Walking Dead Wizard

Chapter 79

Merle claimed his seat next to Luna, letting out a contented sigh, fully relaxing for the first time since they'd gone out this morning. Whenever they stepped foot outside, that was him on the defensive, tense and alert, ready for any threat that could come there way, worrying regardless of whether they had magic at their beck and call. Not all wizards and witches had made it out alive, so he didn't depend on it to keep Luna safe, all it took was one lack of judgment call and that would be it. The feeling of something ice cold on his hand brought him out of his thoughts, to find Luna handing him a can of beer. He smirked at her in thanks; he noticed she had a Butterbeer in her hand.

If only his da could see him now, Merle thought inwardly snorting to himself. He wasn't the same person he had been over a year ago. He hadn't really given a shit about anyone back then, just his next fix and where his next drink was coming from occasionally bringing back hookers trying to entice his brother. Most of the time ending up in some form of shit and ending up in prison before hunting Daryl down and start the process all over again. Try any of the shit he pulled back in he day, Luna would have his ass, she was one hell cat, saying what she wanted, what she thought, not caring about what others thought and extremely loyal. Man, she was beautiful, powerful, and quite vindictive too. He had no idea why she was with him, he was twenty years her senior, but she made him feel young, not just physically but mentally as well. He felt things for her that he hadn't experienced before in his life.

Anger, disgust, prejudice, pain, hurt, jealousy self-disgust, these were the only emotions he'd ever known from a young age. The only positive emotions had been possessiveness and love for his baby brother. He may have tried to entice him with hookers but he'd never wanted Daryl to settle down, to have a family for fear of being left behind. He'd convinced Daryl that he was the only one that would ever care. In this harsh world, he hadn't truly been lying, but he had said it out of insecurity when he was high as fuck.

But with Luna, he experienced a whole plethora of emotions he wasn't familiar with, without realizing it he had begun to feel whole. In the beginning, he had fought the initial feelings but his little moon was just irresistible. He'd always had a thing for blondes, and Luna was the whole package, beautiful, smart, and talented, with a mouth on her that made him genuinely laugh in ways only Daryl sometimes could.

Yes, he'd changed; he could fully admit that he could just imagine all the things his Da would have said if he could see him. The feeling of Luna leaning against him brought him back, back before his Da's words could grow like seeds and sow insecurity in him. His Da was dead, and ain't nobody gonna mourn him, he was a bastard all his life, hell if he had found those scars on Daryl and he was still alive he woulda killed him with his bare hands. This was his life, and he was gonna live it while he could, if anything happened he ain't going down with regrets.

Merle looked around at the ever expanding group, Big Tiny, Oscar, Axel and Tyreese had put up a heavy duty gazebo tent thing. Probably had a fancy name, but Merle didn't know its name, he'd never seen one outside of pictures of fancy houses he'd gone by traveling with his brother in the truck or motorbike. They'd put it in the street so they could continue their tradition, of sitting outside at night even in the rain. It extended to the garden covering both sides of the road, it was a good thing they didn't use the road. Not that it mattered; they had couches and seats out here that never got moved anyway. The large pit in the middle was alight flames crackling with coal and newspaper burning up.

Wrapping his arm around Luna, he drank his beer as he observed everyone as was his natural instinct that he never stopped. The kids were huddled together on the floor, reading from one of Harry or Luna's books on creatures. Making the most comical faces when they turned the pages, not that he would admit that on pain of death. All of them were different from when he first met them, Sophia most of all, then Carl the least changed would be Patrick. Back then he would have thought none of them would survive, same with Carol, but damn, he wasn't sure what Harry had said to them to inspire them the way they had.

Eventually, his eyes narrowed in on Bob, the guy Andrea and the others had found while out scavenging. Harry said he was trustworthy, and his gut did as well. Harry had informed them what he had gleaned from the guy's thoughts, which was a lot more than he had anticipated. He'd need to ask just how much they could read out of everyone, and whether Luna did it. The thought of his mind being read was just sickening. The words Harry said echoing in his mind 'He just wanted to be able to sleep somewhere where he was safe. Preferably without nightmares, but he had a lot of them, and was too scared to sleep often due to his vocal nightmares and the fear of bringing the dead down upon wherever he chose to sleep that night. He had given up on the prospect of any good people being left in the world. He was a bit of a loner, in all groups he had been in, due to his haunted past both pre and post apocalyptic. He drank whenever he could, and would have been an alcoholic if given the chance to drink all the time. He believed it was his curse to go on while everyone around him died. Survivors guilt, something he (Harry) was all too familiar with. He was a medic, an Army Medic, which not only made him proficient in healing but firearms.' the three others who had been saved from the wreckage were still in the doctor's surgery.

