Episode 12
Ash filled the city of Hogwarts, covering the trees on the mountain. They could see the red flames where their school used to be and smog surrounded them. Pandora shakily put a hand on Evan’s shoulder, while Marlene glanced over at Dorcas fearfully.
Once it got too dark for them to keep walking, they settled down to spend the night there, although none of them got much sleep. Remus stood up, staring up at the sun, peeking through the trees. James got up and walked over to him, “Let’s go.” He said, softly. His eyes were glossed over with tears, Remus’ were red and puffy. He put his hand on Remus’ shoulder, “Let’s go, Remus.”
Remus exhaled quietly, “I can’t just go on like this, give me a second.” He turned to smile sadly at James, taking a few steps forward before stopping, “Actually, you guys go ahead. I’ll catch up.” He continued walking back down the hill.
Regulus got up and went over to James, “I’ll go with him.” He said.
“We'll go together.” James said before the two of them set off after Remus. They went back to the construction site, walking up the stairs now black with soot, until they made it to the top floor. It didn't look anything like when they were here mere hours ago, the walls were cracked and crumbling, the materials laid strewn about.
Remus stopped in the centre of the room, “Sirius.” He called out, despite seeing the empty room. “Sirius!” Regulus stopped by the entryway of the stairs, while James started looking around the entire floor. “Sirius Black, you dick!” Remus cried.
Regulus slowly approached Remus, “Let’s go.” He said, hoarsely. Remus turned to face him, Regulus’ eye was brimmed with tears, the other still hidden under the eyepatch. “I don’t smell anything, there’s no one here. Say your goodbyes to Sirius and then we’ll leave.” He stiffly wrapped his arms around Remus, as Remus looked upwards, trying to stop his tears.
James came back, his lip trembling as he saw Remus and Regulus. They quickly left the construction site, returning back to the group and beginning their long hike out Hogwarts. Dorcas and Marlene led the group, Marlene now using her broomstick as a hiking stick. Lily and Pandora behind them, then Remus and Regulus, Barty and Evan and James at the back. “The soldiers saw us at school.” Regulus said, “They left us there without helping us, and then they bombed it. Maybe they wanted us to die.”
Remus pursed his lips, frowning.
“I think it’s because of me.” Regulus said, Remus looked over at him, “We were fighting with zombies, they must’ve thought we were neither zombie nor human, like me.”
“Don’t say that.” Remus muttered, looking at the ground again.
“I don’t think it’s good for me to stay with you guys.”
“You’re our friend, and the classroom president.” Remus said, with a slight smile, “We wouldn’t have made it this far without you and we’re all getting the fuck out of here. Together.”
Regulus looked down, “Still…”
“You haven’t turned, and you won’t.” Remus said, Regulus gave him a small smile and Remus returned it.
“We should have another bonfire tonight, I liked that.” Regulus said softly.
Remus smiled, “Let’s do it tonight.”
“What the hell?” Dorcas muttered, coming to a stop.
Everyone else stopped in a line, “What’s wrong?” Lily asked.
“I think we’re lost.” Marlene answered.
“There’s no trail?”
Marlene shook her head, “There hasn’t been a trail for a while and it feels like we’re going in circles.”
“Why did we come this way if there wasn’t a trail?” Barty called out, “What if we end up back in Hogwarts?”
Evan took a few steps forward, away from the group, his eyes narrowed. “Dora! Look!” He pointed towards the branch of a tree, where a small piece of gold ribbon had been tied to it.
Pandora led the way down towards that branch, Dorcas reached up and twirled the ribbon in her hand, “This was tied here.” She mumbled.
Marlene grinned, “Who did something so nice?”
Dorcas glanced sideways at Marlene and Marlene frowned back at her. Dorcas looked forward, “Wait, there’s another one.” She said, walking forwards.
“Wait, there’s another one.” Marlene mocked, her voice going higher. Pandora snorted while Dorcas turned around to glare at her before walking again. There was another ribbon tied around the trunk of a tree, they continued down the steep hill until something glinted a few feet away from them, catching Lily’s eye.
She detoured away from the group, going towards it and picking up what turned out to be a flashlight. A label on it read ‘RESCUE TEAM 1 HAROLD EVANS’ . She now realises, these ties were left here by her dad and the thought immediately brings tears to her eyes, crouching down as she hugged the flashlight to her chest.
