What Can You Do?

Disclaimer: Please review and I only own the OC.

Again, thank you to Darkangelfirekitsune for being my beta and putting up with me ^-^

If there are any A/N in this chapter they will be marked with a * and the meaning behind it will be at the bottom of the chapter.

***There are going to be straight, gay, and lesbian pairings in this story***

***Don't like. Don't read***

Chapter 4

Walking through the woods, Harry was preparing himself. He was hoping that no inferius* had wandered into the area. With Arika behind him, watching his back, they continued to make their way towards camp. Walking out of the woods and into the clearing, where the rest of the group was supposed to be, they saw nothing but trash. No signs of a fight, no dead bodies, just trash littered around.

"I'll look to see if they are up ahead," Arika said nodding at the break in the trees.

"Ok," Harry said as she started jogging away. They were both hoping she would see someone or something that would give her a clue on where the others were. Harry was left standing in the middle of camp shaking his head. He had a gut feeling that Dave was a coward, but to just leave them behind. How does someone do that, and still have a clear conscience at the end of the day?

Taking in a deep breath he slowly let it out. Reaching towards his left forearm, he unclipped the top of his protective pouch, that held his wand. It was warded so no muggle could see or feel it. Pulling it out he pointed it at the ground and said, "Appare Vestigium*," looking around for any footprints that would show. A plethora* of footprints showed up in different colors showing how old they were, but what caught his attention was the ones heading in the same direction, towards the road. From the light shimmering colors of all the different footprints, they could not be that old. Looking at them a little closer he could see that something was not right. He just could not figure out what. Deciding to worry about it later he canceled the spell and ran towards Arika.

"Arika," he said grabbing her attention.

"I know which way they went," he said as he caught up to her. Hearing Harry she started to turn when they heard the sound of a gun going off. They both stopped and looked in the direction it came from. Realizing what it meant their eyes went wide and they took off running towards the sound. It took them a couple of minutes, but when they reached the edge of the woods, they slowed down to a walk.

Looking out to the road, Harry's eyes ended up locking onto the horde of ten inferi, with more coming, surrounding a bus. On top and toward the front was Dave with his gun out, trying to shoot the inferi. The others were standing behind him looking scared. What was most concerning to Harry was that Dave did not seem to care that the sound was just drawling more inferi out from the woods.

Taking the situation in, Harry saw that if something did not happen soon then there was a chance that the group was going to die. That they would be unable to save anyone. With that thought, he started to plan on what to do while more inferius kept adding themselves to the already growing horde. Looking at Arika, he saw fear in her eyes. He did not know if it was due to how many inferi were now out there or the situation, all he knew was that he was hoping she could still be helpful.

"Are you still going to be able to help me?" he asked. She took her eyes off of the bus to spare him a look before turning back towards the horde.

"If we can get to the bus, we can help them. Dave is drawing most of them to his side so if we can get to the other side, we would only have to kill the ones in our way," he continued. Arika turned her head and looked into Harry's emerald green eyes. Taking in a deep breath, she slowly let it out before giving him a little nod ok.

Turning, they started to navigate their way through the cars. Trying to be quick and quiet so that they would remain unseen by both the group and the inferi. With the inferi, it was the logical explanation of why they didn't want to be seen. With the group, it was the fear of being yelling for if they were spotted and drawling the inferi towards them. Either situation was not ideal. While making their way through the cars, they could hear Dave yelling. Giving him a moment's glance, they picked up their pace.

"SOMEONE DO SOMETHING," he yelled looking around frantically, eyes crazy. He was starting to look like a caged animal. Seeing that no one was getting ready to do anything, he grabbed the first person within reach, and even with her struggling, trying to get away, he threw her off the bus and into the middle of the horde. Her first screams were ones of fear. Then they turned into horror, and then finally the screams from her mouth were ones of pain, as the horde started tearing into her like a child tearing into the wrapping on their Christmas presents.

