Episode 6
Dorcas shot one zombie in front of her before Narcissa came running out from around the corner, another zombie ran at her and they both fell to the ground.
“Help!” Narcissa yelled, “Help me!”
That zombie had climbed on top of Narcissa and she used the broomstick as a barrier between them. Dorcas frantically tried to grab another arrow and set it up but Marlene came running forward and kicked the zombie off her, stabbing it with her broomstick.
Narcissa got back up and Dorcas used that prepared arrow to shoot a zombie running towards them. Once Pandora caught up to them, the four of them ran off again.
* * *
Regulus stood looking out the window, James came up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Regulus turned his head to look at him and he smiled slightly, before leaning against the wall next to him and tucking his hands into his pockets, turning to look at the rest of the room.
Frank had his head leaning on a shelf, looking away from the room. Evan sat in a chair off to the side of the room, he was covering his eyes by pretending he was rubbing them but Barty stood next to him, sure that Evan was actually crying. Regulus sighed quietly, looking away from them and out the window again.
Remus and Lily sat with Alice at the table, Alice had stopped crying and now just sat there numbly. Lily’s hands were wrapped tightly around Alice’s arm, her eyebrows creased with concern. Alice stopped fidgeting with her fingers and took Lily’s hand off her arm, standing up.
“Alice?” Lily called out quietly, Alice continued walking over to the window, climbing up onto the chair in front of it and onto the windowsill. “Alice!” Lily yelled, jumping out of her seat, Remus following her.
Barty, Evan and Frank all leapt off the chairs they were sitting in and ran over too, “Holy shit!” Barty yelled. Regulus and James both joined in too, trying to pull her down.
“What are you doing!” Frank called out. All of them were desperately trying to pull her down, yelling over one another but she clung on to the window frame.
“Let go of me!” Alice cried, “I want to die! Just leave me alone!” Frank had his arms around her waist and finally managed to pick her up, he put her back down gently with James and Barty holding onto her arms. Evan ran back to the window and stood in front of it.
Frank let go of her but James and Barty held onto her arms as she tried to fling them off, still crying for them to let go of her. She finally flopped onto the floor and sat there, “Both my parents are dead.” She cried, “What am I supposed to do alone?”
Lily teared up watching Alice, she gently picked her up off the floor and moved her into the recording room. “Where are you going?” Remus asked.
“Just let me talk to her.” Lily said, closing the door behind her. They sat down at the table together, “Why would you die Alice, are you kidding me?” Lily asked, after almost ten minutes of them sitting in silence.
“What’s the use in living?” Alice asked, expression startlingly neutral. “I don’t have anybody. I don’t have a mum or a dad. I have nowhere to go and no one waiting for me. No one to yell at me or congratulate me.” She faced Lily with a glare, “Do you know how that feels?”
Lily took a deep breath, “No, I don’t.”
“So stop acting like you know everything.” Alice snapped. “Have you been in my shoes?”
“No.”
“Exactly. Just leave me alone.”
A tear fell out of Lily’s eyes, she looked down at her fingers, fidgeting with them. “I was always second to my sister in everything at home, my grades weren’t ever that good but compared to her… my dad just stopped caring. He told me I should just make sure I don’t get hurt or sick and to just be healthy.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“I didn’t believe him.” Lily continued, looking up at Alice. “I’m sure he would’ve loved it if I did get really good grades, or I was anything like my sister. But, there was something he said that I did believe.” She sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes, “He said that if anything ever happened to me, he’d be the first one there.”
Alice was crying too, tears streaming silently down, “But he didn’t come.”
Lily nodded, sniffling, “He didn’t. But who knows? Maybe he can’t come. What if my dad died?”
“At least you have hope. I have nothing.” Alice glared at her.
“Is there hope? Should I wait for my dad? Or should I run away? I don’t know anything. Mary died. Peter died. I don’t want anyone else to.” Alice glanced over at Lily. “Please don’t die, Alice.”
Alice looked down again, “I want to leave. I feel like I’m going insane in here.”
“Okay, let’s go. We’ll leave.”
“I hate it here.” Alice muttered, putting her head down onto the table. Her arms hit the microphone in front of her, turning it on. It caused the same awful ringing noise on the speakers before her voice came through, “But how do we get out? And we have nowhere to go anyway.”
Regulus opened the door to the recording room and walked in, “Alice. Sorry, just wait a minute.” He walked over to the table, pushing the button on the microphone, before pushing it again. The microphone feedback rang again and the rest of them walked in, covering their ears.
As soon as Barty walked into the room, he blocked his nose, “Ew gross, can’t you people smell? It stinks.”
