Chapter Seven
NOTES:
Thank you to everyone who has stuck with the story, and thank you for leaving feedback and comments that are helping me to continue to write. It's much appreciated.
Will have mistakes because I'm only human.
DISCLAIMER:
I do not own The Walking Dead or Harry Potter and anything you recognize is made by their creators. I do not get any money from this fix it is purely for entertainment only.
—————————————————————
Chapter Seven
The Magical world was in chaos, citizens were running scared and looking to the Ministry for guidance and help when the dead started to rise in the wizarding world and the Muggle world alike.
The Wizengamot didn’t know what to do and were looking to the International Confederation of Wizards for support against this unknown, only to find that it was not localized to just the British Isles.
The magical world all across the globe was reporting the rising of the dead. Many people were dying, and the Ministry was trying to keep people calm but the outbreak of this unknown virus hit the small community hard.
There was no place to run to that was truly safe, the muggle world had fared no better.
It was the French who fell first, the ministry in Paris being overrun by the sheer mass of the dead, and the whole magical community was wiped out before any measures were put in place.
Only the muggles seemed to fare better, not relying on magic to fix their problems meant they rose and fought back, however, it only helped them for so long.
Their numbers quickly declining, along with the muggles, the British Ministry made the hard choice of locking down the Magical world in London, before there was no medical’s left.
Before the lockdown, the shopping district was low on supplies and nothing was able to be imported, everything dwindled to a standstill as the community no longer had access to purchase potion ingredients or supplies, robes, or the necessary materials to make clothes, even owl emporium and the magical menagerie were stripped bare of its contents.
Only Ollivander’s and Quality Quidditch Supplies were spared the mass shoppers.
All gateways were sealed with magic, no one could get through into Diagonally anymore, it trapped a vast number of the dead inside in the end and was a no-go zone for all.
The Ministry building was also on strict restrictions, they shut down all muggle entrances, only allowing one area for Apparition and Floo that was located in the Auror office, everyone who entered was checked for bites or scratches, as well as a medical check to see if they are unwell, before being allowed to continue further into the building.
Those who were unwell were sent home but anyone who entered with such wounds was handed over to the Department of Mysteries, never to be seen again.
It took months for any form of structure to be fully restored, and by then it was too late for many.
Some of the Purebloods had come forward to try to install new legislation to have all muggles and Muggleborns band from the wizarding world, with the virus as the reason, seeing as it wasn’t a magical creation.
Many in the Ministry pushed for working together now more than ever as the virus reduced the number of citizens far greater than any war ever had in all wizarding history.
They were on the brink of extinction in the UK and had to work together to make sure they all survived, regardless of political views.
It was a trying time for all, the Muggleborns who were left in the muggle world had to find their own way, they had to learn to adapt to the world or fall victim to it.
Magic was used more openly now, the ministry didn’t send anyone to obliviate the muggles who witnessed it, it was far too dangerous to Apparate into unknown areas.
Using magic freely left the Muggleborns with an extra form of protection.
Albus Dumbledor did everything he could to help those affected by the crisis, people who were displaced by the rising hungry dead were given sanctuary within Hogwarts walls.
He put a team together, what was left of the old crowd from the war, the order of the phoenix, as well as many other adult survivors brave enough to face the outside world, to try to find any other magical survivors within the muggle world and bring them to the safety of the school.
It took many months, and many people were found to be lost forever.
One such person the Headmaster of Hogwarts was desperately trying to find was a young boy who he had placed in the muggle world himself.
The child was not at any refugee shelter they had come across and he wasn’t found when a simple scrying spell was performed, the child was out of his range for any type of location charm to work.
It could only mean he wasn’t in the UK anywhere.
If it wasn’t for the school’s acceptance book letting them know who was alive and who was no longer with them, it would be almost like the child was no more.
Albus was sad to know he couldn’t do anything more to find the child, the boy’s parents would be furious with him for allowing the boy to get lost in the world with no magical protection against the dead.
Without being able to search further afield he was left with no other option but to seek help from the only other person who would take up the quest he was giving them.