The two adult females were with their father still in one of the until now unused houses, the girl was sitting next to Sophia, the man didn't have long, Oscar was with them, ready to do what must be done if and when he reanimated no daughter should have to do what comes next. He wasn't in pain, Harry had given him something strong, strong enough so he could spend his last remaining hours awake, eating, and talking to his family, secure in the knowledge they were safe. Harry had also placed Runes around the bed, it was the first time they had been able to test them, if they worked they should trap the reanimated corpse into a force field, preventing him from getting anywhere near people all the while the spell he had on the entire area should alert him immediately upon his death.

"So, are we going to talk about this guy?" Andrea asked, wandering in, her hands on her hips as she looked around doubt clearly written across her face. A year ago she would have believed it within seconds, not out of belief but…sheer hope, for the want of it to be true. Bob flinched, thinking they were talking about him and whether he had a right to be there. "I mean a cure?" Daryl was quick to snort, and Andrea grinned at him, trust the Dixons' to say (or not say in this case) what they really thought.

"Harry said it wasn't true," Sophia looked up from the book, regarding Andrea seriously, a look no teenager should support but with the world the way it was - it was no surprise. "It's a pipe dream." a lie, yes she had understood what Harry told her, she was one of the few people here who knew everything about Harry's life. Not due to him confiding in her, but the actual fact he had told her stories about his life, and she had learned they weren't mere fictional stories.

"But what's the point to it?" Andrea asked bewildered as she grabbed a beer before claiming her seat. A relived groan left her lips; this was the best part of the day, just relaxing then going to sleep. "I mean what the hell does he have to gain by lying, it would get out sooner or later."

"Protection," Merle and Harry who had just stalked up said in sync, a sardonic grin appeared on Harry's face as he gave Merle a look of amusement. "Unprecedented protection."

"Such a Slytherin thing to do," Luna mused, and everyone blinked at it, they wouldn't have understood that meaning a while ago, but they did now. They understood all the odd things Luna had said over time when they became aware of the world of magic.

Bob, however, looked baffled, since he knew absolutely nothing about magic, just that it existed, that it was hiding this place completely from walkers and people alike. This place was so alive, people and animals no sign that an apocalypse had ever taken place. There was even a baby here, that must have been born after the apocalypse for god's sake. Families, life, laughter, old and young people, come together to live their lives and for the first time since this nightmare had begun Bob finally began to have real hope that he was safe at last.

Harry shook his head a cold look in his eyes, "No, he's more like Pettigrew, a coward…a smart coward nonetheless."

"That just makes them more dangerous," Luna stated sharply, "How many people has he killed?"

"Who knows how many people have protected him at the cost of their own lives believing they were saving the last link to humanity?" Harry sighed grimly. "They're set on heading to Washington," sighing softy as he sat down. It had been one hell of a day; he had begun to think it would never end. Twice he'd had to explain magic to Lily and her family and to Bob Stooky.

"Did you tell them what happened at the CDC?" Merle asked a look of disbelief on his face.

"I did actually," Harry said wryly, "For all they cared, they're convinced they'll get answers. They don't believe there's no structure left despite the fact they've been on them move almost constantly."

"How has he convinced them he's a scientist?" Sasha queried, "They need to know he's lying,"

"He's extremely smart when I say this he probably makes me look like a dunce, an idiot," Harry clarified, "If he had tried I have no doubt he could have been one, probably spent some time around scientists at one point in his life. Maybe even worked in a lab as an assistant, he said he worked on a human genome project, part of that I believe might be the truth, I believe he was around people who did."

"They need to know," Sasha repeated, "It's not right for them to give up their lives for him…" she trailed off.

"I agree, they shouldn't have to, but they don't know about magic, they don't know I've caught Eugene out in a lie," Harry said simply, a resigned look on his face. "Even if I did tell them, they've built the last year on the thought of a cure, it would devastate them to find out otherwise…my thought is that they will just think I'm lying regardless of what I say."

"What does he mean caught him out in a lie?" Bob asked perplexed, "Can he sense lies?" he wasn't sure what magic could do.

