Erm…sorry? I'm still not finished with the other story I really wanted to get done before doing this one again, but…

You should all give LunaLovegood and DannyPhantom your thanks for getting this story going again, because that author is the one who got me to stop prancing around and sit back down at my desk to actually do something productive.

I'd rather work on this story anyway.

So! Here we go:

Liza – No, you don't sound pushy, and I hope this revives you.

PhantomDrag0n – Yep, hilarious' spelt right. I agree that Danny's pranks are way better (and easier to come up with), but I hope that will be remedied in the next chapter. As for Harry discovering Danny's secret…well…we shall see ;)

mystery writer5775 – awww, cute little puppy Cujo…DOWN, DOGZILLA! I like it ;)

Iymea – I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I agree that there should and will be many more chapters.

TiFu – Happy to know you like it, and thanks for the great ideas! They will be utilized to the utmost…Sure, go ahead and PM me, no prob

bug349 – You won't feel sorry for them for long, I gotta say. Their cruelty knows no bounds…and I am not just making up these abuses! They're from the books!

unnamed anonymous reviewer – Well, we'll get there eventually.

arandomreviewer – Ohhh…I like the way you think…I'll incorporate that, if I remember ;)

TCOGS – Nah, that was Harry's sarcastic thoughts. Although I like your idea of a slip-up on Harry's part that a clueless Danny doesn't catch at all.

ThePurpleSuperCow – Oh, I will…I will…

turkeyhead987 – Eh-heh…well…it's updated now…heh…thanks!

Kung-fu Blaziken – Thanks :)

Upsilon Four – Yes, yes there is that prank, as you will see. Happy to know you like the story and thanks for the great idea!

prophetofgreed – I seem to remember sending you a reply…but just in case…DANG IT! How did you knooow? *whining* Well, part of it…Nice perception skills!

Ghostdragon101 – I will do my best.

serin2 – Love it. Awesome and original ideas, because Harry could use a potion since it's not underage wand magic. I will be mulling over that idea in the future…

book phan44 – Happy to hear it!

Biisaiyowaq – Well…it's not asap…but it's not like I was sitting around idly…yeah. Sorry to leave you on an edge for so long, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Random Flyer – Wow, nice comments on Danny's character. But now that you mention only Danny's character, I can see that I've got holes in Harry's, since Harry isn't exactly happy-go-lucky either. And as for the cleaning, well, good point. I will find a way to make the clean-up not torturous, then. Thanks for your great review! :)

Wragziez – Meh, sorry for making you wait longer. And the worst part is…I'm still in school now! A different one…but a school. At least the classes are actually fun here. Thanks for the luck :)

Infinitechange – I try. Thanks for telling me I succeed :)

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Danny Phantom.

And NOW, for the FEATURE PRESENTATION:

Hogwarts Residents: Part 8, The Dursleys' Summer Torture

Well, it was time, Harry figured, to put the hats back. Anonymously, of course, and not in the hall closet where they really belonged, but Vernon would be able to find them fairly easily this time.

Now, as to whether or not he would want to use them once he found them was another question entirely.

Thus, after a disturbing Monday-morning breakfast that was cooked courtesy of Harry prior to either American's wake-up call, Vernon rose, picked up his briefcase, donned his grey suit jacket, absently grabbed one of his hats from their stacked position on the countertop and pecked Aunt Petunia on the cheek while putting that hat on in what was supposedly a suave move. He had expected such a stunt to be rewarded with a smile, maybe a kiss, something nice.

Not a scream in his ear as Petunia felt something brush her cheek and then skitter down the side of her face.

Danny, for his part, had dragged himself out of bed at an unreasonably early hour of the morning – school was out! Who would continue eating breakfast at six? – and had barely been able to discern the political dynamics in the kitchen. After all, there was a reason 'food' and 'first' started with the same letter, so the Dursleys' glares and poorly-concealed hostility simply passed over his head.

And even after a meal that, while somewhat scanty for a human, was a feast for a halfa, Danny's senses were still not working properly at 6:10 until a shrill scream made him jerk alert.

And realize that he was with a series of people who were not frightened witless by a ghost who was threatening their lives, but by a spider that was trying to reach the floor. He snorted and glanced at Harry, who was watching the scene maybe a tad bit too impassively.

Jazz also stood by. A naturally cheerful person, she had been wide awake and managed to grab the majority of attention – well, honestly, Dudley had garnered the most attention from his parents, but Jazz had managed to suck up the rest, effectively preventing any early-morning unpleasantness between the adults and the kids.

So there the three teenagers stood while the three Dursleys hopped around and screamed and stomped in efforts to squish the inch-big spider flatter than a German pancake.

"Where did that come from?" Aunt Petunia screeched as Dudley tried to become one with a corner.

Vernon bent down to observe the black smear on his formerly immaculate kitchen floor. "I'm sure I don't know, dear." Having ascertained that yes, the spider's life had been ended, he looked up at his gasping and pale-faced wife.

"!"

"OW! What the bloody h-"

THUNK!

"GAH! Would you stop-"

WHAM!

"EI! PETUINA! Drop that frying pan th-!"

BANG!

Jazz frowned at the boys, Danny in particular, who were trying to cover their giggles at the sight of their aunt going OCD about the spiders that were crawling out of the creases of their uncle's hats and all over his hair, his shoulders, his hands-

"OW! THAT WAS MY HAND!" Finally, Vernon got a hint as he was about to cuddle the abused appendage to his chest before flinging it out in front of him, sending the hats and spiders flying.

And when all the spiders had been smashed, banged, or safely hidden on Danny or Harry, Aunt Petunia ensured one more thing:

WHACK!

"WH-"

"Vernon Dursley, you will remove those flowers from my sight, and if you ever bring anymore plants in this house ever again I will lock you in a room with them and all their bugs!"

Thisisalinebreak

After the morning's excitement, the two black-haired boys could be found in Danny's temporary bedroom, still laughing at the sight.

"That was genius!" Danny chortled.

"It came out better than I thought it would," Harry admitted as his laughter died down. "I'm just glad they think the spiders came from the flowers that were sitting in front of the hats instead of me."

"Where did you get those spiders anyway?" Danny asked.

Harry bit his lip a little. "I just…found them around." Thankfully, Danny's attention was more on coaxing a spider onto his hand with several others he had salvaged from the Arachnid Massacre. "You like spiders, I see."

Danny looked up. "Well…Sam likes them more than me. She even has a spider backpack with fangs!" He smiled fondly at the memory. "But I don't mind them. They've got the same right to live, same as anyone else."

Harry bit back a comment on how, yes, they had the right to live, but not under his bed or in his bookshelves.

"You don't seem squeamish around them, either," Danny mentioned.

Harry shrugged. "I'm used to more…ah…"

"Creepy?" Danny suggested, watching a spider crawl down his forearm.

"Yeah. At my school, we deal with way more creepy things than spiders." Unless you count Aragog, but he is a sentient, enhanced spider, he doesn't count, Harry thought privately.

"Like what?" Danny asked, more to keep the conversation going than anything else.

"Er…well…" Magical Creatures were not Harry's forte, but he did not want to share the little knowledge he had of them.

"Oh, come on," Danny smirked at the trapped wizard. "I can handle it."

"Maybe," Harry smirked right back.

"I can!" Danny insisted. "I have seen stuff way creepier, too!"

"Such as?" Harry inquired, pretending he didn't believe it.

"We once had to deal with a ghost mosquito infestation at my school," Danny began.

Harry blinked. "A what?"

"Ghost mosquitoes. They were tiny and green – it was beyond hard to catch them – and instead of biting you, they phased into your skin, giving you uncontrollable ghost-powers until they came back out," Danny explained.

