Walking Dead Wizard

Chapter 41

Harry jerked awake, sweat dripping down his body, as he sat there panting, grumbling under his breath, he shoved away the blue cover he'd scavenged out of someone's house way back. It reminded him of the one he has a child, well he mostly remembered it grey, it had never been washed as long as he remembered. Eventually it was thrown out because it was 'absolutely disgusting' and his aunt hadn't wanted it in her house. Shaking his head, forcing himself not to think of the Dursleys who no doubt, if they had survived the initial outbreak, surely blamed the magical world for this shit storm that had gone down. He could just imagine it, Vernon and Dudley complaining over the lack of food, lack of sleep, the running, the uncertainty, and the Dudley no longer had his computer games to play or Petunia and Dudley hating the fact there was no TV complaining about all their missed soaps. A vindictive smirk appeared on his face, he couldn't help it, if they had just cared about him even just a little he would have moved heaven and hell to keep them safe. He didn't want them dead per se, but he was hardly going to cry over it if they were - which as he said to Dale in the CDC was most likely to happen.

Harry blindly reached for and picked up his water bottle and took a drink, he knew without confirmation that it was around six am; he could never sleep passed that time. He was too used to wakening up early now. Stretching out he groaned in satisfaction, he'd used his sleeping bag last night, and regretted not doing it the other nights, his back was already feeling much better now with a comfortable position to sleep in. The sleeping bags had been spelled to maximise his comfort, so sleeping on the ground wasn't uncomfortable. Inhaling sharply, he grimaced, he really needed a shower, they all did, they were beginning to smell atrocious, and they hadn't even been washing their clothes either.

The quicker they settled into a routine and had everything up and running the better. He needed a bloody wash, definitely going hunting today, and would find a fast flowing river with some luck. A cleaning charm could only do such, and absolutely nothing for his hair which was almost beyond salvaging at this point. If he didn't get it cleaned and brushed he was going to have to shave his head, which he couldn't do, not at the risk of his hair coming back over night. It had happened in the past, so definitely not. The looks on their faces would surely be amusing to say the least.

"Hey, boy," Harry murmured, patting Anubis as he yawned, a small whine left the dogs lips, and Harry knew what was wrong, he only did that when he needed the toilet, and was getting desperate. For some reason he never ran about, and bothered people, he just whined where he lay. It was as if he knew he had to be quiet, or maybe it was something he was used to, hell it might not even be the apocalypse that caused his skinniness, for all he knew the dog could have been with neglectful owners. It was pretty pointless speculating, Anubis was his now, and he would protect him as long as he was able.

Climbing out of his sleeping bag, he quickly removed clothes from his trunk; he yanked off his smelly ones and put the clean ones on. Picking up his discarded trousers he emptied his pockets and put the items into the clean ones. Anubis was whining more desperately, causing Harry to quickly yank his boots on, he grabbed his bow and sword, shrunk the trunk pocketed it and exited his cell, keeping the black and white sheet from falling off the door, it just gave them that added measure of privacy. He put his weapons in their allotted places as he jogged down the stairs.

He could hear the others beginning to move around, it wasn't surprising really, be as quiet as you can you still make noise, and noises echo in a prison. He wouldn't be slightly surprised if Daryl was the first to rouse as any sign of noise. Today was the day they were going to get full use of the prison, every single part of the prison had been cleared out and Harry was confident that they could move around now without a single worry.

Grabbing the keys he opened the door and left it wide open, the only walkers they had to fear were those on the outside. With the runes they planned on placing around the prison they'd made as their sanctuary…well it would be even more greatly protected to say the least. His lips twitched when his hair stood up on edge, Daryl was already up and beside him as usual. He was as always extremely quiet, you could barely tell he was there.

"Morning," Harry murmured quietly, "You sleep alright?"

Daryl grunted giving a nod, yes he'd slept just fine, the bed helped him sleep better than he had since the cabin. He hadn't thought much about staying here; in fact he hadn't really wanted to. However, it was growing on him the long they were there; he could see this place being a real sanctuary if they made the right moves to safeguard it. Daryl abruptly stopped moving when Harry did, preventing himself from slamming into his back, knowing it was still sore by the way he walked. "What is it?" Daryl asked, knowing when he stopped like that it was always something to do with magic.

"There are two people in the vicinity of the prison," Harry said frowning, "One's just a kid,"

"How can you tell?" Daryl asked curiously, "What does it feel like?" since it was obviously just a feeling, it wasn't like his magic could talk to him. Not literally at any rate.

"Do you want to feel it?" Harry asked, turning to face Daryl directly.

"How?" Daryl asked his tone wary now.

