Chapter Eight: Wizard Zombies

"Harry, get back." Sirius roughly pushed Harry behind him, but Harry could hardly budge. His eyes kept flickering from the gun to the newly zombified Snape. He could see that Snape still had his wand in his hand and was swinging it loosely back and forth.

"Aim for the head," he instructed in a low breath. Sirius's finger curled around the trigger when Harry gasped in horror. He had left the safety on in a last ditch attempt to prevent Sirius from killing Moody.

"Sirius!" his godfather had already pulled the trigger, looking dumbstruck when nothing happened. He tore his eyes from Snape to examine the metal instrument and the zombie charged, his jaws snapping like a shark, right towards Sirius's neck.

Harry lunged himself at his professor without thinking. He heard Sirius bellow his name as he and Snape crashed against the wall, sending plaster cascading around them. Snape's body felt hot, as though there was molten lava channelling through his veins. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the gleam of a mouthful of teeth about to clamp down onto his shoulder. Before he could react, a pale arm had shot out of nowhere, pushing the head back against the damaged wall.

"HARRY, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Sirius roared, struggling to hold Snape back.

"Sirius, what is going… oh my God!"

"Tonks, take Harry!" Sirius ordered.

"I'm not leaving!" Snape's head had finally gotten free of Sirius's grasp, but Harry had already mimicked Sirius's earlier position before the potions master could do any damage. For a brief moment, they locked gazes; Harry saw hundreds of different emotions swirling in those grey eyes before…

"Get the gun!" Harry didn't need to be told twice. He wiggled his way out of the two squirming bodies and scrambled towards the weapon. Tonks had her wand drawn, and she kept dancing left and right, trying to get a clear shot of Snape. Ron and Hermione had also come out of their room to see what all the commotion was about.

Suddenly, Sirius let out a guttural howl and for one heart-stopping moment Harry feared the absolute worst. What he saw was almost as bad. Snape had his wand held directly against his chest, and hot fire was licking at his godfather's neck. Snape didn't even seem to realize he was doing it; his eyes were still glassy, and his mouth was still snapping. Sirius continued to keep the head at bay, but his face was twisted in agony. Before Harry could help him out, another grisly growl issued from behind him, followed by a heavy thump on the floor.

He whirled around to be greeted by Mad-Eye Moody, only his blue eye was spinning wildly in its socket and his normal eye was dilated. He too, had his wand gripped in his hand and there were ominous looking yellow sparks pouring from the tip. Harry clicked off the safety and fired, but Moody had hurled towards him at the same time. The bullet lodged itself in his cheek, but the heavy form of Mad-Eye was soon crushing Harry on the floor.

He could hear muffled yells from his position. Harry somehow managed to roll over on top of him, but Moody was strong and the two began wrestling back and forth. The yellow sparks nearly blinded Harry. His body too was searing hot, and it was all Harry could do to touch his skin.

"Could somebody kill him already!" Harry screeched, as one spark narrowly missed his eye.

"I'm trying!" Tonks cried back, "but you're in the way!"

"I can't help but be in the way!" Harry yelled. "He's going to fucking kill me here!" His hands were starting to blister; his eyes began tearing from the sheer heat emanating from Moody. Then, he was airborne, and landing in a heap on the floor a few feet away. He glanced up to see Tonks had levitated him off Mad-Eye. She swung her wand like it was a lasso, but Moody had sprung to his feet the instant Harry was gone, and was on her before Harry could blink. He saw that Sirius was still the only one restraining Snape and there were angry red sores on his cheeks now. Harry felt helpless. Sirius and Tonks were both in trouble. How could he help both?

Ron and Hermione were still standing anxiously by the doorway to their room, clutching at each other. Neither had their wand drawn. In the distance, Harry thought he heard pounding footsteps, but he barely registered the sound.

"ARE YOU GOING TO HELP OR NOT?" he raged at the pair, fury boiling inside him at their idleness. Shame simultaneously crossed their features before their wands were whipped out. Harry made his way to Sirius, and wrenched his godfather from Snape's strong grasp. Sirius was staggering and his breathing was ragged. There was fire still spurting from Snape's wand. Beside him, Ron and Hermione were attempting to help Tonks, who was yelling a mixed stream of swear words and jinxes, but with her wand lying on the floor, nothing happened.

"Holy hell!" Molly, the twins, Ginny, and Lupin had all come storming up the stairs to investigate the racket. Lupin turned to the red-haired family. "Molly, take the children and get to the Burrow!" Molly stood frozen in place.

"Remus, I…"

"GO!"

"But Ron…"

"I'll take care of him!" Harry heard the protests from the three Weasley children, and then the sharp crack of Apparition. He was trying to dodge Snape's advances; his wand and the gun had fallen somewhere down the hall when Moody attacked. Sirius had slumped to the floor; his whole neck was covered in gruesome third degree burns. Harry saw with dismay that his breathing had become short gasps.

