Chapter 25: Declarations

Gradually Danny found himself waking, warm light cracking through his eyelids that helped him along. Exhaling softly he slowly began to come too, the burning ache in his body starting to hit him. He was lying on something cushiony, soft, feeling warm and sleepy. Danny sighed and got comfortable again, letting sleep start drifting him away again-

Harry.

The instant, horrifying thought slammed into him, destroying any doziness that he had left. Jolting up Danny's nerves were on high alert, madly trying to figure out what was going on. All he could remember was the fight, the shade, the chamber that held the stone. Where was Harry? Was he all right? Was the timeline all right!?

But confusion came to him when Danny saw he was no longer in that dimly-lit chamber. Instead, Albus's cluttered office greeted him, warm morning sunlight spilling down from the ceiling. The paintings that lined the walls were either empty or fill with sleeping figures, the headmaster's desk missing its owner. From the sofa where he lay there were no signs of panic, only a gentle hush of earlier sunrise.

Abruptly Danny winced as his stomach stung, his movement pulling at new wounds. Being careful he tested the place the ice spike had impaled him, fingers brushing a wrapping under his shirt. He could feel the nasty bruising on his front and back where it had run him through, but from the freezing tingle of his core, he knew his ghost powers were hard at work healing. It made him relax that he hadn't ended up in a worse condition.

Continuing to search the office he stilled when he realised he hadn't actually been alone. On the sofa opposite him was Vlad, draped casually over it as he slept. From the sight of the half ghost Danny's old fear returned. After all, Vlad had been the last person to be with Harry. The one that would know where the kid had been last, whether he was safe. Or whether Voldemort or Luna had found him in the end...

"Vlad!" Danny's voice came out in a frantic whisper, gripping the top of the sofa as his heart raced. "Hey, Vlad!?"

Annoyingly his calling did nothing to wake him, still dozing deeply. Unsure that he was strong enough to stand yet, Danny grabbed the cushion his head had been resting on and threw it at him. It got the result he wanted. Vlad jerked up in shock at the rude awakening, tearing the cushion from his face.

"What in- Danny!?"

Ignoring the burning red glare he sent him Danny got right to the point. There were more pressing matters than the half ghost being irritated with him. "Harry! Is he okay? What happened? Where is he, Vlad!?"

The glowing glare faded at the panic in his voice. Danny almost threw another cushion when Vlad just sighed, slowly rubbing the stiffness from his neck. It only increased the dread within Danny, his thoughts intensifying as the worst outcomes flashed through his mind. Finally, after what seemed like forever the half ghost answered him.

"Harry is fine. I think. He was fine the last time I saw him, at least. Albus said that he had been taken to the infirmary to join the other kid. Knocked out cold…but alive."

It took a moment for what the man had said to become clear to Danny, the meaning of what it meant suddenly dawning on him. Pure relief washed over him, slumping back down onto the lounge. Utter relief that he hadn't known had been weighing him down lifted from his shoulders. It was over. Harry was safe. And it was likely Voldemort had left Hogwarts without the stone. That meant that his family and all of time were saved from the altering future.

" It's over…" Even as he said it the joy bubbled up, so much so that Danny worried he would be sick because of it.

Beside him, he heard a huff of amusement. " Somehow. Honestly, I have no idea how we're all not dead."

Blinking from his comment, Danny sat up on his elbows. "What… happened? I mean… I know what happened in the chamber and when you returned. But I don't…"

Vlad seemed to understand what he wanted to ask, and leaned back to cross his arms. " Why I came back down, right?" He waited for Danny to nod before continuing with a sigh. " I don't know… Because I'm an idiot, I guess."

Danny laughed then, but it didn't have any unkindness to it. He realised he hadn't laughed like that in a long time, not since he'd come to Hogwarts. The other half ghost seemed surprised by his reaction, wary even of what he might say next. Yet he relaxed when it was clear that Danny was in a good mood.

"It's true. As much as I hate to admit it you were right, I'm hopeless when it comes to these… powers. I know why you didn't want me down there, that was obvious! Me going back was literally the dumbest thing I could have done."

