boy himself, but even Severus felt wary after watching him take care of the Cerberus with no trouble. The fight itself had seemed nothing but a joke for him, his lack of fear proved that he had fought stronger foes before. What had he said? That he had fought ghost kings? Severus dreaded to think that there existed kings of death in the first place, let alone facing one in combat. No wonder the boy thought of their magic as weak compared to his own.

And if the Ministry of Magic learned about him, it would throw all the laws of Necromancy and spectral principle out the window. There was no telling what would happen.

Little to Severus's surprise Danny didn't take the cup, scowling at the sight of the liquid. The wizard fought back his irritation and explained simply. He needed to be patient with him.

"This here is a blood-replenishing potion. Completely harmless. All this will do is recover the blood you lost from your wound. If it doesn't work, you'll just be drinking iron. It will taste bad, metal-like, but the taste will ease off quickly."

"Wound?"

"You have a large graze on the back of your head."

Danny went to touch it but Severus quickly grabbed his wrist. "No. Don't touch it. I'll treat that after you drink this."

Reluctantly Danny took the cup, sniffing the top. It did indeed smell like metal, but he could pick up something else. A bitter, almost musty smell. He gulped nervously.

"This…is not just a cup of blood, is it? Or some weird creature's blood?"

"Just drink it."

"Okay, no way am I drinking a bunch of weird magical blood- "

"It is not blood, you fool. It just happens to take on the appearance of blood when it's brewed. Drink it."

He was still suspicious about it, even if the wizard was telling the truth. But Danny didn't want to look like a coward. Taking a deep breath he pinched the bridge of his nose, throwing the liquid down as quickly as possible. It was thick, almost paste-like in his mouth and tasted as bad as it looked. Finally swallowing it he found himself coughing as a burning taste of metal invaded his nose.

While he hacked away Severus went back to the tin box, taking out two thin cloths and reached for another vial, this one a little bottle of neon blue. Once Danny had stopped he took the cup from his hand, moving the table closer. Dapping a piece of fabric in the water he went to grab a stool, talking as he went.

"Since I understand you feel uneasy about my alchemy, let me explain. The blue liquid in this vial is Murtlap Essence To put it simply it's a natural antiseptic. You'll feel a tingle on your wound when I apply it, but it will reduce the pain. Before that, however, I'm going to clean the wound."

"I don't feel uneasy, it's just all this magic's new to me. Just like my ghost powers are to you. So… what's Murtlap?"

"A marine creature that is found around the coasts of Europe."

"You…don't like, crush it up into a liquid?"

"No, the essence is harvested from the tentacles on its back, it isn't killed in the making."

"Urgh." Danny wrinkled his nose at the thought. "Somehow that doesn't make me feel better about it."

Severus placed the stool in front of Danny to sit, holding out the bowl of water. He smirked. "This, is just plain, ordinary water."

Danny scowled at his dry humour. "For all I know it could be some weird voodoo water that'll make my hair fall out."

The wizard ignored him and edged closer, ringing out the cloth. "Lean forward and tilt your head down."

Grumbling Danny complied, squeezing his eyes tight as it caused a sharp pain in his neck. Severus went to lift his hair but froze, concern creasing his face. The boy felt him pause and glanced back up at his frown.

"There is… There is one thing I would like to ask you."

"Yeah?"

The wizard hesitated, wondering how to put his words. "This will sting. Possible quite a bit if it's deep. I need to know that you won't lash out at me once I start."

Instead of being offended Danny snorted with laughter, leaning his head back down. "Seriously? I know it's going to sting! I've had stuff like this before, you know. Well, maybe not with that Murtlap stuff, but pretty much the same thing."

"Why doesn't that surprise me," Severus replied, trying to keep him distracted by talking. He lifted the hair back, seeing it was a deep graze, surrounded by dark purple bruises. Just how hard did that other ghost hit him? And with what?