"He can," Big Tiny said, a reassuring smile on his face, "It's how he protects us, keeps us safe from those who might not have good intentions." its how Harry had realized they were good enough to give a second chance to, it made him even more grateful for Harry and his magic.

Michonne nodded from beside Big Tiny agreeing with him, although Bob didn't seem wholly comforted by the knowledge. Glancing over to her son, she just watched him and relaxed a little her hand carding through his hair, causing him to look up and give her a big beaming smile. She hadn't been parted from her son all day since she got him back at the prison. That had been difficult, but not as difficult as having to carry heavy loads to the trunk Harry had given Andrea. Even back when she was on her own she never took more than she needed and then moved along. The prospect of being burdened down, even with food never sat well with her so she'd always kept her necessities to a bare minimum using a single bag strapped to her back.

Bob couldn't help but smile at the sight, it seemed the apocalypse hadn't claimed every family there was, it was rare you found entire families these days, even the two groups he had been with, the closest to a family was two brothers who had survived until they were overrun. Shaking off his dark thoughts, this wasn't the time for them.

"What do we need to look out for with…Meghan," Carol asked as she sat down near Harry who was as always next to Daryl, Luna, and Merle, watching the young girl, it was odd to think she was magical too, she was just so used to it only being Luna and Harry.

"How do you mean?" Harry asked his small talk with Luna forgotten as he turned to face Carol. "Magical wise? Are you concerned she'll hurt someone?"

"Not on purpose but accidents do happen, you said so yourself, growing up is difficult enough…especially in this sort of world without having to keep check on your emotions for fear of your magic reacting," Carol explained.

"She's not powerful enough to really hurt someone if she gets angry or frustrated something around her might break, like a vase or lamp maybe even a cup, but I do not think she has the power to unconsciously use magic to hurt someone severely," Harry explained his gaze going to the child, unless she began to prevent herself using magic, like Ariana Dumbledore…Tom Riddle was the only one he had seen with the kind of power that Carol was afraid the girl would exhibit. "Even if she was, once he has a wand and an outlet for her magic there shouldn't be many instances of accidental magic after that."

"How can you tell she's not powerful?" Amy asked Beth looked up as well wanting to know.

"Not too powerful," Harry corrected Amy, "It might change as she gets older, but for now I do not think it's anything to be concerned about. I had her do a little magic in order to convince her mother and aunt."

"Haven't you thought about helping clear around the school and bringing those that are older back here and letting the children go to school and learn what they need?" Oscar spoke up.

"Quite often," Harry nodded, "We need to get some sense of structure back up and running, we can't be the only place when all is said and done. Even if it's just the non- magical's that come here, and I fix up the magical district for those who are magical."

"Why not bring everyone here?" Beth asked curiously.

"Not all magical people will be happy with so many non- magical's knowing about them, especially American's, they've had a lot of trouble over the years, they had a second Salem trials that almost started up after the first world war I think, but considering the state of the world maybe not," Harry informed them seriously. "I honestly don't know, but it's not those who are safe that are my concern right now, it's everyone out there on their own trying to survive one more day."

"You could split us into more groups," Rick urged, "Let Andrea and I lead a group each while you do your thing." many in the group had to suddenly stop themselves from rolling their eyes in exasperation.

Merle stared at Rick derisively, most days Officer Friendly remained quiet, silently seething over the power shift even now. He'd realized he wouldn't be able to take over by force, that too many people were appreciative of Harry and his way of handling things. Which had proven to be much better than Officer Friendlies. The proof was the fact Harry's group, their core group, had thrived while those with Rick had suffered and almost died if Harry hadn't intervened. He was trying to assimilate himself into being one of the more important members of a much bigger group and failing each time. It was amusing to watch him try and convince Harry of his worthiness, Officer Friendly evidently didn't realize how far down he was on the list of those he'd trust especially with the others. He'd trust the Grimes boy before Officer Friendly. He turned to Harry, wondering how he would deal with it, short and curt or dismissively? He wasn't sure which one he'd like to see. He could see that he wasn't the only one annoyed with him.

"There will be time for that later," Hershel said, pressing down on Rick's shoulder, he was doing his best to save the man, who seemed determined to annoy the one keeping everyone safe. He didn't understand why Rick was so determined to get back out there instead of spending time with his son, his wife, his new daughter and enjoying the fact they weren't constantly on the run. "Just let yourself recover."