Albus wrote his letter and hoped the man was still alive, he needed to make sure the child was safe, and who was better than one of the boy’s parent's best friends.
He entered the owlery as the sun began to set behind the mountains, he attached his letter to a brown barn owl, and after giving it a few pats on the head he gestured to the window.
“Take that to Remus Lupin, it is urgent so please hurry, but stay safe my dear.” The aged wizard said the owl took flight, and Albus watched as it disappeared into the evening light.
—————————————————————
Harry sat in the car in between Daryl and Merle as they traveled along the highway, music playing softly from the truck’s CD player.
The destruction of the CDC had happened the day before last and today they were finally hitting the road and getting out of Atlanta.
They had spent their time gathering supplies like food and fuel for the cars, it was decided they would leave some of the vehicles behind and pile everyone between the RV, Carol's Cherokee, and the Dixon’s truck, so that the limited fuel could get them further.
They had only been on the road for a few hours when they came across a pile-up of cars blocking the way.
There was only a small gap big enough for them to fit through for a short while before the RV broke down again.
Merle jumped out of the truck cursing as he made his way toward the broken-down vehicle.
Everyone was out of the cars now and standing in the hot Georgian sun, so Harry hurried to follow behind Daryl when the man exited the truck quietly to follow his brother.
“Stay with Carl and Sophia Kay?” Daryl drawled as he gently pushed Harry to go stand with the other children.
“Okay” obeyed Harry, he was happy to stand with the others, it had been a little boring in the car, Merle in his bad mood and Daryl not one for talking much.
They stay close to each other as the adults go about trying to find a part for the RV or supplies from the surrounding cars, T-dog and Daryl went further down to siphon more fuel, while Merle helps to find parts for the RV. Harry wanted to go and explore a little, maybe help look in the cars for things that might be useful along with the others.
It wasn’t too long when all of a sudden Dale and Rick were telling them to get down and hide.
Carl dived down under a nearby car and Harry made to follow, but Sophia was frozen in fear.
Without hesitation Harry latched into the older girl’s hand and pulled her down under a car. He didn’t let go of her hand even as the dead came shuffling by.
There seemed to be many, and it felt like forever as they lay under the car and waited for the Walkers to pass by, Harry’s heart pounded in his chest, he tried to calm his breathing down and stay as quiet as possible.
Sophia continued to shake in fear, but she remained quiet the whole time staying flat against the ground squished right up close to Harry.
Harry was hoping everyone managed to hide, he really didn’t want anyone to get hurt or killed.
He wasn’t sure if he could cope with losing anyone he now cared about, he was just starting to find a real family with the group.
Everyone stayed silent as the horde of walkers went past them, all that was heard was the shuffling of feet and groans of walkers.
When the hoard finally tapered off and no more walked by, Sophia pulled on Harry to release her hand, he wasn’t going to however as he still felt like it wasn’t quite safe yet, his instincts were telling him not to emerge from the hiding spot yet.
However, he wasn’t strong enough physically to stop Sophia from pulling on him as she began to crawl out from under the car, she didn’t go far before Harry was startled by her fear-filled cry.
There was a walker on the other side that had seen her and was now trying to grab at her, trying to crawl under the car to get her.
Harry pulled the older girl to his side of the car and helped her out from under it.
When he looked around, he had to suppress a shout as two of the dead were right behind them.
Sophia cried out fearfully before she took off at a run, dragging Harry along behind her into the surrounding woods.
They ran and ran, the walkers close behind them, Harry was getting winded, he could hear the harsh pants of breath coming from Sophia letting him know she was just as puffed out.
Harry was good at running, he always had to when his cousin and his friends chased him around all of Surrey, however, the woods were difficult as they traversed different terrains and elevations.
It felt like they were running for hours, it was getting dark, and the dead were not going to get tired, they were just running further and further away from the group, with nowhere to hide and no chance of our running their pursuers, it was looking like they were going to have to think up with something.
“Sophia, we have to do something, they will not stop chasing us we will tire, and they never will,” Harry told the girl panting.