Apparently, he wasn't very clear, because Harry was still giving him the, 'riiight, and pigs fly,' expression.

Actually, there is a species of feral pigasus that still exists in the wild. Only conservationist wizards know that they exist, of course, but that's beside the point.

"Okay," Harry said, blinking rapidly.

"I thought you said you believed in ghosts," Danny pointed out, slightly miffed.

Harry shook his head. "Of course I do. It's just…from what I've gathered…ghosts can't interact with the physical world." Smooth, he complimented himself.

A snort rudely intruded on his thoughts. "I wi – scratch that."

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"I was about to say w-i-s-h, but there's this one ghost, a green female genie called Desiree, who takes people's wishes and grants them in some twisted and evil way. It's best to just get out of that habit."

Harry stared. Wait until he told Hermione this.

"What?" Danny asked, frowning.

Harry shook himself again. "Are you sure they're ghosts?" he asked, a little cautiously.

"Dude, what else would they be?" Danny returned, completely confident in his answer.

That's exactly what Hermione's trying to find out, Harry thought.

"What do you think of ghosts as?"

"All the ghosts I've…read about are a silvery opaque, not green, and can't interact with the physical world," Harry said, barely catching himself and saying 'read' instead of 'seen.' "That's not strictly true…uh…some have special cases because of how they died…or what type of ghost they are" – Moaning Myrtle's ability to touch water and Peeves the Poltergeist's ability to cause physical mischief came to mind – "but for the most part, ghosts are shadows of their living selves."

Danny had grown very quiet. "Like…post-human subconsciousness?"

"I guess," Harry said. "They seem more complex and developed than that, but I never really gave it much thought before."

Danny had an odd smile on his face. "My parents would define a ghost as an odd blob of ectoplasm enfused with post-human subconsciousness."

Harry took a moment to digest that. "That makes it sound like ghosts are mostly ectoplasm."

"Yeah," Danny added dryly. "Like they're just 'things' instead of sentient beings."

Harry gave him a side-long glance. "You seem bothered by that."

Danny shrugged uncomfortably, entirely aware that a ghost-hunter's son, logically, wouldn't care. These were dangerous waters that he needed to navigate out of. "It's not always true. Desiree was a real person once before she was a ghost; what's so different about her post-human sentience now?"

"I really couldn't tell you that," Harry admitted after a moment's consideration.

"But some ghosts are like that," Danny continued. "In fact, I'm not even sure if they all were human once. Have you ever heard of ectopusses?"

"…Ecto-what?" Now, Harry was very hesitant to call Danny out for lying on this, because Danny seemed to fully believe in it and because, well, he seemed honest.

But this sort of stuff didn't even exist in the Wizarding World, and if it didn't exist there, then it probably didn't exist period. Gryffindor's Sword! He hoped Hermione came up with an answer soon.

Thisisalinebreak

"I'm bored."

"That's the sixth time you've said that."

"Really, really, bored."

"Seventh."

"I'm still bored."

"What do you do when you're normally bored?" Harry questioned.

Danny blinked. "Erm…I…uh, well, I don't get bored. Too much stuff to do, you know? What about you?"

Harry thought back. Well, unraveling Hogwarts' secrets and fighting Voldemort weren't exactly academics, but he wouldn't say that he would go do them just because he was bored. "I'm usually too busy to do anything, too."

"…I guess I play video games in my spare time, like I said," Danny sighed.

"We don't have any," Harry pointed out.

Danny brightened. "Nope! But the library's got computers…" Danny sang.

"Okay? And?"

"Doomed time!" Danny cheered, grabbing Harry's wrist and beginning to pull him out the door.

"Hello, Danny, Harry."

"Hi, Jazz!" Danny exclaimed animatedly. "Hey, what's up?"

Jazz didn't move from her position. Leaning against the doorframe, she pointed back towards the bed they had been sprawled on top of a moment before. "Sit."

Danny gulped.

"I understand playing pranks, and I know that the D-Branch are pretty nasty, but reign it in." She crossed her arms, and Danny looked down at the floor. Harry felt he was missing something as Jazz stared intensely at her little brother.

At last Danny sighed as though judgment had been passed. "Alright. We'll make sure these pranks are strictly non-hurtful anymore." A glint of humor returned to his eyes. "Although we really couldn't predict that Aunt Petunia would turn into Rapunzel because of the spiders."

Harry seemed to be left out of the loop a lot lately, but also voiced his own thoughts. "I didn't think anyone would get hurt by a few spiders," he said truthfully.

Jazz sighed. "What I meant, was, leave off. It's not only physically harmful, but also emotionally hurtful towards their marriage."

Danny remembered the anniversary incident when he had been scared that Mom and Dad might break up. It had been a scary thought, and he wouldn't want to cause another kid to experience it.

"And besides, what are you trying to even achieve with them?" Jazz charged on.

Danny sighed again. "Look, Jazz, you know what I'm trying to achieve. And you also know that I would never take it too far, right?" he asked, meeting her gaze.

"Vengeance is petty," Jazz responded tartly.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "That's why our petty actions don't really matter that much."

"Danny," Jazz warned.

"Jazz," Danny returned. "They totally deserve it."

"As long as no one's hurt, what's the problem?" Harry backed Danny up.

Jazz sighed with little satisfaction. "Just…keep the mental torment down, too, okay? That's the part I'm worried about."

Danny smirked. "Will do, Jazzerincess."

Jazz colored at the nickname, glancing at Harry, and yelled in retribution, "Danny-boy!"

"Oh, look at the time, well, Harry and I have somewhere to be, accounts to set up, games to play, see ya!" Danny babbled, grabbing Harry once more and this time dragging him along as he ran past Jazz, down the steps and out the door.

"What are you talking about, you were just discussing your infinite boredom!" Jazz called after them before rolling her eyes and heading down the steps to work on her new pet project, Operation: Directing the Dursleys.

Thisisalinebreak

"Do you always do the dishes?" Danny nearly complained as he helped dry them.

Harry smiled at him wryly. "Welcome to my world." Well, to my Muggle world at least.

Danny smiled back, but his smile held no ironic sarcasm. "What did you think of the Doomed world?"

Harry shook his head. "Erm…can I first ask how often you play it?"

Danny shrugged. "Meh…I used to do it a lot, before the ghosts came. I'll probably pick it back up now since it's an easy way to stay in contact with Sam and Tucker."

"Well, no offense," Harry began, "but I don't really see that much of a point in it. Let me finish!" he insisted, seeing that Danny was about to interrupt out of indignant shock. "I mean, it's all about finding excitement, the thrill of danger, but you said that your town is experiencing a huge ghost invasion. Isn't the real world dangerous enough?"

"I never really thought of it like that before," Danny said, eyebrows drawn a little as he considered Harry's words and briefly wondered what type of danger Harry got in to make him think of this viewpoint before brushing the idea off as unimportant. "I guess you're right; a lot of people play video games for the adventure, but for me, it's more of a way to escape my adventure."

Harry frowned. "How so?"

"Well," Danny explained, "in the real world, you get one shot. Two, if you're lucky" – like I was, he thought with a shiver – "but in a video game, you can try as many times as you like. You've got more than one chance to make mistakes and learn from them and then, most importantly, fix them."

"Alright, I can see that," Harry considered. He tried to envision the Wizarding World's current war as a video game. If he could do it over…what would he have done differently to avoid – Cedric Diggory's death? So far during the summer, he had been trying to avoid thinking of the horrific finale to his last school year. It couldn't be helped when his subconsciousness decided to mull over the topic during the night, but at least during the day he could distract himself.

