Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter. This is a cross post from my AO3 account.
Chapter 1: School's Out!
Danny gazed longingly at the clock above the teacher's desk. 10 more minutes until the satisfying clutches of freedom would take hold. He let out a bored sigh and slumped in his chair.
Man, school sucks and I can't wait for summer, he thought, running his hand through his raven-colored hair. His icy blue eyes gazed around the room, looking at the disinterested faces of his peers.
Just like the majority of his years at Casper Elementary, Danny's 4th grade year was very lonely. He made an effort this year to make new friends, but it was nearly impossible.
His main problem was his parents.
Danny loved his parents with all his heart, but truth be told, they were the laughing stock of the town. They didn't understand the subtleties of socializing (noise level, listening, acting normal, etc.), and their constant rants on ghosts would drive anyone insane.
Jack and Maddie Fenton were very passionate about the existence of ghosts, despite the mockings of the general public. Their passion for the supernatural drove them to dive deep into ghostly research and focus their efforts on creating spectral gadgets and inventions. Often, this left them absentminded in more important areas, like the needs of their children- Danny, Jazz, and Harry. The Fenton kids all knew that Jack and Maddie loved them, but they had to learn to fend for themselves on more than one occasion.
Danny put his head on his desk and began daydreaming.
He comes home from school, and his mom looks up from her ghostly tinkering and notices his sullen expression and bruised cheek. She instantly drops all her work and wraps her arms around the frustrated preteen, giving him a worried look. "Danny, who did this to you?!" she asks the boy.
Danny looks up at his mom. "Dash, he's the biggest jerkface on the planet!" he cries indignantly. Maddie then marches to school, grabs Dash, who is crying and screaming in terror, and kicks him all the way to the moon!
Wait! Danny thought, ceasing his daydream and jolting upright. Not the moon; that's where I'm going when I become an astronaut! A smile formed on his face as he thought about his astronomical future.
His musings fell short when something hit Danny in the eye. Wincing, he glared over at the blonde muscled preteen who was flicking eraser pieces his way. Ugh, why can't Dash just leave me alone! He slumped in his chair to avoid future projectiles.
He sighed in frustration. The teachers never did anything about the bullies in school, and out of all the 4th grade classes, Danny's had the most. Dash was the worst of them all!
Danny grimaced when he recalled a particularly nasty incident that involved being shoved into a locker along with a week's worth of old lunches. He was stuck in there for hours with the rotten food. Just when he thought he was going to pass out from the rancid fumes, a rescue finally came. He was stuck smelling like a dumpster for the rest of the school day. Yuck!
Danny glanced at the clock and gave another sigh. 'At least this year's almost over,' he thought to himself. He could not wait for summer. Harry, Danny's older brother by a year, promised they would make model rockets together and test them out at the park. Danny knew Harry wasn't actually interested in making the rockets, but wanted to indulge Danny and his love of space. He was always open for an adventure, and never failed to stand up to Dash.
Harry wasn't Danny's biological brother, but they all treated him like family. Sometimes when Mrs. Fenton's taking a break from her inventions she'd gather her children around and tell them the story of Harry's arrival many years ago.
"It was a dark and stormy night" she'd begin with an eerie tone in her voice, drawing the attention of three bright-eyed children around her. "Rain and thunder crashed throughout the town and all the trick-or-treaters hurried home to find shelter from the storm." Then Maddie would wave her arms wildly, startling the children. "A bright and spindly lightning shot through the sky in a flash! Its thunderous noise was sent rumbling through the house." Her voice would soften. "I felt a squirm in my arms and looked down at the small child wiggling in her sleep." At this, Jazz would start blushing. Maddie would shoot her a loving smile and turn back to the boys, picking up her voice eerily. "When all of a sudden, the lights went out." A hush would fall through the kids.
