Two Months Later
Remus Lupin - October 18 - Day 58
Remus wiped a bead of sweat dripping from his forehead. “You’re close. You need to focus more on your aim,” Regulus strolled next to him.
Remus rolled his eyes, Regulus had insisted that they all knew how to shoot a gun. Barty and Evan were pretty good at it, Pandora was scarily better. Dorcas and Lily both favored daggers. But Remus much preferred his baseball bat. It was his father’s.
After going to the Potters, Regulus packed up everything he could find and they made stops at all of their houses so they could pack their things. The end came so swiftly that nearly all of their parents had either fled or had already been turned into Mors. Or so people started calling them. Lily’s parents had turned and Petunia had fled. Remus’ parents were nowhere to be found so he’s not entirely sure where they are. Needless to say, the past two months have really been hard on all of them. They were all grieving those they lost. For most of them, it was their parents, for Regulus, it was his brother. Remus still didn’t know who exactly his sibling was, Regulus refused to talk about it.
Remus and Regulus had gotten closer, it took them both a while. Neither of them in general are super open to friendships, which he supposes is one of the reasons they get on so well. They also both loved books and the same kinds of music. Their pairing came as both expected and unexpected to the rest of the group.
Remus glanced over to where Lily and Dorcas were sparring in a clearing. Dorcas swiped Lily’s feet off the ground and crawled on top of her, dagger in hand. She pinned Lily’s hands and kicked her dagger away. Lily grunted in annoyance, it was clear to anyone watching that Dorcas was winning. But Remus knowing Lily, she wasn’t going to let her win that quickly. Lily wrapped her hand around Dorcas’ wrist and flipped her onto her back with a thud, she then grabbed Dorcas’ knife and pressed it against her throat. They both grinned. “I win,” Lily got to her feet and clasped Dorcas’ hand, pulling her up to stand next to her.
Dorcas was grieving the most out of anyone. She was the only one who had watched her parents killed in front of her. She was slowly getting better, but it took time. Remus doesn’t expect anyone to be okay after something like that, she could take all the time she needed.
Remus walked over to where Pandora was stoking the fire. The flames danced across her features, making her blonde white hair seem to glow. Next to him, Regulus had moved on to messing with a small radio. He had it on constantly, just in case a message came through. Remus shared a glance with Lily who had come to join them, settling in next to Pandora. It was clear to anyone that the message he was waiting on was from his brother. Though he thoroughly denied anyone who asked him.
“Pandora, what are we going to cook for dinner?” Regulus barely glanced up from the radio to look at her.
“I’m not sure, whatever Barty and Evan can find. God knows where they are, they left close to an hour ago,” She responded, focused on a lock of Lily’s fiery red hair that she was twisting around her fingers.
“Maybe they finally realized their feelings and they off somewhere,” Lily snickered, resting her head on Pandora’s shoulder.
“Don’t give them that much credit. They’re really quite stupid,” Regulus sighed and set the radio down next to his feet.
“Oh please, you love them really,”
“Shut it, Lupin,”
Remus looked up from where he had moved to lie on the ground next to where Teddy was sitting. “I didn’t even say anything? That was Lily!”
“Mm, my bad seemed like something you would say,” a small smirk was visible on Regulus’ lips.
Remus flopped back down, staring up through the trees. They had been lucky enough to find a secluded spot in the woods that had been close to a radio tower. They had all taken the time to set up traps surrounding their little camp. It seemed to be isolated enough that it was pretty safe. The Mortem mainly stayed in cities and it was rare for them to come out in this direction. Although, they had already prevented two or three from trying to breach their camp.
“Where are those two? I’m starving,” Lily grumbled, her eyes closing as Pandora shifted her hands so they would begin massaging her scalp.
“You mean us?” Barty popped up from behind Regulus with a grin who promptly punched him in the face.
“Ow! Reggie what was that for?” Barty rubbed his nose and glared at Regulus.
“You can’t just do that,” Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose almost as if he was fighting off a headache. “Do it again and I’ll shoot you.”
“But you knew it was me! Mors can’t exactly talk!”
“Hm, maybe I just wanted to punch you,” Regulus sat back down on the log he was previously resting on and rubbed his fist on the top of his pants.
“You know you love me,” Barty winked in Regulus’ direction but was distracted by Evan coming out of the woods behind him.
“I wish people would stop saying that,” Regulus grumbled. “Evan, what did you bring us?”
“Rabbit,” Evan called back, bringing the animal to Pandora who took it with glee.
“Hey! I helped too!” Barty slid up next to Evan.
“Barty darling, you have to leave when I kill the animal. You did set the trap though, good job.” Evan patted the side of Barty’s face, who was beaming.
The two had become even more insufferable than they had been since that short car ride when Remus first met them. Over the past few months, Evan confided in some of them that he had finally realized his rather obvious feelings. Barty of course remained oblivious.
In the camp, the group of them had developed a process. Pandora and Lily were in charge of cooking, while Regulus taught them how to defend themselves, Barty and Evan defended their ‘camp’ and hunted, and Remus was working on growing a garden with Dorcas. Although Dorcas easily could have been teaching them how to fight alongside Regulus, she was the best out of anyone. Teddy kept all of their spirits up, he was one of the brightest parts of all of their lives.
