Walking Dead Wizard

Chapter 25

The night after Randall was dealt with was a good night, although nobody would admit it, they slept easier knowing that he couldn't possibly get free and hurt them. They also knew that it had been Harry who dealt the blow that ended the rapist. That Rick hadn't been able to man up and do what needed done. Dale hadn't spoken to anyone since the whole thing went down, an old man sulking was a sight to see, and Harry found it hilarious despite himself. Andrea and Amy had spent some time talking to him after dinner, but whether it had worked or not was anyone's guess. They might have slept easier, but not longer, at the crack of dawn they were up, doing what they had been for the last few days, trying to secure the barn and the house now. They were boarding up the windows, putting enough food and water into the basement, actually living inside the house now, all the tents and everything were packed up.

Harry was surprised that he hadn't become the scapegoat within the group, he'd half expected everyone to suddenly have a crisis of conscious over what had happened and deny they'd ever agreed to it and blame it on him. It was what always happened back in the magical world, he was always the bad one no matter how hard he tried to prove himself. He was long past that stage in his life of course, but it was his expectations. There was only one difference, he didn't need to stay and endure it if it had happened. Unlike the majority of the people in camp Harry wasn't afraid to go it alone. Not that he would.

Putting the nail into position, Harry hammered the last piece of wood into its position; the window was completely covered bar a single line so whoever was on 'duty' could look outside and see what was outside. Personally Harry thought it was a gigantic waste of time, but so far it had been rather quiet with only a few walkers here and there to deal with. It screamed 'calm before the storm' to him, but he wasn't wasting his breath by saying anything more. He had been reading the book Luna gave him on warding and he wished he had taken Ancient Runes, since most wards were based on Runes. Thankfully having Hermione as a best friend meant he wasn't completely obvious to the subject. She had spoken about it often enough that he got the basics, with a little tutoring from Luna he would be well on his way to being able to put up those wards that the walkers couldn't bypass. With his power levels they wouldn't need as maintained, replenished from time to time maybe but not constantly maintained. Unfortunately that meant telling the group about his magic…and that was something he really, really didn't want to do - which left him with a problem.

Anubis barking aggressively caused Harry to look around; he'd never heard him bark like that before. What he saw made him see red, Shane had Luna by the arm and was shaking her, his voice too low to hear anything that was being said - even if he had been near enough he doubted he would have heard. Dropping the hammer he ran towards them, only when he was near enough did he take a swing at Shane, punching him in the jaw with all his strength and he had a lot of strength hidden in his lithe frame. Shane let go of Luna and Harry ducked the oncoming punch and then the other, before jabbing him in the side, then another to the back. He couldn't hear anything other than the beating of his own heart.

Shane lurched at him, knocking them both to the ground, winding Harry but he'd been hit with bludgers he could damn well take care of himself. Shane then tried to get on top of him only for Harry to kick out at him, once in the chest then again in the face, giving him time to get up. Shane roared as he got to his feet, once again trying to barrel into Harry, but Harry jumped to the side causing him to miss, only for Shane to catch him in the stomach, and grab his hair, ready to punch him in the face, but Harry thrust his palm out re-breaking the cops nose, before jabbing him in the ribs three times until Shane let his hair go.

Carol immediately sought her daughter out, keeping her away from the brawl that was currently happening. The rest of the women joined her watching the fight but never interfering. T-Dog, Glenn and Rick were around the other side of the property and obviously wouldn't have heard the commotion. Merle and Daryl (who was on watch duty) didn't interfere either.

"Fucking touch her again and I'll kill you, you hear me?" Harry hissed, seeing Luna trying to keep Anubis back from the corner of his eyes watching the scene wide eyed.

Merle who had had heard the commotion and came around the side of the house, watched the scene with amusement. He was a fighter himself; there was nothing more fun than watching someone get their ass handed to them. He hadn't known Harry could fight like that though, the boy had definitely been in his share of fights, he noticed, he was going for the areas that were extremely painful, the kidneys, the liver, the ribs and the face. He also noticed Luna was having trouble with Anubis but she was able to keep him back, but in her struggles, she had bent over, and he had to enjoy the view, that was until his eyes trailed up and saw the scars, any amusement he'd had faded fast as anger flashed in his blue eyes. He loathed abuse of any kind, she shouldn't bear scars like that, she was a beautiful woman, and he'd admit that only to himself, it was little wonder now why she was so strong compared to the other women in camp she'd been through some kind of hell.