"SOMEONE DO SOMETHING NOW OR ANOTHER ONE IS GOING TO JOIN HER. I'M NOT DYING BY ONE OF THOSE THINGS!" He screamed pointing the gun at the remaining group. Luna looking at the people in front of her, she could tell that they were unable to move due to being frozen in fear. Seeing no other way, she starts making her way forward; hands up in surrender.

"May I take a look around to see where we stand please?" She asked keeping her voice soft and her head bowed. Dave, looking her over gave her a nod signaling that it was ok while lowering his gun. Seeing this, she slowly started making her way towards his side. Once there she peered over to see the horde now partially surrounding them. With a quick count, she saw that there were twenty and counting.

She was wondering where they were coming from. As far as she knew there were no large towns or cities nearby, so why were there so many? Shaking her head, she went back to try and find a way for them to get off the bus. While looking around her eyes landed on Dawn, the young woman that was thrown, her dead eyes staring straight into hers. Closing her eyes, Luna gave Dawn a moment of silence before opening them and continuing the task at hand.

She realized that if they did not get down soon, they would all die. She didn't know if Dave or the inferi would be the cause, but it was not looking good either way. Looking out at the cars she saw movement that no inferius could make. Taking a closer look, she saw Arika moving in between the cars. Turning her sight further ahead she saw Harry. Looking in the direction they were heading, she could see that they were making their way to the other side of the bus. A light bulb went off in her head as she realized what Harry was planning.

"We need to get them away from the bus. I have some rocks in my bag. If I grab them, I can throw them at a car and set off its alarm," she said turning to Dave. Looking in her eyes, Dave turned to look at their surroundings as if searching for something. Turning back to look at her, he gave her a suspicious look.

"How did you come up with this plan?" he asked not taking his eyes off of her.

"There's a silver car in the middle with a red-light flashing. That means the alarm is set, right?" she asked in confusion hoping that she wasn't wrong. No longer sure, she raised her head to look into Dave's steel-blue eyes, it was at this point that their gaze locked.

"Do you think I'm stupid? You just want them all to come running here. I know what you are trying to do, and it's not going to work. First George and now you. Trying to get rid of me so Harrison can take over. Go stand with the rest of them before you end up like Dawn," he said with an all-knowing smirk on his face, lifting his gun and pointing it at her.

Slowly she started to stand, her hands held up in surrender when the next thing she knew she was eye level with the top of the bus. Trying to get her bearings, she could feel the damage done to the left side of her face, it felt like it was on fire. Eyesight blurry, she started putting the pieces together. He must have changed his mind because he had pistol-whipped her, and that change meant that he was going to kill her. She tried to get back on her feet, but it was made difficult by her blurry vision. She couldn't do much until it focused, Dave used that to his advantage, yanking her up by her hair.

"WHO DO YOU THINK I AM? I'M THE LEADER AND I WILL SURVIVE NO MATTER WHAT!" Dave yelled in Luna's face. Raising his left hand, he pressed the gun right between her eyes.

"NO ONE IS GOING TO KILL ME. Not YOU. Not HARRISON. Not even the FUCKING DEAD and to prove my…," he was saying when suddenly the bus jerked to the right making him loosen his grip on her hair. Feeling the pressure lessen; she got her footing and slammed her head into Dave's nose, freeing herself the rest of the way. It didn't help with her eye-sight or the headache that was already forming, but if there was a chance that she was going to die then she was going to make him regret thinking she was weak.

"YOU BITCH!" he yelled like a battle cry, lifting his head to look at her, blood running down his face. He started to lift the gun, finger on the trigger, when she punched him in the stomach a couple of times, causing him to hunch over in pain. Luna seeing an opening lunged to grab the gun, but feeling her hands over the top of his, Dave started a struggle for control. During this, the bus jerked again, causing them to lose their footing and the gun to be thrown over the side.

