Walking Back

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harley Potter asked as she glanced around at the group from her position kneeling on the floor. Her black and red streaked hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with the end brushing the waist of her dark red denim jeans. Her crimson tank top exposed the scars on her arms and upper back. Harley paused in drawing the runes for the ritual to look at her companions.

Rick and Carl were sitting on the couch. Daryl was leaning on the wall by the door, looking out the window for walkers and other dangers. Maggie and Carol were sitting in the chairs across from the couch. All were worn down with loss, anger, and stress. Adorned in dirty patched t-shirts and too big jeans that accented how much weight they had lost since being on the run again.

"We've lost too many. If we had been better prepared, maybe…..maybe it could have been better….maybe it would make a difference." Rick's voice cracked from disuse as he looked at the teenage witch that was drawing symbols on the wood floor with chalk. "I know we may not be able to save everyone. I know that by going back we risk everything. But if we can save even one of those we've lost, it will be worth it. It has to be." His wide blue eyes stared into her emerald eyes, pleading for her to understand.

Michonne walked in the room carrying a stack of 3 duffle bags, 1 oversized purse, an overnight bag, and 2 large tote bags, along with a single unopened bottle of water, a coffee cup, a small paring knife, a twenty dollar bill, a roll of Mickey Mouse stickers, a pack of gold star stickers, and a roll of Winnie the Pooh stickers, and placed them on the floor just outside the chalk drawings. "These were all I could find. What do you need them for?" Michonne queried as she sat on the arm of the couch next to Rick.

"Well, if this works, we each will need the bags to keep the supplies in we will get when we go back. I'll transfigure each bag into a large backpack. Then I will enchant them. Each pack will be bonded to an individual so only that person can open or use it. That way you don't have to worry about anyone stealing your supplies. They will also have spells to make the backpacks protected from damage; self-repairing; lightweight; be able to hold an unlimited amount of things; put an stasis on anything you put in, like food, so perishables will stay fresh; and be able to recall the bag to you if you were to leave it somewhere. Also, just stick your hand in the bag and think of what you are looking for, and it will move up to the top so you can grab it without trying to sort through thousands of items. Extensio infinita. Nullum pondus. Impervious. Reparo Tria. Vinculum ad dominum. Veni. Fridgida adsudua."

Harley told them as she waved her wand over the bags. Seven black oversized backpacks with a smaller zipper pouch on one side and a water bottle in a pouch on the other side and a medium zipper pouch in front lay at her side when she finished. Harley turned to the stickers and waved her wand once again.

"Geminio tria permanens. Status expavescere. Subtraxerim utilium habitus vitae. Lux mea semita. Arce crimen."

The 3 packs of stickers duplicated until there were 7 rolls of Mickey Mouse, 7 rolls of Winnie the Pooh, and 7 packs of gold stars. Harley took one pack of each kind of sticker and placed them in the small side zipper pouch of each backpack.

"The small zipper pouch is where you should keep the stickers only. Use them wisely, cause you have a limited amount. It takes too much magic to make them work permanently like this to make more. But they can be used over and over, as long as you remember to take them off the item once you pull it out the bag and put them back on the sticker rolls and inside the small pouch for at least 30 minutes to recharge." Harley said.

"What are the stickers for?" Rick asked.

"The Mickey Mouse stickers will shrink anything nonliving it is stuck to. So you could put it on a car and the car will shrink down to the size of a matchbox car. Then you put the car in your bag. Or you could use it on things like generators, grills, gas tankers, boats, tractors, storage buildings, etc. Anything that is too big to fit in the bag. There are 25 stickers on the Mickey Mouse roll."

"The Winnie the Pooh stickers are to be put on live plants and animals. Say you have a potted lemon tree. You put a Pooh sticker on it, the tree will be put in an indefinite stasis so that it doesn't need water or sunlight, and it will be shrunken as well. Then you can put it in the bag until we have a secure base somewhere. Or you find a cow wandering an abandoned farm. You put a Pooh sticker on the cow. It is put in stasis and shrunken. Then you take it back to base. And take off the sticker. The cow returns to normal, just as healthy as when you put it in stasis. These will Not work on people though. I am trying to come up with one that will be for when someone is injured, so that you can get them to medical help without risk of them dying. But that is a work in progress at the moment. As soon as I have those, you will get them. Oh, there are 25 stickers on the Pooh roll."

The group looked with wide eyes at each other. They knew magic could help, but they were still new to all the possibilities having a witch with them offered.

"Now the gold stars are not for shrinking anything. They are for providing light. Just stick one every 10 feet or so in a building and you will have light even when the power grids are down. Tap the star once to turn on the light and tap twice to turn off the light. There are 50 gold star stickers in a pack."

"The water bottle in the pouch is linked to your backpack. It cannot be lost. It will refill itself with pure cold water whenever it is placed back into the pouch. Last is the medium pocket. It is to be used for anything that should be frozen or refrigerated. The pouch will keep each item at the perfect temperature and in stasis. I recommend putting as much meat, dairy, and frozen foods as you can in this pouch when you go back in time. Remember the bags will never fill up. So you can put as much as you want in the bags."