"What you gonna do? Shoot me?" Shane taunted, trying to get Harry to take a swing at him first.

"No, you'll wish I would though," Harry stated calmly despite his laboured breathing, as he moved aside when Shane decided to have at him again, but he wasn't quite quick enough and he rammed into his side. His legs caused Shane to topple over as well, before Shane could try and get on top of him to box him in, Harry swiftly kicked him between the legs with toe steeled boots, causing him to scream in unholy agony and curl up trying to protect his privates from any more damage. Even the strongest person could be brought down with a kick to the balls with enough force. Shane might like to act as though he was the toughest son of a bitch there, but he wasn't. Harry had known if Shane had boxed him in nothing short of magic would have gotten him out, hence why he'd never let it happen.

Grimacing in pain, Harry got to his feet, his arm placed protectively over his stomach, not even bothering to shake the mud, stones and hay from his clothes. It would be a futile exercise he was covered from head to foot. "Even look in her direction again and I swear I will kill you, and I won't lose sleep over it." Harry told him, his cold green eyes boring holes into the man on the ground. He had killed in the past to save the people he had loved, hell even went to his own death for them this was nothing compared to that.

Shane swallowed thickly, he was staring in the eyes of a killer, and it wasn't just Randall on his list either he realized. He had his share of experience dealing with killers with his job, and he'd never seen such a cold calculating look sent his way. He'd underestimated the boy badly. He was going to have to get rid of both Harry and Rick, get this group back under his control and make them see his way would work - that he alone would keep them safe.

Harry grunted as he walked or rather limped away from the fallen man, making his way over to Luna.

"Why did you do that? I can take care of myself!" Luna insisted she'd been terrified for Harry, terrified that he could be hurt.

"Do you honestly expect me to stand by and let him hurt you?" Harry asked her quietly, his green eyes dimming as he stared at her sadly, he knew he hadn't quite been the friend he could have been over the years after everything happened, but surely Luna didn't think he'd ever stand by and see her hurt by anything. Anubis sat right next to Harry, his head leaning into Harry's leg, as Harry absently petted him, his fingers itching his ears.

"Harry," Luna said realizing she had upset him, "I know you'd do anything for me, but I have to stand on my own two feet…especially now." explaining why she was really upset.

Harry looked around cautiously before he even thinking of responding, "You already are, you're strong, fierce and know how to wield weapons, but fighting is a whole other ball game," Harry said honestly, holding her shoulder in one hand, the one that wasn't protectively covering his stomach and ribs having moved it from Anubis. "You've never fought the non-magical way before in your life, you've always had magic, I haven't, and I know how to defend myself…" he had no other ways to let her know how different it was.

Luna nodded wordlessly, letting him know he'd won this round.

Merle watched the pair from around the side of the house, his eyes narrowed and thoughtful; he honestly couldn't put his finger on what was bothering him about the sight in front of him. Most of the time he was sure they weren't together and that they were just friends. Sometimes he was sure they were related, they acted like brother and sister but Harry would have said if they were related, he saw no reason for the boy to keep it hidden if they were. Times like now though, they got awfully cosy, and it made him grit his teeth. Luna wasn't Merle's kind of woman, not only was she quite a bit younger, but she was strong, smart, dedicated, made Merle laugh and was sarcastic too. Merle always used women for release, so it was little wonder he didn't understand his own feelings when it came to Luna.

"Even if you knew how to fight, I would have still done what I did, as long as I've still got breath in my body I'll protect you." Harry said sincerely, "You're my family, and family protects each other. Whether they like it or not." Luna, Neville and Hermione were the only family he had left alive - that he knew for definite.

"Shane is Rick's best friend, what if he believes him over us?" Luna asked, noticing that Shane was no longer anywhere to be found, he hadn't come this way so definitely hadn't went into the house. He was obviously somewhere licking his wounds after being beaten by a guy shorter, smaller and thinner than him.

"At this point I don't care, I'm through Luna, I'm not staying here, and not with Shane he's too volatile and deluded. A dangerous kind of deluded compared to Rick. He's been thinking of ways to kill Rick for the past few days and me as well now, and even if I tell Rick he won't believe me and will continue on like always. He thinks a single conversation and fight with Shane sorted everything out - as if they could go back to being friends!" Harry muttered indignantly. He couldn't keep putting himself in harms way, he wasn't immortal for Merlin's sake, and he definitely didn't want to end up a walker. He'd tried to help them, Merlin help him he had tried, he'd given it all but they just didn't want to hear. It wasn't just him he was surviving for now, but he had to protect Luna too.