"But you did it anyway." As he spoke Danny sat up, wincing as the bruises pulled. "Why did you?"

"….As I said before, it was a trap. You were outnumbered, weakened by that poison. And from experience from your past endeavours, I knew you wouldn't run until it was too late. So… I don't know. I just decided to go back down. Do something crazy, which seems to be completely normal in this place."

Vlad sighed again before his expression turned into a smirk. " It wasn't as easy as just running down there again. Things here never seem to be that easy. After we dropped off that boy at the infirmary, I left soon to get back to you. By the time I figured out where that corridor was, I was attacked."

"Wait what?"

" By my guessing, it must have been a teacher. He was tall, greasy black hair-"

"-Severus?!"

The half ghost shrugged, not knowing the name. " We crossed paths by the door. He started… I suppose you would say shooting spells at me. Trying to explain why I was there didn't work at first. Until I remembered that my appearance wasn't…friendly looking."

Vlad paused then, uncomfortable at the memory of the night as he recalled it. " I had to risk changing back. It… it cleared things up immediately. We were trying to explain to each other our reasons for being there when Albus just appeared out of nowhere."

At seeing Danny's surprise the half ghost scoffed. " And I mean that literally! He just… teleported! Nearly gave me a heart attack when he just popped out of thin air! Then there was a rush of trying to update everyone on what was going on when that girl appeared."

"Hermione… she told you we'd gone into the mirror chamber, right?"

"Yes. When she told us you had gone in together, I just… I knew I had to get there quickly. I headed back down…Avoided the creepy… shadow thing. Then… you know what happened after."

Danny thought over what he had been told, stunned that the man would even have the gall to do that. "I don't get it. Why didn't you wait to go down with the others? I don't think you realized, but that shadow thing you saw was the shade. Voldemort. He might have been weakened, but he still could have caused damage to you. Then going down alone with the other foes there…Those two wanted you dead, Vlad. With the way I was, things could have ended badly. For the both of us."

The other half ghost chuckled, blue eyes locking onto him. "As I said, I was an idiot. There wasn't time to think of something smart. And when I got down there and saw what was happening… I knew going back was the dumbest thing I've ever done.

Vlad stretched, stiff limbs clicking back into place. " You were yelling at me one thing, that ghost yelling another. Then there was the fact Harry was out cold and I didn't know if the other guy was a threat. Truthfully I have no idea how I made it out of there alive. But…" He paused, frowning. " Actually, I don't quite know what happened."

"What do you mean?" He found himself recalling the event again, remembering the moment Plasmius had been motionless, staring frozen at the floor. " You saw something, didn't you?"

"I don't know how to explain it…" Still frowning Vlad studied the low table between them. " I've seen that mirror before. On the night I left, I stumbled across it. Even broken, that old golden frame was unmistakable. But… when I spotted those shards, I saw something. It was hard to make out from the angle but I could see you pinned to the wall, that ghost impaled by the ice… then, I saw me."

"You saw…you?" Danny had to reframe himself from blurting out that was how mirrors worked, but he saw from the man's perplexed face there was more to it.

" It was in the reflection. I could see both of you. Then… I saw that ghost form moving through the wall. Myself. I grabbed you and pulled us both back through and that ghost tried to stop you. When I blinked everything was back to normal and you both were still there like nothing had happened." Vlad shook his head in disbelief. " Maybe I have lost my mind…"

But Danny knew that wasn't the case at all. If Albus had been correct, then the fragments of the mirror had shown the half ghost what he wanted. And at that moment of panic what he had wanted most was to get all of them out of there in one piece. What was left of the mirror had shown him how he could, giving him a strategy that would work. Honestly, he had no idea what to think of that concept.

Shifting to a more comfortable position, Danny frowned at him. "So… that means you were only pretending to abandon me?"

