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I wasn't surprised in the slightest when Malfoy had a hissy fit over the fact that he had to share a room with me. What did surprise me, though, was when Hermione came running into the house like she had just seen a troll.
I walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder while she panted for air. "Woah, what's up? Is something wrong?"
"You could say that. This guy, Negan, and his men are here. Oh Harry, we have to hide. Elle said if they find us we're done for! She went to go talk to them, try and see what they want and keep them away from over here." She began turning off all the lights like a madman. "They can't know we're here. She told me a bit about him, and I do not find it wise to confront him at any point."
Draco came down the stairs when he heard the racket. "Granger, what the hell is your problem?!"
"Remember when Elle mentioned a madman who went around with a barbed-wire bat and...killed them?! Well, he's here and we have to hide!" She hurried upstair, likely going to tell the others. Malfoy turned to me, shock in his eyes.
"Is she nuts?! Hide?! We're wizards for fucks sake, we can take down a stupid muggle!" He began marching towards the door, all prepared to hex Negan into oblivion, but I caught his arm.
"Malfoy, in case you've forgotten, we don't have magic here! We're completely defenseless against this guy. So I suggest you let go of your pride for once and listen to Hermione!" Malfoy paused for a second before reluctantly nodding. We both went upstairs where the others were waiting.
"So Granger, what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"Elle said to hide somewhere, although there aren't many places I can think of."
"Is there any.."
"Kind of attic?" The twins said together. Everyone turned to them, surprise that they hadn't thought of that themselves.
Everyone immediately began scrambling around, looking for any handle or pull-cord that led to an attic.
Finally, as they began to hear shouts through the community, Dean finally located a small handle on the ceiling. After pulling it, a small ladder descended to the ground, and everyone hastily climbed into the attic. Seamus closed it behind everyone just as they heard a door downstairs burst open.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" A deep, baritone voice said teasingly. A shudder ran down my spine when I heard him. I can only assume that this man is Negan. Multiple pairs of footsteps began stomping through the house, and I can only assume they're leaving destruction in their wake from the crashes.
"I saw you walk through those gates with some people….where are they?!" The same voice hissed.
"Sir, I honest to God don't know who you're talking about! There was no one with me when I returned. Maybe they were walkers that decided to follow me back and then wandered off?" I heard Elle respond, a slight wavering in her voice.
"If I find them here….well….let's just say that you'll make a good edition to my wives." Okay, that settles it. This guy is slightly more crazy than Voldemort. Like, at least Voldemort had goals, you know? This guy just seems like he likes making people's lives hell for the fun of it.
The search continued for quite a while before the sounds of the gate closing resounded through the community.
"Oi, you guys can come out now! They've left!" Elle shouted from downstairs. I pushed against the door, opening it and letting the steps fall to the floor. We all climbed down and made our way downstairs.
"What did that guy mean when he said...when he said that you'd be an addition to his wives?" Hermione asked.
"Negan likes to have a plethora of wives at one time. Some are there because they want to be, some are there because, well, I guess to torture them. At least, that's what Daryl said. They had him there for quite a while, tortured him for quite a while. Daryl's one of the strongest people I know, and for him to come back like he did...it was heartbreaking." Elle said softly, sadness evident in her voice.
Everyone stood there in silence, soaking in what just happened.
Neville spoke up. "What would he have done to us if he found us?"
Elle sighed. "Hard to say. Take you to his compound, kill you, kill some of us, and God knows what else."
The next thing that happened surprised the hell out of me. Hell, it surprised the hell out of everyone else. " ," Snape said, "I'm sorry for what we have just put you through. It seems that we owe a great debt to you." If my jaw could drop any lower, it would be touching the ground. Did Snape just...apologize?!
Elle nodded her head, acknowledging the apology. "So, since I'm assuming you all found a place to stay in here, what say I show you around. Introduce you."
While the community was quite large, the population wasn't. They had, according to Elle, lost a lot of people lately. Elle told us about some of the people Negan had killed. She looked on the verge of tears when she was talking about these two guys named Glenn and Abraham. She wasn't there the night they were killed, but her friend, Carl, had told her plenty about it. Negan has killed a few others as well; Spencer and Olivia. They had lost the original leader to the community, which they called Alexandria, to a giant 'herd of walkers', as they called it. They had lost a bunch of others to the herd, including a woman and her two kids.
The town was almost falling apart, partly due to the her and partly because of the Saviors, Negan's men. Houses were ransacked, one part of the wall had been damaged from a truck.
Altogether, Alexandria was just being held up by hopes of a brighter future.