Walking Back

Rick placed the mirror down on the bedside table next to the hospital bed after ending the call with Harley and walked over to the window looking down at the sleepy town below. The sky was just beginning to lighten as dawn approached. 'I can't believe it worked. We really have a chance now. 10 weeks is better than none. There is a lot we can do in that time. But I can't do any of it in this hospital. I need to get out of here. I need to stock up everything I can and come up with a plan for a real defensible, self-sustaining base.' Rick thought as he glanced around the room, his eyes lingering on the medical supplies’ bins.

Rick grabbed the black backpack that had been by his side when he had woken up, took a long sip from the cold water bottle, and unzipped the main section. Rick proceeded to take everything he could think of a use for. He pulled the bedding and pillows off the bed and stuffed them into the bag, which didn't get any heavier or fuller looking. Rick emptied the plastic bins of every medical supply and placed them in his black backpack. Rick emptied the bathroom of the clean towels, rags, shampoos, soaps, and toilet papers. He took every box of gloves on the wall and the hand sanitizer jugs. He even took the half full iv bag and tubing, which he'd clamped to make sure it didn't leak, and the unused iv bag on the iv pole. Rick looked around the room once more to see if he'd forgotten anything.

When he saw nothing, he put the mirror in his pocket, backpack over his shoulder, and walked to the door. He slowly opened the door and carefully peeped down the hallway. No one was in sight. He could hear the hum of the electric lights and the beeping of iv machines up and down the hallway. Distant chatter drifted to him from the nurses' station. Rick slowly walked down to the next doorway and peered in the narrow window. Another patient's room with the patient snoozing in the bed, two family members sitting in chairs around the bed chatting.

Rick walked by it to the next door and peered through the window again. This room had several metal cages that were padlocked. Inside the cages were boxes of prescription medicines. This was this floor's medicine locker, which held enough prescription medicines for every patient on the floor for a month or more. Rick glanced up and down the hall, but no one was out. It was still early in the morning with most patients asleep, and the nurses relaxing some before the next shift change in 2 hours.

'This is a gold mine. Why did I not think to raid the hospital before. I will take what I can now and come back right before the end and ransack the place. We need everything we can get. But I also can't risk being caught. At least no one can open this backpack but me, so they would have no evidence that I took anything. God bless you, Harley, and your magic. Daughter, you better hurry back or I'll come to England after you.' Rick thought.

Rick grabbed the door handle and slowly turned it until it clicked. He pushed the door open quickly, went inside, and closed the door silently. Rick turned his back to the door and searched the room until he spotted a key ring hung above the first cage. He grabbed the keyring and matched the colored keys up to the colored padlocks and opened each cage, before putting the keyring back on the hook.

Rick took several boxes of each kind of medication and stuffed them into his backpack. He took antibiotics, antivirals, blood pressure medicine, pain medicine, and everything in between. Rick reached into the cages and shifted the remaining medicine boxes around so that the cages still appeared full. Then he closed and locked each cage. Rick snuck back out into the empty hallway and walked to the next door, which appeared to be the linen closet. Rick took off his gloves and disposed of them in the trash can he passed, then kept walking until he got to the nurse’s station, where 3 nurses were chatting. They looked up in shock when they saw him.

"Officer Grimes, you're awake. You shouldn't be out of bed. Denise, call Dr. Randle and let him know our coma patient is up. He will want to run tests on Officer Grimes." The blonde head nurse said as she moved around the desk to approach Rick and help him back to his room. Rick held up his hand to stop her.

"There will be no tests. No more doctors. Thank you, ladies, for taking such good care of me. But it is time for me to leave. I have wasted too much time laying in this hospital. I plan to go home and enjoy the summer with my family. And rest. I am checking out. So, get whatever papers I need to sign. I AM leaving this hospital in the next few minutes. And I ask that you not inform my family or anyone of my change in status. I wish to surprise them." Rick said as he stared down the head nurse. She looked him over standing on his own feet without the slightest sign of ever being shot or in a coma. She sighed and turned to the other two nurses and nodded.

"Denise, get Officer Grimes release papers. They are attached to the back of his file, like usual. Officer Grimes, must you always be in a rush to get back out there and injured again? Every time you get injured you refuse to stay for the full course of treatment. Good God, Rick, you were shot and literally just woke from a coma. Please give your body time to heal." Head nurse Cathy spoke as she stared at him with an exasperated fondness. Rick smiled and leaned over and kissed her cheek

"Ms. Cathy, I promise you, this time I will be taking a lot of time off and resting. I don't plan to go back to work before school starts back in the fall. I will be spending the entire summer with my wife and son. This was a wakeup call for me. Life is too short." Rick explained. 'Of course I'm not going back. Walkers will be everywhere soon. Time to stock up and fortify. And maybe do a couple of things I couldn't do last time.' Rick thought.