And now, because of a common computer game, Harry found himself thinking about Cedric again. Maybe if he had…no, there was no point. Danny was right. No matter what solutions Harry came up with now, nothing would change the fact that Harry had failed in that one moment and Cedric had died from that one flash of bright green light…

"Hey, are you okay?" Danny asked, concerned when he heard Harry's pained intake of breath.

Harry glanced at him. "I'm fine." A horrific smell invaded his conscious through his nose. "Actually, I'm not. What is that smell?"

Danny was back to grinning at him. "Foley, by Tucker Foley. I know, it smells like sweaty cookies, doesn't it?"

"That's about right," Harry nodded, welcoming the distraction from his thoughts. Actually, it really reminded him of a combination of snickerdoodles and Dudley's gym socks from back before Harry had discovered he was a wizard. "What on Earth are you doing with it?" he asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust. That was quite possibly one of the worst things he had ever smelled – and when you've lived in a musty closet, entered your school's sewage system or entered a potions classroom, you have probably become acquainted with some of the worst smells known to man.

"The Dursleys are going to be in for a nasty treat tomorrow," Danny winked at him.

"Ugh, the only reason I can think of you bringing that is if you already had these pranks in mind," Harry accused him, trying not to hold his nose.

"Actually," Danny said, trying hard not to laugh, "I brought it to use on myself. It's not just repelling; it's a repellant. Remember that time I told you about the ghost-mosquito infestation at my school?"

Harry nodded wordlessly.

"Well, Tucker made this stuff to make himself smell more attractive to girls."

Harry stared at him. "There is no way that worked."

Now Danny didn't even try to hold in his laughter. "You're right. It was so bad, not a single ghost mosquito could stand to be close to him for more than five seconds. He was the only kid in the school who didn't get bitten and taken to a creepy hospital where a ghost was trying to combine everyone's best characteristics to make herself the perfect body."

Harry seemed to wince. "You were bitten, too?"

"Yeah," Danny said after a moment's hesitation at lying, looking at his shoes.

Harry decided not to pry. "At least you can tell Jazz you actually helped them," he said cheerfully instead.

"Yep!" Danny agreed. "While I don't think you should really eat this stuff…come and admire your mosquito-free kitchen! Satisfaction guaranteed!" So saying, he struck a dramatic pose and, having dried, sprayed and put away the last of the dishes, proceeded to spray the entire kitchen.

"Not towards me!" Harry protested vociferously as he dashed to stand next to Danny, who sent him a quick apologetic look.

Finally, the spray-fest stopped. Danny smirked as he put the lid back on. "I'll have to come down later and enforce the smell again, just to make sure it doesn't fade."

Thisisalinebreak

Invisible and intangible, Danny Phantom stuck his head through the kitchen ceiling before the rest of him followed suit. Several rounds later, he deemed his mischievous work satisfactory and flew back up to Danny Fenton's bed.

Meanwhile, the Boy Who Lived through yet another meeting with the Dark Lord lay in his bed and carefully listened for Danny Fenton's creaking footsteps above him, or for a scratch from Hedwig on his non-existent window or even the sharp rap on his closet door to tell him to get up. Anything that would drown out the pictures and screams that surged through his head.

Thisisalinebreak

The next morning, to Aunt Petunia's irritation, neither black-haired boy would get up. She quickly decided, however, that this was not a large loss. So she had to cook breakfast that morning, but at least she wouldn't have to deal with them at the breakfast table.

With these thoughts, she brusquely opened a cabinet to reach for a frying pan when a stench that was comparable to the potions homework her freak of a sister would have to do over the summer hit her harder than Zeus could throw a lightning bolt.

Unable to scream due to the lack of clean air, Petunia fled the room and woke up her husband.

Ten minutes later, the couple was standing in front of the open doorway that led to the kitchen. Vernon sniffed. "What is that smell?" he demanded, using much of the same inflection Harry had used when he had first smelt it.

The same could not be said for the volume of his question. While Harry had asked his cousin, Vernon bellowed his displeasure for the world to hear. It was so loud, Dudley even turned around from his television show and Jazz raced down the steps in a light pink bathrobe, frantically asking, "What's wrong? What's going on? Where's the gh-" before, luckily for her, going into a coughing fit.

And just for show, Danny and Harry showed up not two seconds later, hacking and coughing just like Jazz.

They ate breakfast out that day.

Thisisalinebreak

Upon returning, the smell still hadn't gone away. All the windows throughout the house were opened, by order of the High and Mighty Couchpotato. As Danny and Harry struggled to open the one in the basement that had been opened three times in Harry's life, at least as far back as Harry could remember, the wizard commented, "I saw that you reinforced it."

The halfa nodded. "Yep."

"I didn't hear you come down, though."

Danny frowned. "What?"

"It's not that I was listening for you or anything," Harry said hastily. "It's just that whenever someone comes down the steps, I usually hear them."

"What? Why?"

Harry shrugged self-consciously. "My room is under the stairs."

"WHAT?" Danny asked for the third time in a row, flabbergasted. "You live in the closet under the stairs?"

"Sure." Harry shrugged again, trying to come up with a way to get Danny to ignore it. "I was given the choice of sharing Dudley's room" – flat-out lie right there, but Danny didn't need to know that –
but I thought the stairs would be nicer."

Danny snorted. "Anything is nicer than sleeping in the same room as Dudley. I'd rather sleep in a tree when it's raining than have to sleep with that brat. But you shouldn't have to sleep in a little closet just because Jazz and I came."

"Danny, it's not that bad," Harry reasoned. "It's cozy, it's got everything I need, and I usually hang out with you in your bedroom, so I don't spend much time in it." Anymore.

Danny's face suddenly brightened. "Hey! Now that you mention it, would you like to organize sleepovers instead and share the room with me?"

"As good as that sounds, I really doubt the Dursleys would let us do that," Harry said.

"Never know until we try. I'm sure Jazz would back us up," Danny reasoned with him. Seeing that Harry was still on the fence, Danny sighed. "But if you don't want to, then that's fine."

Harry smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks."

"No prob," was the reply. "But just tell me if you change your mind."

Harry nodded in assent.

"Good grief," Danny panted as they resumed trying to open the window. "Here, Harry, why don't you work on the windows upstairs and I'll keep trying to get this one?"

"Okay," Harry said dubiously.

The moment his cousin was out of sight, Danny whispered, "Goin' Ghost." The familiar white ring formed and split into two rings that swept vertically over him. Not fifteen seconds later, the stubborn window was open courtesy of ghost strength and Danny had turned back to Fenton. While on the plane, he had decided to keep his ghost half a secret from everyone here for several reasons. First, it would look very suspicious if someone found that Danny Phantom from Amity Park came with Jazz and Danny Fenton who were also from Amity Park. Of course, people from around here had probably never even heard of his ghost half, especially judging by the Dursleys' reactions, but you never knew.

And even if there was no chance anyone would recognize him in his ghost form, Danny still didn't see any reason to introduce Phantom.

He walked to the main level and found Harry. "Hey, it's open now."

Harry looked at him in surprise. "Whoa. How'd you manage that?"

Danny smirked – he had already thought this one out – "We were just putting pressure on the wrong parts of the window. You have to push evenly on the entire plane, or else the window will tilt and then refuse to go down."

Harry nodded, accepting this answer.

After a short silence in which neither boy had anything to say, Danny turned abruptly. "I think I'll go send Sam and Tucker some snail-mail."

"What's snail-mail?" Harry questioned, cocking his head a little.

Danny sighed. "Regular mail. It takes so long for the postal system to transport stuff anywhere." And with those parting complaints, Danny made for the stairs.