"Sirius is hurt!" he shouted to no one in particular. He heard Tonks swear, as one of Hermione's curses had missed Moody's head and hit Tonks's shoulder instead. Harry grabbed a picture frame off the wall and smashed it across the face he hated so much. Snape's scorching body dropped to the ground, but rebounded almost instantly.

"Reducto!" Harry ducked just in time to see Remus's curse go directly for Snape's head. The joy he felt was replaced with shock as he saw the jet of light dissipate upon reaching Snape. What the fuck?

"That's it, we're leaving!" Remus commanded. He hoisted Sirius up and slung his arms around his shoulder. "Harry, come on!"

But, Harry had had enough. He barked instructions to Remus, telling him to keep Snape at bay by any means necessary. He dashed down the hallway and nearly skidded past the weapon, making sure to scoop up his wand as he went by. Picking the gun up, he pivoted gracefully, firing a single round right into the back of Snape's greasy skull. The loud bang was enough to startle the group briefly, save for Tonks who was still fighting the zombie Moody.

Remus had Ron and Hermione by his side. He was staring at Harry with a mix of pride and fury. Tonks had finally managed to free herself from Moody's grasp and tried to fire a spell at him.

"Why won't it work?" she cried desperately. Each spell merely disappeared, as though she had never fired them at all.

"OY!" Harry bellowed. Moody turned from Tonks and growled loudly at him. Harry immediately fired, and Moody dropped to the floor with a loud thump! Harry stood there for a moment, guilt swelling inside him. "Sorry Mad-Eye," he whispered, as Mad-Eye's lifeless eye stared straight into his own.

But Harry had no time to be relieved. He could see that Sirius's body had gone completely limp, and both he and Tonks had nasty burns from their prolonged fights.

"Help me hold him up," Remus said as Harry rushed over. Sirius's breathing was barely audible. "Go to the Burrow" he told Tonks, who had taken hold of Hermione. "Hold onto him tight Harry, or he might splinch."

Before he could react, he felt the peculiar sensation of Apparition; it was though he was being squeezed through a narrow hole. His lungs crushed together, his whole body felt as though it was being folded like origami, and suddenly he was landing in an ungraceful heap on the tile floor of the kitchen.

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley had rushed forward to her youngest son and began raining kisses on his cheeks. The rest of the Weasley children and Hermione were standing awkwardly around the table, each of their faces paled and frightened. Harry felt strangely numb as he hastily moved glasses, dishes, and food off the table. He helped Remus lift Sirius onto it. Up close, his burns looked ten times worse. Charred and crusted, his neck looked as though someone had smeared charcoal over it.

"Is there a spell that can fix this?" Harry asked.

"Not for burns this bad, we need a salve. Molly, do you happen to have Miss Inferno's Burn be Gone?"

"I can check," the matriarch called as she bustled out of the kitchen. She came back with a large red tub full of a sickly yellow goop that stank strongly of vinegar and lobster, her oldest son, Bill, right behind her. Harry and Remus set to work, spreading the concoction all over Sirius's neck and face.

"How long until it works?" Harry asked, his voice sounding loud in the unusually quiet kitchen. Remus would not look at him.

"It might not. This salve is usually only used right after a burn as occurred. We might have waited too long."

"Is that it then? Sit around twiddling our thumbs, seeing if he'll die or not?" Harry retorted hotly.

"Burns are usually cured by potions," Remus stated with forced calm. "Unfortunately, our resident potions master is lying dead at Grimmauld Place."

"Sirius said you were the best at healing. I guess he was mistaken," Harry nearly spat. Remus finally looked at him, his eyes flashing.

"Perhaps he was," Remus spoke with an edge now. "Of course, if you had listened to me when I told you to come here…"

"Maybe if you had come to the rescue a little sooner, he wouldn't be lying on the table nearly dead!"

"That is enough!" Tonks shouted. "No one could have predicted that the zombies could do magic! This is no one's fault! We can't start being at each other's throats over stupid things!" Remus and Harry were both panting, refusing to look at each other.

"What about Dumbledore? Where the hell is he?" Harry just realized that the bearded headmaster was nowhere to be found.

"He was summoned to the Ministry right after you arrived," Remus answered, still keeping his eyes firmly away from Harry.

"He went to the Ministry when he knew Mad-Eye was going to become a zombie!" Harry roared. "What the hell is he playing at?"

"Did it ever occur to you that perhaps he is needed elsewhere? That Kingsley himself pleaded for his help? If the Ministry is overrun by zombies than we are in more trouble than two zombies coming after us!" Remus shouted, reminding Harry for the first time of his alternate wolf form. Harry knew that Remus was right, but foolish pride prevented him from extending an olive branch. Instead, he took to rubbing more of the salve on Sirius, though his neck was caked with the stuff anyway.