"I peered outside, hoping that the power lines had not fallen. There was a quiet stillness falling on the street and it was covered in utter darkness - save for the lampposts." Maddie would pause and Jazz, Danny, and Harry would wait with bated breath to hear her continue. "'How odd' I told myself to break the eerie silence. Then, suddenly, the lamp at the end of the street burst in a colorful display of light! I jolted in shock, but just as quickly as it glowed, it disappeared. It was as if the light had never been there!" The children would gasp.
"Just like the first lamp, the next lamp did the same thing! One by one the lights disappeared in a burst of fiery light. When the last lamp on the street died, the neighborhood was so dark I couldn't see the hand in front of my face. I put Jazz down for the night, and tried to look for a flashlight. As I searched for the tool that would light my way, I heard a small cry. Deviating from my search, I made my way to Danny to calm him down, only to find that he was cuddling with your snoring father on the couch." Danny would start snickering at his father's expense, and Maddie would roll her eyes. "Then I went to Jazz. When I peered over her crib, she was silent, and in a deep sleep." Maddie smiled thinking back at the scene. A nudge from Harry would bring Maddie back to the present.
Furrowing her brow she'd continued her story. "I heard the cry again and couldn't find where it was coming from. I crept along the hallway, following the soft noise. Finally, I discovered that the noise was coming from the front door. Worried about strangers lurking on the porch, I grabbed my trusty anti-creep stick and opened the door." Maddie raised her hand as if she was holding a baseball bat. "But instead of nasty robbers, a baby was softly crying in a bundle of blankets. His small hands clutched a note telling me that the beautiful boy's name was Harry Potter, and that he was destined for great things." She'd pause and look at Harry, "But the only thing that went through my head was-" she'd reach over and grab Harry in a bear hug, "'I will love this boy forever. No matter what!'" Harry then would giggle with delight.
Danny would start bouncing up and shouting, "What about me?" Maddie would look over at Danny and Jazz and would pull them into the hug.
"I will always love you, my precious children," she'd say to all three of her kids.
The Fenton parents never had the opportunity to meet the son of Maddie's cousin until he was placed on their doorstep. Lily and her husband, James, got along well with the Fentons and would often visit and help with their research. Of course they thought the idea of malevolent ghosts was ridiculous, but they found the Fentons' passion endearing and assisted where they could.
Maddie loved her cousin and grew concerned when she found Harry on their doorstep. She tried contacting the Potters to see if they needed any help. When no response came, her attempts grew desperate. She had always considered the Potters to be strange folk, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why she felt that way. Contacting them had always been a difficult task, but the further the Fentons got in their search, the less information they found. After many months, Jack and Maddie eventually gave up, concluding that the couple was either on the run, or had died.
Harry and Jazz would often contemplate why he was placed on their doorstep and not Lily's sister's, Petunia's, but Danny didn't care. Out of all the doorsteps in the world, Danny was happy that Harry landed on his.
Danny smiled in his seat then thought about what his sister was doing in class right now. Jazz was by far, the smartest of the three siblings. She was going to be the world's greatest psychologist and people from all over the world would line up - just to shake her hand!
She was the best sister anyone could ask for too. Sure she could nag, and often psychoanalyze her brothers, but she was always there for Danny and Harry when they needed her. Even though she was the same age as Harry, Jazz would often help him and Danny with their homework, and when Jack and Maddie were too busy to cook dinner, she made sure there was enough food for everyone. She's probably crying over the lost study time she'll have over the summer. Danny snickered.
A cough from a classmate brought Danny out of his musings. Looking around, he noticed his peers bouncing in their seats excitedly staring at the clock. Looking up at the clock himself, he gasped at the time and tasted his freedom 3…..2…..1…. RING!
Danny leapt out of the desk and pumped his fist in the air. School's out! He all but ran to his locker and pulled out any remaining school supplies. He didn't have much left since students were asked to empty out their lockers earlier this week. He then hurried down the hallway before skidding to a sudden stop.