Remus stopped, hearing her sniffles and sighed sadly. He slowly walked towards her and helped her stand upright again, looking at the flashlight in her hands. “I think he must’ve wanted you to have that.” He added softly. Lily sniffled again, nodding. They wandered back over to the group and all of them continued following the ribbons out of the mountains and into a nearby city.
The streets were empty, still covered with thick smoke. There were pigeons dead on the floor, having been blown up. “Didn’t he say we should go to Hogsmeade?” Barty asked.
“Do you think there’ll be zombies here too?” Evan asked him.
James shook his head, “No way. They’ve probably only evacuated the city since it’s right next to Hogwarts.”
Marlene gripped her broomstick tightly, “I have a bad feeling about this.” She said to Dorcas, glancing warily left and right as she walked. “Why are there no people?”
“It’s okay here.” Dorcas answered.
“Why? What’s okay?”
“There aren’t any broken windows, no blood on the streets. It wouldn’t be this clean if the zombies had been rampant.”
They continued walking down the street when Regulus suddenly froze, causing the rest of the group to still. “What is it?” Remus asked.
“Hold on.” Regulus murmured. He spun around, looking down the other way.
“What is it, Regulus?” James approached him, “Is someone here?”
Regulus’ eye widened, “Zombies.” He whispered.
Remus looked around, frowning. “Where?”
“Everywhere.”
“Are there a lot of them?” Lily asked.
“One, two, three…” Regulus began muttering, he was the only one who could hear the distant footsteps and familiar growls of the zombies. “Four, five, six…” James tightened his grip on the metal bat, nervously switching which arm held it. “Seven, eight, nine… ten, eleven, twelve...” Regulus inhaled sharply, “Run.” He finally said aloud.
The group immediately sprinted off, turning into a small alley and off the main road. Regulus ripped the eyepatch off, his eye still red and droopy. They ran across a small junk shop and James stopped, tossing his bat and grabbing a shovel instead.
Barty turned around, “What are you doing?”
“Just go first.”
“Forget it.” Barty mumbled, coming back over to him and grabbing two more shovels from the shop, handing one to Evan who followed after him.
“What are you doing? I said to go first.”
“And he said ‘forget it.’” Evan said, the rest of the group came back too, each picking up various weapons.
Remus picked up a crow bar and went to stand next to James. “Remus…” James started.
“Don’t even.” Remus said, glaring at him.
Marlene readied herself, clutching the broomstick tightly, “For fucks sake,” She muttered, “I have a feeling it’ll all end here.”
Evan moved to be in front of Pandora, “Stay behind me.”
Pandora grabbed his arm, pulling him behind her. “Stop messing around. Stay back.” Evan frowned at her, coming to stand in front of her again. Barty smirked at them slightly, coming to stand next to them.
They stood there in a small clump and waited, but they didn’t have to wait long before the first silhouette of a person running at them appeared, followed by several more. James ran forward, hitting the first one over the head and onto the floor, Barty behind him jabbed his shovel into its chest.
James continued running at them, trying to stop as many of them as getting past him as possible, which of course didn’t work as each person quickly became occupied by their own zombie. Barty pushed one up against the wall but another came and pushed him to the floor, landing on top of him. Another zombie had Evan under it, against an old freezer. Remus ran forward and grabbed it by the shoulder, pulling it away from him. One tried to run at Remus from behind but Regulus picked it up and flung it onto the floor.
Marlene was trapped under a zombie and Dorcas dropped her shovel to pull at its leg, freeing Marlene. She picked up her shovel just in time as it stood up, hitting it over the head before Marlene stabbed it with her broomstick. Regulus grabbed a zombie from behind, he grabbed its hair and ripped its head backwards, breaking its neck and dropping it to the floor.
Pandora was pushed to the floor of the shop by a zombie running at her, she grabbed a gate fence and put it between them like a shield. Once its arms were trapped between the gaps, she kicked it to the floor and it wasn’t able to get back up. Barty finally managed to kick the zombie off of him and got back up, panting heavily.
James was pushed to the floor by a zombie and Regulus threw a metal sign towards it causing it to fly off James and lay dead next to him. He ran forward and grabbed James’ shovel, swinging it to hit another zombie’s neck exactly, the blood spurting out of the cut as it died. James grabbed the shovel from Regulus’ hand again, running off in front of him.
