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 18

Walking through the forest both were on high alert. They were getting ready to switch when Remus stopped moving. Turning to look at Hogwarts, Draco was relieved to see gold light surrounding the perimeter. Smiling at Remus, Draco saw the hope and relief he felt reflected in him. Nodding his head, they turned and started to backtrack.

Exiting, they saw Jeremy and Neville already at the meeting point. Walking over, Jeremy nodded his head acknowledging them while Neville smiled at them. Coming to a stop, Remus let out a tired sigh before sitting down on the ground.

"And here I thought taking care of Teddy was exhausting," he said causing the others to start chuckling.

"I know what you mean. I thought my two kids were the only thing to wear me out, but this takes the cake," Jeremy said sitting down next to him. Looking over at the village he had a sad look on his face.

"Hoping that they are in the village somewhere?" Draco asked.

"Yes. My mum and dad were on their way here, with Dimitri and Belva, but did not make it in time. Some part of me hopes that they are still there but another part of me hopes that they are somewhere safe."

"I know what you mean," Draco said also looking at the village.

"Anyone you guys are worried about?" Jeremy asked.

"My godson but knowing him he's safe. I am just lucky that my son and I were already at Hogwarts," Remus said.

"Hannah also. She was helping Poppy in the infirmary when all of this broke out," Neville said still watching. Slipping into silence they continued to wait. After a couple more minutes, they were starting to worry when there was no sign of Leo or Stephine. Standing up, both Remus and Jeremy were getting ready to go look for them when they spotted them running.

Holding onto their wands tighter, everyone was prepared to attack because behind the two was a horde of mortuus. There had to be at least twenty. Pulling their wands back they started casting spells, killing off the once they could without injuring their teammates.

Running behind the others, Leo and Stephine were trying to catch their breaths. Standing up they were getting ready to turn to help with killing the mortuus when coming from right in front of them was another group of about thirty.

"Fuck," Leo said casting bombarda. Looking around Stephine could see that if they did not do anything soon that there was a good chance that they would die.

"Get behind me," she yelled causing the others to fall back. Taking in a deep breath, she focused herself while the others were killing the mortuus that got too close. Raising her wand, she cast fiendfyre, shocking everyone. After about half a minute she canceled it and fell to the ground. As soon as she fell, Neville and Draco cast a containment spell around the flames, trapping the flames with the dead. Casting confringo on the stranglers, Remus and Leo kept an eye out for any that they might have missed.

Helping Stephine stand, Jeremy had her use him as a walking stick. As fast as they could make their way down the hill they were now on even higher alert after that encounter.

Entering the village, they made their way to Honeydukes without another incident. Getting into the shop, once the door closed behind them, everyone collapsed. Looking at everyone, Draco saw that they all looked as exhausted as he felt. Taking in a few breaths his eyes locked with Jeremy who nodded his head.

Getting up, he made his way to the windows to see if anyone had come to investigate the fire show. Seeing that it was going to be dusk soon and no one was outside, he turned to say something when he saw movement coming from his right. Looking over he was prepared for another horde, not to see two kids running towards the front of the store, terror, and joy in their eyes.

"There are children," Draco said causing Jeremy, Remus, and Neville to jump up. Leaning against the wall Stephine tried to stand but ended up falling.

"Stay down. You used too much of your core. Relax before you pass out. I will stay here with her," Leo said helping her lean back against the wall. The others nodded their heads in understanding. Draco opened the door to let Remus and Neville out, with Jeremy and himself right behind.

"Mister…," one of the kids started to yell before the other one placed her hand over his mouth. Making their way to the adults the kids hugged them before letting go.

"Misters. You have to help us," said the one from before.

"We were told not to go outside, to stay inside but we were bored and had not seen any of the dead walkings around. When we got out though they started to chase us. We were unable to get back inside so we hid. We saw the fire and came running because now they're a lot of them," he continued.

"We'll help," Remus said kneeling, so they were at eye level. "But first can we cast a quick spell on you guys?"

The younger one looked up at the girl who was staring Remus in the eyes. After a few seconds, she nodded her head yes. Seeing this Remus let a smile spread on his face causing the children to relax. Neville got the ok casted quid enim mali est and did a quick read of the diagnosis. When there was no wound or fever, he nodded his head that all was good. Breathing in relief Remus looked back at them to see that the boy was staring intently at Draco.