"Look me in the eye," Harry said, slowly extending his hands, seeing him recoil but waiting patiently for his acceptance. It saddened him greatly that Daryl still reacted like that even after all those years. He'd had friends help him accept a kind touch, from a young age but it was apparent to him that Daryl hadn't known anyone like that to help him. So when anyone surprised him, reached out to touch him, he recoiled, he absolutely hated anyone touching him, either that or he still unconsciously held a deep seated fear that he would be hit. Pressing his fingers to Daryl's temples only after he had held himself still, all the while wanting to move away, Harry could see it in his face. He allowed his magic to trickle through his fingers and into Daryl, letting his conscious seep into him, letting Daryl feel what he did, the feeling of the wards buzzing, the feel of the person near them, and the presence of the child in their arms. The feel of their heartbeats, he got to feel Daryl's astonishment and awe in turn before he slowly withdrew his magic a couple minutes later and then let go. "That's what I felt when they crossed over the boundaries I set up, which expand further than the prison fences itself." he told him.

With that Harry turned and exited the prison, Anubis bolted away gratefully, Harry grinned at his exuberant behaviour, he did a quick run over to the watch tower, he wanted to see if he could get a look at whoever was nearby, but considering there was a child he couldn't in all good continence leave them to fend for themselves. He made quick work of the ladder managing to make it look effortless with his weapons; opening the hatch he regretted it immediately. "BLOODY HELL, LUNA!" Harry yelped closing his eyes and allowing the hatch to fall down, his face screwed up in disgust. That was more than he ever wanted to see of either of them! "There's someone near the prison with a kid." he told them before rushing down the ladder as if the hound of hell was on his heels.

Hitting the bottom with a shudder, he was partly glad he'd gone when he had! Ten minutes later who knows what he would have stumbled up on? He observed Daryl was over at the fence taking care of the walkers that was leaning against it. Glancing critically at the prison then the fence, it was such a wide area of distance between them, just how good were walkers at smelling that they could discern their scent from that far away? It wasn't noise, they weren't being particularly loud…there was less than there had been in the past few days, he supposed they could have simply been attracted to the smell the other walkers. And they were attracted to each other on some level; otherwise they wouldn't be walking in such large groups. A very, very low level, since walkers didn't have any intelligence.

"Is everything alright?" Carol asked surprising Harry, standing quite a bit away from him, her hand covering her eyes as she looked out sensing something amiss. In her other hand was a bag filled with food, presumably to go to the kitchen now that the prison was secure.

"Yes," Harry replied loud enough so she could hear him.

"Sophia, come," Carol called, gesturing for her daughter who was running around playing with Anubis in gleeful abandon. It was nice to see that she could still be a child in these horrible times.

"I want to stay out here!" she protested.

"I'll keep an eye on her," Harry was quick to reassure Carol, and she knew him well enough now to know he would do it too.

Carol gave him a nod before she wandered back into the prison, giving her daughter one last glance as she did so. She was so used to keeping her close, keeping an eye on her that it was almost impossible to continue walking. She felt she may as well have lost a limb, it was such a strange experience, but she trusted Harry with Sophia's life, so why did she feel so strongly? Even the past when Sophia was outside she hadn't felt that way, probably because she knew she was safe outside away from her father.

Harry wandered down further, passing the first gate which was open due to the fact Daryl was down there. His green eyes gazed around critically looking for the person that had set off his wards. Now this place hardly had a lived in feel to it, the only reason that person could be hiding was if they'd seen them come in and was watching them. That didn't sit well with him at all, but he couldn't see any other reason for what they were doing, but he didn't want to believe that's what he or she was doing, especially with a kid.

"Come out nice and slow," Harry turned to Daryl when he heard him speak. Harry narrowed his eyes, catching what Daryl could see, footprints, going forward towards the fence then retreating back. Giving credence to his previous theory that they were being watched. Harry raised his gun, Daryl already had his crossbow raised and the person did come out - very slowly.

They were surprised despite the fact they'd known the person had a child with them. A tall dainty white woman emerged from the trees, one hand raised, the other was clutching what was definitely not her child, the child in her arms was definitely African-American and barely looked two maybe three years old. "I'm not a threat to you," she said, her tone was filled with worry and fear.

Harry stepped back in shock when he got a good look at her, more importantly her eyes; he'd never seen anyone outside the magical community with grey eyes. Added with her black hair and thin profile, she could have been mistaken as a female version of his godfather…he couldn't think of a single female Black with grey eyes, Bellatrix and Andromeda had brown eyes while Narcissa had blue. His eyes narrowed further when he noticed where her eyes were going, she was not looking at the weapons but their arms and legs.

"Oh Merlin that is freaky," Luna breathed as she joined Harry.

"You think?" Harry snorted, she could see it as well, it was obviously just a coincidence of course, he'd seen the family tree for the Black's, and every single one of them he knew, both dead and alive.