Evan got up and looked around, he saw as Pandora kicked the zombie off of her and Marlene ran forward to stab her broomstick into its chest. Another zombie came running past him, right for Pandora. “Pandora!” He shouted, running into its path. The zombie latched onto Evan right as he made it to Pandora, pushing the both of them to the ground, Evan still putting his hand under Pandora’s head to make sure it wouldn't hit the ground. The zombie bit into Evan’s neck and he yelled out in pain.
Marlene immediately ran forwards, jabbing her broomstick into its back. Barty ran and hit the zombie with his shovel, but it didn’t stop biting Evan. Pandora screamed underneath him, she had one arm around Evan and the other at the zombie’s shoulder, desperately trying to separate the two of them.
Barty threw his shovel onto the floor, rendering it useless as he grabbed the zombie with both his hands, trying to pull it off of Evan, Marlene doing the same. “Get the fuck off him!” Barty yelled. The blood from Evan’s bite dripped onto Pandora’s face as she yelled frustratedly.
The zombie finally let go, Barty and Marlene falling to the ground with it as they ripped it off Evan. Marlene used her broomstick to stab it in the chest, killing it quickly. Evan rolled off of Pandora, a hand covering his neck. Barty crawled weakly over to him, “Evan...” He said, wetly, “Fuck.”
“Evan.” Pandora said, gasping as she got up and kneeled next to him, pressing a hand to the bite, trying to stop the blood from profusely pouring out of him. Barty was sobbing next to him, his eyes unable to leave Evan’s face.
“I fucking knew this would happen.” Evan mumbled weakly.
Pandora shook her head slightly, “No, no. It’s okay. You’re okay. Evan, look at me.”
Evan’s head moved slightly to look up at her, “Dora,” He said, “Did you really make the national team?”
She nodded eagerly, her eyes welling up with tears, “Yes, I did.”
“Bullshit. You came to school because you got eliminated.” Evan said, his voice trembling. Pandora stilled, “Otherwise, you’d still be at the tournament. If you got eliminated, you should’ve gone home. Why did you come to school? For fucks sake.”
“I’m sorry.” Pandora mumbled, her face wet with tears.
“Listen. Stick with archery.” Pandora quickly nodded, smiling sadly at him. “Don’t give up. Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She breathed, before Evan’s neck cracked backward violently and she let out a scream in shock, moving her hands away. “I’m so sorry, Evan.”
“Barty.” Evan rasped and Barty came closer, picking his head up. “Take care of her, please.”
Barty inhaled sharply, trying to stop his tears, “Shut up. Fuck you, that’s your job.” Evan's neck cracked again and Pandora gasped, Dorcas came closer, clutching the shovel in her hands.
“I’m sorry I waited so long.” Evan said, “I really do love you.”
“Don’t you say that. I don’t want to hear it.” Barty snapped, “If I don’t say it back, you can’t die.”
Evan chuckled slightly, the tears streaming down his face as he closed his eyes. “Fine, then fuck you too.”
Barty's head dropped onto Evan’s chest, sobbing into it. “I love you.” He mumbled softly but Evan heard it anyway and he smiled weakly. Evan’s body jerked to the side and Dorcas raised the shovel, with tears in her eyes.
“No, please don’t.” Pandora cried out.
Evan’s body continued to jerk side to side, cracking uncomfortably. He crawled backwards and stood up slowly. He snarled, his mouth hanging open as ran straight for Pandora who stayed on the floor, muttering apologies. Regulus ran forward and pulled him back by the collar, he grabbed Evan’s chin and promptly snapped his neck. Evan went limp before falling to the ground at his feet.
Dorcas gaped at him while Pandora’s eyes went blank, looking at Evan’s lifeless body on the floor. Lily and Marlene were behind Dorcas, their faces red and puffy. Remus helped Barty to his feet slowly as James came running back towards them.
“James,” Barty cried, limping towards him, gasping and sobbing, “Evan…” He put his arm on James’ shoulder, crying into his arm. James tucked his lips in, his eyes filling with tears as he saw Evan lying on the floor.
“More are coming.” Regulus said, looking behind him. “Let’s go straight, there aren’t any there.”
James nodded stiffly, “Come on, Barty. Let’s go.”