“What are you doing?” Lily asked Regulus.
He turned to her, “I think we can get out of here.”
They all left the recording room and into the main room again, Regulus took down the mini whiteboard on the wall and drew a very simple version of the school. “This is where we are.” He said, pointing to the broadcasting room on his map. “And this is where Sirius is.” Pointing to the music room. “If we play music only on this speaker, the zombies will go left. Then we’ll take the stairs on the right, get Sirius, and go to the rooftop using the centre stairs.”
“Why the rooftop?” James asked.
“Helicopters keep flying around, if we light a fire there, they could come to save us.”
“Will the zombies really go toward the speakers?” Barty asked.
Frank crossed his arms, “I think he’s right about them being drawn to sound.”
James nodded, “They usually come running the second they hear us.”
“Can we only turn on certain speakers?” Remus asked.
“Yeah,” Regulus nodded, “We’ll turn on the ones in the hall, yard and library, so we can draw them there.”
“Oh yeah, you were in the broadcasting club.” Lily added.
Regulus looked over at her, quickly looking down before nodding slightly, “Yes, because my mother wanted me to.”
“That’s all good, but… how are we going to play music?” Barty asked, “There’s no internet so we can’t stream and none of us have our phones anyway.”
“That.” Regulus pointed at the stack of old CD’s.
“That?” Barty walked over to it and picked one up, “This is ancient. Will it even work?” Regulus carefully took the CD out of his hand and put it into the CD player.
Everyone else gathered in the recording room where Frank helped to set up the microphone while Regulus adjusted the sound console to play only in the broadcasting room. Microphone feedback whined through and he signalled to them, ‘okay’ to them with his fingers. Frank nodded and turned on the microphone. “Who wants to do it?” He asked.
“I’ve never done it before.” Barty answered.
Lily rolled her eyes, “Somebody just do it. Anyone.”
“Fine. I’ll do it then.” Barty ducked down and put his face in front of the mic, “Mic test, one, two, one, two. Sirius Black, are you there? We-“
“What are you doing?” Evan interrupted.
James pushed Barty back and went to the microphone instead, “Sirius, can you hear us? It’s James. We’re coming to you so just stay where you are, do not do anything dangerous and reckless. Got it? I know what you’ll say, but we can’t hear you. Wait for us, okay? We’re coming now.” James finished speaking and looked over at Regulus, he put up the same hand signal.
“Alright, let’s get out of here.” Barty said, “This smell of shit makes me want to throw up.”
“It’s yours.” Evan gritted out.
Barty frowned, “it’s not just mine.”
“Yes it is.”
Regulus rolled his eyes, this conversation was being broadcasted across the entire school and Sirius was definitely listening.
“Really?”
“Yes.” Evan deadpanned.
Remus picked up the microphone, “Sirius.” He said softly. They’d never know it but Sirius had all but decided to leave the room until he heard his voice. “Please stay where you are. I know you never listen to me, but listen this time.” Remus put down the mic and left the room, the rest of them shuffling out behind him.
Regulus adjusted the speakers again to play from the hall, yard and library before finally pressed play on the CD player. They all looked at the speaker in anticipation but no sound came out. “Why isn’t it working?” James asked.
Barty sighed deeply. “Isn’t it useless then?” Evan whispered.
“Yeah.” Barty whispered back. Regulus glared at them, he went to press a button on the CD player when a voice rang through.
‘Time for meditation.’ A calm piano melody began to play. ‘Once again, another joyful day at school has begun. Everyone, close your eyes and calm your hearts. Happy lives come from happy hearts.”
Evan moved to the window, looking out of it while Frank pressed his ear up against the door. “I can only hear it from the left.” Frank said, smiling.
“They’re going to the speakers.” Evan said, walking back towards the group.
“Really?” Alice asked. “So it’s working.” Lily smiled at her, holding her hand.
James and Barty moved to the door and peeled back the paper they had glued on to cover the windows, looking out of it. Zombie after zombie kept coming and they were all running to the left of the corridor. “Okay James,” Barty whispered, “Let’s go.” Everyone took a step forward.
“Hold on!” James whispered back. Everyone stilled.
Barty grimaced, “What? Why?” Barty looked through the window again and a zombie with a cone on its leg, hobbled slowly forward. Once it passed, he faced James again, “I’m going now.” James nodded back at him.
Evan came forward and helped him open the door as quietly as possible. Once it was open Barty slid half his body out and Evan peaked out behind him, they looked to the left and all of the zombies were grabbing at the speaker, they looked to the right and another zombie was there, trying to walk into the wall. Barty gasped silently and slid to the floor, Evan pulling him in before closing the door again.