Seeing his look the half ghost cringed. "Look, don't take it personally, I had to do something! If I didn't then those two would have immediately known I was planning to come back. If we had even had the slimmest, tiniest hope for my plan to work I couldn't let them be on high alert for me. The thing was that backup was coming. I knew the headmaster and that teacher was only moments away. It was an advantage I had that you all didn't know."

"So that's where you took Harry?"

" Of course. I took him back to the chess room, told those two to look after him, then looped back through the wall."

"Where you flew us backwards into the lake at high speed?"

"That… wasn't the plan either. I knew I had to move fast, due to the fact you both could sense me." Running a hand through his messy hair Vlad sighed. " What I wanted to do was to go around and return to Albus. That way if those foes of yours came after us we'd have a defence. But I couldn't stop, we were moving too fast."

Danny huffed in amusement. "Why does that not surprise me."

At his response, the other half ghost scowled. " Fancy talk considering you almost got yourself killed. After all that trouble you put me through in the end, you needed me."

"Yeah…" Rubbing his aching side Danny knew he couldn't argue there. If Vlad hadn't come back he would have lost, both Harry and himself. He gazed back at the half ghost, who was now glowering over at the bookshelves that lined the office. If Plasmius hadn't been here, then he knew he never would have saved the timeline. In the end, he had made the right choice with their truce.

"Vlad, thank you."

The man paused, blinking over at him in surprise. It seemed to take a while for him to see that Danny had actually thanked him. The half ghost seemed to study him like he was making sure that he wasn't joking. Once it became clear that he was serious, Vlad smiled. It wasn't a fake smile like his future self always gave him, but a real, genuine smile that Danny couldn't help but smile back to. He saw then that this was the real Vlad, the one that he should have become. Not the revenge-filled Fruitloop, nor the villain that he turned into, but this guy. A half ghost who actually has the capacity to do good things. If Danny had saved the timeline from ruin, then he hoped that he had also saved Vlad's future too.

Before he could say another word the door opened, drawing their attention away from their talk. Albus stepped into the room, instantly becoming thrilled when he saw that Danny was now awake. Shutting the door he strolled over to join them, and Danny noticed that he looked far happier than he'd ever seen him.

"Ah, marvellous to see that you are well, Danny! You had us quite worried there for a moment. Wound not giving you too much trouble?"

Chuckling Danny patted his stomach, relieved that it only rewarded him with a dull ache. "It's basically healed at this point. How's Harry?"

The wizard pushed out a footstool, placing himself down on it so that he could sit beside them. Danny saw with bemusement that Vlad still was guarded around Albus, sitting up straighter as he join them.

"Harry is quite well, though he is still asleep in our infirmary. Yet Madam Pomfrey assures me he will likely awaken either tonight or tomorrow. It is wonderful to see that you have finally awakened yourself, she didn't know quite what to make of your condition."

Puzzled at that, Vlad was the one who gave him his answer. " You've been asleep for two days."

" Two… Two days!?" With the news Danny jolted upright, seeing from their lack of response that hadn't been a joke. Never had he been knocked out for that long. Even after his Pariah Dark fiasco, he had woken only after a few hours. Stunned he slumped back in his seat. It seems like the Blood blossoms had done more damage than he first thought. Placing his hand lightly on his stomach he felt a little unease settle there. Just how hurt had his ice shard caused him?

Albus chuckled, breaking Danny's gloomy thoughts. " Sleep that it appears you needed. I debated on putting you in the infirmary with Harry. But I thought it best to keep you away from prying eyes. Rumours of Harry's adventures have been the main subject of the school's gossip already. Adding you into the mix would have made the gossip… much worse."

"Thanks for letting me crash in your office." Though he was happy that the wizard had kept him away from prying eyes, he found himself glancing over at Vlad. The fact the half ghost was here and not in the magic room made Danny wonder whether he'd been here the whole time. Catching his look, the man gave him a curious expression that almost caused Danny to roll his eyes. Likely the only reason he'd stayed was that Vlad still didn't trust Albus enough.

Instead of mentioning that Danny returned to their original topic, annoyance resurfaced. " That reminds me… why did you leave Hogwarts the night of the event? You knew that shade was going to try something during the exams. So why did you fall for his obvious trap?"