"Where is your family?" Remus asked causing both sets of eyes to look back at him.

"We are held up at the Three Broomsticks. But it's not just our family there are a lot of people living there. There has to be over a thousand," the boy said in excitement, causing the adults to laugh.

"There are not a thousand people living there Nate," the girl said shaking her head. Smiling at the two Neville kneeled, causing the kids to stop and look at him.

"We don't mind how many people there are. We will go and get everyone, but I need you to be honest. Is anyone sick that you know of?" Trading looks between each other, the girl lifted her head and nodded yes. Holding their breath, they were hoping that when they got there it was not too late.

"There are some but not the dead sick. All of them are old people sick," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. Smiling at her words they just nodded their heads.

"Be that as it may we just want to be careful. Now we have two people inside Honeydukes that will watch over you while we go get the others. I know that you want to come with me, but it is too dangerous, and you don't want your mum or dad to be worried, now, would you?" Draco said causing them to look back at him. Closing his eyes, a little further so that it looked like he was glaring at him, Nate's face lit up in delight.

Confused by what was going on with this child, Draco was getting ready to say something when he smiled and said, "Ok. Mary and I will wait right here with your friends." Grabbing the girl's hand, he ran towards the shop. Stopping them before they hit the wards Jeremy fixed them so they could enter.

"Let me tell Leo and Stephine what is going on and I'll be right back," Jeremy said walking inside. A few minutes later Leo came out and nodded at them.

"I told Jeremy that I will go with you guys," he said walking up to them. The look on his face made Draco laugh a little.

"You don't like kids?" he asked as they started to move.

"I like kids well enough," he snipped.

"Sure," Draco said causing Leo to roll his eyes.

"Ok, so I don't like kids. Happy?"

"Yep," Draco said causing Leo to push him. Neville had a smile on his face while Remus rolled his eyes at the two. It seemed that no matter the age, even adults would act like children when given the chance. Getting closer to the Three Broomsticks, they became quiet, and with wands already out they were back on high alert, watching for any movement.

Once the building came in sight, they all took in a large amount of air. Slowly walking towards Hogwarts was the largest horde of mortuus that any of them had ever seen. There had to have been over a thousand. Making their way back to hide behind one of the abandoned buildings they crouched down and formed a circle.

"Where did they all come from?" Leo asked fear lacing his voice.

"Then where doesn't matter. We have to get as many people as possible out that we can before we get overrun. With that many, there is no longer a choice on coming back out at a later date. The problem is that it will be night soon," Draco said shaking his head.

"What about the Shrieking Shack?" Neville said looking behind them.

"You said that the passageway to Hogwarts was destroyed so even if they somehow got to it, they can't get in. We can also set up some more protection on it to make sure. At this point, it is a win-win situation." Thinking about what was said, Remus started to nod his head yes.

"I think that would work. We might not be able to set it on fire but if we cast bombarda maxima, it should make a loud enough noise to draw the majority. The stragglers, we will have to get rid of ourselves," Remus said.

"I can go and cast the spell," Leo said causing the others to look at him.

"Stephine was the last one to set the wards. I killed some mortuus before we ran, but other than that I have not used a lot of magic since we switched. You guys go and get the people from the Broomsticks, and I will meet back up with you there." Seeing no fault with this the other three nodded their heads in agreement.

Breaking off Leo started to run towards his destination. Crouching they waited to hear the boom, which showed that the plan had worked. After a few minutes went by, that felt like hours, they were starting to worry when they heard and felt the boom. Looking around the corner they saw that it worked. The mortuus had changed directions and were now making their way towards the Shrieking Shack. Waiting until most of them were gone, they jumped up and started to run towards the Three Broom Sticks. Killing any of the stragglers that made their way in front of them, once Remus was at the door he started to knock, with Draco and Neville guarding his back. When no one answered dread started to make its way into his throat.

"We have to go," Neville said after a few minutes. Most of the mortuus was gone but there was still a decent amount heading towards them, and with how low they all were on magic he knew they couldn't take all of them on.

Just as they were about to take a break back to Honeydukes the door opened, and Remus was pulled in. Hearing his startled yelp, Neville and Draco turned to see what caused it but were also grabbed and dragged in. Bringing their wands up Draco, Remus, and Neville were getting ready to defend themselves when the next thing they knew they were being hugged.