Denise handed a clipboard to Cathy. Cathy signed and turned the clipboard around for Rick who signed it. The head nurse pulled off his copy of the release against medical advice form and handed it to Rick. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Rick. If I see you back in here or out there on patrol before fall, you will answer to me. I will personally tie you to a gurney for a month. Get out of here, you scamp." Rick dipped his hat at the nurses, walked to the elevator, and pressed the down button. When the elevator doors opened, he walked in whistling a jolly tune as he pressed the button for the ground floor.

----TWD----

Ragnok pressed a button on his desk then sat back in his seat with fingers steepled. A side door opened, and a young goblin hurried forward and bowed to his king. "Gruntnoc, I'm declaring a Global Condition Black. Assemble the War Council for 3 hours from now. Also, tell Hardknock to begin Operation Sanctuary. Dismissed." The young goblin ran out of the office like he was being chased by a hungry dragon. Seconds later there was a single pulse of a magical energy wave through the bank. There was a loud crackle followed by a voice projected loudly from all around them.

"Global Condition Black. Global Condition Black. All security forces to your posts, full gear. War Council Chiefs, there will be a War Council in 3 hours’ time. Human employees report to human resources within the hour for instructions. Healers, Smiths, and Stewards, stockpile order omega given. Operation Sanctuary to begin immediately. All Gringotts bank customers. This is Chief Hardknock. Gringotts will be closing in 30 minutes. Finish your business and leave the bank within this time limit. Anyone still within Gringotts bank once the 30 minutes is up, will be detained indefinitely by our security forces and a fine of 25% of your total assets will be acquired by any means necessary for your noncompliance. Any trouble makers will be sentenced to fifteen years in our training camps as target dummies. Gringotts will announce its reopening hours in tomorrow's Daily Prophet. Get out now." A floating clock counting down from 30 minutes appeared by each wall.

Deprak rose from her chair to leave. "They can handle it, Deprak. You will stay." Ragnok said and she sat back down. "Yes, Father."

"Lady Potter, the Goblin Nation is in your debt for this information and early warning. I, King Ragnok, King of the Goblin Nation, do hereby declare Lady Potter and the House of Potter as Eternal Goblin Friend to the Goblin Nation, with every right and privilege that entails." A golden aura surrounded Harley for a moment before sinking into her skin. Several small golden pulses flew from Harley in multiple directions, disappearing as they went through the wall, except for the one pulse that enveloped Winky and sunk into her skin too, leaving behind a wide-eyed house elf.

"After viewing your memories, I see that you are a fierce and honorable warrior, even after all the treachery and abuse you've suffered. You do anything for your clan. Even sacrifice yourself. Anyone would be proud to call you daughter. As Chief of Clan Blacksteel, I adopt Harley Potter as a Daughter of Clan Blacksteel. Her enemies are my enemies and her friends are my friends. My table will always feed her. My blade will always defend her." A visible golden aura enveloped Harley once more. King Ragnok leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk.

"There is much we must discuss, Lady Potter, and we have only 3 hours before I must be at the War Council. We will start with what just occurred. By being made an Eternal Goblin Friend, you, those of your bloodline, and anyone you adopt into House Potter, will be forevermore recognized by all magical beings, not just Goblins, as someone who has provided such a great service to the entire Goblin Nation that the Goblin Nation will honor that person and family as long as there is one goblin left alive. This means that any magical creature you meet will help you in any way they can, or risk the wrath of the Goblin Nation. There have been several Goblin Friends over the centuries, but those individuals are only honored for their lifetime, and their status only applies to themselves. We have only had 2 Eternal Goblin Friends since the time of the First Goblin. The last was over sixteen centuries ago. It is not an honor that is given lightly." Ragnok told her. Harley looked at King Ragnok with a contemplative gaze.

"King Ragnok, this is a great honor. But how will this affect myself and my family? Also, what is this Lady Potter and House of Potter business? I am just Harley Potter. An orphan. I'm no one special. Why do you address me as such?" Harley asked the goblins.

"You truly know nothing of your heritage? This will not stand! That old whiskered goat will roast for this, I promise you this child. You are Harley Potter, the firstborn of Lord James Potter and the last surviving daughter of House Potter. You are therefore Lady Potter, Matriarch and Head of House Potter. You alone have the ability to adopt members into House Potter or remove them. Gringotts has been trying to contact you since your first trip to the bank, but we have been blocked by Dumbledore and the Ministry. They will pay with blood for this, I swear." King Ragnok and Princess Deprak smiled, baring many teeth in shark-like grins.

"Lady Potter, while you are still a minor by Ministry standards, as the last member of House Potter, you should have been emancipated the day you started Hogwarts. We shall remedy this shortly. Before you leave this bank, you will officially take up your position as Lady Harley Potter. We will handle all necessary paperwork at the end of our discussion, if that is okay with you?" Ragnok asked her.