Pandora grabbed the shovel next to her, standing up and walking forwards. Lily ran out, grabbing her arm, “Dora, let’s go.” She pleaded.
She flung her arm off her, she walked past Regulus and he grabbed her arm, pulling her back. He snatched the shovel out of her grip, throwing it onto the floor behind him. Pandora glared at him, her eyes burning as she shoved him.
Regulus turned around, “Don’t go and die a meaningless death.” Pandora’s face dropped, returning to sadness as more tears fell from her eyes. Regulus’ eyes suddenly went out of focus, seeing red as he caught sight of the blood on her forehead and her cheeks. He turned away from her, a tear suddenly falling out of his eye. “If we run now, we can all live. We have enough time.”
Dorcas approached him slowly, “I’ve been killing zombies too,” She said, gently grabbing Pandora’s arm. “But a decent human being would apologise for killing her brother in front of her.” She said before storming off with Pandora.
His face twitched slightly, in obvious discomfort as he started gasping for breath. Barty took his arm off James as he followed Dorcas and Pandora. Marlene, Lily and Remus behind him. James ran forward and held Regulus’ hand, pulling him with him before Regulus let go again, following behind him slowly.
They all began running, making it back to the main street and almost out of the city. Regulus walked behind the rest of the group.
Eat them.
He stilled.
Eat them, eat them all.
He shook his head, trying to refocus, running a few steps to catch up with them.
Why not? You’re hungry.
He reached his hand out to grab James by the collar.
Kill them.
He stopped immediately, his eyes widening in fear. “Stop it.” He whispered to himself, he ran off from the group, steadying himself against a wall. “Stop it.” He banged his head against the wall repeatedly, before biting into his hand again. The tears rolled out of his eyes as he collapsed against the wall, his forehead bleeding and right eye still veiny and red.
James looked back, trying to check on Regulus, only to not see anyone there. “Hold on.” He muttered, stopping.
Lily, Marlene and Remus turned around, “What is it?” Remus asked.
“Regulus is gone.” James muttered before running off into the fog.
“James!” Lily yelled after him.
Remus placed his hand on Lily’s arm, “You two go ahead, I’ll catch up.” He said, before running after James.
“Remus!” Lily yelled, trying to follow him. Marlene grabbed onto her arm, shaking her head.
Once Remus caught up to James, they continued running through the streets, trying to find Regulus. They found Regulus on a street littered with dead bodies, he had one pinned up against the wall, eating from the stomach of it.
James approached him carefully, “Regulus.” He said, gulping.
Regulus dropped the body, not turning around to face him. He spat out the piece of flesh from his mouth into his palm, James and Remus both took a few steps towards him.
“Why are you here all by yourself? Let’s go.” James tried.
“Stay away.” Regulus muttered.
“Come with us.” Remus said, “We shouldn’t be here.”
“I said stay away!” Regulus screamed, spinning around and charging at Remus. He tackled him to the floor and Remus struggled underneath him, trying to push Regulus away by the shoulders.
James grabbed Regulus’ shoulders from behind, “Regulus!” He tried to fight James off of him while still keeping Remus down. “Don’t do this! Regulus Black!" He picked up the shovel Remus had just dropped, holding it above his head. He hesitated, his face scrunched up. Remus sighed, giving up and letting Regulus fall on top of him.
Regulus laid there on Remus for a minute, before forcing himself up, still keeping Remus down by his shoulders. He was shouting in frustration, gasping and panting as he held back his sobs. His mouth and chin were all bloody, the blood from his forehead dripped down his face, now dried there.
“It’s okay.” Remus whispered, “You can bite me. It’s fine, Regulus.”
Regulus choked back his tears before groaning loudly, standing up and storming off. James dropped the shovel, it clattering to the ground as he crouched down to pull Remus into a sitting position, “Remus, I’m so sorry.” He panted, “Are you okay?” He glanced at Remus’ neck, checking for a bite mark.
James looked over at Regulus’ retreating figure, “Regulus.” He muttered, getting up and running after him. Remus stood up slowly, wiping his eyes before running after them again. Regulus turned down an alley, losing James and Remus, crying and stumbling as he went, ignoring James’ desperate calls for him.
* * *
“Up ahead!” The soldier yelled. The group had approached a fence, lined with soldiers who were pointing guns at them.