“What can we do, they're too close we just have to keep moving” the older girl declared in a panic.
Harry took a moment to look around, they had run for so long he wasn’t sure if he could go much further.
They were going along the top of a steep ridge that fell into a valley, Harry could make out a river down below.
He could only think of one thing that could help them now, he just prayed it was the right thing to do.
“I have an idea, we need to get into a better position along this ridge, we need them coming at us with our backs to the cliff edge,” Harry told the girl.
“No way! they will get us, or we could fall” Sophia protested. She reached to grab Harry’s hand to tug him along again, but Harry dug his heels in this time.
“No, we can’t keep this up, we have run too far already and none of the others have caught up to help, we are going to have to help ourselves here” Harry stubbornly insisted.
He only had a moment to think before one of the walkers was too close for comfort, they had to act now.
Talking Sophia’s hand, he guided her to run with him through some trees away from the edge of the cliff, they moved slower this time to allow the two walkers to follow close.
After a few moments, he brought them to a short halt.
“We need to loop around and go stand at the cliff edge,” Harry told the girl, just waiting for the right moment to act.
“Go now!” Harry yelled.
They ran in a loop back to the cliff as quickly as they could, standing as close to the edge as they dared, and waited in position.
“When the walkers are close enough, we need to dive under their arms and let the momentum from them allow them to fall” Harry informed her, Sophia was clearly terrified still, she hadn’t lost the wide frightful look the entire time they ran. Her breaths still came out in short huffs, and she was looking ready to drop into exhausted sleep any moment.
They only had a split second to act, when the two walkers were close enough Harry called to Sophia to make the dive.
They both jumped in opposite directions right under the walker’s outstretched arms. Landing on the leafy ground. Harry quickly turned, letting out a relieved breath, thankful that the walkers went tumbling down the cliff face.
He gave a mighty groan of relief as he laid back down on the ground and took a much-needed break, his lungs were still burning and his legs ached, he imagined Sophia was in the same state.
Sophia had gotten up first, she wandered toward the cliff edge to peer over, when all of a sudden, the rocks underfoot loosened and she went down with a scream.
“SOPHIA!” Harry cried as he raced to the edge on his hands and knees.
“Harry! Help” Sophia called, Harry could only stare in disbelief, thankful the girl was alright, she had managed to get a hold of a tree branch and keep from falling, she was only an arm’s length down.
Lying flat to the ground Harry reached for her, giving her a hand as she pulled herself up with his assistance.
“I can’t believe that worked,” she said as soon as she was safely returned to the top.
“It was the only option we had,” Harry told her, he was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable, it was a sweltering day and they had run for so long, with only the trees to shade them from the biting sun. They were dirty and hungry, exhausted from the long day of running and Harry could feel his patience dwindling the longer they stood around.
“I lost my doll” Sophia moaned looking forlorn down the cliffside.
“Be thankful it wasn’t your life” Harry snapped at the older girl, he had never felt exhaustion like this before and he was irritated, he just wanted to return to the others so he could get some much-needed sleep.
Sophia gasped before she began to cry at his harsh words, but Harry couldn’t find it in him to apologize.
If she had just stayed under the car and waited, they wouldn’t be lost in the woods right now.
The sun had already begun to set, it would be too dark to travel but they had to find shelter for the night.
“Let’s go, we need to find somewhere safe,” Harry said to the crying girl as he began to walk along the cliffside back the way they came.
Hopefully, they would come across the group if they were out looking for them that is.
He knew if it was his relatives, they wouldn’t have bothered but Sophia’s mom loves her, and he was sure the others of the group wouldn’t leave two kids out lost in the woods. He was sure Merle wouldn’t leave them out there on their own, he was a gruff and straightforward man, but he still had a soft side.
They just had to retrace their steps and pray they didn’t come across any more of the dead.
—————————————————————
Merle was about to shoot someone, he was getting increasingly aggravated by the idiots they were traveling with and their inability to function logically and with a level head.
When the two kids had run off being chased by the stragglers from the hoard of walkers that went by, he was further down the highway and couldn’t help, the stupid sheriff hadn’t taken good care to make sure the kids were safe.