"Of course. I fight ghosts. Comes with the whole half ghost territory. But do you think they just instantly surrender once they see me? I wish. I've been smashed into walls hundreds of times before, so wounds like this are nothing." He winced as Severus started cleaning with the cloth. He hadn't been joking that it was going to sting!

"So this was caused by you being slammed into a wall?" Ah, that explained the bits of stone embedded in the skin. So that she-ghost threw him hard into a wall. But wouldn't he just pass through? Unless he wasn't a ghost at the time or if there were limits to his powers.

"Yeah. I, err… got tackled into that wall. Passed out for a bit so a guess it's why it hurt so much."

"You were unconscious? For how long?"

Danny shrugged. "Haven't got a clue."

It had been at least a few hours since Severus had seen him last. So it could be long. "You're lucky your condition didn't end up worst. Hits to the head can be serious. It's a miracle you're still standing."

"True. But it's not the worst I've gotten." Danny flinched when he felt a pull on his skin, nerves tensing. He knew Severus was just getting him to talk to keep him distracted, Sam always did the same. So he decided to humour him. "T-this one time I was fighting this crazy ghost named Skulker, he's this guy who's madly obsessed with hunting other ghosts. We ended up down at a construction site. Think they were building some sort of office building or was it an apartment complex? Doesn't matter; the main thing was I had to distract him long enough for my friend Tucker to trap him in a thermos-"

"-A thermos?"

"We have these ghost-catching devices back home that my parents made, the Fenton Thermos. Besides their portal, it's one of the few inventions they've made that does what it's designed for. Trust me I know, I've got sucked into a few. Urgh, there terrible to get trapped in, it feels like all the air's been sucked right out of you and you've been squished down to the size of a tennis ball. Anyway,…what was I talking about before?"

"A fight at a construction site." He dappled more water onto the cloth.

"Ah, right. So… I lured Skulker away to the site and got him fully focused on me, which isn't too hard what with him wanting my pelt as a rug. And Tucker sneaks behind him and sucks him right up."

He sniffed, grumbling. "Course Skulker just had to land one last blast on me. Couldn't be happy with the fact I beat him again. The blast flew me right into a bunch of scaffolding. The whole thing ended up collapsing on top of me." Danny smirked up at the man, patting his stomach. "One pipe went right through."

Severus paused as he was about to apply the Murtlap Essence. "You mean to say you got impaled?"

"Yeah. It's not exactly something I wanted to happen, especially on a school night. I panicked, phased the pipe right out and turned back to normal thinking my injury wouldn't transfer over. Worst thing I could've done. Sam, she's another one of my friends, was yelling at me to turn back before I bled out. Thankfully my healing kicked in and in a few hours, it closed up as if nothing had happened."

Danny felt a strange tingle as the Murtlap Essence soothed the wound. Once Severus was sure it was taking effect he threw the cloth into the bowl, heading back to the cabinet.

"You were lucky. Removing items without proper treatment can be…fatal." He wondered if "fatal" was even the right word.

"That's true, but thanks to transforming too early my shirt and jeans were covered in blood. Spent the rest of the night scrubbing them since I couldn't phase the dry stuff out. Of course, Mom noticed it a week later and demanded to know about the brown stains. Just told her I tripped on a paint tin in Tucker's garage..."

He fell silent as he thought about that night. It had been the first real ghost fight he had gotten badly injured, only two months after he became a half ghost. Until that night none of them realized how dangerous all this was for Danny. And Danny himself saw how much of a risk he was putting Sam and Tucker in. He could afford to get hurt and thrown around but those two, they were only human.

He frowned. Why was he thinking of them as humans? He was human himself! At least…still half one. The wizard placed the two vials back in their spots, shutting the door with a gentle click. "It seems you have quite the… exciting lifestyle."

"Hmmm."

Seeing the boy was now in no mood to talk he walked over, handing him a small purple vial. "Finally, I need you to take this just before you sleep. It is a Potion of Dreamless Sleep, the strongest sedative I have. With this, your body can rest completely. Now that I've removed the stones that were stuck in the graze your own healing can start doing its job."