Albus folded his hands together, his smile fading. " I understand that explaining myself is in order. After all, I did promise you that I would in the end." Peering at the other half ghost, he smiled from underneath his wild beard. " You were right Vlad. I did think that having Danny here at Hogwarts was another layer of protection for Harry, something that I could use to my advantage to protect him. But it never was malicious. Absolutely never, I promise you that. In truth, I knew that Harry would go after Voldemort. And none of us could truly stop him."

Danny didn't feel hurt by that revelation, he was going to protect Harry with or without the wizard's help anyways. But he still felt an anger rise. "Harry was just a kid! And that shade wanted him dead. You can't be serious that you thought he could take him on all on his own!"

"Yes, I know from that view, it would seem crazy. But I knew Voldemort could never harm him. Danny, what happened in the chamber with Harry and Professor Quirrell?"

Even Vlad listened curiously as Danny explained what had happened. " Other than the fact that Harry almost got killed? Well, when… when Qurriell tried to grab Harry he burned… it was like he couldn't touch him. Whenever Harry grabbed onto the host's skin, it caused him and the shade pain. It was so bad that the shade had to leave Quirrell. But even then… the shade's form melted trying to touch him."

"Exactly. I had always suspected it of the boy. And when I saw poor Professor Quirrell's body, I knew it was true." Albus's face took a serious look and nodded as he spoke. " Though he does not know it, Harry is protected with an ancient charm. A protection spell that his mother passed on him when she sacrificed herself to save his life. It lives on in his very skin, protection from a great evil. I knew that both Voldemort and Quirrell would never be able to harm him physically, which is why I knew that he would be fine."

"That's an utterly stupid reason." Vlad's curt comment stopped the wizard from continuing. " The kid still could have been killed in other ways. And Danny didn't have any protection like that. The way I see it you endangered everyone on a whim."

"I knew that letter was a trap from Quirrell the moment I read it. I never left Hogwarts. In fact, I went for a nightly stroll in the woods waiting for the right moment to return. What you all didn't know was that the chamber where the stone was held had an alarmed barrier. It sensed the presence of any who entered, alerting me at once. I knew Voldemort had arrived, and sharply return to confront him. As for Harry, I gave him all the tools to help him on his quest, as well as tell Sir Nicholas to alert you of what was happening."

Vlad scowled, clearly not happy with his answer. Danny was equally unsure what to make of it. True, if Albus had protections and measures to prevent things from going wrong, it made sense he would think it would be okay. But the wizard didn't know that some of their enemies had the power of time, that they knew far more than he thought they did. Though Danny decided not to press the topic he completely agreed with Vlad, that had been a dangerous risk to a kid who couldn't fight back.

His disagreement must have read on his face as Albus gave him an apologetic smile. " I am sorry for not telling you, and that you got hurt. I truly am. But you all must understand that there are other powers at play here. Harry and Voldemort… are linked together in ways that we cannot see. In a way perhaps… they were meant to meet at this time. Destined, even."

"Because Harry's a child of prophecy, right?" Danny repeated what Luna had told him that night at Hogsmeade, yet his reaction to what he said wasn't what he expected. Albus jolted in shock like he had been zapped by some kind of spell. Slowly, he gazed at him with wide eyes. For the first time he was speechless, gazing at Danny with sudden astonishment that it took him off-guard. Then, his face softened, a deep sadness befalling the old man.

"Yes… that he is." For a moment Albus lost himself in something, eyes closed in what Danny could only describe as frustration creased his brow. As quickly as it came, it was gone, Albus's jolly smile returning. " What is important though is that Harry is alive, and the stone is now safe. Voldemort has left Hogwarts with his pride beaten and you Danny, are all right. That is all that matters now."

Nodding, Danny saw Vlad's perplexed look at him, likely wondering what that had all been about. But he shook his head, rising carefully to his feet. "Thank's again Albus, I appreciate you hiding me here. But I think… I have invaded your space long enough."