"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" he yelled punching Luna on the same injury he caused her earlier. Seeing the hit coming this time, she turned with it. Falling on her back she still went down, but not as hard, and once flat on her back, she brought her right leg up in a kick and nailed him right in his jewels. A high pitch scream came tearing from his throat as he grabbed them and fell to his knees.

She was getting ready to kick him off the bus when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. Whipping her head around she raised her arm ready to attack when her pale silvery eyes, locked with emerald green ones. Once she knew she was safe, all the fight left her. Pain and relief flooded her body which went lax as she lost consciousness. Catching her before she fell, Harry lifted her in a bridal carry, before turning to glare at Dave.

"You're lucky that I refuse to kill another living human. If you EVER think about putting your hands on or threatening one of my friends again, I promise you I will make you the exception," he said his voice full of steel while glaring into Dave's eyes. He was unable to explain why, but Dave knew that Harrison meant every word and more. Something in his voice made him freeze in fear. Slowly getting to his feet, he puffed out his chest and tried to glare the shorter man into submission.

"I AM THE L-"

"I don't care that you are the leader," Harry said cutting him off.

"For the last time, I did not want to be, but I am taking over now because you are a threat," he said turning his back on Dave, showing that he did not fear him. Walking to the other side of the bus he lowered Luna down to Arika. Turning to Dave he gave him one more look before climbing off of the bus.

Looking around, Dave saw that he was the only one still on top and rushed to the side. Glancing over he could see that they had opened one of the windows and was using it as a step to climb up and down. Turning his body, he started lowering himself down, putting his foot in the open window. Turning his head, he saw that the group was slowly making their way back towards the woods and started freaking out.

"DON'T LEAVE…" he started to yell when something grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled on it, making him lose his balance and fall backward. Horror started to take over, thinking that one of the dead had grabbed him. When he was lying on the ground, he looked up and saw that it was Harrison, a knife in his hand and the anger still in his eyes. He was keeping watch making sure no dead were making their way towards them.

When an inferius started walking around the bus, Harrison went up and killed it with his knife, stabbing it right in the head. As it was falling to the ground lifeless, he turned and gave Dave another look, before walking back towards the cars. As he was making his way through them, towards the woods, Dave jumped to his feet and started following. Once they were safe, Harry was going to figure out what had led to this day becoming a complete disaster.

Looking behind, he saw that Dave was unable to keep up. Giving another huff he slowed down a little. He knew Dave was on the old side, with graying hair and some wrinkles on his face, but he was still slim and looked fit. Given the circumstance, he thought that Dave would move just a little bit faster. In reality, he just wanted to leave him behind, but he wanted all of his questions answered.

When they finally caught up with the group Harry nodded his head and started to walk into the woods, everyone followed behind him. They could not stand out in the open nor be that close to the road anymore. It was overrun with inferi and they could no longer travel on it. He was also worried about what would happen after they lost interest in the bus. Would they go back to standing still or would they start to wander around and if so, in which direction? He had a lot more questions than answers, but he had more imported things to see to first.

After making their way further into the woods then they did the previous night, Arika started to walk faster to catch up with Harry and gave him a look.

"Can we stop for a bit? I'm tired from carrying Luna and the other members are going to crash soon," she said motioning back towards the rest. Stopping, Harry turned and gave everyone a good hard look. He could see that they were not even going to make it another minute. With a tired sigh and his shoulders slouching down, he nodded his head. Turning towards the group he said, "We are going to rest here."

The group all dropped their bags and sacks and sat down. Some with their head in their hands and others were just staring off into space. One of the girls, Tara, was sitting by a tree and it looked as if she was silently crying. Harry turning to Arika, helped her sit Luna down so she was leaning against a tree. Looking her over Harry was worried. He was going to have to check her with spells to make sure she had no life-threating injuries. Just how was the question.

"Where is George?" he asked while kneeling cleaning up the wounds on Luna, the best he could, with an old cloth he grabbed from his sack. When no one said anything, he stopped and looked at the others.