Hershel knew he would be grateful to the day he died for all Harry had done, Harry, Daryl, Merle, and Luna had saved his family, took them to safety, fed them and gave them somewhere where they could sleep without fear of walkers clouding their night's sleep. Given Lori everything she'd need for a safe birth despite her…how could he say it politely? Her character, she hadn't been the most compassionate woman from what he had heard and seen. She'd always been very kind to him, but there had been reasons for that, he was a shrewd man, she'd wanted to remain on the farm, where they had all stupidly assumed was safe. Thanks to the quick actions of the four leaders (he wasn't under the impression it was any other way) they'd gotten out relatively unscathed. Sadly losing only one person which given the wide spread of so many walkers it was a miracle. Even more, so that Daryl and Harry managed to get out with Rick and Carl and away from the barn which at that point had been a blazing inferno.

"Recover?" Bob whispered quietly gazing at Big Tiny for information.

"PTSD," Big Tiny whispered back, the ex-convicts still didn't like the sheriff, and he doubted he and the others ever would. Even Merle couldn't stand him; he wasn't blind to the scorn and derision in the guys gaze when he designed to give 'Officer Friendly' as he called him, his attention.

Bob nodded grimly; he had seen many men and women return from the line of duty suffering from it. It wasn't an easy fix either, many didn't get the help they needed and suffered in silence. Ended up homeless, it had been devastating to see, and then, of course, the world had to go and give you something even more devastating.

"Hershel is right, concentrate on recovering," Harry said, dismissing his suggestion. "Speaking of scavenging, how did it go, Andrea, Michonne?" he noticed that Glenn and Maggie weren't there, they were obviously either still talking to family over the mirror or they had left to go 'home' and get some privacy while it lasted.

"We found a truck full of pasta, but that's all in the way of food, everything else we put in the trunk as we went along," Andrea explained. "We got a whole load of designer clothes from another the rest was collected from houses and what was left behind in shops," when Harry said to take everything they knew he meant everything down to the last piece of cutlery. Everything could be repurposed, especially with Harry and Luna around, they could transfigure things. Even jewelry stores were emptied for the rune stones that Luna might like.

"We found fifty rolls of fabric, sewing gear, it may come in handy at some point," Michonne added, "The rest was general everyday items and tinned food, it doesn't have long the expiration date draws close if my calculations on the date are correct."

"Then make sure all items are set out in the cafeteria, we can put them in order and eat them first, it's better than it going to waste," Harry stated right away, putting them in his trunk would preserve them, but he tended to have everything set up by their sell by date, so they would come out first anyway.

"I'll have our meals prepared for the week," Carol commented, she preferred to do the cooking, she considered the cafeteria her area, only Harry was allowed to cook without being shooed off by her, and that was only because he was an excellent cook.

"Did we ever find any gas canisters?" Mira asked as she wandered into the 'tent' giving a smile to the children as she did, especially Andre. She'd never felt more content in a long time, being able to brew again…talking to Severus Snape! The youngest Potions Master in the world was just…amazing. She felt a lot more useful being able to do something that helped everyone.

"Gas canisters?" Harry asked, perplexed, "For the potions?" he ventured in confusion.

"No, no, Amy, Sophia, and Beth found a food truck and gave it clean after they caught dinner," Mira said in amusement, "For burgers, sausages and things like that." knowing Britain had a different saying for that sort of thing 'Burger Van'. "Might give Carol and you a bit of a break, everyone can just come up and get their own burgers." Amy, Sophia, and Beth all grinned, quite proud of their accomplishment.

"That does sound good," Luna said with a big smile, "A day off for all of us! And even you, Harry!" Luna gave him a stern look; she knew he was exhausting himself beyond endurance. "Perhaps even let those who are in the Doctor surgery come, let them see what they're going to be missing."

Bob's eyes widened, they had a supply of meat? Enough that everyone here could have burgers? Had he missed something when Andrea showed him around? There certainly didn't look as if there were many animals they could risk depleting their supplies so thoroughly surely? Honestly, he didn't know what the hell to make of this group, but he felt safer than he had in a very long time.

"That does sound like a good idea, the day after tomorrow then, tomorrow I need to go to the alley and empty out wand shops, and get all the books I can get." he didn't have any books on Wandlore or wand crafting, none of his family had taken an interest in it nor had he, but there would come a time where they would need to create wands again.

"I'd like to come, there are a few ingredients I'd like to try and find," Mira said, it was more of a question than a demand despite the way she had phrased it.