Thisisalinebreak

Harry smiled once Danny was out of sight. With the Dursleys + Jazz gone, Harry was the only person on the ground floor.

Which meant it was time to put his next prank into action.

The Dursleys kept all sorts of items in the cabinet that stood in the sitting room. The upper levels were full of leatherbound books that could be seen through the window, but underneath them was a drawer that held cards, stationary items like stamps and all sorts of tape.

Selecting a roll of clear duct tape, Harry made his way to the door that lead from the hall to the kitchen and began to work.

Thisisalinebreak

With a yawn, Danny sat back and read his short note. Yep, one note. There was a very strong possibility that the adult Mansons would throw out (not even recycle) any letter that a person with the last name 'Fenton' would send to their house on sight.

So there was one envelope with Tucker's address and one letter addressed to two people:

Dear Sam and Tucker,

It is so frustrating to not have a computer close-by! Really! There are a total of five in the house, but do I get to use one?

No. Of course not. And Jazz works so much on the one she's borrowing that I don't have a shot at grabbing it for even ten minutes.

So I'm letting you know that if you want to get in touch with me, you have to either convince Sam to pay the long-distance call to the Dursley residence (which I really don't suggest, and that's not just because of the cost!), call my cell phone or send a letter like I'm doing. Sorry, Tucker, I know you hate writing. Just think of this as exercising more than just your thumbs; you get to exercise the rest of your fingers, too!

Jazz talked to Harry and me yesterday. You should have seen the prank Harry pulled! Aunt Petunia was beating the spiders with a frying pan, and they were not just all over the floor, but also all over the hats Uncle Vernon was holding.

That's why Jazz approached us. Thinking back, yeah, we did take it too far, because Aunt Petunia ended up hitting Uncle Vernon's head a number of times. I didn't want them to get hurt.

But I don't want Harry to get hurt, either. Did you know he's currently living in the closet under the stairs because he doesn't want to share a room with Dudley? And the Dursleys don't even seem to care! They completely ignore it!

So while we feel that our vengeance is justified…Harry and I decided that we would keep it strictly non-physical and limit it to mental torture. I can live with that. Sorta.

I mean, I know it still hurts them, but I'm hoping that maybe it will help change their views, and if it doesn't, then they should be able to recover fairly quickly; after all, Jazz is here, too.

Unfortunately. While she gets along with the Dursleys, she'd rather be home, too.

Love and miss you guys,

Danny

Danny yawned again. Deciding that he could send the note in the morning, he drowsily prepared for bed at nine at night.

Thisisalinebreak

About five hours later, Danny lay wide awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. A look outside had told him that it was a horrible hour to be up, but no matter what he did, from counting sheep to mentally replaying his meetings with the Box Ghost, he couldn't fall back asleep.

So what happens when you have a bored teenager and a dark house?

A midnight excursion, of course. Usually, this excursion would be in the direction of the kitchen, more specifically the fridge, but as an unwelcome and unwanted guest, Danny figured that this would be a bad idea. Of course, he didn't arrive at this conclusion until after he had already automatically started to float towards the kitchen.

Which is why, lost in thought and traveling on autopilot, he failed to see the sheen in front of him until he hit a sticky wall. A muffled, "Eep!" escaped him before he managed to clamp down on his voice, but thankfully, it failed to draw anyone out. As it was, Danny did hear the groan of some springs as a certain someone shifted on his cot under the stairs.

With extra care, Danny tried to pull away from the tape, but try as he might, his ghostly spandex stuck to it, stretching further than a skintight suit should be able to. If I pull anymore, the tape's going to break.

So why not pull down the tape?

Danny mentally smacked himself. 'Cause it's Harry's prank for tomorrow. Uh, today. Nice one, Fenton.

But he was pretty sure that Harry had not been planning on getting a ghost to get stuck to his web as an extra 'surprise.'

Oh, wait. Ghost.

Duh.

Really, Fenton?

With a single thought, Danny intangibly passed through the sticky substance and flew through the wall to the roof. Good grief, if he was forgetting even the most basic of his ghost powers, then he had better get to practicing.

And it's not like he didn't have energy to spare…

Thisisalinebreak

While Danny was out harder than a rock on the upper level, the adult Dursleys rose to begin their morning routine. Brush teeth, wash face, get dressed, create a thunderstorm when tromping down the steps and enter the kitchen to begin making breakfast.

The last step, however, was slightly hindered by the same reason that Danny discovered last night:

"WHAT THE BLOODY H***?" Vernon roared when his considerable bulk hit the sticky tape and refused to move an inch.

Woken up by the noise, Harry cautiously cracked open his door to see his Harry-web in action. His aunt was too busy pushing on his uncle, who was too busy pushing on the doorframe in the opposite direction, to notice their charge's gaze.

"Vernon! Can't you just step through like normal?" Petunia snapped at her husband.

"Pull, Petunia!" Vernon shouted in reply.

Petunia switched directions, but it didn't make any difference save one:

RRIIPP!

Harry winced at seeing the large tear in his uncle's shirt. Buy hey, at least he was free. And at least he could replace the shirt.

But if you were looking at Uncle Vernon, it would seem like a mob had just run down the street screaming, 'RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! IT'S DOOMSDAY! THE APOCALYPSE! AAAHHHH!' or something along those lines, because he ran up the steps as if Helheim's Hounds were chasing him not three feet away.

But meals must continue, so Petunia immediately repeated her husband's actions.

"HARRY!" she screeched, to which Harry jumped out of his closet, pretending that he had been asleep.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," he said dully, adding a yawn for good measure and keeping his eyelids half down.

"Go to the other side and pull this tape off!" Aunt Petunia demanded. Harry complied, sadly without the alacrity Petunia had wanted to see.

"You did this, didn't you, you little fr-"

"Aunt Petunia?"

The grown woman turned towards the innocent, angelic voice, immediately letting go of Harry's ear as if it were a cinder.

"Yes, Daniel?" She smiled charmingly, like a viper that was telling you it wasn't going to swallow you whole.

"I heard some noises down here. Is everything alright?" Petunia's eyes narrowed suspiciously as Danny gave a yawn identical to the one Harry had shown just now.

"Yes," she said in a curt voice.

Danny blinked confusedly. "What's with the tape?"

The question determined Harry's doom. "Someone," she began in clipped tones, "decided it would be amusing to see us get stuck on some tape that would block us from the kitchen. Ha-"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Jazz interrupted contritely.

"Excuse me?"

"Aunt Petunia, I was doing a test last night. I asked Danny to walk down the hall thinking about one of his more embarrassing life moments" – Danny through his sister a dirty look – "to test how one's mental condition can affect his or her physical senses as well. I designed the test to-"

"That is quite alright, Jazz," Aunt Petunia smiled at her favorite niece. "But please," she sang in a sickeningly sweet tone, "remember to pick up after yourself."

"I'm dreadfully sorry," Jazz apologized again, coming down the steps and entering the kitchen at Aunt Petunia's bidding.

"Clean up this mess," Aunt Petunia ordered Danny. "And you, I expect this to be fixed by lunch."

Harry sighed as he looked the bare patches on the doorframe where the tape had peeled the paint off. On second thought, maybe you did have to clean up after your pranks once in a while.

Thisisalinebreak

The phone rang.

At six-thirty AM.

Not a reasonable time in the Dursleys' opinions. Because what was worse than calling in the middle of night?

Calling in the middle (or in this case, the beginning) of a meal.

And if you had to guess who it was…

"Hello?" Vernon grumped, the phone held to his ear.