Danny thumbed the label of the bottle vaguely, still lost in his memories. Suddenly he remembered what he had been trying to do before Severus had taken him here. "Albus! I need to warn him about Luna!"

"I already have informed him about that bothersome creature." Severus's lip curled up as he recalled how she had spoken to him. "We returned to find both of you gone, so we assumed the two of you ran off to fight somewhere. Let it be known though she won't get far into the castle without the Headmaster knowing. Nor will she escape him the next time."

Danny sighed in relief and slumped back into the chair. Good. At least for now, he didn't have to worry about her killing Harry. "So… what about our turban-wearing friend? What are we going to do about him?"

Severus went to his desk and sat slowly, curling a hand under his chin. With a flick of his wand, the cauldron beside him flared into life, warming up before his pain reliever potion. "I spoke about Quirrell to the Headmaster. Much to my distaste, he has advised we wait."

"What!? But we know who possessed by Vol-the shade now! Do you mean Albus doesn't mind that the most powerful dark wizard ever is cruising around the school teaching student!?"

"Do not think it doesn't bother me too. But until he makes his move out in the open, we are powerless to stop him. Quirrell will deny any accusations. And who would believe us? That the terrified, frail Professor who passes out at the mention of a troll is the host to the all-powerful Dark Lord's soul? Though they might believe the words of the Headmaster, none would even want to believe he has returned. It even sounds preposterous to me…"

"What do we do? Twiddle our thumbs till he kills Harry! There's no way I'm doing that, I didn't spend two months waiting around just to let that shade escape!"

Severus stilled. "Potter?"

Danny juggled the bottle between his hands, nervous about the topic. "Yeah, a friend of mine told me that he's after Harry too. That's why I'm here…to stop Vol- the shade from killing that kid. I'm surprised Albus didn't tell you."

"…He failed to mention that little detail."

Danny smiled, recalling the times he had spied on Harry and Ron. Those two always seemed to talk about Severus whenever they weren't talking about Quidditch. Complaining about all the homework he gave them, how he always took points from their house and how he downright hated Harry for what seemed like no reason. Ron even had some particularly colourful words for the wizard.

"Harry talks about you quite a bit, you know."

"Oh, I bet he does."

Danny watched as Severus's closed his eyes, anger and what looked like unease crossing his face. He was curious about what the wizard thought of Harry, but he decided that was a question for another time.

Finally, Severus spoke again, seemly to forget Danny's comment. "The Headmaster has instructed me to befriend Quirrell in the meantime, to get him to trust me. He believes due to my past activities this should be simple to gain that trust. Then at least I will be able to learn when he will strike and the means to stop them."

"Past activities huh?"

He scowled at the boy, refusing to answer his slip-up. Danny leaned forward, waving his hand in the air.

"Hey, I told you all about my life secrets, least you can do is tell me a little about yours."

"I do not wish to comment about my past."

"Think I wanted to talk about my past back at the Headmaster's office? My whole becoming a half ghost is private." He sat back, calming down. "Even I don't like talking about it."

"Ah yes, your accident."

"You sound like you don't believe me!"

The wizard sat back, peering over at Danny. He could tell from the smirk the boy was giving him, his mind was still jumbled from the injury. Not yet focused on how he was speaking to him. "I didn't. Like I said before; I don't trust you. That tale of yours could have been a lie used to justify remaining at Hogwarts. It wasn't until I saw you fight that Cerberus that I saw you did indeed possess poltergeist magic."

" But you saw me transform at the lake, shouldn't that have been enough?"

"Yes, but then that could have been a spell, a trick to fool everyone around you. In the laws of magic, there are ways to cast illusions onto others. And I didn't know if you cast one upon yourself to deceive us that you possessed a form of a ghost."

"Huh," Danny chuckled, leaning forward on his elbows. "Nice save avoiding my question. You're a sharp one, I'll give you that."