“Fuck, I could’ve been killed.” Barty gasped dramatically, he looked up at James, “Jerk, you said it was clear.”
“What? why?” James asked, everyone else sighed tiredly.
“There’s still one left.” Evan answered, lowering himself onto the floor next to Barty. “Look.” James looked up to the right and his eyes widened, he crouched down and sat with them.
“What do we do?”
“Is there something wrong with him?” Barty asked.
“Not anymore than you.” Evan answered.
Barty deadpanned, “Shut up, you prick.”
“Sorry.” Evan snorted.
“Everyone else followed the sound, but he’s still there by himself.”
“Maybe he’s deaf.” James suggested.
“Fucks sake.” Evan cursed.
Remus sighed, “So how do we get out?”
“Let’s just wait a bit,” James answered, “I’ll look again.” James got up onto his knees and peered through the window, sighing and dropping down again next to Evan. They waited another five minutes before James slid open the door, “We can’t wait any longer. Just take the others and walk past him as carefully as possible.” The three of them stood up, “I’ll do what I can from behind.”
Barty inhaled and exhaled deeply, before agreeing with a small nod. James looked at Regulus, who was almost completely expressionless rather than a small look of worry. “Let’s go.” James said.
Lily put her hand into Alice’s, “Hold on tight.” She whispered, “Don’t let go.” Alice nodded back slightly. Barty opened the door again and ducked down, sticking to the wall as he walked, Evan following behind him, then Lily and Alice, Regulus, Remus, Frank and finally James.
Frank kept his eyes trained on the zombie, not noticing when Remus stilled slightly, bumping into him and dropping the drone controller he was holding. The metal made a loud clanging noise and Remus immediately bent over to pick it up, stopping the noise. They all froze and looked at the zombie fearfully as it stilled, it slowly turned around. “Run!” James yelled.
The zombie ran after them, James stopped to push it backwards. Barty grabbed Evan’s hand on instinct, dragging him up the stairs with him as they all ran upwards as fast as they could. James kicked it onto the floor before running again. Regulus waited on the stairs of the third floor for him as everyone ran to the fourth floor.
It continued to chase after James, pushing him down on the stairs and James had to crawl away from it. The zombie lunged at James and got on top of him, James put his hands on its shoulders to get it as far away from him as possible.
Suddenly, Severus Snape showed up behind the zombie and stabbed it in the back with a butchers’ knife. The zombie fell limp against James and James quickly pushed it off him, Snape stabbed it again in the neck. “Oh, you moron.” Snape muttered. “You couldn’t even fight off this loser?”
James got to his feet slowly, “Thanks.” He said back.
“Obviously. I saved your life.” Snape rolled his eyes, “Where’s Sirius?”
“Sirius?” James asked. “Why are you asking?”
“I want to kill him.”
“What are you talking about?” James asked, his face going paler.
Snape turned to face James straight-on, “I’m going to kill him.”
James’ eyes dropped to the bloody knife in Snape’s hand. “You’re badly hurt.” He gulped, Snape’s right eye was completely bloody and scabbed over, he probably couldn’t even see out of it. “Are you okay?”
Snape sighed, “I’m great. I’m super great. Where is Sirius?”
“Knock it off.” James said sternly.
Snape’s face turned expressionless, glaring at James. “You’re always like this. Taking all the fun for yourself and not letting anyone else have any. Arrogant prick.” Snape muttered before swinging the knife at James.
James narrowly ducked out of the way, leaning against the wall. Snape went forward to stab him in the stomach and James moved away again, flinging Snape against the stairwell instead, causing him to drop his knife down the stairs. James dropped Snape by the back of his collar but Snape grabbed onto James’ arm and threw him down some stairs against the wall. James wheezed as he stood up again.
“You’re nothing special.” Snape said tauntingly as he slowly walked down the stairs to James. Snape went to kick James but James swerved out of his way, he went to punch him and James punched him in the side instead, before punching him again in the head.
James grabbed his shoulder and kneed him in the chest but when Snape stood back up he punched James and James doubled over, Snape walked towards him and James lifted a leg up to kick Snape’s leg and they both fell to the floor.
Snape got up before James did and kicked him in the stomach, James was left completely winded and Snape crouched down next to him, “Scared, right? I know you’re scared.” Snape smirked. Snape grabbed the back of James’ head so he was looking at him, “Aren’t you scared?” He laughed at James and James reached up to grab Snape’s neck.