They had all assumed because they were kids that they wouldn’t survive out there and most of them had written them off as dead. None of them said it outright but it was clear in the look on their faces.
Queen B, Lori insisted they had to prepare to move on, Andrea agreed with her as was T-dog who was badly injured with a long deep cut on his arm that had become infected quite quickly.
Shane said they should search another day before giving up and continuing to Fort Bennings. Merle wanted to punch the lot of them till they saw reason, kids were resilient and resourceful, and they would be just fine.
On the second day, they came across a church, its bells were on a timer, and the loud noise could have drawn the kids to the location.
The group split, some headed back to the highway, and the two officers and Carl, stayed behind in case the kids were close.
They had heard the shot an hour or so later, it could have come from any direction, it put the others on edge, it seemed Daryl and Merle were the only Zen ones in the group.
They were all on high alert when a lady came riding up on a horse wielding a baseball bat that she used to knock a walker that was attacking Andrea.
“Lori? Lori grimes? Whoa!” the lady on the horse called as she brought the animal to a halt.
“I'm Lori” was the brunette's response stepping forward.
“Rick sent me- You've got to come now” insisted the farmer-looking woman.
Lori stood there in disbelief at her words “What?” she faltered.
The woman on the horse turned the animal around and stood closer to the hesitant mother.
“There's been an accident- Carl's been shot. He's still alive but you've gotta come now. Rick needs you- Just come!” she explained as she reached down to help hoist the woman up onto the horse.
Daryl stepped forward in suspicion.
“Whoa-whoa-whoa! We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse.” He cautioned, only to be ignored.
“Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?” the lady added looking right at Glenn.
“Uh-huh” was the Asian man's reply he seemed to be in a daze, just staring at the woman on the horse.
“Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox- Name's Greene” she called before she took off back the way she had come.
Merle looked at his brother in wonder, it seemed baby brother was beginning to care about what happened to this group and was concerned with their safety.
“Shut up,” was all he got from the man in response to his questioning gaze.
They stayed at the highway for an extra night, sending Glenn and T-dog along to go be with the group at the Greene’s farm, T-dog needed to get his arm seen to as the man was looking more and more dead on his feet.
Merle stayed with Dale on the lookout while the others got some sleep, it was around midnight at his brother and the snooty blond wandered off down the road to see if they could locate the kids.
The next morning, they decided to leave a note with the car and some food before heading off to the farm where they could set up a base of operations.
Only Carol and the brothers refused to give up hope that the kids would make it out there on their own.
It had been three days since then and the group was split in two, Daryl and Merle had spent every daylight hour out trying to track the kids, it was getting harder and harder to see the tracks left as walkers were wondering around crossing over the footprints and destroying the track.
Carol would not giving up on her daughter’s safe return. She was praying every day for the children to be fine and well, the brothers didn’t need to pray, they both assured the woman the kids would be safe, and Carl would pull through, they had a Vet to look after the boy after all.
The brothers were tired and worn out, it felt like they were running in circles out in the woods.
It wasn’t till the fifth day that Daryl came across the first real sign of the kids, he had taken a horse out to make trekking through the woods easier, the only issue was the horse had bucked him off at the top of a mountain and he went over a cliff and down into a river below, being stabbed with one of his own arrows along the way.
Once he regained consciousness he was almost done for by a walker, he managed to kill it just before it took a chunk out of his leg. While Daryl was down in the river at the water's edge he found the doll, nestled in some driftwood floating in the water.
Merle was pissed when he found out and restricted Darly to the farm to recover, while he continued to search.
Finding the doll, renewed the hope Carol had, the rest of the group took it as a sign to stop looking, not that they were much help.
Merle was furious and fearful his brother was in harm’s way, very thankful the other man could handle himself well, he only wished Daryl would stop wandering off to search alone.
He was there and wanted to help, but Daryl was very much a lone wolf, Merle blamed himself for that, leaving Daryl often to get away from their da, going to juvey and later prison for all sorts, or running off with some hussy for a good time.