Marlene was at the front of the line, she dropped her broomstick and put her arms up by her head. Lily behind her doing the same, followed by Barty, then Dorcas and Pandora. Even James and Remus, rejoining the group.
“Survivors confirmed.” The same soldier yelled. Tears sprung to their eyes, realising they had finally made it, their limbs tired and aching, weighed down by the losses.
“No. Let go.” Lily continued crying, Remus still holding her back with effort, tears coming out of his eyes too as he watched. “Not Mary please.”
Once Mary had transformed, she got up slowly and turned around, running at Remus and Lily. Remus let go of Lily as he pushed Mary away. “Shit.” Remus said, trying to duck out of the way with Lily but she refused to move. Sirius ran forwards and body-slammed her into the window, the glass breaking on impact as she fell through it.
She managed to grab onto the frame of the window with one hand, her fingers starting to slip. Lily broke from Remus grasp and grabbed onto Mary’s arm just as she began to fall.
Peter lifted his shaking hands over his head, “Fuck, why am I…” He said tearfully, standing up a little straighter. “Why would I bite you? We’re fucking friends.” Remus stood emotionless in front of him. “If I leave, it’ll all be fine.” He could barely walk as he trudged towards the door, relying heavily on the table, shaking and sobbing. “I’ll get out of here on my own. I’m sorry.”
Remus turned around slowly, watching sadly and Sirius lifted his hand up to wipe his nose. James picked his head up from Sirius’ shoulder, “Peter.” He called out.
He made it to the door and leaned against it, but he couldn’t turn around to face him. “It’s okay.” He took a shaky, short breath, “Thank you guys, for everything. Stay alive. Okay?” He grabbed the door handle and went to open the door but stopped when his bones began cracking as he transformed.
“Shit.” Frank whispered, looking around at the zombies climbing up and all his friends struggling, “I shouldn’t have said I’d take responsibility.” He jumped up and onto a cart, he climbed over the ring despite everyone calling his name. The zombies grabbed onto him and dragged him over the circle, all falling to the floor.
He fought them off and ran back to the group, pulling zombies off of the carts. “Get off! Get off, you pricks!” He yelled, he pulled another one off before grabbing onto the empty spot he cleared. Zombies ran over, one by one, biting him in the shoulder, on his back, his arms. “Come on guys, push!” He cried, desperately trying to pull the carts forward.
Frank flung the zombies off of him, “Let’s go!” He continued yelling, “Let’s get home!” He sobbed, running to pull more zombies off of the carts. “Just a bit more! We’re almost there!”
James held onto Remus tightly, nodding through his tears. Sirius jumped through the window, “Sirius!” Remus called out from behind him. Sirius had to ignore him, running further into the construction building.
“Oi!” He called out, “Come get me! All of you! Today, I am the happiest guy in this school!” Sirius yelled, panting.
“Pandora!” He shouted, running into its path. The zombie latched onto Evan right as he made it to Pandora, pushing the both of them to the ground, the zombie bit into Evan’s neck and he yelled out in pain.
Pandora screamed underneath him, she had one arm around Evan and the other at the zombie’s shoulder, desperately trying to separate the two of them. Barty grabbed the zombies with both his hands, trying to pull it off of Evan. “Get the fuck off him!” Barty yelled. The blood from Evan’s bite dripped onto Pandora’s face as she yelled frustratedly.
* * *
“Do you know the teacher, Horace Slughorn?”
“I only took morning classes because I had training.” Pandora answered, her voice void of any emotion. “So, no, I don’t.”
“Has he ever said anything weird or acted strangely?” The soldier continued.
It took a long time, but they were finally brought to the quarantine camp, where they were quickly sent to an interrogation room, having been the only few survivors from Hogwarts High, where the outbreak first started.
Dorcas raised an eyebrow, “We just said don’t even know who the man is. Can we leave?”
He pursed his lips, “If there’s anything any of you want to say, say it.”
Lily stayed silent while Marlene rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she leaned back in the chair. Barty scoffed, “All we know is he kidnapped a student named Emmeline Vance.”
His eyes lit up, “He gave Vance some sort of injection. Is that correct?”
James cleared his throat, “Why did you guys abandon us on the roof?” The others all glanced over at him.
“If you would cooperate-“
“No.” Remus interrupted, “I’ve learned never to ask adults for anything ever again, so respectfully, I won’t be cooperating. None of us will.”