“You crazy dickhead.” James wheezed. Snape pushed down on James’ neck so James couldn’t reach his neck but he pushed against Snape’s shoulder.
Regulus ran down the stairs to find James since he was taking so long and immediately ran forward seeing Snape choking James half to death, he wrapped his arm around Snape’s neck. Snape let go of James and moved Regulus’ arm to bite him at the elbow, Regulus screamed loudly before Snape stopped biting him and flung him against the wall.
Snape walked towards Regulus and grabbed the back of his neck, James was finally able to recover and got up, “Let go of him!” He yelled, charging at Snape. Snape let go of Regulus to try and block James but it was too late, James tackled Snape out the window and Snape fell out, crashing onto the floor.
James crouched down next to Regulus after watching Snape fall all the way down, he gently touched Regulus’ arm to look at the bite mark. Regulus looked at him with fear in his eyes but James stared into his eyes, “Let’s go.” He said quietly, helping Regulus up and wrapping his arm around him as the two of them ran the rest of the way to the music room.
* * *
“Hurry up.” Marlene whispered, out of breath from running. She led the group, Narcissa following close behind her while Dorcas and Pandora ran behind them, still holding their bows with an arrow ready. “Shit! There’s one coming. Run!”
The two of them in front sped up and ran for the doors of the training centre, Dorcas shot it in the chest and it collapsed while Pandora shot another one running towards them from afar. Marlene reached the door first, but there was a lock around the handles. “What’s the code?” She yelled.
“Three, two, one, zero!” Pandora yelled back.
“Three, two, one, zero?” Marlene asked.
“Yes, for fucks sake!” Dorcas yelled, using her bow to hit another zombie, since she didn’t have time to pull out an arrow. The top of it broke off and she sighed sadly, dropping it to the floor.
Marlene put in the code and gasped, “It’s open! Quick!” She opened the door and ran in, as Narcissa ran in behind her, she was tackled to the ground by a zombie.
“Help!” Narcissa screamed, the broom she was holding snapped in half and stabbed her in the stomach under the weight of the zombie. Pandora ran to her and kicked the zombie off her.
“Hurry up! Come on!” Marlene screamed at them.
Dorcas ran into the centre as Pandora helped Narcissa up and brought both of them inside. Once they were inside, Dorcas urgently closed the door and locked it from the inside, then covered the glass door with curtains to make sure the zombies couldn’t see them.
Pandora put Narcissa down on a bench inside and collapsed next to her in exhaustion. Marlene dropped the broomstick she was holding and sat down on the bench next to Narcissa, “I’m fucking tired.” She sighed. Narcissa had a hand on her stomach and she was crying, Marlene turned to face her, raising an eyebrow, “Are you crying?” She teased.
Narcissa huffed weakly as she moved her hand, which was now covered in blood away, Marlene’s jaw dropped and she leaned forward, crouching in front of her. “What the fuck happened to you?” She asked.
“What do I do?” Narcissa cried.
Marlene lifted Narcissa’s shirt up to look at the hole, “Were you stabbed?” She pulled the shirt back down and helped apply pressure while Pandora scrambled to get the first aid kit. “Why the fuck did you get stabbed, you idiot?”
* * *
Barty opened the door of the broadcasting room and sighed loudly in relief, he collapsed onto Sirius, hugging him. “Sirius!”
Sirius patted his back gently, “Where’s Remus?” Remus came running into the room and Sirius pushed Barty off him to the floor and ran to Remus, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?”
“Asshole.” Barty muttered, sitting up and crossing his legs instead.
Remus glared at Sirius in response and Sirius faltered, moving away. “How did you guys know I was here?” He asked, only Barty, Evan, Frank, Alice, Lily and Remus were in the room so far.
Before anyone could answer, Remus marched forward and pushed Sirius, he fell onto a table near him, groaning in pain. “I told you not to go!” Remus said, angrily. “Why don’t you ever listen?”
“Hey, hey.” Frank stopped them, “Save the lovers’ quarrel for later.”
“We have to go.” Evan said.
Sirius frowned at him, “What? Where?”
“We have to get to the rooftop.” Frank answered, “Before the music ends.”
“Let’s go. Hurry.” Barty said, he helped Sirius stand upright.
Remus frowned, “Wait, where’s James?” He looked around, “James isn’t here.” Sirius’ face dropped and he ran out of the room. “Where are you going?” Remus yelled after him, following him out.
“Hey!” Alice yelled, everyone else followed them out of the room and she sighed, running after them too.