Merle was renewing his efforts with vigor, he had to change and not be the disappointment his brother knew him to be anymore, the two of them were all they got, and adding Lil Bit into the family was no trouble, in fact, Merle was beginning to feel like Harry was the son he never had.
If only he could convince his brother to ditch the others and go off with him, he had almost succeeded before the trip to Atlanta, but his brother was a believer in safety in numbers crap something he never had before the apocalypse.
Merle was out searching, high and low, the track was no good now so he followed the river. He dispersed any dead he came across and checked the guts for any sign of the kids to make sure, he still believed they were fine, he just had to keep searching
—————————————————————
The black dog was exhausted after swimming across the sea, the frigid water leaving the weary animal shivering and dripping water from his course dark fur for longer than he liked, too exhausted to shake the icy drops from his body.
All the beast could do was find a small rocky area on the shore to rest its tired body.
With a sigh he curled up in a tight ball, hoping to stave off the chill, as he fell into a restless slumber.
By morning the animal was more aware of his surroundings, he had rested, but with the nightmares and cold wind he was far from alright, it was time to go search for something to eat.
After starving himself for well over a month he was skin and bone, the dog needed to begin to put on weight to recover its health, after all, he was no good to his Godson as weak as he was.
He came to shore close to rolling fields of tall grass. The breeze was blowing his wild fur about as it battered his frail body.
He struggled to find any food, there weren’t even any rabbits to chase.
Making the decision to venture further inland, the black dog hoped to find a country village or town.
The sun was peaking at midday by the time he made it to the outskirts of a small fishing village.
He moved with caution, he was not sure how this town had coped with this unknown virus that had hit here, he didn't know if it was more localized to big cities, there was just so much he didn’t know.
Keeping to the shadows of the buildings he made his way along the roads, searching for any smell of food he could find, he wasn’t even against to rummaging in a bin at this stage he was just too hungry.
The only scent he could pick up was that of rotten meat, it was from more infected, he had learned the smell while in his cell and knew to avoid it.
As the day continued the dog was getting more downtrodden, the village belonged to the dead now, and with a soft whimper he had to move on, it wasn’t safe.
There were fewer of the infected as he traveled the countryside, he saw some every now and then, but he remained hidden from them as he passed.
It wasn’t until evening had set in that he came upon a farm, it looked untouched, the fence was intact, and the animals were still in the field grazing unharmed.
With caution the dog moved as quickly as he could to the tall imposing farmhouse, he couldn’t smell the overwhelming scent from the infected, however, he was picking up another smell, one that told him the owners of the farm were not going to be a problem to him.
He made the choice to investigate in his other skin, so with a moment's pause to ready himself, he shifted.
He hadn’t done this in what felt like years but was really only months since he had been in his other form.
Once on two feet, he stretched his body, getting familiar with the feeling of being human again.
Now that he had his hands to work with, he walked briskly to the door of the farmhouse and braced himself for what lay ahead.
The family room was the first room he came to on the left, it was a sight he was expecting, it didn’t make it any easier, to come across the family who owned the farm, they had taken their own lives, each one with a shot to the head from a handgun that sat in the limp hand of a man in a rocking chair.
Sirius didn’t dwell for long on the sad sight, he made his way through the house, he found the kitchen easily, and began to rummage through the cupboards and drawers to search for anything edible.
He was in luck it seemed, the family was well stocked in dry and canned goods, and it looked like they even made their own jams.
He didn’t know what led the family to end their lives if they were good for food for a while, the farm felt secure for the time being, he guessed people probably felt like there was no hope in the world anymore, nothing to live for.
He decided to stay for now, at least till he was well enough to get to London, he had something to live for, he had his Godson to think of.
Sitting at the kitchen table Sirius devoured the entire can of soup he had opened, thinking of his best friend's son, and hoping the young boy was somewhere safe.
—————————————————————
NOTES:
Really hope you all like this chapter, it came both easily and hard for me. The scene was in my head but it was just writing it out that was difficult, at the same time it was my favorite chapter to write yet.