"Hello, Vernon," a specific red-haired woman sighed on the other end. "I apologize once again for this early intrusion, but once again, my husband insisted we tell you about our recent adventures. I'm afraid I could only delay him for so long; he loves you dearly, Verny."

Vernon cringed at the undignified nickname.

His face froze in the unpleasant expression when the phone was handed to an over-enthusiastic Jack who began babbling about ghosts.

Thankfully, though, Jazz, that dear, sweet girl, came and saved him. "Uncle Vernon, aren't you coming to breakfast?"

"Is that my Jazzerincess?" Jack Fenton's voice boomed on the other end of the line.

"Yes!" Vernon answered to both questions and jumped up. "Here's your father." And, after shoving the phone into Jazz's hands, Vernon practically tripped over his own feet to reach the breakfast table in his haste to escape his weird brother.

"Hi, Mom!"

Danny jerked up and dumped the last of the tape in the trashcan. "We're fine, how are you? Uh-huh…really…look, Mom?...Mom? I can't talk for long now, we're about to eat breakfast…okay…love you, too…tell Dad I love him…He's doing what?...erm…okay?...If you say so, Mom. Here's Danny. Love you! Bye!"

Danny eagerly grabbed the phone. "Hey, Mom!"

"Danny! Baby, it's been so long! How are you? Do you like it there? What do you think of your in-laws?"

"Whoa, whoa, Mom, chill!" Danny exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand under the pressure of the string of questions. "In order: I'm great, it's okay, they're a little…um…"

"Yes?"

"Well, they are…uh…really nice! Yeah, they've been really kind to us and…yeah. Heh." Not his most convincing statement, but what else was he going to say? And with the subjects in question sitting in the next room, too?

"I'm happy to hear it," his mother said, completely oblivious to her son's unhappiness. "Listen, baby, I want you to tell me all the details of your stay, but we have to leave now."

"Aw, Maddie…" Danny's dad whined.

"There's a ghost tour of the haunted places in Hong Kong in about one hour, and we have to get to the meeting place," Maddie explained.

"One hour? Maddie, why didn't you say so? Let's get going!"

Danny heard an exasperated, yet fond sigh. "Write us an e-mail, okay?"

"Okay," Danny smiled although no one could see it.

"And remember that we love you."

"Okay, Mom," Danny repeated. "Love you, too. Bye."

"Bye, sweetie!"

The line went dead.

I know, I know. It's abrupt and it doesn't even cover a full week, but I think it's enough to get up. There will be more interesting stuff in the second part of this chapter. FYI, the second half will be added to the first half, so when I update next by the end of this week, there will still be the same number of chapters that there are now!

Intermission:

Wragziez - :)

book phan44 - *gasp* okay, okay! Don't shoot! Here it is!

Mak8907 – Glad to see a laugh

TiFu – Coming right up!

seantriana – Yeah, I agree. I was kind of disappointed in the content as well, but thanks for sticking with me! I really enjoyed writing this next part.

DBack47 – Thanks for your support! And don't worry; I love this story as well, so much that I think I'll let it take precedence over my other stories. But even if that doesn't happen, I will never abandon it. :)

Iymea – Happy to hear that you like it so much, and I hope you like this next part just as well! :)

Infinitechange – Exactly what I was going for. Thanks for telling me ^_^

Random Flyer – Heh, thanks! I am trying to go for more depth, like you wrote, Harry's grief over Cedric, Danny's despair over Amity Park, instead of just eventful pranks. But I am sorry, because they are the main focus. I can give more hints towards each other's actual identities (which actually, I think that's a great idea), but that's it until Week 8. I'll try to write faster to get to that part, and I'm sure I could omit some pranks. Don't want this story to be boring :) Thanks for great feedback!

Raining Skittles – Thanks :)

And NOW, back to our FEATURE PRESENTATION:

Week 2, Part 2

With a slightly lonesome sigh, Danny joined the breakfast table, keeping as silent as possible so as to stay out of the philosophical conversation Jazz was striking up with the Dursleys. He appreciated her efforts, he really did, but at some point, there was no tampering with someone's foundational beliefs, as he had learned many times over from Sam's scare tactics.

However, Sam's Rule of 'giving people personal space,' both physical and mental, seemed to have escaped Jazz completely because she was invading both with no qualms whatsoever:

"Do you think I could break from my parents' family-profession and become one of the leading psychologists in this era?" she asked, listening aptly whilst leaning over her plate and Aunt Petunia's drink as well, absolutely oblivious to the tension she was creating. Or maybe ignoring it; she was a genius after all.

Harry sent Danny a glance: 'Is she always like this?'

Danny sent a shrug and quickly quirked one side of his lips: 'Not always this bad.'

"It's been my dream for so long," Jazz continued.

"I'm sure you could, dear," Aunt Petunia said, giving her niece a smile, especially once Jazz withdrew to her own table-spot and chair with a pensive look.

And as Jazz began to discuss her views on the 'social services' she could provide, her 'experience with unusual guidance that could have corrupted her mind when she was an impressionable little child,' and other specifics about how an 'innocent little girl' had to survive such a strange family that just warmed Aunt Petunia's heart, the silent conversation between the black-haired boys became verbal.

"I'm gonna go talk to Sam and Tucker after lunch," Danny whispered to Harry. "Wanna come?"

Harry looked around the table that was overflowing with food and dishes and then back at Danny. "If I can."

Danny frowned. "Why wouldn't you be able t-"

Vernon's voice cut through both conversations and Dudley's eating. "Is there something you would like to share, boys?" Neither boy was very intimidated by Vernon's best glare, but at the same time, they weren't very willing to tell him their extraneous activities, either.

"Well?" he demanded gruffly after a two-second pause.

"No, sir," Harry said softly, mirroring Danny's position so that if you hadn't seen them sit down, then you wouldn't be able to tell which boy was which.

But Danny, deciding to speak for his cousin, refused to be cowed by their uncle and while Harry kept his head slightly bowed, refusing to meet Vernon's gaze, Danny looked Vernon straight in his squinty eyes. Well, kind of. His thoughts skimmed over some of his tougher, far less pleasant battles, like Freakshow, Pariah Dark, Dark Dan…he cut himself off right there.

And he couldn't find the confidence to face his uncle without cringing? "Actually, I was asking Harry if he wanted to come with me and talk with Sam and Tucker."

Vernon made a very poor effort to conceal his slight snicker, but it didn't fool any Fenton or Potter. "In fact," he said with the pleasant charm of a possessed basilisk, which Harry had personal experience with, "he can't because it is his turn to do the dishes."

Well, Vernon didn't disappoint, Harry had to admit as he sank just slightly further down in his seat. He had expected as much.

At Jazz's swift warning gaze, Danny bit his tongue instead of saying, 'It was his turn yesterday, too. And the day before that. And the day before that.' He turned to Harry, hyper aware of the silence at the table as everyone watched them to see his response. "So do you want to go after we do the dishes?" he asked, stuttering slightly. Nice going, Fenton, he berated himself for destroying any mask of self-assurance.

"Um…" Harry bit his lip, unsure of whether to say, yes, he did want to, or no, the way his uncle's eyes were telling him to.

Uncle Vernon made Harry's decision for him. "No," he said firmly.

"Erm…okay," Danny said, also unsure about the situation since he had never been in it before. Not to say that he hadn't been bullied before (Dash and his football squad had seen to it that he knew the whole bullying spectrum from the toilet's plumbing to the peak of a flagpole), but this was a family authority figure, not a high school student, and he was setting down a rule for his subordinates, not committing a senseless vengeance on a wimp.

Awkward silence, Danny sang in his mind before deciding that enough was enough. "I'll say 'hi' to them for you?" he asked, still a little hesitantly.