Remus caught up to Sirius, “Are you insane? I was just yelling at you not to go by yourself-“
“Get in! Go inside!” James yelled, running down the corridor, holding Regulus’ hand. The group turned around and ran back into the room, followed by James and Regulus, narrowly missing the zombies that were running to them. The music had stopped.
“The curtains!” Evan said, as everyone scrambled to close the curtains and cover all the windows. Regulus went to close the ones that showed the lawn rather than the corridor but stopped, scared.
“There’s a zombie there.” Sirius warned, “It’s caught under the piano though, it can’t move.” Regulus nodded once, moving away and sitting down instead. Everyone else had collapsed either onto a chair, a table or the floor, catching their breath.
Lily sighed, “We can’t make it to the rooftop now. We’re trapped again, aren’t we?” She looked carefully over at Alice whose face dropped.
James nodded, “There are zombies outside so… let’s just think a little.”
“This is so annoying.” Alice mumbled quietly, looking away when she suddenly stilled, catching sight of Regulus. She stood up slowly, backing away. “Regulus…” She called out. “Were you bit? That’s a bite mark, isn’t it?”
Everyone else around the room began to back away too, James stood up protectively as Regulus stared at them, stone faced. Sirius scrambled away and picked up a music stand, going towards Regulus. “No.” James ran in front to stop him, “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Move.” Sirius said, “Step away, James.” He held the music stand up at him as a weapon.
“I’m telling you it’s not.” James said angrily, he looked at Regulus, “Tell him. You weren’t bitten by a zombie.” Regulus silently stared at Sirius and everyone worriedly watched the three of them. “Why aren’t you saying anything?” James stressed, “It wasn’t a zombie.” James said to everyone else. “It was Snivellus.”
“Snivellus?”
“Yeah.”
“Snivellus like Severus Snape.” Sirius asked again.
James deadpanned, “Yes, Sirius.”
Sirius looked at Regulus, “Regulus, were you really bitten by Snape?” Regulus nodded slightly. “Say it properly!”
“It’s true.” James argued.
“Snape was bitten by zombies.” Sirius said.
“What lies are you spreading?”
Sirius scoffed, “I saw him get bit when I was fighting him, and when you get bit, you turn. So if it really was Snape who bit him-“
“You’re wrong!” James yelled, interrupting him. The zombies outside growled a little louder. “Snape wasn’t a zombie. He spoke to me, calling me arrogant as always.” He turned to Regulus, “You saw, he wasn’t a zombie.”
Regulus stood up, “Are you sure he was bitten by a zombie?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll turn into a zombie too.”
James spun his head around quickly, “Stop that.” He said to Regulus.
Regulus looked up at him, “I… Never mind. I’m leaving. Thanks, James.” Regulus turned to walk away but James grabbed him by the wrist, turning him around.
“You’re not one of them.” James dragged him back over to the group while he tried to fight him off. Remus took a few steps closer to Sirius. “He won’t turn into a zombie, don’t you trust me?”
“I watched Snape get bit.” Sirius said, not lowering the music stand at all. “It happened while we fought.”
“I fought him too.” James retorted, “That’s how I know.” Sirius pursed his lips, raising an eyebrow. James sighed and marched over to the window with Regulus, he opened a curtain and then the window. He held up his hand that was holding Regulus’, “See this? If he turns, I’ll throw him out the window so he can’t attack you. So don’t say anything.”
“James.” Sirius tried to reason.
“Don’t say anything.”
Regulus sighed, “You don’t need to do this.” He muttered.
James looked down at him, “You stay quiet too.” Sirius changed the way he was holding the music stand into more of a bat and started walking towards them slowly, “Don’t come any closer.” Sirius continued walking. “I warned you.”
“Screw you.” Sirius said, “I warned you first.”
“Go away.”
Sirius frowned, “I don’t want to lose you James.”
“That’s not going to happen.” Sirius continued walking forward and James walked towards him, trying to wrestle the music stand out of his hand. “Let go, you stubborn prick.”
“No, fuck off James, stop.”
“Fucking stop it!” Regulus yelled. James let go and turned to face Regulus, shocked at his outburst. “If I feel strange at all…” Regulus continued, calm as ever, “I’ll make sure I die.”
Sirius pursed his lips, “I’m sorry, just-“
“Don’t be sorry. I’m not sorry for any of you either.”
“I’m sorry.” Sirius said anyway.
Regulus turned to James, “James. Push me if I turn.” He said before climbing onto the windowsill, James ran forward and grabbed his shoulders as he sat down on the edge. Regulus didn't look at James, he stared straight forward at a spot on the wall in front of him. James loosened his grip but still kept a hand on Regulus’ shoulder.