The wizard nodded, knowing that it was him also saying that it wouldn't be long until he left the school. "Of course. However, I would go talk to Harry when he wakes up. There are some things that he should know… and I think those things would be better if they came from you, not me."

" Sure, I'll do that." As he stood a small wave of dizziness washed over him, but it passed quickly enough. Danny wasn't surprised when Vlad rose to follow him out. As they left the man nodded with respectful indifference at Albus as they made their way into the hallway. Due to it being early morning the halls were quiet, the smell of oil and smoke lingering in the air. Danny paused to survey the warm hallway, weariness threatening to overcome him. Once content that they truly were alone, he returned his attention to the other half ghost.

"What is your problem with Albus? He might have dealt with this whole shade thing in a way I don't agree with, but he's not evil."

" I know he's not evil. That's not my problem with him."

"Then what is it?"

The man paused, staring off through the stained-glass window with an unreadable face. " It's nothing really… just, the way he acts reminds me of someone I know."

At that answer, Danny felt his eyebrow arch in questioning, yet Vlad didn't share any more details with him. Instead, he frowned down at him. "Are you… are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Danny rolled his eyes, figuring the half ghost would be concerned for something that he didn't need to be. "Healing powers, remember?"

Vlad's eyebrow curled. " Even with that insane healing powers of yours, that injury was serious."

Hesitantly Danny poked his torso, feeling the bruises pull. " Well, the fact I was dead to the world for two whole days means my ghost powers were in overdrive. So that's…something. Although… I do feel kind of hungry."

His answer caused the other half ghost to sigh, shaking his head in disbelief. "You sure are something, Danny Phantom."

At his name he paused, realising that the man was only saying that in jest. Chuckling he countered with his own. " Same with you Vlad Masters, I still can't believe you went back down there knowing that you'll get your butt kicked."

"Wow, so that's the gratitude I get for risking my own life," He grumbled back as they started to make their way back to the room. " Especially considering I told you it was stupid going down there alone in the first place."

"See here's the thing with me Vlad, that was all part of my grand plan. My grand plan of winging it."

That caused the other half ghost to laugh, and Danny grinned back. There was a lightness, a calmness that had washed over him and he knew that Vlad could feel it too. Now that the time event was over, Danny felt the crushing weight that had hung over his head had now lifted. Since he had first arrived here at Hogwarts, he felt that the magic and wonder of the place come back into focus. The impressive scale of the castle, the portraits slowly walking in and out of their frames. It was like he'd just remembered where he was; on the other side of the world in a place filled with witches and wizards. As they made it to the Great staircase Danny studied the sight, realising all the strange and wonderful things that he had seen since he came here. He couldn't wait to tell the others about this place when he got back.

"That reminds me…" Vlad's voice returned his gaze downwards. " What did happen down there when I left?"

Danny stuffed his hands in his pockets and as they began to climb to the seventh floor, told him.

###

Harry had awoken the next day. Or at least Vlad had told him later in the evening that he had. He hadn't been conscious much since they returned to the magic room. Instead, Danny had spent most of the day dozing on and off, catching up on nights of patrolling and using his ghost powers. Without the threat of the shade, he had found he could finally let his guard down and sleep peacefully. And the resting did wonders to remove the last of his bruises.

After discussing it with Vlad, he reluctantly agreed to wait a few days to speak to Harry. The kid wasn't about to succumb to danger, now that the entire school's attention was all about him and his friends. It was best that they had a break from the terror of Voldemort, at least for now. What's more, he had learned that Tam and Lucrezia were nowhere in sight. The half ghost said that when Albus arrived at the chamber they had disappeared without a trace. All that had been left there was the still form of Quirrell and Danny's melting ice. Though he had a sneaky suspicion that it might have been more a disappearance from time, than location.

The next day after Harry's waking, the school held its grand End-of-year feast in the Great Hall. Yet while most of the school roared in cheers at Gryffindor's spectacular House cup win, the half ghosts were hidden up in the magic room; where Danny was frustratingly learning that Vlad was much better at chess than he was.