"Sure," Harry agreed softly, focusing his gaze on Danny's retreating back instead of the Dursleys.

Jazz stood up as well. "I'll help you with the dishes, Harry," she offered, smiling at him kindly, but Harry knew what was coming.

"No, dear, that won't be necessary," Aunt Petunia said with a smile and pushed back her chair. "I'm sure you have better things to occupy your time with, say, showing me that wonderful library you've been telling us about for weeks. I'm simply dying of curiosity about your collection…" Her voice faded as she guided Jazz upstairs, leaving Dudley, who had stopped eating to smirk at Harry, Vernon, who was striding purposefully towards Harry, and Harry, who felt like a vulnerable puppy in the midst of wolves.

"You have been consorting with that type of riff-raff?" Vernon snarled the moment all was clear.

"Danny introduced us," Harry mumbled.

"Speak up, boy!"

"Harry introduced us, sir," Harry repeated more loudly, a red hue showing on his face. It had nothing to do with embarrassment, though. No, the guests were now safely away, which meant that he didn't have to give any pretense that he actually liked the people who were 'raising' him. He didn't have to act the way he had when he was eleven before he had found out he was wizard, when he would jump at every command with a pained grin.

"Well don't do it again," Vernon hissed. "The less normal folk know of you, the better. Now wash the dishes."

Harry set to the enormous task, almost sighing in despair when he saw the mountain of porcelain, but he couldn't raise a fuss or run away.

Which left the option of using the dish towel in the sink.

A whistle sounded right behind him, making him jump. "Wow. And while you're at it, Cinderello, make sure the curtains are hung, the floor is scrubbed, the laundry is done and after that, you still can't go to the ball."

"Danny!" Harry hissed through his teeth, narrowing his eyes. "Don't do that!"

His cousin flashed him a full-out predatory smile. "Do what?" he asked, pretending as though nothing happened.

"Sneak up on me! I hate it when people do that!" Harry snapped before his eyes widened. "And don't do that either!"

Danny looked down at the dish in his hand in a frank manner. "Dry the dishes?"

"Yes!"

"But-"

"Danny," Harry said, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment. "I know you want to help, but the best thing you can do is let me do what I'm supposed to do and go be where Uncle Vernon thinks you are. I appreciate it, but the best way to fix this is to not be suspicious."

Danny looked at him for a moment. "Okay," he sighed. "See you later, Harry."

Harry nodded and turned back to his dishes, listening for the tell-tale sign that Danny had left. After a few minutes of a lack of the distinctive sounds of the door opening and closing, he checked down the hall, taking care not to squeak and keeping his dishcloth in hand.

Danny was gone.

Weird.

Harry shrugged, simply writing it off to Danny's superb sneaking skills. Which still creeped him out. It was nerve-wracking for Harry, as he remembered quite a number of times when a certain Slytherin trio had decided to make some undercover jabs at the Gryffindors. Sneaking meant trouble, in Harry's book, and Trouble usually knocked on his door, offering him a detention or another trial in the war against Voldemort.

His jaw tightened. The finale of the Triwizard Tournament had crept up on him, too. And he had never expected Ron's rat to be a Death Eater. Or for a common journal to hold the soul of a young, but still evil, Voldemort. Or for a harmless, defenseless professor to be fused with his mortal enemy!

Yep. I despise surprises, Harry decided, washing a plate with extra vigor. All they ever seemed to bring was stress and pain, for not only him, but also the people close to him.

He didn't want them to get hurt. They never meant him any harm. Danny, for all his pranks and mischief, didn't mean any harm to anyone; he wanted justice. In fact, he made an effort to sneak around for Harry's benefit. And, Harry supposed, the surprise of learning he had been a wizard was actually a pretty good one. As had been the courageous escapade Ron and the twins had done for him a few years back. Harry had to admit, surprises weren't that bad, if they were coming from his family.

The Dursleys were the exception. But anyone else, Harry mused, and he supposed it was okay to be surprised. He'd have to work on not pulling out his wand every time he was startled, especially if Danny made it such a habit. As much as he liked Danny, he still was not keen on letting him know he was a wizard, not only because then Danny would be in danger, but also still maybe a little scared of the possibility that Danny would think of him as a freak, too, no matter how silly that fear was.

New topic, new topic, Harry thought, searching for something less heavy. New topic…ah ha! Tomorrow's prank! My turn…

Now what am I going to do?

What could he do? He even had an Invisibility Cloak, and Danny was still winning, with a strong lead! Reviewing his pranks, Harry kept a tally in his head. He needed to do something…not pathetic. Something with more complexity than hiding someone's hats and more excitement than a 'broken' TV. If Danny could manage it, then he certainly should be able to.

Hurriedly, he finished the dishes and made for his closet. He had a letter to write.

Thisialinebreak

Well, Danny figured. The Dursleys could hardly hate him anymore, could they? So why not?

"This," he announced to his audience in the living room, "is your classic ecto-weapon. It's essentially a gun, but it's filled with ectoplasm, see?"

Even though he didn't show it, Harry took particular interest in the glowing green…glob that was sitting in the gun's open compartment.

"It hurts only ghosts" – the Dursleys drew a sigh of relief – "and only the weaker ones at that. If you're going to go against a powerful ghost, like Walker, then forget the gun and just run, because this thing" – Danny bounced the ecto-gun in his hands a few times as the Dursleys felt their nerves fray with the gun's every movement – "wouldn't be able to leave a scorch mark on your wall. See?"

Petunia screamed and Vernon shouted as Danny, in one fluid motion, lifted the ecto-gun up to eye level, squinted down the aiming device and fired.

Everyone else joined in, even Danny, when a green explosion lit the room.

Harry closed his eyes, blocking out the haunting light.

No, not Harry! Not Harry! No! a woman's voice screamed in his head.

Avada Kedavra.

Meanwhile, another human in the room was having a painful flashback as well, albeit a far less momentous one:

"Look, Mum, Dad!" an excited, orange-jumpsuited boy shouted gleefully. "Look at what I made!"

"What you got there, sport?" his dad asked with a fond smile.

"It's very nice, dear," his mom smiled down at the green and white gun that was being thrust into her face by a ten-year-old Jack Fenton.

"Can I show it to you? Please, please please please please?"

"Of course, dear," his mom said indulgently, nodding.

"See? You aim using the-"

"Aim at the opposite wall, Jack," she said firmly.

Jack's shoulders slumped for a moment. "Okay." Suddenly, he was back to his usual, too-cheery attitude. "You aim, and then you pull this trigger and then you-"

They didn't find out what they did next because it was at that moment that the gun exploded and ectoplasm covered the room, from the ceiling to the floor and all the cabinets, toys and books in between.

It looked exactly like his living room did now.

Danny titled his head a little when he heard, "…thought…child…ghosts…done," from Uncle Vernon's whimper. Actually, that gives me a great idea…

But the great idea would have to wait. Raising his hand to scratch the back of his neck, Danny laughed nervously. "Uh…oops?"

The thermometer for Vernon's face was rapidly rising.

"Eh…I'll just…"

"YOU!" Vernon exploded, grabbing Danny by the upper arm. "AND YOU!" He did the same to Harry. "WILL CLEAN THIS UP! AND YOU" – here he shook Danny a little – "WILL NEVER BRING ANOTHER THING LIKE THAT IN THIS HOUSE EVER AGAIN!"

Danny nodded rapidly.