"I think we should move Sirius to another room to recover," Molly spoke, her voice shaking a little. With Tonks and Remus's help, Harry moved Sirius to the den and laid him on the couch. His godfather still hadn't opened his eyes, though Harry was somewhat relieved to see his breathing wasn't as shallow as before. Remus muttered something about contacting Dumbledore, before leaving Harry and Tonks alone.

"He'll be alright," Tonks was suddenly beside Harry, placing a comforting hand on his knee.

"How do you know?" Harry asked glumly. Tonks gave a tiny smile.

"I don't think Sirius could ever forgive himself if Snape was the one to kill him." Harry could barely manage to crack a grin.

"Maybe we should take him to a hospital." Tonks turned her head from him and stared at Sirius for a long time, a frown playing across her lips.

"Harry, you know as well as I do that hospitals are death traps when it comes to zombies," she finally said. "Dumbledore is an even better healer than Remus. When he comes back…"

"If he comes back," Harry interjected.

"When he comes back," Tonks carried on as though there hadn't been an interruption, "he'll fix Sirius up in no time. Dumbledore is a great wizard, Harry. As long as he's alive, we have a really good chance of solving this mess for good." Harry tried to be comforted by Tonks's words, but he couldn't help feeling that they were empty. They continued to sit in a long, gloomy silence, each being plagued with treacherous thoughts.

"We're really screwed, you know that?" Harry said softly.

"Keep thinking like that and we will be," Tonks stated firmly. Harry snorted. Was that the secret? The power of positive thinking? Harry snuck a glance at Tonks. He had only known her for a couple hours, but he already liked her. Still, if she thought that being stupidly optimistic was the trick than she obviously hadn't watched as many zombie movies as she claimed.

"Our only weapon is useless now. How the hell are we supposed to fight the zombies then? Muggles and wizards don't look any different from each other. If wizards aren't wearing cloaks, how are we supposed to know which zombies we can use magic against and which ones we can't? Admit it Tonks, we're fucked and you know it."

"I'll admit, the odds are pretty stacked against us, but if we pull together then…"

"Why do you keep doing that?" Harry interrupted, thoroughly annoyed with her irrational optimism. "Do you honestly believe that if we just think hard enough that we can win, we will? You're giving everyone false hope." Tonks looked sharply at him.

"And what's your plan then? "Sorry everybody, but we've already lost, so let's start offing each other now." If that's what you honestly think, then you're not the boy I thought you were." Harry couldn't help but laugh at that.

"You've only known me for a few hours and you're already giving me that line?"

"You ignored my question. Is that what you honestly think?" Harry rolled his eyes.

"No! I just think we need to be realistic about our chances!" Tonks raised her eyebrow and her mouth became pencil thin.

"What do you think I've been doing? I was the one who was about to kill my mentor if you've forgotten!" Harry immediately felt shame burrow into the pit of his stomach, the gun stashed in his belt suddenly feeling heavy.

"I didn't mean it like that," he mumbled, his eyes downcast. "I just don't know what to think right now. I never would have thought in my wildest dreams that I'd actually be fighting zombies." Or killing people. Harry added silently. Tonks chuckled.

"Nor I. I keep thinking that this is some crazy nightmare and I'll wake back up at Headquarters. I just hope Dumbledore manages to get whatever is going on at the Ministry under control or we really are screwed." Harry didn't want to even consider what was happening there. He reached out and gently touched Sirius's wrist. He was surprised to find it cold and clammy.

"Do you really think he'll be alright?" Harry hated sounding so childish, but he felt at ease around the young Auror.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. Now come on, I don't want to leave poor Hermione as the only one to calm everyone down."

Harry stood up as Tonks left the room, his fingers lightly grazing the barrel of the pistol. Trying to ignore the echo of the gunshot ringing in his head, Harry glanced one last time at his godfather, and then slowly followed Tonks.

A/N: Dare I come out after a month's absence? I'm so terribly sorry, dear readers! My excuse this time? Simple writer's block. This chapter kicked my ass. Repeatedly. There were so many frustrating weeks of not being able to hammer out a coherent paragraph. I simply could not find the right words! Luckily, I have an amazing beta named randomchick16 who came to my rescue big time and I owe her a heaping mound of Swiss Chocolate. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait, and I hope *fingers crossed* that my next chapter will go more smoothly. As always, thank you so much to all my reviewers, and people who favourite and alert this story! Love you all!

I have a poll on my profile page, about who everyone wants to see survive in this story. I know I asked way back in chapter two, but that was two years ago, and people's opinion's might have changed seeing how I write these characters. Anyway, I would really appreciate if you guys could vote in the poll, because the results will directly affect the next chapter so please vote! Thanks!