Walking Dead Wizard

Chapter 109

The new group looked ready to drop where they stood. Tiredness was clearly beginning to get the better of them. They'd been flying for so long that they'd been flying in the dark and light for days. There just had been absolutely nowhere to land safely at all. Then they'd had a glorious hot shower and gotten all that muck off them and into new, fitted clothes and they didn't smell of sweat, mud, blood and various other things they did not want to think about. They had all simultaneously thrown the clothes in the first bin they'd encountered. They were threadbare, ripped and torn and just unsuitable to even be mended well even with magic. They had well and truly got the use out of those clothes.

The food though…the food, they'd had warm food for the first time in so long. Not just spell warmed tins of soup or beans or anything they could scavenge. No, it was homemade, wonderful and delicious. Not to forget the coffee and fresh pressed orange juice – which had been made in front of them – they'd struggled to eat the last of the food, it was more than their stomachs were used to now. They'd managed though, absolutely refusing to leave anything behind.

One of the girls in the group almost had heart attack, and given them all one when she squealed so loudly and suddenly. When she noticed Anubis and Hela pad in, followed by a group of rambunctious pups – which weren't really puppies anymore too big for that – following them.

They all sat and waited patiently for Carol to put their food down, all the bowls before she said "Go!" and they bolted towards their food pups and all, raw fed on organs and such, with vegetables in the bowls.

Bill just smiled, not surprised that animals had been rescued, "They're beautiful," he said, admiring their patience while they waited. His hands cupped around his coffee, keeping his warm hands even warmer.

"Yes, they are, not the only animal we have around here, but the spells keep everything peaceful." Luna said, "Including a she dragon and her offspring." Watching the dogs, she was absolutely in love with all of them. She was more comfortable around animals than she was people, except a close select few.

Bill's eyes dimmed, "Charlie would have loved that," he whispered quietly to himself, his brother had been obsessed with dragons as far back as he could remember. Speaking so low that Luna didn't even hear him. His career choice hadn't surprised Bill the slightest.

"Right, finish up your coffee, time to visit Harry," Luna said, eyeing their cups, which were mostly finished, Bill had the most still in his and seemed to be using it as a heater – when there was no need it was always warm in their buildings – they had heating charms up everywhere, they did what they could with magic, the rest was done with electricity.

"You've been very cryptic about everything," Bill pointed out, wrapping his arms around Fleur and sighing softly. Merlin, he'd never take all this for granted again, it felt so good washing the filth off him and just even drinking a coffee without feeling gross and stinking up the place. "Especially Harry."

Luna nodded, "No point to hearing it twice, I thought we'd all talk together." At least this way Harry wouldn't be out of the house and still sitting on his backside resting.

"Good point," Bill nodded, it was rather tiresome hearing everything twice, "But it's good…good talking to someone else, don't get me wrong, we like each other, it's just…sometimes we can go days without talking to each other we're that comfortable and just don't have much to say." The others nodded in agreement, it was true, plus, the numbness didn't help.

"The numbness doesn't help either, does it?" Luna said softly, "But you were lucky to have others…I travelled here on my own. In the middle of the summer here in the USA."

The American's winced, one saying, "Oh, that will have been painful. We were holed up for most of it." they'd drank and sweated a lot, but they saw it through, they'd be forever grateful to Bill, who had saved their small group from the geeks closing in on them on all sides.

"Oh, it was, I honestly thought I was going to pass out," Luna confessed, "After that I sort of tried to stay in during the day and fly only at night." she knew how dangerous dehydration was, and falling off her broom after a dizzy spell or fainting spell would have seen her dead.

"Yeah, trying to scavenge in the dark was not fun…but we didn't dare go out during the day…" she explained, "Still, we survived it we were doing okay, until we got caught between four groups of geeks coming at us from each direction…Bill and his group saved us." they'd went with them, shared their supplies and it had been going well, surviving to the best of their ability. Trusting Bill to guide them to safety, he was determined there would be something out there. He spoke often of this Harry, which they had found out a few months back was actually Harry Potter. The boy-who-lived. Which had surprised them, he was in their country? Why and when? Bill hadn't known the answer…and said that he might not be there but Hermione and Harry rarely separated.

"For the love of Merlin, don't stare at him," Bill whispered hastily to the group, well aware of their initial reaction to him knowing who Harry was.

Luna laughed, hearing him, "Please do," she said teasingly.

"Luna!" Bill muttered aghast, "Merlin, come on, the last thing he needs is people gawping at him."