The soldier continued to try and ask them questions but none of them answered, eventually they were released from that room and each given a small tub of essentials and sent to the waiting rooms for testing. They walked single file, past the other people who had already been camping there.
“Lily!”
Lily stopped, turning around and looking into the room where she heard her name called from. A member of her dad’s rescue team was inside, “Ronald.” She greeted politely, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked. Lily nodded. “What about your dad? Did you see him? He went to find you.”
Her eyes flickered, looking down sadly into her tub, where she had put the flashlight she found. Ronald’s eyes followed hers as he looked at the flashlight, realising dawning on his face.
* * *
Time passed and seasons changed as they and all the citizens of Hogwarts spent the next four months living in the quarantine camp, continuing to live with the sorrow that came from being a survivor and learning just how heavy it could be.
Remus and Lily had developed a weekly habit, sneaking out of camp. Just as curfew hit, the two would meet up at the back of the camp. Remus brought a rope with him that they would tie to a hook on the floor, before throwing it over.
They both climbed over the wall, making sure to pull the rope with them as they went into the other side, as a way to get back over. They hiked a small hill, Lily using her dad’s flashlight to guide them towards their tree. There were ribbons tied all over the branches, with various messages for their friends.
I miss you, Mary.
Come back, Regulus.
I love you, Sirius.
Lily took out some snacks she had saved from dinner and laid them at the foot of the tree. Remus took Sirius’ name tag out of his pocket, holding it tightly in his fist as he smiled sadly at Lily. “Wait, Remus.” Lily said softly, looking out over the mountain. “Is that-“ She pointed to a small glowing pit in the distance.
Remus squinted his eyes, looking at it, “That’s our school…” They exchanged a look of disbelief at each other, before breaking out into grins.
The next morning, the two met up again as they set off to find James, who was sitting behind a tent, his eyes closed as he soaked up the sunlight. “James.” Lily called out softly.
James squinted at them, bringing a hand to shield his eyes and smiling when he realised who it was. He stood up and followed after the other two, the three of them going on a stroll around the camp. “Where have you two been? Especially you, Remus. I keep looking for you. At least I’ve seen Lily a few times.”
“I’m sorry, James.” Remus said sheepishly, “I just couldn’t bring myself to face everyone... I was scared to remember everything.”
“Would you really forget if you didn’t see them?”
Remus’ breath hitched, he blinked a few times before choosing to ignore him, “We went out to the mountain last night and we saw a campfire.”
Lily grinned, “We think someone lit a fire on the school rooftop.”
“The rooftop?” James asked, stopping. Remus and Lily stopped with him, turning to face him. “Are you sure?” His eyes wide.
“We could be wrong, but I’m almost positive.”
“Regulus always said he liked being around the fire and I told him if anyone lights a fire, we’d all gather together.” Remus added.
James smiled slightly, nodding eagerly.
“We’re going back tonight.” Lily said.
“And I’m coming with you.”
Lily nodded at him before waving goodbye to the two of them, running off after Marlene and Dorcas.
Remus and James turned to face each other, “I’m sorry about that day.” James murmured. “When Regulus tried to bite you. I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything.”
“It’s okay.” Remus shrugged, “Your choice saved all of us.” He turned to walk away again before spinning around, “Don’t tell the others. I don’t think it’d be safe for all of us to go out.”
James nodded and Remus left. Obviously, James would never not invite his friends along. Something Remus learned when he and Lily returned to their spot that night to find everyone had been gathered there. Remus stopped, glaring at James. “I told you not to tell them.”
Everyone looked up to face them, at the sound of his voice. Barty raised an eyebrow at him before turning to James. James looked back at Barty, “I told you not to tell everyone .”
Barty leaned into Pandora, whispering, “I told you it was between us.”
“Dorcas was right there! Of course she heard you.” Pandora muttered.
“She said she’d tell the police if we didn’t take her.” Dorcas said, looking back at Marlene.
Marlene flicked the ash off her cigarette, and suddenly Remus thought maybe her being there wasn’t so bad. “Nobody will join my campaign to let anyone affected by this stupid apocalypse get free admission into university.”
“How is that related?” Barty deadpanned, “They’ll lock all of us up if we get caught.”
“I’d rather go to jail than not get into university.”