"Why are you watching us?" Merle growled out, joining the conversation, giving Luna and Harry a curious look, wondering what was going on with the pair of them.

"I wasn't watching you," she said cautiously and carefully, making sure not to say too much, "I was looking for someone."

"And that someone is around here?" Harry asked hiding his incredulity, something was off, and if she was looking for someone she wouldn't have spent at least fifteen to twenty minutes watching the prison. They looked completely starving; she was covered in walker blood, presumably and had a sword strapped to her makeshift belt.

"I thought they might be," she admitted, staring him in the eye, she'd felt the magic days ago, how powerful it was, she had a child, she needed help to protect him. He might not be hers, but she had grown to love him in the time she'd had him. Each day she couldn't feed him she began to feel more and more of a failure. While magic couldn't cure all, it would give the child somewhere safe - safer than it was with her on her own at any rate. She couldn't see any wands on them or any sign of wrist holsters; they all had weapons but no wand she was beginning to think they were long gone from here. Or maybe this wasn't where it had originated from, she'd been so sure. She hadn't stopped travelling for days in hopes of catching up with them. She was so exhausted, so tired, so hungry.

"Sophia! Come here," Harry called out to the girl, "Get in here," he told her gruffly.

"No," she stated resolutely, standing her ground.

"I'm the one you've been looking for, get in, keep your mouth shut until I ask you a question," Harry snapped out, his tone low so Sophia couldn't hear anything.

"Looking for? What do you mean by that?" Luna asked Harry glancing at him in confusion.

Harry raised his mouth to his lips telling her to keep quiet for now.

"Yes, Harry?" Sophia asked, staring at him curiously out of her wide eyes, at what was happening.

"What's his name?" Harry asked gesturing towards the boy.

"Andre," she said, quietly more than a little apprehensive now.

"When was the last time he ate?" Harry enquired, as he slid the gate closed behind her as Daryl cranked the lever into place.

"It's been a few days, for both of us," she admitted.

"What's your name?" Luna then asked.

"Mira," she informed her, her smile weak and shaky.

"I wonder if it's ironic," Luna whispered to Harry wryly, Mira is a giant red star, in the constellation Cetus.

Harry smirked at her, thinking pretty much the same thing. "Sophia, this is Andre, do you think you should show him to your mum so he can get something to eat?"

"Yeah," Sophia nodded eagerly, always happy and eager to help especially if it was Harry asking.

"Alright, but you'll need to be careful with him, he'll be heavy," Harry said, silently gesturing towards Mira to give Andre to Sophia.

It was obvious for all of them to see she was reluctant to give the child up. She did it nonetheless, watching them go looking quite concerned.

Sophia however, took great care of the sleeping bundle placed in her arms, he was heavy, but she never once stumbled, she walked steadily towards the prison with him in her arms. Anubis went with them, acting as their protector.

"Mira Black I would guess, right?" Luna said as soon as Sophia was well out of hearing range. "You're a squib aren't you? Second generation I'd guess?"

"Daughter or granddaughter of Marius Black," Harry guessed, he was the only squib in the Black family line, and the rest stricken of the family tree were for being blood traitors. The Black family didn't expand overseas, they were pureblood's they married within their own community, which was the British magical community. She sounded American so she had never stepped foot in the magical world.

Mira gulped her grey eyes widened further, stepping back fear the most prominent emotion on her face. She knew what most of the magical people felt about squibs, but she'd assumed with the end of the world it wouldn't matter. She hadn't really thought on it other than just getting Andre to safety. The safe zone they'd been in had somehow been compromised, the biters had gotten in and everyone was suddenly being bitten and eating each other. She'd seen Andre screaming as two men the same ethnicity as him was lying there bitten. She'd grabbed him and ran as quickly as she possibly could, hoping she'd get out of there. She'd been raised with the knowledge that children were important, a part of the future, nothing was more important.

"You know who it is?" Daryl asked, frowning, wondering why she was so fearful, and completely forgetting what Harry had told him about squibs, although even if he had recalled that information it wouldn't have explained her fear. Harry had never explained just how badly looked down upon squibs actually were.

However, Merle had a much greater understanding, and his blue eyes were still steely.

There we go! so I suppose you'll want to see how Luna and Merle got together then? Or will Luna explaining it to Harry be specific enough? and yes for those of you who have watched TWD it is the Andre you think it is :) y'all want Michonne this is how i see it happening :D will Mira stay or will the presence of magical people cause her too much fear that she drifts from the group or will she feel safe once she realises who they are? that they don't hate squibs and more importantly how Harry is a half blood himself? do you think someone who grew up in america would know who Harry is? or will she not even blink at his name? :D R&R please