"You don't know how happy I am to see your ferret face," the one holding Draco said out loud. Pushing the male back, Draco looked up at the face and let out a happy laugh that was mixed with an irritated grunt before pulling him back into a hug.

"I guess I can stand the ugly one," he said as a comeback. Pulling away, a pair of brown eyes full of mischief was staring back into his.

"I will have you know that I am the pretty twin and that George is the ugly one," Fred said laughter in his voice. Shaking his head, he pushed him over to Remus who was being hugged to death by Mrs. Weasley. Letting go of Remus took a lot of convincing from Ginny, Neville, Draco, and Fred but once she let go, she pulled Neville and Draco into a bone-crushing hug.

"How did you guys know we were here?" Ginny asked while Draco and Neville were having the air crushed from their lungs. Remus looked over at her and smiled before hugging her.

"Two kids came running to us," Draco said once he was freed. Leaning over he was taking in lungs full of air before standing straight up and looking around. There were a lot of people standing and looking at them.

"Children?" Molly said in terror.

"Yea, I believe their names were…"

"Mary and Nate. You know where they're at?" yelled a woman in her 40s running up to them, fear lacing her whole body.

"Yes, and they are safe. We have other people with us, and they are with them. We will take you to them in a little bit but right now we need everyone to grab what you can, and we have to move. We do not have much time. It is going to be dark soon. One of our teammates is going to come and knock on the door. He went to bide us some time." Hearing what was said everyone started to pack up in a hurry. Turning to look at Molly, Remus looked her in the eyes and said, "The kids said that some of the people are sick?" Nodding her head yes, she motioned for them to follow her.

Walking up the steps Draco, Remus and Neville were preparing themselves for what they might see. Opening the door Molly motioned them in to see only a handful of people laying down sweating. Looking at all of them, Draco's face paled and he ran over to Astoria who was laying in the far-left corner with Scorpius next to her. Hearing footsteps fast approaching the 4-year-old looked up and when he saw his dad, he jumped up and ran to him. Pulling him into his arms Draco let a few tears fall from his eyes onto his son's head. He could not believe that his little boy was safe and here in his arms.

"Dad what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Saving you of course," Draco responded. Holding onto him tighter while Scorpius started to cry.

"It's ok now honey. I told you that your dad would come for us," a weak female voice said behind them. This caused both of them to look at Astoria who was staring at them with glassy eyes. Walking over to sit next to her Draco grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"What is wrong?" Draco asked fearing the worst.

"Go to Mrs. Weasley dear," she said to Scorpius causing him to shake his head no, before letting go of his dad and slowly making his way over to her. Once he was out of earshot, she looked back to Draco with a weak smile on her face.

"I was bitten on a supply run yesterday. We don't know why it is affecting me as quickly as it is, but I think it is due to the curse on my family." Letting out a few sobs Draco leaned forward and kissed her forehead, earning him a smile.

"Take care of our baby please," she said tears now streaming down her face. Nodding his head yes, he lightly kissed her on the lips before standing and walking over to the others. Once he was in reaching distance, Scorpius started to squirm in Remus's arms. Grabbing hold of him, Draco kissed his forehead before turning into the conversation that was taking place.

"We should be able to get everyone to Hogwarts. Poppy will want to check everyone over herself just as a precaution but if what you are saying is true then we should be good. After casting the wards, we are low on magic. Anyone that can cast will have to," Remus said while Molly and a woman, around the same age as him, were nodding their heads.

"Draco this is Kellah, she was in the same year as us," Neville said introducing her.

"I would shake your hand, but mine is full," he said nodding his head at her. Giving a smile she nodded her head back in understanding.

"You have a great child there. He might grow up to be a healer with the way he has been helping us out up here," she said causing Scorpius to blush and hide his face in his dad's chest. Letting out a laugh at his son's actions Draco smiled back at her.

"Thank you for looking after my wife and child."

"I am sorry," she said a sad smile on her face now.

"You have done all that you could, so thank you. Now is everyone here infected or are they just sick?" Draco asked changing the subject.

"Sadly, everyone here is infected. The ones who are sick due to age or anything else are down with the able body people. We have been taking turns on someone staying up here to watch. As soon as someone d-i-e-s we take care of them. We have been really lucky with not that many being infected. Honestly, this is the most and I guess we should have taken it as a sign that they were moving closer."