As the evening grew later Danny had left the warm magic room and had gone to Sir Nicholas's abandoned tower, avoiding the late stragglers heading back to their common rooms. Phasing through the wall, the old ghost beamed at the sight of him and drifted down to greet him. While Danny struggled to hold down the queazy stench of mould from his stomach.

"Phantom! Marvellous news, just marvellous! We won! Gryffindor has finally won the house cup after all these years!"

"Oh, that's awesome Nicholas." He tried to share the enjoyment with the ghost, but he still didn't get the obsession with the house cup that the Hogwarts ghosts had.

"Of course, it was all due to the bravery of Potter and his friends. And success was likely due to my courageous assisting of your quest!"

Danny raised an eyebrow, and the ghost rushed to explain when he spotted his annoyance. " Not to dismiss your own bravery Phantom! Oh no, not at all! I heard from Albus that you risked your half-life to save Potter and our school. Vanquishing the foes was, of course, on your hard labours only."

"Thanks… but, you were the one who told me Harry was in danger. So you did help in the end."

The old ghost beamed with joy at his words, clearly excited to use this brave act as another attempt to get into that club again. But Danny drew his focus on why he had come to speak to the Gryffindor ghost in the first place.

"Nicholas, I was wondering if you could do me a favour?"

"But of course Phantom! What is it that you request of me?"

"Well… I need to speak to Harry and his friends. But I need it to be… private. Could you tell him and the others to meet with me tomorrow afternoon? Best probably just after lunch when everyone's focused on other things."

Sir Nicholas chuckled, his neck wobbling sickly. " A secret meeting, how exciting! I can certainly pass the message on to him tomorrow morning. Where shall he meet you?"

Danny thought about it for a time before he smirked. " I think I know the perfect place…"

###

As lunch commenced in the Great Hall the next day, Danny double-checked that the door was still open just a crack. It would be a pain if it locked itself, as the hallways still had students milling about now that classes had officially ended for the year. Phasing the kids through a wall would certainly start more unwanted rumours for them. Happy with the door he returned to the centre of the abandoned classroom, the same one he had arrived at Hogwarts all those months ago.

" I don't see the point of me being here…" Vlad grumbled from where he leaned against the stacked tables. Ever since Danny had dragged him down here he hadn't stopped complaining.

" If we're going to get technical you are the one that helped save Harry's life. He'll want to thank you at least."

The half ghost huffed, tightening his crossed arms. " This is your mission. Not mine. I only got dragged into it."

" Or dreamed it, if you still believe your coma theory." He had said it as a joke, but Vlad just frowned at his comment. He had told him that he had dismissed the idea, but Danny had always wondered whether that was completely true.

Before he had the chance to ask, the door creaked open. They both turned to see who had joined them, but the entrance was empty. The heavy wooden door slowly swung back closed, the handle clicking back into place. Danny frowned at the sequence of events. He liked to think that he was an expert on ghostly activity by now. But… that had been strange even for him.

Suddenly, like a ripple of the surrounding air three figures materialised out of nowhere. And there, the blinking forms of Harry, Ron and Hermione peered over at them.

Danny's jaw dropped. "Um… excuse me, what!? Am I seeing this right, or did you guys just turn invisible!?"

At his shock, the group seemed to shuffle in embarrassment, though the boys flushed a little in pride that they had made a half ghost speechless with their magic.

" It actually was this, my invisibility cloak." Harry moved over to him, holding a silky fabric towards Danny. Still confused, the teen strolled over and touched the soft cloak. The cool shimmering cloth slipped through his fingers like water, as lite as air. At once a tingle ran down Danny's spine. It wasn't ghostly per se, but there was something eerie about the cloak that his ghost core didn't like.

"Invisibility cloak…" He whispered out in wonder, and Harry's confidence grew.

" Yes. I got it as a present at Christmas. Apparently, Professor Dumbledore told me it belonged to my Father. And… he gave it to me thinking I might need it."