"It was not a "save", boy. I was merely giving you an answer."

"And I'm still waiting on mine."

Severus huffed, glaring at his cauldron. That little rascal, trying to pry into his personal life. And here he was, letting this… child speak to him this way. "If you must know, I simply was involved with Dark wizards in the past."

"No! You? I would never have guessed, what with all the black creepy robes you wear. I thought you were a saint."

His eyebrow twitched as he held back his rude remark. He wasn't about to stoop to the boy's behaviour. Nor risk experiencing what ghost magic felt like firsthand.

"Enough. Once I have his trust, I can find out when they will strike after the stone. Only then can we form a plan to stop Quirinus and in turn trap the Dark Lord before he is free. That is what the Headmaster wishes me to do, you included."

Danny was about to argue about what a waste of time that would be when he remembered Clockwork's words. The Time Master had mentioned that an event had been changed, not created. If this moment was Voldemort going after the stone, Severus was right. They couldn't stop him till it happened. If Danny did anything to stop the shade beforehand, he'll be destroying the time stream even worse than he already had.

That idea reminded him about the other half ghost below. He groaned running his hand through his hair, cringing as his fingers brush a scab. Time to deal with his next problem.

"Okay then." Danny rose, swaying a little as the blood rushed from his head. "We wait till the villain reveals his master plan. Got it." He grinned at the wizard. "I guess this makes us even, what with me saving you from Fluffy. I think I'll take your advice about resting though, my head feels like is going to explode. But first, I've got another mess to clean up."

"Oh?"

"Doesn't matter." Danny shook the dizziness away. "Thanks anyway, for cleaning my wound. That blue stuff works wonders."

"So now I'm not allowed to know about your business, am I?"

Danny glared back at the man. "You know, you sometimes remind me of someone I know. Someone I really despise."

Severus leaned forward on his hands, a cold sneer appearing on his face. "Likewise."

Rolling his eyes he stuffed the bottle into his pocket and went ghost, watching the wizard try hard not to show his amazement. "While you spy on that Quirrell and become best buddies with him, I'll prepare for the fight! Since it's so obvious from Fluffy you got no skills in real combat. I mean, going against a three-headed dog with a stick? And here was me wondering why you didn't just throw it!"

Before the wizard could protest Danny phased through the ground, laughing as he went. With a gentle thud, he landed on the floor below. He had to hand it to him. That wizard was cold and a bit too grumpy for his liking, but he was alright. Although he might have gone too far with that wand remark. With a finally chuckle he decided to walk back to the portal room, trying to stall for time. As he got closer to the room his happy mood disappeared.

He needed to see if that Cheesehead had gone back to the Ghost Zone. And if not, he needed to think of a way to get him back in there without getting himself killed. Thanks to Severus his head had become clearer, and the fact that Vlad was suddenly here quickly dawned on Danny. It was hard to remind himself that he was back in the past, that the man below him wasn't really the Vlad he knew, but a younger version of him.

That stumped Danny a bit. He'd never thought about his enemy younger. He had to have been a kid at some point, but he always imagined Vlad just to be the same old, annoying Vlad. Danny never believed the man could wear normal clothes instead of his suits. And those bandages on his face… could that mean that the college accident with the portal had just happened? It would explain the weird behaviour he'd shown and how muddled he was with his powers.

Slowing down as he descended the steps, Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously. No, as surprised as he was about meeting his adversary in the past, he wouldn't put it passed Plasmius to be faking, trying to get his guard down before stabbing him in the back. Literately. It would be just like the man to pull one of those old tricks out just to confuse him.

When the wall appeared he stopped, balling his hands. This time he wasn't going to let this Plasmius get the better of him! He had all the advantages for once, in both knowledge and terrain. He knew the layout of the school better than he did, and Danny wasn't some pushover now. With that Ghostly Wail, he could defeat the other half ghost in one fell swoop, no number of duplicates from Plasmius would stop it.