Harley smiled at the goblin. "That will be great, Thank you. But I do not wish the Ministry or Dumbledore to know. Is this possible?"

"The paperwork for all that we will be doing today must be filed within 15 weeks of being filled out. I believe that works with our timeline nicely. By the time the paperwork arrives at the ministry, there will be no one around that cares to read it. Now, House Potter is the last known living descendant of House Peverell. You may be able to claim the headship of House Peverell as well. We will do an inheritance test to confirm this. Please take the dagger to your left and place one drop of blood on this sheet of parchment."

An oversized sheet of parchment slid in front of her as a silver dagger appeared on the desk. Harley picked up the dagger and pierced the thumb on her left hand. A single drop of blood fell onto the parchment below. The parchment glowed then enlarged. Names and dates scrolled across the top of the sheet in family tree format. A smaller sheet of parchment detached from the larger sheet and floated to Harley, who picked it up to read.

Harley Potter

Family:
Daughter of Lady Lily Evans (deceased) and Lord James Potter (Deceased) (Full Bond)
Adopted Daughter of Lord Arthur Weasley and Lady Molly Prewitt (Ottery St. Catchpole, UK) (Blocked Bond)
Adopted Daughter of Chief Ragnok of Clan Blacksteel (Gringotts, London, UK) (Full Bond)
Adopted Sister of Princess Deprak of Clan Blacksteel (Gringotts, London, UK) (Full Bond)
Adopted Daughter of Rick Grimes (Kings County, Georgia, USA) (Half Bond)
Goddaughter and Heiress of Lord Sirius Black (Fidelius Charm Location) (Blocked Bond)
Goddaughter of Lady Alice Longbottom (St. Mungo's, London, UK) (Blocked Bond)
Cub of Remus Lupin/Moony of Pack Marauders (Fidelius Charm Location) (Blocked Bond)
Adopted Sister of Hermione Granger (Brighton, UK) (Half Bond)
Adopted Sister of Ronald Weasley (Ottery St. Catchpole, UK) (Half Bond)
Adopted Sister of Ginevra Weasley (Ottery St. Catchpole, UK) (Half Bond)
Godsister of Heir Neville Longbottom (Aberdeen, UK) (Blocked Bond)
Adopted Sister/Mistress of Dobby Potter (Multiple) (Full Bond)
Adopted Sister/Mistress of Winky Potter (Multiple) (Full Bond)
Adopted Sister of Frederick Weasley (Ottery St. Catchpole, UK) (Half Bond)
Adopted Sister of George Weasley (Ottery St. Catchpole, UK) (Half Bond)
Adopted Sister of Percy Weasley (Ottery St. Catchpole, UK) (Blocked Bond)
Adopted Sister of Charlie Weasley (Ottery St. Catchpole, UK) (Blocked Bond)
Adopted Sister of William Weasley (Ottery St. Catchpole, UK) (Blocked Bond)
Adopted Sister of Carl Grimes (Kings County, Georgia, USA) (Half Bond)
Mate of Daryl Dixon (Blue Springs, Georgia, USA) (Half Bond)

Inheritances:
Lady and Head of House Potter (father)
Heiress of House Black (godfather)
Lady and Head of House Peverell (father)
Lady and Head of House Gryffindor (father)
Lady and Head of House Slytherin (conquest)
Lady and Head of House Emrys (mother)

Full Bonds: Complete
Half Bonds: Bonds Formed But Not Complete
Blocked Bonds: Magically Blocked by Outside Influence

"Looks like your mother was not a muggleborn after all. We will fill out the papers for the other Houses as well and go over what each House has later. The blocked bonds will be looked into. To complete your half bonds, you must do as we did, or as you did with Winky and Dobby. State your intention and allow magic to do the rest. You can complete those bonds at any time. Do you understand?" Ragnok asked Harley, who was staring at the paper.

"I understand. It is a lot to take in, but there is little time to prepare. Not nearly enough time for what I need to learn, as well as all I need to do. I am feeling a little overwhelmed. It has barely been six hours to me since I was fleeing walkers. Then we did the ritual and I'm back to the world before the end. Only to learn that there is even more that I didn't know about before." Harley responded. Deprak and Ragnok shared a look and a nod.

"Now that you have been adopted as one of my clan, as your Chief, it is now my right and responsibility to train you for your position and future. But for that we will need more than the 2 hours and 20 minutes we have left before I must leave you for the war council meeting. We will need to use a time chamber. Lady Potter, what are the names of those in the Wizarding World that you trust with your life, those that you would consider part of House Potter?" Ragnok scribbled on a piece of parchment as Harley spoke several names. When he was finished writing, he turned the parchment around for her to read the names. "Are there any names missing from this list?" Harley shook her head no. Ragnok handed the parchment to Deprak. "Meet us in the time chamber in 20 minutes." Deprak stood from her chair and bowed to her king. She grabbed her spear and exited the room at a jog.