A tool to give Harry a way to sneak past Fluffy unharmed, Danny thought suddenly. It was one of the things Albus must have given him to protect him from the shade, to sneak around the school unseen. Clever, as being invisible would be an invaluable protection for the kid.

His thoughts were broken when a loud voice spoke. " Useful, that thing is! We had to use it!" It was Ron who spoke and strolled up with his freckled face beaming. " Ever since we went down the trapdoor, we've all been followed and heckled by the entire school. Doesn't help that it was because of us we won the house cup from those Slytherins. Won't leave us alone. If we just walked out of the common room everyone in Hogwarts would have turned up here."

Getting over the shock that Harry and his friends had the means to turn invisible, something dawned on him. "It was you… at the lake! That time when you guys were on Christmas break. I knew that I saw someone on the bank of the Black lake. You guys used this to hide from me, didn't you?"

Once again the boys flushed in embarrassment, recalling the time on that frozen winter day. Danny himself remembered that indent in the snow, so sure that there was something within the imprint. This he seemed was his answer, and the two sheepishly nodded to confirm it.

"We… We honestly thought we were goners when you strolled up to us." Harry pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Didn't you sense us there?"

Danny frowned, shaking his head. It had been a strange feeling, knowing that something was there yet at the same time not. There was a wonder whether the magic in the cloak was at fault at that, as he had quickly forgotten that something might be there. Almost too quickly. Yet it didn't seem important to share all of his ghostly secrets with the kids.

As they talked Hermione joined them but unlike her friends, she had been observing the rest of the room. At spotting the other half ghost she smiled, waving happily in greeting. "Oh, hello again!"

At her acknowledgment Harry and Ron followed her gaze, seeing the man leaning still against the tables. Danny let go of the invisibility cloak and gestured over, not able to stop the smirk appearing on his face.

"This here is Vlad. Vlad, I guess you already figured it out long ago, but this here is Harry, Ron and Hermione."

The half ghost nodded politely, waving a palm up to the group. While Harry waved back shyly, Ron inhaled in a gasp of realisation, stepping forward excitedly.

"Wait for a minute. You're the other half ghost, right?"

Vlad looked annoyed by the question, and Danny laughed at the face he made. It was understandable though that the boy would be surprised at meeting him. After all, Ron had been knocked out cold when the others had met him that night. " Yeah, that's him. Vlad's the one that carried you to the infirmary, Ron. I guess I should mention Harry, that he's the one that got you out of the chamber room too."

"Really? Professor Dumbledore told me a little about what happened after I passed out. But I didn't… know that." Harry peered over curiously at the man through his thick glasses. When he told them that Vlad scoffed, gaze falling onto the dusty window.

"I'm not surprised there. Likely it slipped his mind when sharing how much "work" he did in all this."

"Vlad, this isn't the time to bring your beef with Albus into this. I'm sure the wizard thought it was more important telling Harry about the shade than who carried who." Ignoring the huff from the half ghost Danny looked back to the others. " Which is why I asked you guys here today. There was a lot that I hid from you about my mission here. And judging from all the misunderstandings, it's only fair that I share what I can with you now."

He had thought Harry would be the one that would start barraging him with questions first, but it was Hermione that spoke first. "You were here all this time to protect us, isn't that right? That you knew that You-Know-Who was after the stone all along?"

"I didn't exactly know everything at first, but a friend of mine did. He's… a ghost that basically can predict the future, and he knew that the shade was coming after the stone. He's the reason I came here in the first place." Making sure that they all were following he continued. " Luna might have tried to turn you guys against me, but I've been watching out for you all this time. Like… like the Quidditch match where your broom was acting weird Harry, I was ready to catch you if you fell."

Immediately Danny saw the guilt cross the boy's face, hiding behind his mob of messy hair in shame. And he knew exactly the reason for that guilt. With a chuckle he rubbed his chest, happy that it no longer hurt. " You know… your Blood blossom sure did pack a punch, Harry."