Turning invisible to be safe he floated into the room, ready to blast Plasmius if he charged at him again. But the room was silent and unmoving. And thankfully, empty.

Danny couldn't help but sigh in relief. There wasn't a ghost in the room. That meant to his disbelief, that Plasmius had listened to him for once.

A wave of faintness washed over Danny from holding his powers, and with another sigh, he let down his cover. He was just about to fly through the ceiling when a yelp made him jump, whipping around at the sound. Stunned he watched as Vlad faded into visibility from the corner of the room, just as stunned to see him. Danny couldn't stop his anger from boiling within him when he realized Plasmius had been hiding there the whole time.

"Oh Great! Of course, it was just too hopeful that you listened and left. Why did I even think otherwise!" Danny pointed at him, energy growing around his hand. "Didn't I tell you Plasmius, to go home and leave me alone? What are you now, deaf to listening to what others ask of you? Oh wait; you're always like that!?"

Vlad stared at him, slacked-jawed as he pushed himself up the wall. He gulped, eyes never leaving Danny as he gawked at him like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "I'm not," he cleared his throat when his voice came out thin "I'm not going back into that hellish place."

For a moment Danny could merely stare down at the man, confused as to why Vlad was acting so timid. Was he trying to trick him? So he could blast him while he was unguarded? He let his energy grow stronger, but not enough to lose control. No way was he being tricked now.

"Really? You're not, huh? I've got a different opinion."

Vlad cringed and tore his gaze away from the ghost floating before him, pressing himself as close to the stone wall as he could. His eyes darted around the room, trying to find a way out other than the glowing portal.

The movement made Danny realize something. Vlad was terrified of him. The same guy who was his most irritating enemy back home, who taunted and mocked him every chance he got. The same half ghost who on many occasions had frightened him with his insane amount of power and skill. Yet here he was acting like Danny was suddenly going to start strangling him.

He faltered, energy fading from his hand. But he thought of Clockwork's mission and everything that was on the line if he failed. What could he do? The damage was done. Plasmius knew Phantom before he should have and most likely the future had changed because of it. He was just going to have to deal with the repercussions later and get this guy out of Hogwarts as fast as he could. He couldn't stay here.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but oh yes, you are!"

Determined now Danny dropped down with a thud and marched up to the half ghost, causing him to press harder against the wall. While Vlad recoiled away Danny grabbed the front of his sweater, dragging him towards the portal with all his strength.

Vlad struggled against him and tried to pry Danny's vice-like grip off. Rolling his eyes at the half ghost's pathetic attempt he prepared for the chance he'd turn into Plasmius. But by the time they stopped in front of the portal Vlad hadn't even tried going intangible.

He took a deep breath as he felt Vlad's efforts intensify. It was all Danny needed to know he'd had enough of this. If it meant he had to throw Plasmius into the Ghost Zone to get him out of here, then so be it!

"L-Let go of me! Stop-"

Just as Danny was about to throw his arm was abruptly jerked downwards, almost throwing him off his balance. Startled he looked back to see what on earth Plasmius was trying, only to see that the man had fallen through the floor, stopping up to his waist.

For a moment, the two just looked at one another, Danny puzzled at why the half ghost was acting so weird. Vlad took one glance at his position before his face melted into horror. At once he slammed his hands down onto the floor, almost like he was worried he was going to sink further. Danny's arm started to twinge from the odd angle and he let go, watching fascinated as the man tried in vain to pull himself up, his left arm turning invisible in the process.

Seeing that he couldn't lift himself up and now noticing his missing arm Plasmius lost it. He glared up at Danny, rage darkening his brow as his eyes flickered red.

"What the hell have you done to me, devil!?"

Danny raised an eyebrow. Really? Was he seriously blaming him for something he was doing himself? Typical. And calling him a devil was low even for Plasmius's standards. But he couldn't quite understand what was going on. Why wasn't he turning into his ghost form? It was almost like he couldn't control his powers-

Ah! So that was it! He grinned and quickly burst into laughter. Vlad stopped his struggling, dumbfounded at Danny's sudden humour. The teen himself couldn't believe it. The other half ghost was having trouble controlling his powers!? Plasmius; one of the strongest ghosts he'd ever encountered, couldn't even make himself tangible?