Sirius lowered the music stand slightly, Remus approached him. “That’s enough.” Remus said softly, “He would’ve turned by now.”
“No.” Sirius said.
“He was bitten by Snivellus. He’ll be fine.”
“Snape was bitten by zombies.”
Remus frowned, “James says he wasn’t.”
Sirius turned to face Remus, “I saw it with my own two eyes.”
“Why would James lie?”
“Why would I?” Sirius retorted. Remus sighed, rolling his eyes, he looked over at Regulus. Regulus turned his head to be facing the other way and dried the tears on his cheek.
* * *
Dorcas packed away the first aid kid, they had used an entire roll of cotton pads cleaning up the blood and Marlene and Pandora were still wrapping up her wounds, she complained the entire time. “Does it really hurt this much?” Marlene asked.
Narcissa huffed, “I told you we shouldn’t have left! I said we would all die!” She yelled frustratedly.
“We’ve already stopped the bleeding. You’ll be fine once you get to a hospital.” Pandora said calmly.
“How can I go to a hospital right now?” Narcissa whined. Dorcas rolled her eyes and walked off, putting the kit away.
Marlene sighed, “You will eventually, don’t worry.”
“It’s all your fault!” Narcissa complained, “It’s your fault.”
“Stop whining, you’re not gonna die.”
Pandora rolled her eyes and got up, walking over to Dorcas. Dorcas had picked up the phone but the same thing happened, the call wouldn’t even go through. “No luck?” Dorcas shook her head.
“See? I told you it wouldn’t work.” Narcissa said.
“Stop it already!” Marlene said loudly, ‘You’re not dying!”
* * *
Regulus stilled and looked down at his hand, it cracked as it bent backwards. The veins under his right eye were prominent and he turned his head slowly to look at James next to him. James… James… I feel weird. I’m hungry. His vision was slightly distorted and his eyes focused in on James’ swallowing, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. James… Why do you smell so good?
James turned to face Regulus and his eyes widened, Regulus was leering over him, his right eye was larger and far more dilated than the left eye. “Regulus?” He said softly. Regulus’ face twitched before he lunged to grab James’ shoulder.
“James!” Sirius shouted, running forward and swinging the music stand. James immediately stood protectively in front of Regulus and Sirius broke the stand over James’ back instead. James groaned loudly and turned to Sirius. “Get out of the way!” He shouted.
“Don’t do it.” James said.
“Move!” Sirius was holding the bottom of the stand out to James like a jousting stick.
James huffed angrily and walked over to Sirius, grabbing him by the collar, causing him to drop the music stand. “I told you to stop!”
“You idiot!” Sirius pushed James away from him and James fell to the floor. James got up and jumped at Sirius, the both of them crashing into a table and then onto the floor.
He then crawled towards Sirius and Barty ran forward, pulling him back by the waist, “Oi! Stop it, you two!” Regulus fell off the windowsill and collapsed to the floor, leaning against the wall. “They’re going to come in!” The commotion inside was causing the zombies outside to get rowdier.
“Let go of me!” James shouted. Sirius moved away and picked his music stand again, running for Regulus.
Remus ran in front of him, putting him as a shield for Regulus, “Don’t do it!”
James ran forward, fighting Barty off him and latched onto Sirius from behind, “Watch out, Remus!”
“Get off of me! Get out of the way!” Sirius struggled.
“Are you blind?” Remus asked, “Look at Regulus. He would have blood on his mouth if he had bit him.”
Sirius and James both turned to Regulus and Regulus’ eye had returned to normal, his fists were clenched and he was breathing heavily.
“Do you see it? Is there blood? No, right?” Remus asked.
“He’s right.” Barty panted, “There’s no wound.”
“But if Snape bit him.” Sirius started.
“He’s still fine so it’s okay.” Remus’ eyes dropped to the music stand, “Can you put that down? Stop being so stubborn.”
Sirius looked down at the music stand, James’ arms were still wrapped tightly around his waist. Sirius frowned, “Let go.” James didn’t. “I got it James, let go!” Sirius stretched his shoulders so James wasn’t on him anymore.
“Why won’t you drop that?” Remus asked again.
“None of your business.” Sirius sulked.
James reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, he checked his hand and there wasn’t any blood there. Sirius stared at Remus and Remus finally turned away, looking at Regulus. Regulus had regained his composure, sitting straight up against the wall.
Remus walked towards him and crouched down, grabbing his arm gently and looking at the bite mark, “You’re fine, aren’t you?”
Regulus blinked, not looking at him. “Why are you taking my side?”
“What?”
“I thought you hated me.”