Lily snorted, rolling her eyes. “It’s fine, I wanted all of us to go anyway. Remus will just have to suck it up.”
Remus sighed heavily but the two of them walked closer to the group nonetheless.
“Okay then, let’s go.” Marlene said, rubbing her hands together. “We just climb over that wall, right?”
“You’re really going? All of you?” Remus asked.
The group nodded, “You’re not the only one who feels indebted.” Dorcas said, “We’re all hurting too. Being alone doesn’t make it hurt less.”
Marlene smiled proudly at her but when she saw Lily’s eyebrows raised suggestively, she stuck her tongue out at her. They all made it over the wall and hiked up the mountain, making it to the tree. They each put down food and drinks, letters they had written and even tying a few new ribbons to the branches.
Dorcas turned around, facing away from the tree before squinting when her eyes caught sight of the same light Lily had seen the night before. “I see a light.” She said, Pandora turned around.
“Where?”
“Do you see it?” Dorcas pointed off in the distance, “There.”
The rest of the group crowded around the edge of the hill, “Isn't that our school?” Pandora asked.
They hiked back down the hill and made their way over to Hogwarts High, although it didn’t really look like it anymore. There were black spots over all the walls, all the windows were broken and there was a thick layer of ash and dirt covering everything. The tables were splintered and dead bodies were scattered about, people in their uniforms now burned beyond recognition.
Pandora’s hands were pressed to her mouth, watching everything with wide eyes. Barty walked right next to her, impossibly close as though he was the thing keeping her upright. Lily led the way, with her flashlight. “Come on,” Remus said, putting his arm around her, “Let’s go.” They continued all the way up the crumbly stairs to the rooftop.
James followed after them, “Do you really think it could be Regulus?”
“Yes.” Lily answered. “I don’t know why, but I just know it is.” James smiled at her slightly, nodding.
They made it to the door of the rooftop which was already slightly ajar, they entered the room, seeing the fire lit in the middle. Approaching it slowly, and standing in a circle around it. “Who do you think it was?” Marlene asked.
“Maybe it was kids who came back to the school like us.” Barty said.
“No, I bet it was like a YouTuber or something. People who explore abandoned places or hunt ghosts or whatever.”
Dorcas stared at her like she had grown a third eye and Marlene rolled her eyes, pouting.
“No,” Lily said, “It was Regulus. He probably lit it because he missed us.”
James laughed lightly, exchanging a bemused smile with Remus. “How do you know?” Barty asked.
“Hey.”
The group turned, catching sight of Regulus standing in front of them. James took his hands out of his pockets, looking like he wanted to reach out but stopped himself, dropping his hands to the side. “Regulus.” He breathed.
Regulus walked closer to them, his face coming into the light, but stopping again a few feet away. James shuffled towards him slightly and Regulus smiled, looking down. “You came.”
“Are you okay?” James asked. “How have you been?”
He looked around the rest of them, lingering on Pandora as she smiled sadly at him. His eyes settled on James, “I’ve missed you.” Regulus said quietly, before looking at Remus. “All of you.”
Lily broke out into a grin. “We’ve missed you too.”
“I wanted to see you, but I didn’t think I should.” Regulus said.
Remus walked closer towards him, “No, it’s okay. Come with us.”
Regulus shook his head, taking another step back. “I still have things to do here.”
“What things?” James asked.
“There are a few others like me.” He answered, “Some fled outside the school but there are still a few left.”
James hung his head, “You’re not a zombie. Don’t say that.”
“You know how students aren’t children, but they aren’t adults yet either?” Regulus said, still smiling, he looked a lot better than when they last saw him. “I’m like that. I’m neither a human, nor a monster.”
“That’s not true.” Remus said, “Stay with us.”
Regulus blinked at him, “We’re still friends even if we aren’t together. Right?”
“Of course we are.” Lily said, firmly. James walked over to Regulus, taking his hand. Regulus rubbed his thumb over James’ hand, squeezing tightly before letting go, reluctantly.
“That’s good enough for me.” Regulus looked off the rooftop, “They’re back.” He turned to James again, “I’ll see you guys soon.” He looked at everyone else once more and they all smiled back at him. He then ran off, jumping over the edge of the rooftop.
Everyone gaped at him, going over to the ledge but Regulus had already vanished.