Harley passed a backpack to each member of the group. As each person accepted their bag, a golden glow surrounded them before sinking into the bag, leaving behind their name embroidered on the bag in gold script. Harley stood up and moved to the side of the couch, where she took off all of her weapons and placed them into her backpack. Once she was done, Harley grabbed the twenty dollar bill and placed it in a silver ornamental dish that sat on the coffee table that had been moved up against the wall.

"Geminio Tria Permanens septem. Vinculum ad dominum." The twenty dollar bill became 7 stacks of twenties in a silver money clasp. She gave a bundle to each person. "Any money you put in the money clip will multiply by 100. The serial numbers will be different on each bill as well. Each money clip is tied to the owner and the backpacks, so you don't have to worry about losing them. This is illegal in the Wizarding World, but since it is muggle money and not wizarding money, they generally look the other way. Especially if you are from an old family. Not that y'all will have to worry about that. There ain't no one around to enforce it. And when we go back, they won't know anyway. Personally, I plan to duplicate as much money as I can and then go on a shopping spree across several states for supplies. That is, if the ritual works and we go back in time before the walkers started. Speaking of the ritual, take off anything you want to keep with you and put it in the backpacks. Otherwise, I can't promise you'll have them with you once the ritual is over." Harley said as she placed her money in the backpack.

Michonne placed the tip of her sword in the backpack and watched wide eyed as it fit all the way into the bag. The rest followed her example and placed their weapons in their backpacks. They all watched as Daryl put his crossbow and quiver of bolts into the bag.

"Are y'all ready?" Harley asked as she sat on the coffee table. "Any questions before we do this?"

Rick scratched his chin in thought. "If this works, then we will all wake up back where we were in the past. Is that right?"

"That is right, Rick. You will be back in King's County. Maggie will be back at her college. I will be back at my Aunt's in Surrey. At least for a moment. No way in hell will I stay with those people or even in England. I'll be booking it out of the Wizarding World just as soon as I raid Diagon Alley for supplies. And then I'll be jetting back over here to the USA."

"So, we need a plan on how to contact each other. So, we can stay in touch. And find a place to create as a base. And hunt for those in our group before the walkers come. We don't know for sure how far we will go back. We know it will be sometime before the walkers started, but not more than a year before. Also, how will we be able to convince the others? They'll start thinking we're nuts if we start telling them about the end of the world and zombies. And none of us needs to be in a jail cell or in a padded room when the shit hits the fan." Rick said as he leaned forward.

Harley thought for a moment. "I have an idea. I'll be right back." Harley walked out of the living room and down the hall into the bathroom she saw earlier when they cleared the house. She walked over to where makeup was strewn on the counter and rummaged through it until she found a small circular silver makeup mirror. Then she walked into the bedroom and picked up a notebook and pen that was on the nightstand before walking back into the living room. She placed the items on the coffee table.

"Geminio Tria Permanens septem.. Vinculum ad dominum. Impervious. Reparo Tria. Audi vocem meam. Videbis faciem meam. Loco ad locum. Legit verba mea." 7 of each item lay before her once more. She passed the mirrors, notebooks, and pens out to each one. "Mirror Call Rick." The mirror is Rick's hand vibrated and Harley's face and voice appeared in the mirror.

"The mirrors are linked. You can use them like cell phones. Just say mirror call and the name and they will connect to any person here. To end the call, say mirror end call." With those words, the mirror once again looked like a plain mirror. Harley opened the notebook and wrote Group- Where do we meet when we return? Each book glowed blue until they opened the books up, and then they saw the message.

"You can also use the notebook to write a message to anyone in the group by writing their name, or the group as a whole, by writing Group- in front of your message. As you can see the message appears in your notebooks. Then you can write back. The notebook will not run out of paper. The pen will not run out of ink. So where do y'all plan to meet up when we go back? So, I know where to head when I make my escape from the sheeple. Hopefully, I will be bringing a few more magicals with me."

"That takes care of communication. But what about convincing people we ain't nuts. Cause if I can't prove to Merle what's coming, he may be a problem." Daryl said as he walked over to the group.

"If we have enough time, hold off on telling Merle and the others until I get back to Georgia. I'll bring a pensieve with me. That is a magical device that will let them see our memories of what we've been through. That should convince everyone." Harley replied.

"We should meet up in Atlanta a week after we are back. That will give us time to each do our own preparations and research. We will get in touch everyday around noon to discuss our progress and plans. And maybe Harley will be back in the states by then. Additional magical help would be great when we are picking out and securing our base. The prison was a good home. But I would rather not have to go through all that with the Governor again. Although, we will still have to make a trip there for Axel and Oscar. And maybe Big Tiny."

"Everyone ready?" Harley asked. Everyone nodded. Harley picked up the coffee cup and knife. She cut her palm and let blood flow into the cup. Then she passed them around until every person had bled into the cup. "Put on your backpacks and sit around the chalk circle in a circle holding hands." They sat Indian style on the floor with hands clasped and waited as Harley sat down in the middle and poured the blood onto the chalk runic symbols. Wind blew around the room as she began chanting.

"Convertere anima mea praeteriti ad sui ipsius iunior essentia ego mitto meum experientia mihi. Et fecit nefas in jure. ut verius loquar."

A bright light blinded the group.