"But it's so funny seeing how uncomfortable he gets," Luna grinned, "He can face down Voldemort but gets all shy and uncomfortable over a stare. Admittedly it hasn't happened in so long. Mira Black has been the only one to know who he is and get all flustered. She was a big fan in the beginning."

Bill startled at that information, a Black here in America? A relative? Admittedly very distantly, "My great uncle had a daughter? Or is she a granddaughter?"

"Oh, I forgot your grandmother was a Black," Luna admitted startled, "Mira will be glad to get to know family. She was an only child, taught by Marius in potions, she doesn't have magic herself." She'd certainly asked after any Black family that was left, although there was some bitterness in there, presumably over how they treated her father.

They began walking out of the communal dining room making their way directly to Harry's house.

"Our parents didn't like talking about them," Bill confessed with a dark frown, "We had squibs on both side of the family. One went on to become an accountant, a cousin, I didn't really realize just how prejudice we were in our own way until it was pointed out to me." Seem as though they were no better than the dark side really.

Treated them like a shameful secret, like nobody else knew…which was just ridiculous everyone knew.

"It's what they were taught," Luna shrugged, she was lucky enough that she didn't have a big family or secrets. She liked to think her parents would have kept any child, squib or not…but she honestly couldn't say and was glad that she wasn't having to see it. Magic wasn't…know all see all, she wouldn't care if any child of hers was magical or not. They would still be her and Merle's flesh and blood. She didn't know how any parent could abandon their child. It was sickening.

"Doesn't make it right," Bill said, aware that his parents had been flawed, he had never had the courage to write to his cousin or any of the 'unmentionable' family members he had. Now he had a distant family member he could get to know, Mira Black…it was…something, at least.

Luna just shrugged, no point to dwelling on it in all honesty.

"Just try to be normal!" Bill pleaded with them, recalling their questions, bloody hell, they'd been invasive.

He groaned that the innocent looks on their faces, this was going to go so, so, so bad. Merlin, how many times had he seen his younger twin brothers supporting that look?

"Just two doors down now." Luna said, leading the group, ignoring their nosy group watching them go just as curious back. Maybe she should warn Harry…he really didn't like his fame even if she did find it amusing. He might end up causing some damage with accidental magic…he was pregnant. "Despite my earlier teasing, you probably should refrain from gaping at him he doesn't like it." he was used to it, yes, but he didn't like it.

"Isn't he used to it?" one couldn't help but quip.

Luna turned to stare at him, her face impassive, any amusement she got from it all faded fast. "He's famous for something that ended with the death of his parents. He grew up knowing nothing of his fame, family or status. Then he was thrust into the spotlight with everyone knowing more about him than he did. He endured it, yes, but that doesn't mean he got used to it. He's not something to look at and gossip about…he's a living breathing being who has been through too much in a single lifetime." Her tone was soft and not at all reprimanding despite her words. "It's not something he thought he'd have to worry about again…fuck, he actually found something positive about a damn apocalypse for Merlin's sake. He got to be normal, just another face in the crowd until…" she paused shaking her head, "Lets head in, wait in the lobby until I say you can come in." it might be a little crowded but no matter.

"They won't do anything," Bill said setting a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her.

"I know," Luna declared, she knew her words would have gotten through to them, it's why she used it.

Opening the door, she wandered in, stepping into the living room, "Is he asleep?" she whispered quietly, seeing Daryl and Harry on the sofa, Harry's eyes closed and sleeping across Daryl's lap, a book set aside as if he'd attempted to read but fallen asleep.

Harry made a small noise, "Mmm, no," he murmured, opening his eyes, straightening up, "What's happened?" eyeing her, he knew something had happened. "Who died?" resignedly, he had hoped they would pull through, but he had seen how badly off they were.

"Oh, no, nobody, I have someone you might like to see," Luna said, her face pulling into a grin. "Come on in."

Harry narrowed his eyes at Luna's cryptic words, what was she up to? Harry followed her gaze and his eyes widened in surprised disbelief, "Bill! Fleur! You made it!" Harry lurched off the couch and brought Bill into a hug, guilt slamming into him as he recalled the early days of the apocalypse and what he'd done to Ron. He knew he wasn't to blame, but it didn't make him feel any better. "You're alive! I…what are you doing here? Come meet my soon-t0-be bonded, Daryl, Daryl Dixon, Daryl this is Bill Weasley and Fleur Weasley." He didn't need to explain further, Harry had told Daryl everything about him, including Bill and Fleur and everything about the order.