Pandora was also in charge of making sure their hair was taken care of and was out of their face. Both Barty and Evan’s buzz cuts had grown out and they were no longer matching. Much to both of their dismay. They still wanted to match in some way so they both found some twine in the surrounding woods and formed rings out of them. The fact that the two weren’t together yet truly baffles Remus.
The seven of them sat around the fire, enjoying each other’s company. Life definitely wasn’t easy by any means, but they had found a way to protect and defend each other. Remus was happy. As happy as he could have been. But he knew it wouldn’t last forever, it’s dangerous to stay in one place for too long.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
James Potter - October 18 - Day 58
They were running low on food. James’ parents had only prepared enough food in the bunker for four months. That was with the expectation that it was only the three of them. Instead, it was his parents, himself, Sirius, Mary, Marlene, and Peter. The food they had in their provisions was dwindling very quickly. James knew that they weren’t going to be able to remain down there much longer.
Soon, they would have to face whatever it was the world had come to.
They’d been safe. For the most part. They hadn’t gone outside once. Immediately after it happened, everyone was able to call their parents. Except for Sirius, who tried to call Regulus to no avail. None of them picked up. Whatever had happened, apparently happened everywhere.
In their time underground, the group of them had learned to fight. Well, most of them. Sirius, James, and Marlene did. They were damn good at it too. Sirius was still nursing a fractured ankle but it had healed for the most part. That's where Mary came in, she had learned how to fight of course, like everyone else, but instead, she focused her time on learning everything she could about medicine and healing people. Peter also learned the basics to defend himself, but he wasn’t nearly as athletic as the rest of them. Peter was a scientist. He had done everything he could to discover a ‘cure’ for the Mors. Or at least, a way to reverse it within a short amount of time.
That also wasn’t looking great.
Only because none of them had made it to the surface outside of Monty, who had made a couple of emergency runs. There was only so much Peter could do without any resources or test subjects. That was another reason they would have to go up soon.
All of this is what inevitably led to a small group of them packing various types of bags to prepare for the surface. “Sirius, you’ve packed the brace right?”
“Yes, Mary. I know, I know, if I don’t take care of it it’ll never heal,” Sirius smirked over his shoulder at Mary who had been standing next to Peter, packing her medical equipment.
“I know that you know, but you still don’t take care of it very well.”
“Sure I do! Name one time-”
Mary held her hand up to silence Sirius. Playful disbelief played on her face. “Sirius. Running laps around the bunker with James is not taking care of your ankle. And you,” She flipped around to face James who was packing dried fruits into his bookbag, “how do you expect Sirius to outrun Mors if they have a fractured ankle? Very irresponsible..”
A painful smile cracked open on James’ face. “Look, I’ll take full responsibility here-”
“As riveting as this conversation is, we’re about to go up. So shut your mouths,” Marlene walked through the two of them and joined Monty and Effie who were waiting for the rest near the hatch.
“I agree with McKinnon! We don’t have to talk about this any-” Sirius paused mid-sentence to see Peter watching them intensely with disbelief on his face. “What?”
“Why are you applying eyeliner? To attract the Mors?”
Sirius glanced down at the eyeliner in his hand and then looked back up, shooting a grimace in Peter’s direction. “What if we find a particularly attractive survivor?”
“Mm, like that one guy at the bookstore?” Mary smirked at them.
“Shut up. I do not find ‘that one guy’ attractive. He’s infuriating, and way too smart for his own good. Instead of shutting a book, he should try shutting his mouth.”
“Okay, Sirius. Whatever you say,” James walked past, slinging his backpack on and patting him on the shoulder, which Sirius brushed off. “You are being awfully defensive.”
“I am not defensive!”
“Okay kids, I do hate to break this up, but we need to get going before it gets too late,” Monty smiled from over where he was standing with Effie. “The Mors only get worse when and rampant when it gets dark outside.”
“Yeah. I suppose we could go now. What exactly are we doing again?” Sirius slung his backpack over his shoulder and adjusted his ankle brace.
“Looking for other survivors and getting new supplies, we only needed you, James, and Marlene, to come with me. The rest are going to remain here,” Monty stepped onto the bottom rung of the ladder leading up to the top of the hatch.
The sound of static caused Monty to stop climbing. Their emergency radio placed next to Peter’s workspace sounded to life. It hadn’t made a noise for the entirety of the two months they were down there, James had begun to worry that it was broken. A staticky voice cut through their expectant silence, “This is a broadcast to all people in the surrounding areas. My name is Minerva McGonagall and we are offering refuge for anyone who needs it. We have a big bunker and enough resources for hundreds of people. Again, we are offering refugee for anyone who needs it. The coordinates are,” Mary whipped out her notepad and began writing the numbers down as the person on the other side recited them for a second time. “We understand it might be a bit far, but we promise it is worth it. We are the dragonflies, we offer safety,” the broadcast cut off with a click.
“So..” Sirius looked around at the group of them, they were leaning against one of the walls with their arms crossed, “are we going to go?”
Effie took the notepad with the coordinates from Mary and inspected them, “as far as I remember, the dragonflies were a rebel group, they didn’t like the government and how they were controlling the country, so they rebelled. I knew someone who was a part of it. I think her name was Poppy, we can trust them.”
Sirius cocked an eyebrow, “so, I take that as a yes?”
“Kids, pack your bags.”