"Where is he?" Harry asked again anger filling his voice. Again, no one said anything and refused to look at him. Standing up he was getting ready to move towards Dave when Tara spoke up.

"He came to us and said that one of the dead was by the stream. That we needed to leave. Dave said that there was no way one would be this far from the road. They started to argue when one came into camp. George turned to fight it, and Dave told us to run for the road. We were scared, so we ran. We left George to deal with it by himself. I am sorry. I am so very sorry," she said finishing before breaking down and crying harder. Harry was looking at her in shock then at the others in disbelief.

"Stay here. I am going to find him. If you are gone when we get back, then you are on your own. I am not going to help or look for you," he said in an authoritative tone.

"You are not the leader," Dave said standing to his feet. His voice was laced with fear and tiredness. You could tell that he did not have much of anything left in him.

"I said that I am right now. You killed one of your members in a fit of panic and threaten to kill the others. When one stepped up to help you, you thought she was trying to take power away from you and planned on killing her. Let alone you left three others behind to save yourself. A leader leads and protects. Their job is to make sure that the people they are leading make it out alive. A real leader would be willing to walk towards their death if it meant that everyone else got to live. You are no leader. You are a coward who had power. I will no longer stand by and watch you risk these people's lives. If you want to be a leader then go. Leave and find a new group because, after the bus incident, I don't think anyone is going to go with you," Harry said walking right up to Dave, anger burning in his eyes. Dave turned to look at the other members of the group, saw that Harrison was right.

No one was going to go with him, and it was all Harrison's fault. Burning with fury Dave went to punch him, but Harrison grabbed his arm and twisting his body he through Dave over his shoulder onto the ground. It knocked the air out of his lungs.

"I'm not going to fight you. Leave," Harry said grabbing the bag that Dave kept all of the supplies in. When he started to go through it, he saw that there was nothing.

"Where are the supplies? We just made a run a couple of days ago. We grabbed enough food and items to last until we got to Atlanta. Where is everything?" Harry asked emptying the bag onto the ground in front of everyone. When it was empty, he threw the bag at Dave.

"It's all gone. I ate everything. The medication I got rid of. We didn't need it. If you are hurt, then you will heal on your own, or we leave you behind. It is a dog eat dog world and it is every man for himself. So, what are you going to do now Harrison?" Dave asked getting back to his feet with a satisfying smirk on his face.

"I am going to live and so is every one that decides to stay with me. Unlike you, I care more about them than myself. Now leave before I kill you," Harry said standing up tall and staring right into Dave's eyes, unmoving. Dave might have had height being 5'9" and Harry only being 5'5", but that was all. The war had made sure that Harry had a lean muscular body between running and not eating, what little fat he had, had turned into muscle. Even after the war, he kept his body in shape.

Dave realized that he was on his own he knelt and started to shove everything into his bag. Once he was finished, he stood back up glaring at everyone and walked into the woods. He vowed to get his revenge on Harrison the next time they met.

Once Dave was out of sight Harry turned to look at the remaining members. He was the leader now. It didn't matter that he didn't want it, he was, and he did not regret his decision. Dave had to leave, and he had hoped it would not come down to it, but it did. Letting out a breath Harry turned to the others.

"Bryan. Tara, can you please check on Luna and keep an eye on her. Arika can you watch the camp. I am going to go see if I can find George. I will be back right before dark. If you guys have to move, go back towards the stream and I will meet you there. Be safe," he said before turning and running back towards the clearing. He was hoping to get another clue on where George was.

~~~~~~~~Slytherin~~~~~~~~

A/N-Also if anyone has any questions about the story please ask.
1. Appare Vestigium- it was clear footprints (Latin)
Type: Charm
Pronunciation: app-PAH-ray vest-EE-gee-um
Description: This spell is used to reveal footprints and track marks.

~~~~~~~~Ravenclaw~~~~~~~~

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