"Are we running low?" Harry asked, turning to Mira again.

"No, no, not at all, especially not with a steady small supply coming from Hogwarts, and the greenhouse we have set up," Mira hastily explained, quick to reassure Harry that it wasn't the case of running low.

"Then, yes, you can come," Harry nodded, seeing no reason not to let her, more hands they had on deck the quicker they'd get it done, and he couldn't just summon the potion ingredients so yes, a very good thing.

Mira nodded in agreement before finally sitting down.

Quite a while later, once the kids and the elders had gone to bed; Harry wandered over to Bob, crouching down beside his seat, with a small welcoming smile on his face. "How are you doing?" realizing this was probably quite overwhelming for the army doctor. The confident smile he had on his face, unfortunately, didn't pass his scrutiny as being utterly false.

"I'm fine, I would like to start helping around here as soon as possible," Bob said, determined to pay for his way.

"You'll be put on the roaster after a few days, once you've had a few decent meals," Harry nodded, understanding his needs greater than Bob realized. "You'll always know what's to be done; we have a board up so that everyone remembers. The others will also let you know how things need to be done."

Bob nodded wordlessly relaxing a little at that information, he'd had more to eat today than he had in weeks, his stomach felt uncomfortably full but he'd eaten every scrape of food on his plate. Not wishing to waste even a tiny bit of it, the others had all done the same except the little ones but that food had just gone to the two just waiting eagerly dogs.

"Do you want something to help you have a dreamless sleep?" Harry asked, visibility startling Bob so much so that his masks cracked momentarily.

"What? Why?" Bob asked his tone slightly off.

"Because you need it," Harry explained, "No doubt being out there on your own didn't afford many full nights of sleep, don't be ashamed of your nightmares, do you think we've not all experienced it? What you see before you…we didn't have at the beginning, we were out there ourselves without a secure place to stay. We are only human after all." he had plenty of Muggle drugs that would knock this guy out for at least eight hours, he didn't even need to resort to a potion…unless he was used to them and they no longer worked.

Bob looked at the ground shame swarming him as he reluctantly nodded, yes, he'd take it.

"Has Andrea shown you where you are staying?" Harry asked his tone soft, Bob reminded him of a combination of Neville and Draco, insecure like Nev and hiding behind mask after mask like Draco. It couldn't be good for him, nor could the seclusion and the nightmares, so until he got used to being here and made his own friends, Harry made a mental note to speak to him at least a few times a day to make sure he was getting better.

Bob once again nodded, unable to swallow the lump in his throat at the comfort he was drawing from a young man a lot younger than himself, who didn't leave him feeling ashamed of himself. Bob was sure Harry didn't even realize what he was doing either, but it meant more to Bob than anything else in this world, even food. It made him feel normal and not a damaged piece of shit who was cursed to spend the rest of his life alone evading walkers.

"Come on, you should get some rest, we tend to get up really early in the morning," Harry said, gesturing for him to stand, "We'll get you something to help you sleep and settled in for the night."

Then Bob watched in complete and utter shock when Harry opened his trunk and promptly disappeared within it! His jaw hanging open, he couldn't help but peer inside, and nothing, there was no Harry, just lots of food from what he could see. Surely that couldn't be real? Was it some sort of illusion? Just like the front of this whole place giving it the appearance of nothing being there? Before he could gather up the courage to touch it to see if his fingers went right through it, Harry's head popped back out causing him to jump, he was just glad he was biting his lip otherwise he would have shrieked in a very unmanly way in fright.

"Take one and go to sleep, this will work quite quickly, for your own peace of mind, remember to lock the door to your room," Harry said, giving him over the pill and a bottle of water with a grin, greatly amused by the look on his face. Bob was sharing with Lily, Tara, Meghan and David Chambler. He was better to be safe than sorry when it came to all the precautions he took to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Bob dumbly nodded his head, quite overwhelmed with what had just happened in the past five minutes. Before long he was making his way to number eight, the house he was to be living in now.

As soon as Bob's back was turned, Harry found himself pressed tightly against a chest that was growling lowly, it seemed Daryl was jealous it caused Harry to laugh a little. As if he would endanger what he had, after waiting so long. He wasn't that sort of person and he was lucky because Daryl wasn't either.

There I think the next chapter will be just Daryl and Harry for most part...it's so difficult to think of things that they would say and do when they are alone (barring Sex of course) and what they would talk about...so any suggestions are welcomed :) R&R please