Seeing Jazz's look, Vernon abruptly let them go and rejoined his 'family members worth talking to.' Aunt Petunia led the way out, nose in the air as she pulled Dudley beside her and comforted him at the same time. Jazz was mumbling about a shower and her shampoo that even cleaned out ectoplasm – guaranteed! – while Vernon brought up the rear.

Harry and Danny looked at each other. "Awesome!" Danny exclaimed, holding up his hand. "Did you see their faces?"

Harry stared at the hand in confusion.

"…What?"

"Why are you…?"

"Dude, you don't do high-fives?"

"Oh. I've seen a few," Harry admitted, reaching up and lightly smacking Danny's uplifted hand. "I think they're more common in America."

"Eh, probably," Danny agreed. "Seriously, could you picture everybody in your school giving each other high-fives? I see it in my high school all the time, but we don't have uniforms or really strict teachers, and I gotta say, we tend to ignore the 'learning' part of school a lot…"

Harry tried to envision smacking a high-five with Ron. Maybe. With Hermione…getting a little weird.

Maybe him and Neville. No, that wasn't Neville's character.

Malfoy and one of his bodyguards? Too undignified for them.

Professor Snape and…Hah. Laughable. Any professor doing it, really.

"Here. Take this."

Harry looked at the bag and the brush. "You can get ectoplasm up with a brush?"

Danny shook his head. "You have to pick it up, see?" He bent down, made a small hill out of the glowing goop and dumped it into his garbage bag. "You use the broom to get the stuff off the upper parts of the room."

Mimicking Danny, Harry cautiously nudged the ectoplasm.

"Yeah, I know it looks radioactive," Danny said humorously. "Don't worry about it, it's just another element."

"Another element?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows. "I don't remember seeing this on the Periodic Table." Then again, the last time he had seen the Muggle Periodic Table had been five years ago. It was interesting to note that he also hadn't seen ectoplasm in what would be the Wizarding Worlds' version of a Periodic Table, either.

Hermione?

"Well, actually…my parents are still making a case that it should be included. They made a chart of the things a material must have in order to be an element, and made a check next to all the ones that apply to ectoplasm as well. They're still testing, but so far, everything's matched up."

Harry listened with interest. "They seem really determined."

Danny laughed. "Oh, believe me, they are. They've been studying ghosts before they even got together, way back in college. And once they get an idea, they stick to it. Unless you give my dad fudge. My mom's the one who's really focused all the time and controls what my dad's attention is on."

Harry chuckled a little at the image of Danny's dad, his uncle, going after some fudge. It was one hundred percent believable. "Anything else I should know about our family?"

Danny considered. "Well, what else do you want to know?"

Harry shrugged. "Anything. I never knew I had family besides the Dursleys until this summer. What are you guys like? What do you do? Who else do we have?"

"Ditto for me," Danny agreed. "I had no idea Dad was born in England or that I had family there. I've been wondering the same things you have, so, in order: when you think of my mom, I want you to think classic, stereotypical mom who hunts ghosts and is a ninth-degree blackbelt. Meaning she gets protective, and can actually do something about a threat, especially when said threat is a ghost the way it usually is. As for my dad, thinking 'child who never grew up' is pretty accurate. He's caring and compassionate, but easily distracted and can't do anything competently unless we're in serious danger.

"You've already met my sister, and me," Danny said, pausing. "Aunt Alicia…"

"I think I've got her pegged," Harry informed him, thinking of Danny's first description of her and the anniversary incident.

"Well, besides her…oh…" Danny's face fell.

"Yes? Who else?"

"…Back in college," Danny began miserably, "Mom, Dad and this other guy called Vlad were the ghost trio. They were pretty close because of a shared interest that everyone else laughed at, and Vlad still comes by. A lot. More than I like."

"You don't seem to like him that much," Harry noted.

Danny grimaced. "Let's just say 'Unckie Vlad' and I don't get along very well."

"Why?" Harry inquired.

"…" Busted.

Thisisalinebreak

"Wow."

"Yeah," Danny agreed, laughing maybe just a tad bit nervously. "Vlad can be just a tad bit…uh…"

"Condescending?" Harry suggested delicately.

"Yeah, let's go with that," Danny agreed again before jumping. "Hey, it's clean!"

Harry smiled wryly. "Of course it is. We just cleaned it. Why are you so surprised?"

Danny glanced at the clock. "Eleven. That took us two hours. A job like this usually takes me probably about five."

"The power of teamwork," Harry said sagely, nodding mockingly.

Danny stared at him. "Dude, that is way too cheesy. Get some sleep."

Harry yawned. Sleep sounded good.

So did planning tomorrow's prank. Today had been Danny's, now it was his turn again. Of course, he might have to forfeit his turn because right now, his options seemed very, very limited.

Thisisalinebreak

Danny stood on the roof, in Phantom form. He had been flying around pointlessly for an hour, just enjoying the feeling of the breeze through his hair as he hadn't in a long while, when his phone rang.

Flipping it open, he stared at the number.

SAM MANSON

"Hello?"

"DANNY!"

"Sam? What's up? What's going on?" An explosion sounded on the other end.

"Danny, where do your parents keep the weapons?" BOOM!

"Weapons vault, in the basement, combination is-"

"Agh!"

"SAM!"

"Get away from me, you creep!" THWACK! POW!

"SAM?"

"Sorry, that was just some ecto-pus that got a little too close. He won't be doing it again."

Danny could imagine why. "The weapons are in the basement, in the weapons vault."

"On it!"

"What are you looking for?"

"A huge net. You have one, right?" Sam sounded like she was breathing hard, and Danny could here her combat boots connecting solidly with the ground as she ran.

"Yeah, but why do you-THWOOM!-need it? Sam, what's going on?"

"All the insentient animals must have finally heard that you're leaving, because they've been showing up in swarms lately. The mosquitos were no problem, and we could handle the reptiles, even the Cyclops alligators, but now we're getting the ecto-pusses, and they're a little more aware of what we're doing. HYA!"

"How's the Fenton thermos?" Danny asked desperately, hand twitching as he listened to Sam's information as well as the background noise.

"Full," Sam said shortly.

"Dump the ghosts while you're down there, okay?" Danny ordered, now flying back and forth as though pacing.

"Duh. What was the password for the combination again?"

Thisisalinebreak

Vernon sat up. He could have sworn he heard a voice shouting something, but as he listened, he didn't hear anything else. Maybe it was that Potter boy…

Getting up, he decided to check out his living room and the fridge.

Thisisalinebreak

Harry lay still and silent on his bed. It was dark. It was hot. It was stifling. It was lonesome.

It made him miss Hogwarts. He was especially missing his friends. Danny was a great one, but nobody could ever replace Ron and Hermione. They were the two people he trusted without reservation. They knew everything about him. He could tell them anything and he could do anything with them, and he knew he could never have this type of relationship with Danny. Even now, not only was he hiding his heritage and an entire world from Danny, but also just his common, every-day feelings. How irritated he got by Danny's lurking, how mad he got at the Dursleys' orders, and how unsettled he felt by Jazz's constant prying in the lifestyle that the Dursley household had been following for nearly fifteen years.

Harry found himself wishing he could talk to his friends, at least one of them, right now. Even if it was an emergency call because of a Death Eater attack or…something.

Thisisalinebreak

"SAM!" Danny yelled. "Are you okay?"

"It's just a scrape, nothing serious," the Goth girl replied. "But he's about to get something pretty serious."

"Kick his butt for me, Sam," Danny encouraged.

"AH! Oops, oh, sh-"

"SAM?" Danny yelled into the dead line. If only he were there, he could help…

Thus did the ghostboy fly around the neighborhood at his fastest speed, searching for a flicker of green, or swirl of air, anything that would be the tell-tale sign of a natural portal.