"I'm afraid I don't know everyone else's names, but best get used to it you'll be saying it a lot…unless we give you name tags." Luna teased with a grin.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Harry said wryly, interlocking his fingers with Daryl, stepping back and watching them closely.

"This is Natasha, Paula, Lukas, Sheldon and Xander, they're American, and Amber and Gabriel, they're originally from France." Bill introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you," Harry replied in turn, giving them a nod, "Are you all Magical?"

"Yes," Bill affirmed Luna's first impression.

"Good to know, wands?" watching them all.

Bill inhaled sharply, "We lost them, me and Gabe lost our wands during a scuffle with a massive herd of walkers that were hidden from view…if he didn't still have our brooms…" he trailed off, shuddering in remembrance.

"We have wands here you can try, see if they'll be a good fit," Harry explained, "Does he know?"

"Nope, shall I go and get him?" Luna queried.

"After I'm done, yeah," Harry nodded, a mysterious smile on his face. He couldn't wait to see their reactions. Bill and Charlie had always been the closest, mostly due to the age being so close compared to the rest of the siblings.

Bill knew they weren't talking about Ron, he knew Ron had been bitten, it had been mentioned in one of the last letters his parents wrote to him. He also knew the only reason his parents wouldn't continue to write…is lack of owls or inability to do so. He had a feeling he knew which one it was. "I…don't suppose Ginny came with you?" knowing it was a foolish question but feeling the need to ask all the same.

"No, she didn't, we hadn't started dating again despite what your parents may have told you." Harry said subdued, "I can see you're all exhausted, take a seat, we'll get this done quickly…unless you want to talk before you settle for a bit?"

"We'd like to know more," Gabe told Harry, as he sat down, Amber comfortably sitting on his knee while Xander and Paula sat on either side of the chair. It was soft and comfortable so not too bad.

Harry flicked his wand and another sofa stretched out in front of the TV. Fleur, Bill, Merle and Luna sat down comfortably on it. Lukas sat on the side beside Bill, while the other two had no qualms about taking a pillow and sitting on the floor. They were warm, content and clean they didn't mind sitting on the floor in all honesty. It was better than the cold hard and sometimes wet ground.

"Did you find anything from the CDC in France? It's said they were close to a cure?" Harry asked, once they were all comfortable.

"We couldn't get anywhere near official buildings, and you're right the French were close to a cure…at least that's the rumours we were hearing. Whether it was to boast moral or not…we're not sure." Bill nodded, oh, it felt good to be able to sit down comfortably. "There's not a CDC in France of course, but they had their people working on it."

"Wait, they don't?" Harry asked, flushing red in utter embarrassment, "Shit, I've been thinking there was for…well, ages!"

Merle and Daryl shrugged, neither cared overly much or felt embarrassed for their ignorance.

"Merlin's balls," Harry said, rubbing his hand over his face which was still a little flushed. "Well, we were in the CDC in Atlanta, the place was deserted, there had been a rash of suicides and people leaving to spend what time they had left with their families. By the time we got there it was a one man show. He too had given in, he mailed everything to Hermione and we only got out of there in the nick of time before everything went up in flames."

Bill frowned, not understanding.

"It's to stop terrorists getting their hands on anything," Fleur said quietly, well aware of that sort thing. Her parents had been very well known in both worlds. She'd spent her entire life alternating between the two. So, it hadn't been a horrific shift when the apocalypse started and had been able to guide the group when needed.

"What would they want with that sort of stuff?" Bill asked, blankly.

Harry pursed his lips giving Fleur a rueful look, "That's what terrorists do, or they kill because they can, because they want to. Let's just say it would spread as fast as this bloody thing did. A mass scale outbreak, so to stop it they basically turn it into one massive Bombarda, that will take out the CDC and anyone within the vicinity."

"But what about the innocent people…" Bill wondered.

"The need of a few…outweigh the need of the many," Harry said, "But don't worry…there was nobody in there that didn't want to be." Thinking of Doctor Jenner, the grief had evidently been too much.

"How the fuck has he survived?" Daryl whispered genuinely baffled by that. It was like he ain't touched by the apocalypse.

Harry muffled his amusement, "That's the Weasley's for you," Harry whispered back. Well, most of them anyway.

"So, you what? Made your way from France? How? As far as I know the Floo networks have completely shut down…and I'd be very surprised if you walked from France to the UK then to USA?"