"Alright, Harry," Luna said nodding, she trusted him and his judgement, and she'd follow him to the very pits of hell if it was needed. "We'll go; we'll find somewhere to stay safe."

"First I'll need to tell Rick, I at least owe him that, so he doesn't think something has happened at the farm." Harry told Luna, sighing softly; he ran his fingers through his hair tiredly. He'd been thinking on and off about this for the past week or so, but today was the last straw.

"It's already starting to get dark though," Luna commented night was falling on the farm. "Maybe wait until morning?" when it's safer.

"We'd be able to get quite a far before it gets really dark," Harry mused, he hated the fact he was going to leave the group to deal with Shane on their own, but what else could he do? "But I guess it can't hurt to stay a single more night and get a map of the area so we know where we are going."

"Hermione got us a map of any area we are in, it works like the marauders map," Luna whispered.

"Got us?" Harry blinked owlishly at her.

"Didn't I tell you about the chest Hermione made? We can send and receive stuff through it," Luna explained, "Like fresh fruit and vegetables," thank Merlin for Hogwarts and its abundance, there was more than enough food grown all year for everyone to eat properly. Although Minerva had made it clear to the House-elves that they weren't to go overboard anymore, that no food would ever be wasted, that they needed every piece of it due to the fact they couldn't get out of Hogwarts and get more elsewhere.

"That's where you got the blueberries from," Harry muttered wryly, shaking his head, "No, you didn't tell me, we definitely need to sit down and discuss things with Hermione properly though, well through the book I mean, at a time we will all be awake."

"I agree," Luna nodded her agreement. "Come on, we need to get you checked out," Shane had gotten quite a few punches.

"I'm fine, nothing's broken," Harry reassured her, "I'm not wasting anything on things that will heal," meaning his potions but the group were beginning to move around again so he couldn't say that out loud.

"Are you sure?" Luna said, pleading with her eyes for him to take something, she didn't like the thought of him being in pain especially having defended her. "I have my kit too." she had her own potions with her, one vial wouldn't hurt anyone.

"I've had a lot worse for a lot longer and taken nothing for it, I promise, I will be fine," Harry promised her.

"Alright," Luna conceded, "At least sit down for a bit."

"That I can do," Harry agreed, moving stiffly up the stairs and sitting down on the chair on the porch.

Luna rolled her eyes, not exactly what she had in mind but at least he was sitting down she consoled herself. Luna sat on the swinging chair nearby and joined him in just sitting there. "At least we'll have a good tent," she added absently, after ten minutes of peaceful silence between them. Although it wasn't complete silent since people were chatting inside and entering and exiting the house, with such a large group it was to be expected.

Harry laughed, "I remember the first time I was in one, fourteen, it was…magical." Harry grinned widely at his own joke.

Luna merely snorted in amusement; it was easy to forget Harry hadn't always known about magic, especially since she'd grown up knowing who he was. Then there were the comments he made, especially regarding all things Muggle, although he hadn't been using that term lately, usually using not magical.

"Glenn? Have you seen Rick?" Harry called out when he saw Glenn shuffling into the house, knowing he'd been working with him earlier.

"Not since earlier," Glenn commented, looking awkward, assuming he was disturbing them. "Just after dinner." he added before disappearing into the house to find Maggie.

"Looks like we'll be here for the night then," Harry mused, the darkness was really starting to creep in now.

"Looks like," Luna agreed, curling up on the swing, might as well get some sleep now since she was on watch duty after Daryl.

Harry let her as he watched darkness descend over the farm.

Luna jerked awake at the sound of a gunshot, "Harry!" Luna whispered in a hush, sitting up clutching her wand arm close.

"I heard it," Harry said, Daryl was standing on the RV looking around trying to find the source but unable to find it. Everyone had heard it though, as evidence of everyone flooding out onto the porch. All talking over each other, trying to see if anyone knew what was going on.

"Alright, calm down!" Harry commanded, getting them to shut up. "Carol go check on the kids, who isn't here?"

"Shane…and Rick," Amy said quickly. "And Daryl."