Thisisalinebreak

The next day, Danny didn't show up to breakfast. He didn't even twitch when a very angry Petunia came into the room and yelled at him or when Jazz and then Harry tried to shake him. He was hardly even breathing, a fact Harry found worrisome.

Petunia, however, was more worried for her precious cookbooks than the half-dead boy in one of the bedrooms on the upper level of her house. She was going to make a cake today; she had promised her husband one of his favorites (although the vast majority were his favorites) and now she couldn't find the cookbook that had the recipe.

Which meant that the best she could do was bake something that wasn't his favorite cake, but in fact a substitute. Another cake might be nice…

But she couldn't find a recipe for that, either.

Or for any cookies.

Or even brownies; the brownie mixes were missing, too.

When it was four in the afternoon, Petunia decided it was time for an emergency shopping trip to the grocery store.

Thisisalinebreak

Harry sighed. Pathetic. His prank had been pathetic again. Sure, it had been a little amusing to watch Aunt Petunia frantically flip through the pages of her other cookbooks and demolish half the house in her search for the less-healthy recipes. And it would do the Dursleys some good if they didn't eat so many sweets, but it seemed they were so determined to eat several servings of sweets each day that when they were gone, buying a replacement trumped saving money and looking for the recipes.

He stroked Hedwig's soft feathers. "Hurry back," he told her as he took the scroll and gave her two instead. "Oh, don't complain, one's tiny."

Hedwig glanced down at it before hooting once and flying off.

Dear Fred and George,

I am in a prank war with Danny. But we're not pranking each other, we're pranking the Dursleys. Whoever comes up with the best pranks wins. Hermione and Ron could tell you more about this, but the basic gist is this:

My pranks are pitifully pathetic. And Danny's are unbelievably good. I don't have a clue as to how he does them.

Do you have any tips?

Thanks,

Harry

Harry settled down on a stump near the edge of the forest and the Dursleys' backyard to hungrily read the newest letter from his friends.

Dear Harry,

'Moine is still looking, so I get to write the letter for once. Apparently, by all accounts, these creatures are ghosts. They seem to follow the Muggles' folklore about ghosts, though, not what we know as wizards about ghosts. Maybe they are a different type of ghost.

Hermione just told me to tell you that there are many sub-categories for ghosts, but only one type of ghost. So her wizarding research says.

Anyway, blimey, mate! It sounds like you're actually having fun this summer! Danny sounds like a fun guy, and Jazz…sounds like she would get along with Hermione better than peanut butter goes with jelly. I wish we could meet them.

We wish you well, and we'll get back to you soon.

Love,

Ron and Hermione

After an hour of just sitting there, looking at the careless, but very familiar handwriting, Harry walked back to the house with only a little bit of homesickness.

Thisisalinebreak

Upon waking up at one in the afternoon, Danny immediately shifted to his ghost form and flew intangibly (and invisibly) through his bedroom wall to resume his search.

He swept through the clearing moments after Hedwig and Harry left and then around the tree stump seconds before Harry arrived, never noticing any movement that wasn't green throughout his search.

Thisisalinebreak

Danny waited in Vernon's bedroom, perched comfortably on one of the over-stuffed chairs. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and to the back of his neck, thoroughly comforted by the e-mail Sam and Tucker had sent through Tucker's PDA three hours ago. Thankfully, all the ghosts had been caught and emptied into the Ghost Zone and, most importantly of all, had learned that just because he was there didn't mean the town was there for them to do as they pleased.

It was a major stress reliever, and let him relax and get back to their competitive work. Harry had explained his prank, in a fairly dejected manner, but Danny had been able to bring his spirits back up with Harry's originally-unenergetic line that 'the Dursleys could stand with a little less dessert.'(1)

Danny had then decided to immediately put his prank (and his idea from the living room last night) into action now that Harry had completed his. He was itching to see how this turned out…

And there was Vernon now. Perfect timing…

Vernon opened his eyes to see a quirky house with the word FENTON sprawled across a sign in neon green letters on the front of the building.

Oh, no.

Someone ran past him screaming.

That sparked off another 'oh, no.'

Now a whole mob followed that person's example.

Oh, no.

The glowing entity that was floating high above the road sealed it for him.

Within the next few seconds, Vernon ran faster than he ever had in his life, including that time when he had been trying out for the track team in high school.

But something was wrong, because he certainly did not want to go into the dark, shady-looking alleyway where his feet were taking him. Panicking at the lack of control over his body, and its apparent bad judgment, Vernon froze in fear.

Danny didn't. With a grin, he carried out the usual plan and ran straight for the wall.

Oh my gosh oh my gosh ohmygosh ohmygoshohmygoshOHNOOOO!

But the impact didn't come. Vernon's hyperventilating went up another notch as a bright flash entered his vision and three seconds later, he flew up along the wall and shouted at the tough-looking ghost with green flames for hair, "Long time no see, Skulker!"

He was too terrified to notice the fact that his voice did not sound like that, even if you took the echo away.

"Whelp," the ghost acknowledged in a growling tone. In one swift motion, four guns popped out of the ghost's apparent metal suit, and Vernon did not understand how he was not trembling.

I…will not go into the fight Danny was reliving (redying? Remembering?). Let me say this:

It wasn't until after Danny flew, punched Skulker into the wall and launched a number of ecto-blasts at the ghost that Vernon realized he was ghost for the simple reason that he had gone through the net the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter had caught him in.

By then, Vernon had bypassed the fear level that Skulker's usual pelt-and-head threat would invoke in anyone who had not fought him before. So when Skulker shouted, "I will have your pelt as a blanket at the foot of my bed and your head a trophy over my fireplace," Vernon's fear level went flying off the charts and somewhere into the vast heights of Infinite space.

Danny knew all this was happening to his "guest." He happily, however, completed the entire fight, maybe even drawing it out a bit, before sucking Skulker into the Fenton Thermos, suit and all (what? He wasn't about to waste the hard-earned fear he had established in Vernon, and that was bound to happen if he introduced Skulker's true form.)and ending the dream.

Vernon sat up quickly, feeling his heart pound. The sheets underneath him were covered in sweat and the upper ones were impossibly tangled, but he took no notice of anything except the very important fact that he was not a ghost. It was just a dream. Completely unreal.

He had nothing to be upset over, he told himself. Just…go get some water or some ice cream or something. Yes, that would make him feel better.

Putting his feet into his slippers, he stood up and walked to the door, wide awake.

It was a dream, it was a dream, it was a-

Two neon green, glowing eyes bored directly into his wide ones.

Everyone in the house woke up at the bellow of terror. When they found that nothing was wrong, a very angry Petunia had gone back to bed, and refused to share her side of it, Dudley had apparently not been awake anyway and Harry had stood beside Danny, murmuring, "What did you do?"

"Oh," Danny said, mind scrambling for a moment. "Well.

"Tell you in the morning? I'm too tired, now."

"Alright," Harry agreed, yawning. "Actually, that sounds like a really good idea."

Contrary to what he had led Harry to believe, Danny spent the rest of the night trying to come up with a way to explain the fact that he had invaded Vernon's dream, overshadowed Vernon's dream-self , fought one of his lower-key fights during this overshadow and then freaked Vernon out even more by looking at him with his glowing, neon green eyes.

On second thought, maybe he could distract Harry instead…

Phew. Tired.

– If you can tell where this came from, then you get a big e-smile from me.

**THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! I have a POLL on MY PROFILE concerning WHICH HOUSE Danny will BE IN! I haven't charted anything beyond the point when Danny becomes a resident at Hogwarts, so this will determine the rest of the story.

Happy summer :)