He clutched his aching side and tried to get his breath back. "Oh man…this is awesome! I never imagined you of all people to have power slip-ups! I wish I had a camera for evidence. Oh wait, I do." He reverted and pulled out his phone, chuckling as he passed it from hand to hand. "I shouldn't, Clockwork would kill me."

"W-what on earth- Do you even hear yourself!? Make this stop at once!"

Amused Danny crouched down to be at eye level with him. "You think I'm doing that? Seriously Vlad, if I wanted to do something to you I'll do something much more…creative."

To his surprise, Vlad grabbed the front of his sweater with his invisible hand. Danny tensed at once, seconds from going ghost. Had he been right all along? Was this a ruse that Plasmius was setting to lure him into a trap?

"I-I don't know what's going on, or how on earth you know my name. But I'm not letting you play me an idiot any longer! You're going to tell me right now where I am-," Vlad fell further into the stone and to Danny's disbelief seemed to start hyperventilating, eyes widening. "What's happening t-to me!?"

Realizing the fun was over Danny yanked him up with such an unexpected burst of strength, strength that Vlad wasn't prepared for. With a gasp, he crumpled onto the stone, quickly clutching his legs to find they had returned to normal. Shaking he brought the invisible arm up to his face, watching anxiously as it gradually returned.

While the man freaked out on the floor Danny took a step back, finding the portal at his back. Still watching he leaned against the portal's stone frame, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Frowning he pondered what to do in these odd circumstances.

This wasn't the situation he'd wanted to be in, he just wanted Plasmius out of here so he could continue his mission in peace. But his curiosity was getting the better of him and it was too tempting to ignore. And besides, when he thought about it, he'd already mucked up the timeline, what were a few more questions going to do?

"Hey, how long have you had your powers?"

Vlad froze, seeming to remember that he wasn't alone. His breathing had calmed down a bit. "…P-powers?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Your ghost powers! I guess you haven't had them for long since they're out of control. And the bandages," He motioned to them. "You must have got exposed to the ecto radiation a few days ago? A few weeks? Or am I way off? Hey, give me some leads here."

The man touched one of his dressings. "What?" he breathed.

"Oh, come on! A ghost portal! Getting blasted with ectoplasm when a portal is turned on? Or did you just have a shaving accident?"

The man blinked in surprise again. Slowly he got to his knees, making sure his legs didn't sink through. Standing carefully he gazed at Danny, eyes narrowing. "How do you know all this? My name, my…accident. What are you? Telepathic?"

"Ha ha," He laughed dryly. "I wish. No, I just…know things. So, um… how long have you been able to go ghost?" Danny fidgeted with his sleeve. Okay, now this was getting awkward. Maybe talking to past Vlad wasn't such a good idea.

"'Go ghost? What…are you even talking about?" He crossed his arms, shivering and glanced around the room. "Where am I? Some sort of prison? Or maybe in your case an asylum."

Danny scowled. "No, you're in a room with a guy who wants his question answered."

That seemed to hit a nerve with the older half ghost. All fear left as he glared down at Danny. "Oh, that's amusing considering every question I've thrown at you so far you've refused to answer yourself. I must have forgotten this was a one-way conversation!"

"Hey. I'm the one asking the logic questions. You're the one asking the obvious ones."

"Logical? Your joking? You haven't said anything remotely logical at all!"

"You- fine! You want to know where you are so bad, you're in the lower part of an old castle that's a school for magical people to learn all about spells and stuff."

Vlad's eyebrow raised so high it seemed to disappear into his dressing. "Oh… silly me. I never would have guessed! …And here was me starting to think the asylum theory was ridiculous."