Remus narrowed his eyes, amused. “I still do. But what’s wrong is wrong.” Regulus turned to head the opposite way to Remus and moved his arm out of his grip.
Evan leaned forward and sighed, “He looks fine, let’s just-“
“He would’ve turned by now.” Frank added.
“No.” Regulus said, standing up. “I’m not okay. I did want to bite James.”
James’ jaw dropped slightly, he looked around the room, “That’s not true.” He said, looking at Regulus, “Stop that.”
“No, I really did. I wanted to bite him.”
Sirius’ eyes widened, “What do you mean?”
“That’s all.” Regulus looked down, “I wanted to bite him.” Alice and Lily looked at each other worriedly. “I don’t think I should stay here. If I hadn’t snapped out of it I really would’ve just bit James.”
James frowned at him, “Would you stop? What’s wrong with you?”
Barty sighed, sitting down on the table next to him. “I’ll go.” Regulus said, he turned to leave.
“Wait.” Remus stopped him, he turned to Sirius, “Did you watch Snape get bitten by zombies?”
“How many times do I have to tell you?”
“Did you see him turn?”
Sirius looked away, “No. I was busy running away.”
“And James, you definitely fought Snape?” Remus turned to him.
James nodded.
“There’s no reason for either of you to lie, maybe Snape was bitten but didn’t turn. In the movies, there are always people who are immune.”
“Still, he tried to bite him.” Alice said, Lily looked at her, “And he could have. Obviously, he’s not normal. I won’t be here with him.”
“Alice.” Lily tried.
“What?” She said angrily, “Am I wrong?”
“I don’t know.” Lily frowned, walking closer to Remus.
Remus shrugged slightly, “I don’t know what we should do.”
Regulus sighed, “Stop fighting. If I leave, it’ll solve everything.” He walked to the door and James took a step forward but Lily shoved past him, grabbing Regulus’ arm and stopping him.
“Where would you even go?” Lily cried, Regulus tried to fight his hand off. “I don’t want anyone to die.” She clung on, her hand slipped down Regulus’ arm, grabbing his hand. “Emmeline and Mary’s hands were both really cold before they turned. Regulus’ hands are warm, he’s not a zombie.”
James smiled gratefully at her, “Let’s just talk about how to get to the roof.”
“No.” Alice said.
“Alice!” Lily yelled, turning to her.
“No!” Alice yelled back, “He might be fine now, but who knows when he’ll turn? The rest of you say something. This is wrong. He literally said himself that he wanted to bite him. He has zombie blood in his veins! Zombies killed my parents.” Alice added softly at the end.
A tear fell out of Lily’s eye and she let go of Regulus’ hand, wiping it away. James walked over to the curtain and ripped off a small part at the bottom, he walked over to Regulus, “Give me your hand.” He said before grabbing his hand, tying one end of the cloth to his wrist.
“What are you doing?” Regulus’ eyes widened at him.
“Tying our hands together.” James answered, he then tied the other end of the cloth to his wrist.
Regulus fought his hands off with his other hand, “Stop. Stop. Don’t. Do not.” James grabbed his wrist, and Regulus glared up at him angrily.
“Stop it.” James said earnestly, looking into Regulus’ eyes as he continued glaring at him. He finished tying it and looked at Alice, “Happy? He won’t get to you even if he turns. He’ll only bite me.”
Alice nodded begrudgingly and Sirius sighed disappointedly. James looked away from Sirius, not being able to handle how sad he looked. Him and Regulus sat together away from the group, facing the window. The rest of them set up chairs in a circle on the other side of the room.
Sirius looked over at them longingly and Remus nudged his foot, “He’ll be fine.” He whispered. Sirius nodded at him slightly before looking down.
On the other side of Sirius was Barty, him and Evan lined their chairs so that he could lie on his lap, “Hey, if Regulus is immune, does it mean he’ll be okay even if he gets bitten.”
“Probably.” Evan said, he was subconsciously playing with Barty's hair.
Barty closed his eyes, “Fuck, I’m jealous.”
“He still has zombie blood in his veins.” Alice muttered.
“Well he’s not completely a zombie. A hambie.”
Lily frowned at him, “What’s a hambie?”
“Half zombie.”
“Are you kidding me?” She deadpanned.
“It’s like half-half. Like half chips and half-“ Barty stopped, “Fuck, now I want chips.”
Frank sighed, “Stop it.”
“We haven’t even had water in two days.” Evan said sadly.
Barty sat up, “Is it true we’ll die if we don’t have water for three days?”
“I don’t know.” Frank answered, looking down, “Don’t talk to me. I’m hungry now.”