"We did not help either by casting the wards. With that amount of magic, we knew that it could have drawn them out, but we did not think that there would be this many," Neville said looking out the window at the decent amount still slowly walking around outside.

"When Hogwarts defenses went up, we tried to tell as many people as we could that it was too late, but only a few believed us," Molly said sadness in her tone.

"They still went up to the school. The ones who did believe stayed here with us. We have a little over a hundred. We don't know what happened exactly but one moment there were a few of the dead and then the next hundreds upon hundreds started to walk around. The train took off leaving us, but it drew most of them. We still had some but not too many until a few days ago, when we started to see their numbers increasing," Fred said from behind, causing them to turn. Moving to the side he let Leo into the room.

"Great now I have to deal with another child," Leo said bumping his shoulder with Draco's. Rolling his eyes, Draco turned back to the conversation.

"What do you think caused the increase?" Leo asked.

"We don't know. Maybe food?" Kellah said causing the others to give her weird looks.

"Hear me out. We have figured out that they are acting on basic instinct, and you can't get more basic than food. An animal will move if there is no more food in the area. Not all animals will but most do. If we apply this to the dead, then it makes sense. They had no more food, so they started to walk until they found some. I think smell also plays a part. They do not attack each other but will attack us. Even if you walk slowly and quietly. It could be because the part of the brain that controls smell, and hunger are active." Hearing what was said Neville made a strange noise in his throat.

"Sorry. I just remember what Hannah had told me a while ago. It was similar to what you said. When she told Poppy, she agreed with her," Neville said looking up at the ceiling.

"When she explained it to me, I was confused but believed her. This is not my area of knowledge but if more than one person is coming up with the same idea…"

"Then it is most likely true," Kellah finished.

"So, that means we need to move asap," Leo said.

"We can't wait much longer. It is now dusk almost nightfall, and they are more active during this time and harder to spot. We have to go." Everyone nodded their head in agreement and went their separate ways to get ready to leave. Draco stopped Remus from leaving. Turning he walked over to Astoria and knelt next to her. Placing Scorpius on the ground he looked his son in the eyes and saw that Scorpius understood what was about to happen, and it broke his heart.

Going over to his mum, Scorpius hugged and kissed her, before whispering that he loved and was going to miss her. Walking back over to his dad, he wrapped his arms around his neck and held on tight. Hugging him back. He looked over at Remus, who understood what Draco was going to do and bent down to pick him up, but he would not let go.

"Scorpius, I need you to go to Uncle Remus for a little. Dad just needs to say goodbye to mum and then we can leave," Draco said trying to calm his son down who was now crying. Shaking his head, no, he would not let go. After a few tries, they were able to get him into Remus's arms, but he was not happy. He kept wiggling trying to get back to Draco. Remus looked him in the eyes and was about to talk when Draco stopped him.

"I can do it, just make sure he is not here." Seeing that Draco was determined, he turned and left with Scorpius throwing a fit in his arms. Turning to look back at Astoria he was happy and sad to see her awake.

"I am sor…"

"There is nothing to be sorry about," she said cutting him off.

"Just thank you. Thank you for making sure our boy does not see this. Thank you for loving me the way you did. Thank you for every day that I was able to spend with you and our son. I know it may seem hard but someday I hope you can find love again. Being with you and having our son was all that I needed in life, and I counted every day as a miracle. So, thank you." Letting out a sob Draco leaned forward and kissed her.

"I love you. Please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive," she whispered before closing her eyes. Kissing her again on her head he pulled back his wand and cast percaput. Letting the sobs rock his body he laid there for a couple of minutes just crying into her now still chest.

Standing up he wiped his cheeks before turning to see Fred standing there with his arms open. Walking into them he let himself be comforted, before pulling back, turning, and walking down the stairs.

Fred let out a sad sigh, walked over to Astoria, and kneeling, he grabbed the sheet that was around her. "I promise to look over them," he said before pulling it up over her head. Standing he turned around to find Kellah standing by the doorway waiting on him. Walking over to her, both started walking down the steps leaving the make-shift infirmary. Silently Fred promised himself that when this was all over that he would be back to make sure that she got a proper burial.

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

A/N-Also if anyone has any questions about the story please ask.

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

*To all of the wonderful people who have been waiting for this story to update, I apologize for the wait. Life has hit me hard over the last couple of years, and it made me take a step back from writing. I am back now and am planning on continuing this story and posting some new one-shot ones also.*