Danny's eyes flashed green as he gritted his teeth. "Watch it. You wanted to know so I told you. I'm not in the mood to deal with insults tonight, you've already given me a bad enough of a headache as it is."

Normally, Plasmius would have kept pushing all of his buttons till they all-out fought, or at least Danny started a fight. However, Vlad immediately backed away as the room temperature dropped, his scowl vanishing. The sudden change of mood reminded Danny that this wasn't the half ghost he normally bickered with. Sighing he glanced at the portal.

"Whatever. I'm serious about the school thing. But fine, don't tell me about your powers. Instead, tell me where the entrance to your portal is and I'll take you there."

"My…portal?"

"Yes, your stupid portal! You had to have got into the Ghost zone somehow."

Vlad's expression wrinkled, looking away from the teen to the aqua swirls. Worry started to fill Danny, surely he knew how he ended up there?

"Come on. You didn't just teleport into the Zone, that's not how it normally works. You had to have come through your portal."

"Normally works…none of this is normal."

"None of this is a typical day for me too, but do you see me freaking out? No."

Vlad merely looked back at him with a strange expression. The next minute he began to laugh, clutching his sides. The change annoyed Danny, thinking the man was laughing at him. He crossed his arms, scowling.

"What's so funny?"

"…Ha, the doctors were right; I've gone mad. This can't be real," He weakly raised his hand, his laughter getting louder. "This room, that place, even you, it just can't exist! It's all some crazy hallucination, maybe I've become schizophrenic? Or maybe even Bipolar? That's it! I'm insane-"

Danny ambled up and punched him right in the chest. It wasn't strong enough to hurt him, but it did send him back to the floor when he tripped over his own legs.

"Is that real enough for you? This isn't some hallucination, this is real Vlad. It's happening right now and you're living it. But lucky for you, I can take you back. Now, where is your stupid portal?"

Vlad rubbed his chest and chuckled. "Okay, I'll play along with this."

"I'm being serious Vlad!"

"I'm not sure how I got into – what did you call it? Ghost Zone? I was in my room at the hospital. Ah, I'm probably still there now… "

Danny held back the desire to smack him again, but the mention of a hospital room caught his attention. So Vlad had just had his accident then, which also meant that judging from the way he was acting, he wasn't used to using his ghost powers.

Vlad continued. "Suddenly I felt this strange feeling, like nothing I had ever felt before. Hot, yet at the same time freezing. So I get up as I'd never been bedridden for months and walk to my door."

Wait, did Vlad just say months? Danny fidgeted, mind racing. "Then what?"

The other half ghost chuckled, he wasn't focusing his attention on Danny anymore. "Then get this; down the hallway was this swirling green mass, the source of the weird feeling. I thought I have to be dreaming this up, some twisted memory of our experiment."

Danny frowned, what on earth was a ghost portal doing in the middle of a hospital? Vlad had to be joking, that couldn't have been what happened.

"Was it like this one?" He pointed at the door frame that held the portal and Vlad gazed dully up at the portal.

"…Yes, different in colour, but it felt the same…"

His jaw dropped. Was he saying that a natural portal just randomly appeared at the hospital where he was? There was no way that was just a fluke. Naturally formed portals were insanely rare, basically a one in a billion. So for Plasmius to just stumble across one like that…It was impossible!

"…without thinking I touched it and suddenly a squeezing feeling went through my body. Next thing I knew I was in that…"Ghost Zone", turning into that… thing. Then," He gestured absentmindedly at Danny. "All this happened. Heh, this has to be the most realistic illusion yet. I can feel everything-"

"-Wait! Hold up a minute! You're telling me that you just happened to find a ghost portal in the middle of a hospital? That's insane! You don't just find these things randomly. I've never even seen one in the wild myself."

"You're absolutely right there; this is insane."

"Not helping here Vlad! Where's it now? The portal?"

"Hmm, I remember turning around. Then it…disappeared, faded away."