“Barty.” Evan said, “Remember that fizzy drink we had on our way to school?” Barty sighed longingly. “Aren’t you dying for it?”
“Yes! Fuck I want a redbull.” Barty answered.
Frank ducked his head down, “I’ll see your pop and redbull and raise you a Yorkshire tea.”
Even Lily seemed to sigh softly and Alice frowned at the lot of them. “How could you think about food with a zombie right here?”
“Would you stop?” Remus said, “Regulus isn’t a zombie.”
“Hambie.” Barty mumbled, lying back down.
“That’s still a zombie.”
Lily placed a hand on her arm, “Let’s not do that among ourselves. We’re all we have.”
“Yeah, Regulus is better than Bellatrix.” Remus muttered.
Alice rolled her eyes, “Don’t even say her name. She’s subhuman. Peter died cause of her, and McGonagall.”
“That’s true.” Frank said, “If it weren’t for Bellatrix, they’d still be with us.”
“Hang on.” Sirius perked up, “Didn’t the staff ask for food donations before the competition? I remember they asked Effie to send tacos.”
“Tacos?” Barty asked excitedly. “We would’ve seen it if it were in here.” He stood up, “There’s nothing here. Wait.” He turned around and looked at the music storage room behind him. “Holy shit, maybe it’s in here.” He moved to open the door.
“Stop, we don’t know what’s in there.” Evan said, standing up next to him.
“We need to eat and survive first.” Barty rattled the doorknob and sighed, “Fuck it’s locked.” He whispered, putting his head against the door.
Evan turned to the group, “It’s locked, damn it.”
Sirius stood up, walking over to them, “Let’s open it.” He said encouragingly. “Find something to open it.” The three of them scrambled around until Evan found a safety pin on the floor. He handed it to Sirius and Sirius straightened it, then tried to pick the lock with no success.
He banged on the door angrily. “Should we just knock it down?” Barty asked. Sirius stood up and body slammed into it, rubbing his sore shoulder, Barty moved past him and started kicking the door. He dented the door a few times but the zombies outside began clawing at the door louder.
Frank stood up, peeking out the curtain, “Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy.” Barty continued kicking and banging on the door. “Keep it down!” Frank shouted, going to push the door.
Lily stood up, “Stop. Stop it!” She called out.
Barty sighed, sinking to the floor. “It won’t open, what a waste of energy.” He whined. Alice stood up, picking up a camera she found on the floor. Frank slowly moved away from the door and sat back down, Evan, Sirius and Lily following suit. Barty groaned and stood up, sitting down in his chair and lying on Evan’s lap.
Alice opened the camera and pressed record, flipping it around to film herself, “My mum and dad came to the school to try and save me, but the police and firefighters never came,” Alice said tearfully, the others all looked over at her. “If anyone sees this later, please punish everyone who should have come. Everyone abandoned us. All of them. I swear I’ll make you pay.” She wiped the tears off her face and smiled sadly, “Mum. Dad. I’ll stay alive and get revenge, I’ll get revenge on all the zombies.” She stopped recording and closed the camera, putting it down on the table next to her.
Frank got up and grabbed the camera, "Hello, I'm Frank Longbottom, in my final year at Hogwarts, I can't wait to graduate and go off to university. I really hope to have a girlfriend by then." He smiled.
Barty popped his head into the camera, "No, you won't." He teased.
"Go away." He finished recording and handed the camera to Evan.
“Hello parents, I’m sure you know what's happened, because of this I think I deserve a raise in my allowance. My sister deserves one too, so I'll tell her once I see her.” He added softly. He then handed the camera to Barty.
“Is it ready to go?” Barty asked, Evan nodded. Barty cleared his throat, “Mum, I hope you’re doing alright. Dad, I hope you’ve been eaten to death by zombies.” He grinned and handed the camera out to Sirius, “Sirius?”
Sirius took it from him, “Hey Effie, it’s me. I hope both you and Monty are well, James is over there.” He flipped the camera to show James and Regulus, “I don’t know why he won’t sit with me, please yell at him when we see you again. I’m, I’m doing okay." He smiled at the camera before handing the camera to Remus who immediately passed it over to Lily.
Lily smiled at him and held the camera up. “Hi Dad! You’re okay, right? I waited for you all night, but you didn’t come, so now we’re just trying our best to hang on. You said you’d be the first one there if anything happened... so I hope you’re okay.” Lily took a deep breath, trying to hold back her tears, “You have to be okay dad, you don’t even have to come and save me, I just really hope you do. I really thought you would come. But I’m okay, I love you. I love you so much.”