"Daryl's on watch duty, Merle you best get him back in here," Harry told the elder Dixon brother, worry churning in his gut. "Switch the lights off, it will make it harder for whoever it was to find us." walkers didn't let off gunshots, so it was obvious someone. Merle was already gone, as Hershel's daughter Beth quickly shut off the lights.

"Randall's group?" Andrea whispered in a horrified voice.

"We don't know that for sure, but Shane or Rick would need to be desperate to use a gun, at least I hope they've learned something from the last time." Harry said, calming them down. "As long as we stay together, we will be fine."

"Here," Maggie said showing up with the police bag of guns and handing them out.

"Hey!" Harry warned them, "Do not use them unless you absolutely have to, those shot guns are loud we don't want to have to deal with walkers in the dead of the night."

"Carl's gone!" Carol said bursting out of the house, her daughter clutched safely in her arms.

"What?!" Lori protested loudly, rushing into the house, calling out her sons name frantically, sounding extremely distressed.

Anubis was whining beside him as Harry moved to the side of the house, using his locator spell to find out where Carl was and found him with Rick, his breathing hitched, both of them were surrounded by walkers nearby the barn, hundreds of them making their way through the property. He closed his eyes, how did he get them away from here without them panicking?

"We need to leave." Harry stated sharply into the night.

"We aren't leaving without my son; I'm not leaving without my son!" Lori protested.

"Calm down, that's not what Harry meant," Carol said trying to comfort Lori, knowing without a doubt that Harry would never leave a child to fend for himself.

"Carl is with Rick, in the barn," Harry informed Lori, "I'm going to try and help them and try to draw them away long enough for everyone to get the hell out of here. Now panic is only going to get you killed, so calm the bloody hell down!"

"I'm not leaving this barn, I will die here first," Hershel said adamantly.

"I thought committing suicide was against your belief?" Harry pointed out icily, "And murder? Since you'll be murdering your daughters as well as Patricia and Jimmy, they're loyal to you, you've looked after them kept them safe, now that herd is going to knock the farm down, I saw them tearing down metal fences taller than your property with only thirty walkers not the hundreds you see before you. Do what's right by them, I am truly sorry about the farm, but you need to leave, live to fight another day."

"Daddy please," Beth begged, her eyes wider than normal, pleading her father to do something.

"What do we do?" Hershel whispered defeated.

"Grab the essentials, medicine, food, water, clothes and get in your cars and leave for…the highway where we first lost Sophia. Don't stop, don't turn around for anything. If I thought for a minute we could fight to save this farm I would do it, but using guns is guaranteed to have another load of walkers appearing, we'd fast run out of ammo anyway, it would be like shovelling snow while it was snowing." Harry told them grimly. "GO!" with that everyone scattered to their own areas grabbing their things, ready to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.

"The barn! It's on fire!" Patricia called out.

Harry grabbed his bag, everything else he owned was already shrunk down and safely on his person.

"Daryl I need your truck!" Harry shouted he wasn't going to expose his secret until he had absolutely no choice. "Take Luna and get the hell out of here," he added as Daryl moved towards him, entrusting Luna with Daryl giving him his ultimate trust.

"I'm comin'," Daryl said, standing there determinedly, his crossbow ever presently across his shoulder.

"Daryl," Harry warned, "I need someone to show Luna where to go."

"My brother will take her, he'll keep her safe, trust me," Daryl swore.

"No your brother would only die for one person and that's you, but I'm completely fine with that," Harry pointed out, but he knew Luna would be alright, even if she had to expose her magic to ensure it. "Merle! Take Luna with you, anything happens to her you'll regret it!"

Merle snorted, but nodded, she could take care of herself, she didn't need him, and Harry knew that himself making his threat redundant. Bolting out of the house, Harry quickly made his way to the truck, whistling for Anubis to get in, it might be uncomfortable but it was better than being left behind. He made sure his tail was in and he was lying on the footrest of the passenger side, Harry's feet were on the chair, there was just no room with a German shepherd lying on the floor of the truck. By then Daryl had started up the truck, Harry rolled down the window trying to see any sign of Rick and Carl, shooting any walker that got too close.

"Over here!" both Daryl and Harry heard the yelling, looking up they realized that Rick and Carl were actually up at the top of the rapidly burning barn. What the fuck had they been thinking.

"Dad!" Carl yelled from inside, after a few moment of silence, wooden ladders were being slid along and on top of the truck.