"Damnit!" Danny slapped his forehead, regretting it when he felt a sting from his wound. Of course, it had to close! Though it didn't surprise him in the least, those types of portals were always unstable in form. But for now, he had no way of getting Plasmius back.

He tapped his fingers on his cheek. This was too much of a coincidence. For Plasmius to find a portal, entering it only for it to close right after? And what were the chances the portal would open so close to his fight with Luna? It was just too perfect, almost like he was meant to bump into him.

But Danny only knew of Wulf as a ghost who made portals. This didn't sound like him. Clockwork might, but why on earth would he want him to encounter Plasmius? The Master of Time was always going on about the order of the timestream and how it must follow its correct path, so letting the two of them meet in this time period just didn't make any sense.

But then… it had to be Clockwork. Maybe there's some important reason? It's possible Clockwork saw something that Danny didn't once he confronted Luna. Though he couldn't understand the reasons why, the Time Master was the only one who could have the power to do it. Oh man, the Observants would be loving this when they found out.

Tomorrow he would head into the Ghost zone and try to find Clockwork. He had to. But for now, what he needed most was sleep. He could feel his headache returning and briefly his vision blurred. Not surprising that his concussion was still there since he was doing the complete opposite of what Severus had said.

He yawned finding that Vlad was watching him, almost like he was waiting for Danny to disappear. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't leave him here. With his powers acting up and the fact he didn't believe any of this was real, Plasmius was a danger to Hogwarts and himself. Until he found a way to get him back to this hospital the older half ghost was stuck here.

"Alright." Danny strolled over to Vlad, going ghost. "We're heading up."

"What do you mean-"

Danny grasped his arm and with a jump shot up, taking the terrified man with him. They were on the seventh floor in moments, back to the magical room. Immediately Danny let go of him, sending Vlad crashing down on the wooden floor with a thud.

Dropped down Danny transformed back, stretching. He threw his gloves off and untangled his scarf, dropping it without a care. Paying no attention to Vlad he stumbled over to his desk, kicking off his shoes as he went. Grabbing some chalk he rubbed a large question mark on the wall with his forearm. Once clean he quickly scribbled "Quirrell POSSESSED", underlining it so hard the chalk snapped in his hand.

Happy with the note he took a deep breath and turned back to his other headache.

"Okay, here's the deal. You're not leaving this room. Understand? This," he pointed around. "is it. Tomorrow I'm going to find a friend to take you back, but until then you're stuck here."

Vlad stopped observing the room and chuckled. "This is an exciting dream."

"Is that what you think this is? Because to me this is a nightmare."

Danny tugged off his sweater, wincing as it seemed to stick to his back. Instead of just dumping it on the floor he draped it over his chair.

"If I find you gone, so help me Vlad I will make this a nightmare for you." He headed to his bed, running a hand through his hair.

"Stay here? What am I to do?"

"I don't know. Sit, read, think about your life choices. Anything. Just stay here. The last thing I need is for students running into you while you're acting more Fruitloopish than usual."

Danny took out the bottle Severus had given him, re-reading the bright purple label. "Dreamless Sleep" huh, better work." He muttered, biting out the cork.

"Students? This is a school?"

"I told you that before, even if you don't believe me."

Without another word, he drank the potion, its favour way too sweet for his taste. He dropped the bottle with a little more force than he should have. Both of them winced when it smashed, glass skidding everywhere. Almost at once, Danny's head felt heavy, his stressful day catching up to him. In the corner of his eye, he saw Vlad move behind him, stepping over the shards.

"What… did you just drink?"

"None of your business."

Danny collapsed on top of his bed, not even caring to draw the covers. The potion was taking full effect so quickly that already he found himself falling out of consciousness. Faintly he could hear Vlad speaking to him.

"- you can't just go to sleep and expect me to just sit here and do nothing! I've got questions you haven't answered…Hey, are you even listening-?"

Danny rolled over, drowning out his words. Why couldn't he just leave him alone? He closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep. The last thought that left his mind was that he would make everything right tomorrow.