Both the boys winced, shifting uncomfortably on their feet. However, they nearly recoiled into the very stone floor when Hermione rounded up on them in a rage. " You. Did. WHAT!? Blood Blossoms!? Oh, tell me you didn't. Please tell me you two didn't…"

"We… We thought that Danny was working with Voldemort then, Hermione-"

"-After everything I told you two! I told you that Danny wasn't our enemy! Told you not to trust that ghost! But you didn't listen to me. Blood Blossoms are highly toxic to ghosts, and cause extreme pain to them!"

Ron's freckles vanished in his blush. " B-but we didn't know that Hermione! Hagrid said they only kept ghosts away. We thought it would just act like a deterrent!"

Harry nodded weakly. " We thought… if we handled the bottle with them inside to Danny, he would just… leave Hogwarts. We didn't think he would drink it-"

"- You could have both killed him! Both of them!"

As the two cringed under her temper Danny was aware that Vlad had moved up to finally join them, clearly wanting a better view of the onslaught. He was impressed with the fury the young witch was handing down to them. She continued to lecture the boys about how foolish they had been until they were almost disappearing into their robes. Danny felt himself wondering whether he should interfere yet. When he invited them to talk today, this wasn't what he had in mind.

Scowling she put her hands on her hips. " Apologies to him! Danny deserves an apology for how you treated him all this time. After everything these two have done for us, it's the least you boys should do!"

The two wizards turned back to them. " We're so, so sorry for not trusting you."

" Truly, we never meant to hurt you, Danny! We just thought we… we were in danger, and the stone…"

With their stammering out their sorries Danny instantly waved them off. " It's okay. Seriously. I know you guys are truly sorry, but it's not your fault. I would have mistrusted you too if I had a ghost trying to manipulate me. The Blood blossoms are all in the past, and it didn't matter in the end anyways." He tried to downplay the fact his powers had been weakened, though he knew from Vlad's raised eyebrow that he didn't approve of him making lite of the situation.

Still avoiding the question he returned to the other. " What's the main thing is that you are okay Harry, all of you are okay. I still can't believe you guys thought you could face the shade all on your own! It's incredible that you kids made it that far down the challenges, let alone figure out what was going on."

Harry clutched the cloak tighter in his grip, though he shook his head. " We really couldn't do much when it came to dealing with Voldemort… if it wasn't for you and Dumbledore, I think he would have escaped with the stone. And… I would have been dead." Peering through his strains of hair he smiled up at Vlad. " I need to thank you too, for saving me."

The other half ghost paused, before shaking his head with a huff, " I'm not the one you should be thanking. It's Danny who deserves all your thanks. He's the one that's been obsessed with protecting you day in and day out none stop for months."

"What! I haven't been that bad, have I?… Well… maybe I've been a little obsessed with my mission..." Danny cringed, rubbing the back of his neck when he saw the man's disbelieving look at his argument. Who was he kidding, that was all he had been focused on since coming here!

Hermione's lite laugh drew his embarrassment away. " Why don't you explain to us what was happening in the background? I'm sure that telling us what was really going on will clear up these knucklehead's suspicions at once."

Nodding in agreement Danny surveyed the room, gaze falling onto the stack of chairs and desks that lined the walls. " We… might as well get comfortable. This could take a while."

The group then settled into chairs and leaned on tables, the odd sneezing filling the air at the clouds of dust that rose from their rearranging. Once they had found their places, and with the odd interjection from Vlad from information he'd forgotten, Danny began to retell parts of his mission to the others…

AN: Ah... I ended up skipping my upload schedule for my stories. I went on a camping trip for the week and had the cunning plan of uploading the chapters via my phone. I had them all at the ready in my Docs... only to learn my campsite had absolutely zero services. So, I decided to upload them this week instead of running around the bush for hours to find a signal.

Thank you all again for your support of this story. And I'm happy that my last chapter didn't get me driven out with pitchforks, it was a nerve-wracking upload! This chapter was going to be the big one, but it was huge. In the end, I split it into two chapters so that the pacing wouldn't end up being a giant information dump. With that said, I'll see you in the next chapter! I'm excited for the next one...