Harry cursed, grabbing more ammo he quickly reloaded his guns and sliding his body out the window, until he was half hanging out then he began to shoot anything that got too close for comfort. He just hoped and prayed everyone had done as he asked, and they were safely ensconced away from the farm. Daryl grabbed a gun from his bag as well and helped by shooting the ones in Harry's blind spot, or any other that passed. Most were burning alive in the barn at this precise moment.

"Harry!" Carl said relieved, aiming and pointing his gun but not firing at anything - he had no bullets left.

"Here," Harry shouted, passing a fully loaded silenced gun towards him giving him a look that screamed don't let me down before he refocused on the walkers as Rick made his quick run down the ladders and onto the truck. Slamming his palm down to let them know that they were safe, that they could go. Daryl stopped shooting as he started up the truck and quickly began driving, trying to dodge as many of the walkers bodies as possible.

"Where's Lori? Where's my wife?" Rick shouted, "I'm not leaving without her!" he added when he noticed they were moving away from the walker infested farm. He watched it as desolation swept through him, horror building in him, it was gone, it was truly gone, their safe heaven, their home, he'd had to kill his best friend and now his home was gone.

"They got out," Harry stated sharply, honestly, even the so called leader was panicking. With that Harry slid back into the car just in the nick of time as they went into forested area, trees whipping past would have hurt like a bitch. At least he hoped they had, if Lori hadn't moved then it wasn't on him, the others could have dragged her away. Looking back he saw Rick covering his son's body with his own to protect him. "The farm belongs to the dead now," he said glancing up in the mirror watching the blazing ball fall upon itself as it began to burn itself out.

The drive to the highway was quick as Daryl floored it the entire way there, trying to put as much distance between them and the walkers as quickly as possible. Only relaxing slightly after half a mile without seeing a single walker, even Harry relaxed, it meant he hadn't sent them this way to end up attacked. He did know they wouldn't be able to stay there, they would need to find somewhere else and quickly the nights were getting extremely cold now and quickly too. It didn't take too incredibly long to find them; they were like a beacon on the trashed highway. Especially the ever present RV. Harry released a breath he had no idea he was holding, they'd listened to him…but the main question was…did everyone get out?

"MOM! Mom!" Carl yelled in delight, so happy she was okay.

"Quiet, Carl, there may still be walkers around," Harry informed him as he opened the door to the truck and hoisted Carl off the back of the truck, and safely onto his feet so he could run to his sobbing mother. Rick quickly joined him, hugging his son and wife close, having coming so close to losing them he couldn't bear to not have them in his arms.

"Did everyone make it?" Harry asked, his gaze sliding to Merle's motorbike glad to see both of them there and unhurt. He mentally counted everyone, "I only count…seventeen…eighteen including myself…Shane and Patricia, where are they?"

"Shane got bit, he turned into a walker, I had to shoot him," Carl admitted causing his mother to almost crush him as shock splashed across her face.

"Patricia?" Harry questioned.

"She got shot, she moved to avoid a walker…and she got shot," Jimmy said, eyes dilated in shock, it was obviously him who had done it. "She didn't get bit or scratched but she…she came back…she was a walker." he'd managed to get her into the car driving like a maniac to try and get to Hershel but had been forced to shoot her when she reanimated.

"What? How is that possible?" Maggie asked bewildered.

"She must have gotten scratched…" Andrea shook her head, she must have.

"We're all infected," Rick said, dropping the bombshell, nearly everyone froze, rounding on Rick with a look of betrayed shock on their faces.

I quite literally just received a review that made me want to delete the entire chapter and restart it :) the idea is very good (Dark Lord of Ori) where Shane wanted to kill Harry and its Carl that kills Shane to save him :D it would have been awesome to write but I already did the chapter so who knows maybe one day I'll write another one? I'm quite content with just this one though for now! I literally can't wait to write up the next chapter it's going to be so much fun! I think i'll need to use a piece of paper and randomly choose who goes with Harry...I do want more than Luna, Daryl and Merle to go but they know about magic which would make things infinitely smoother for the group but hey, guess the good ole trick of picking names out of a hat should work :P will the magical map locate the prison for Harry's group or will they have to go weeks until they actually find it? from what i got of the series the group was mostly going around in circles all winter...i wonder if that meant the prison was actually close by...judging by the flash you see of it after the second season finale i'd say yes but i would like your opinions on how far you reckon it is and realistically how long it would take...after all im not familiar with american roads etc... :D R&R please