What if Harry left me a note in the Sanctum! he thought to himself. He turned around and bolted to the small vent tucked in the bottom corner of a hallway near the boys' bathroom. The Sanctum, as the boys called the vent, was a place where they left letters throughout the day to keep in touch. The vent was easy to open, and Danny pulled out a torn notebook page filled with Harry's messy handwriting.
Ace - Why would you ever think differently? I chased the squirrel down until it had nowhere else to go. When I made a move to grab it, its mother came out of nowhere and bit me! The dirty squirrel, I'll get it back someday! Anyway, I spent the whole class in the office while the nurse argued with mom on the phone about the need for a rabies shot. Apparently mom thinks rabies is a strain of a ghost virus - typical. I'll tell you more after school. - LightningStrike
LightningStrike was Harry's codename for himself both at school and on their favorite video game DOOM, whereas Danny's was SpaceAce (Ace for short). Danny chuckled at the letter as a shadow fell upon him.
"What are you laughing at Fenturd?" came a nasty voice. Dread spiked through Danny as he cringed and turned to face his least favorite bully.
Dash grabbed the smaller student and lifted him off the ground by his shirt. He then proceeded to slam him against the lockers. "Can't we do this some other time Dash? Summer just started!" Danny complained, gripping the bully's hand. He looked up at the bully hopefully, but was quickly discouraged when he saw the malicious glint in Dash's eyes and the sadistic grin on his face.
A fist was thrust into Danny's stomach. He crumpled to the ground in pain, clutching his midsection. He looked up at Dash as another punch came down on his face.
Dash paused in his beating on the helpless preteen and looked down the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. Seeing that it was, he turned his malicious gaze back to his victim. "Yeah well since it's the summer, I won't be able to fill my whale quota," Dash replied nonchalantly cracking his knuckle with a wide grin. "I'll tell you what, I'll go easy on you today!" He leered, picking Danny up by his collar. It didn't take a lot of effort since Danny was small and scrawny for his age. With a small grunt, Dash threw him into a locker. "I don't think anyone will come looking for you. Your creepy family is too busy chasing fairies or whatever. I bet you'll rot here all summer." he said viciously, slamming the locker door shut before Danny could fight back.
Danny hit the locker door with a fist. "Let me out Dash!" he cried. On the other side of the locker he could hear laughing. What a way to start the summer, Danny thought miserably. He considered himself lucky that Dash was alone. He was more violent when his goons were around. He suddenly felt really lonely. Is Dash really gonna leave me here?
"Leave Danny alone, Dash!" came an angry shout. That sounded like Harry! Dash's laughter grew sadistic.
"Well if it isn't Scarhead. Come to join the summer bash?" Dash replied, the cruel laughter never leaving his voice.
"If you don't stop, I'll call a teacher," Danny heard Harry threaten.
A tense silence followed the comment. From inside the locker, Danny imagined an epic stare down between the two boys. Maybe a tumbleweed passed through them as they sized each other up. Eventually Danny heard an uneven shuffle of feet.
"See you around, Crackpot... wouldn't want you and your family's crazy to spread." Dash finally spat. He turned and sauntered away.
A brief pause ensued before Danny heard the sound of a lock jingling. The bright fluorescent lights of the hallway came flooding into the locker.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked, as he helped Danny out of the locker. Danny squinted in the light.
"Yeah, thanks for the assist." Danny replied a little shaken. If Harry hadn't shown up, he didn't know what he'd do.
"No problem!" Harry beamed. "Jazz's waiting for us in front of the school. Let's get some ice cream on our way home to celebrate the start of summer." At this, Danny's mood lightened.
"I want mint chocolate chip!" he exclaimed. A grin was growing on his face.
Harry nodded with a smirk. "Mint chocolate chip it is!" he replied. The two boys met up with Jazz and began their walk. Happy thoughts of ice cream and camaraderie filled Danny's head. The summer may have started shaky, but I won't let it stay that way!