"We flew, grabbed Fleur's and Gabby's brooms and few," Bill murmured, Fleur made a slightly hurt sound at the mere mention of her sister's name.

"Do you know…know anything? Anything at all about Beauxbaton?" Fleur asked, "Something? Anything?"

"No, we've not heard from Beauxbaton, Ilvermorny yes, there's plans to send as many people as possible to them and kill of the walkers, so that the school can open back up again. Not going to be easy considering its in the middle of the mountains with bogs." Harry stated, "Hogwarts has tried to make contact, owls can't even get in so…we've learned a new way to send stuff, I got a copy of Ilvermorny magical book, with them locked down they can do nothing to aid them. So, we're helping who we can, admittedly at this point not a whole lot has been done…"

Merle and Daryl both scoffed, shaking their heads in disbelief.

"It's not easy, they aren't easy to find, the nearest address to their hideout is recorded and some…are unfortunately, already gone and unable to be saved." Harry said, eyes sparkling angrily, thinking of the boy Negan killed to make a point. Rory would always be his first failure, despite the fact it happened long before he had the book. "Others are already under wards, and unplottable." Which couldn't in any way shape or form, be considered a bad thing.

"I could theoretically turn the book into a live tracking rune, like the Marauders map, but it would need to be divided into areas." Luna mused.

Harry laughed, "Talk to Hermione, she's already done something similar," between the pair of them, he knew they could do it. "Don't over exert yourself."

"The Runes are all done, other than scavenging I really don't have anything to do," Luna shrugged, and she liked her little side projects. It didn't take away time from her and Merle though, not at all.

"We can help," Bill said immediately afterwards, eager to help.

"Luna said a misadventure happened with your portkey?" Fleur said, taking delight in the closeness Daryl and Harry exhibited. He'd always been distant, had Harry, when people were touching him, she'd noticed. She and Bill had also seen and felt the scars on Harry during the Polyjuice incident. Oddly enough, nobody else had said a thing, and it left them wondering if they didn't know or just hadn't noticed.

"Yup, this one caught me with an arrow to the chest," Harry said, jerking his finger towards Daryl with a grin, who flushed red in mortification. "Took me in though, made sure I recovered, taught me about hunting, by then it was spreading really fast, I had no clue how to get to Potter Abbey, so I was stuck, what was the point of trying to get back to the UK? I was locked out of Hogwarts, luckily me and Hermione had two-way journals so I was able to stay in touch and give her all the information I managed on walkers."

"Who taught you everything about huntin?" Merle asked, expectantly.

"Daryl," Harry said with a wicked grin, "I don't think you taught me a single thing, Merle." He said putting on an innocent face.

Merle snorted, shaking his head, while the others laughed, the looks on their faces…it was as if they hadn't laughed for so long, they were surprised they still had the capacity.

"I'll go and get everything ready," Luna said, standing up, "I'll see you all soon, you coming?"

"Try and stop me woman," Merle said, immediately standing, grimacing at Daryl, who did not look happy at having to 'socialise' on his own. Shrugging half-heartedly at best, he moved to follow Luna.

"Do you want to go with them?" Harry asked, well aware of his partners dislike for socialising, it was a lot of new people in close proximity.

Daryl straightened; the fact Harry would let him go with them to avoid it gave him strength. He wasn't about to leave Harry on his own with them, whether they were strangers or not. "Nah, I'll stay," he murmured, the smile of sheer happiness he got from Harry was well worth it.

Merle grunted, and then both he and Luna were off.

"Bill and I were in France for a bit, trying to get answers, but it didn't work out. We bumped into Gabe and Amber and we went from there. They had family in the UK and they hoped it wasn't quite so bad there. Half way home the locator charm stopped working." She said sadly, which they all knew what it meant if a magical person's locator stopped working.

"I am sorry," Harry said sadly, he empathised with them.

"Thank you," Gabriel said, inclining his head, a bit dazed that he was talking to Harry bloody Potter of all people! Harry Potter.

"We made it to Hogwarts, back then we all had our wands, of course. We couldn't get anywhere near the school, and never saw anyone outside. Even if we did…I suspect we wouldn't have been able to get in regardless."

"You'd be correct," Harry nodded firmly, "What happened then?"

"We kept trying to days, sleeping up trees to stay safe, but eventually we gave up." Fleur said, her tone both physically and mentally tired. "It's when Bill remembered the Galleon, which had coordinates on them, and decided to give it a try…along the way we helped and came across the others, losing our wands one by one…until we had nothing to defend ourselves and only one goal in mind which was to get here. We weren't sure if it was you or Hermione…"

"Hell of a way to shorten the past few years of your life," Harry said wryly, giving a small smile, "You survived though, and I think I should refrain from telling you our story until you've had a decent sleep."

"I would appreciate that," Lukas confessed, none of them had slept for the past few days, he'd had to physically hurt himself to stop himself dozing off. "I'd hate to be discourteous by falling asleep on you."

Harry laughed, "I'd be more likely to fall asleep before you," he replied, smiling a little, he was exhausted.

"Alright, come here, kneel beside me or bring the chair from the kitchen, either works," Harry said, straightening up, getting to business.

To no surprise they dragged he chair through, Harry Potter or not, no wizard wanted to kneel at another's feet.

The wizard didn't hesitate for a second in meeting Harry's gaze, he knew what was coming. Interestingly enough, he had mental shields which he had lowered entirely. Harry prodded around the wizard's mind, shuffled through his memories, staying away from anything too private. Looking for any memories that may have been boxed up, who would have thought he'd ever be so good at this?

Withdrawing, he nodded, "Any memories I see will always remain private, I won't ask about them unless it's relevant to survival. Everyone here has been through the same thing; they can be trusted and they accept magic fully." He told the group, "Next!"

One by one they all came and sat down and let Harry read their minds, it was rather surprising that they hadn't had to kill once – walkers didn't count – to survive. They summoned what food they could, stayed out the way, and primarily stayed on empty rooftops.

Even Fleur and Bill went through the same thing, it was only fair after all.

"Alright, do you want to be in the same house, with rooms for the partners? Or individual houses? We have the entire base and it's nowhere near filled up." Harry asked their opinion.

"How many bedrooms?" Bill asked, curiously.

"These ones have four, five if you want to use the office as a bedroom, can easily be expanded," Harry explained, which had happened a lot. The groups got used to company and wanted to stay together.

"I don't mind rooming with Xander," Sheldon said, giving Xander a look of query, shrugging, it was entirely up to him if he wanted to or not.

"Alright then, Sheldon and Xander, Fleur and Bill, Amber and Gabriel and Natasha, Paula and Lukas." Harry said, nodding as if he was mentally storing it in his mind. Daryl did flush red when he realized how they'd all fit into the same house. Three to a room, they were in a triad relationship. "Is number 12 still free?" he turned to ask Daryl.

Daryl shook his head, "Fourteen," they had lost some people, but that was individual rooms not houses.

"Fourteen it is," Harry nodded, making a mental note to get the paperwork hunted out. "Do you want wands now before you go and get some rest?"

The relief on their faces was evident.

Fleur bit her lip, "I…it was only Veela hair that…even got a slight reaction from a wand, I had to have mine special made,"

"And we have books on wand crafting," Harry said firmly, "If it comes to it, then a wand will be made for you. For now, lets see what we can do to get you fitted for a suitable wand, yeah?" wondering where Luna had got to…it didn't take that long to get to the cupboard and back.

It took a significant amount of time to find them all wands, and destroyed windows and a microwave before things settled. Fleur much to her relief – if the tears in her eyes were anything to go by – managed to get a wand that suited her quite well. None would ever feel like their first wands, but having one that worked, or just having that familiar piece of wood in their hand…able to perform magic, that outweighed all else.

"That feels good," Bill said, a euphoric look on his face.

Harry snorted, "If I can't remember my own reaction…I'd think there was something seriously wrong with you." he told him wryly, smirking slyly.

Bill startled, as if just remembering he was surrounded by people. His face flushed red, clashing terribly with his hair. Then Harry perked up, listening, it was Luna she was back. About damn time too, he was about to have to let them go.

"…this about Luna…" Charlie said, and Bill stiffened, staring at the doorway looking more like a Walker than a walker did.

"It can't be…" Bill murmured shocked, "Charlie?" he choked out, before dropping to his knees.

Charlie all but leapt at his brother, hooking his arms around his brother, and both men began to weep, clutching each other tightly. Against all the odds, the brothers had been reunited after thinking the other possibly dead.

Fleur had her hand over her mouth, watching the reunion with tears in her own eyes.

Harry just smiled, leaning against Daryl, he'd have to tell them about Ron…but for now he'd let them be.

There we go! :) next chapter for you all my battery is flat so only one question...George dead or alive? be kind of convenient for him to have survived wouldn't you think? R&R please