A/N: Hey there! Thank you all so much with all the reviews, follows, and favorites! They truly made my week! All this love really got my muse going and I've decided to continue with this story as a missing moments collection. Every chapter is going to be in consecutive order and they will most likely relate to each other (unless stated otherwise). I do not own The Walking Dead or Harry Potter.

Enjoy!

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Chapter 2: Lessons

The days were cold and the nights were colder as the group trudged on. Beth thought it was cliché; of course the first winter of the apocalypse would be one of the harshest in the past fifteen years. The wind was the worst, loud and unforgiving. Along with most of the group, Beth had grown accustomed to the stinging numbness in her fingers, ears, and toes that went hand in hand with living in the woods for the past however many months. By her estimates, it was probably around mid-January. Although, her only reference of time was the green little notebook she kept in her back pocket. She tried to write in it every day if she could, even if it were just a sentence. On good days, she could go on for pages at a time. However, they were becoming less and less frequent as winter drove onward.

"We'll stop here for the night," Rick said.

Everyone dropped their packs and started setting up camp. Glenn and Maggie set up a series of alarms around the perimeter of the camp, tying tin cans hanging off of fishing wire around the surrounding tree branches. Beth offered to help, but they told her to sit with Carl and keep him occupied while Hershel checked up on Lori. Rick and T-dog were doing an inventory of the artillery. And Daryl went hunting as soon as everything was secure.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Just another typical day for Beth Greene; true to her routine, she pulled out her journal and began to write.

Jan 12? 2012 (I think)

Short entry tonight, too cold to write much. We didn't find shelter, again. I understand that Rick's trying his best, I really do. It's just that we've been living in the woods for weeks now and I ain't sure how much more of this Lori can take. Most days are just spent running and killing walkers… Well, I don't do much of the killing. My job is to stay out of the way so someone more capable can take care of them. I ain't gonna lie, I feel pretty useless. A lot of the group just ignores me half the time. Either that, or they walk on eggshells around me, always watching what they say when they know I can hear them… Do they really think I'm that fragile? They're nice enough, sure (when they do talk to me that is) but almost seem to be afraid of me. Like I'm gonna snap at any moment. I can't be too bitter about it though, it's not as if I didn't give them a reason to act like this. My wrist is pretty much healed now, but there's always gonna be a scar. God, I was so-

"You gotta knife on you, by chance?" Daryl asked. Beth jumped and desperately tried to hide it. As if she needed to give everyone more reason to think she was pathetic, getting startled by a simple voice. However, Daryl did notice and rolled his eyes.

"Whatsamatter with yours?" Beth asked, eyeing the one handing from his belt.

"Too big for skinnin',"

"I've got a pocket knife, that okay?"

"That's all you got?" He asked incredulously.

"You asked what I had. Do you want it or not?" She asked.

"Yeah," He sighed. "It'll do,"

She handed it over and he nodded in thanks. She expected him to just take it and leave, but instead he sat down next to her on the log she was perched on. Abandoning her diary momentarily, Beth watched him work over the rabbits he'd caught out of the corner of her eye. If they didn't have Daryl, Beth was honestly not sure how the group would fare. Sure, he was grouchy and a down right ass sometimes, yet despite that he was a good man. He took care of everyone no questions asked. After everything that had gone down with Shane, he'd become Rick's right-hand man. He wasn't gentle or nice, but at the end of the day that's what made him strong. After all, gentle and nice got people killed.

It's what's gonna get me killed, Beth thought grimly.

"Am I useless?" She asked suddenly, regretting it instantly.

"Huh?" Daryl paused and looked at her. Well, she thought, I've made my bed and now I have to lie in it.

"Daryl, am I useless?" She asked again.

"The hell you askin' me for?"

"I dunno, 'cause you're here, I guess. And 'cause I feel like out of everyone, you'd be honest with me. I'm sorry, it was a dumb question. I shouldn't've asked."

"You're right, it was a dumb ass question. 'Cause you sure as hell ain't useless." He grunted.

"What do you mean?" She asked, surprised by his response.

"You ain't the best with a gun 'n stuff 'n you need to get better if you wanna survive. But you do your part, carin' for people and shit."

"You really think so?"

"I ain't no expert, but yeah." He mumbled awkwardly.

"Thanks, it means a lot to hear you say that," She smiled and he shrugged.

"C'mon," He said abruptly and stood up.

"What?" Beth asked, confused.

"You may be a good kid, but that don't mean that you don't gotta know basic survival. So c'mere," He said. Beth reluctantly got up and walked to where he was standing on the outskirts of their makeshift camp. On her way, Maggie caught her eye and shot her a questioning look. Beth shrugged and kept walking until she reached him.

"Gonna teach you how to properly use a knife," He said.

Over the next 20 minutes, Daryl gave Beth a relatively brief but effective knife yielding lesson. They both knew that it would probably be a while before she would be confident enough to actually do some damage. But it was progress no less.

"Swish and flick," Beth said, waving the knife in a mock wand like motion.

"No, that's not how you're supposed to- shit, just give it here," Daryl said, reaching for the knife to show her again.

"Wait- no, no. I know that's not how you showed me, I was just kiddin' around. Thought maybe you'd get at least some of the reference."

"What reference?"

"You know, 'swish and flick, Wingardium Levisoa'. What, you ain't ever heard of Harry Potter?" She joked.

Daryl shook his head

"Come on, kid with glasses and a lightning bolt scar? Goes to a school for wizards? The boy who lived? Ring any bells?"

He stared at her blankly.

"Oh my God, you're serious!" She said incredulously.

"Never heard of him," He said.

"It's a classic though!"

"Girl, do I look like the type to give a shit about some magic kid?"

"Well no, but like my daddy always says, can't judge a book by its cover. Plus, I figured you'd at least seen stuff for the movies. The very last one was just about to come out when all this happened. Lord, I was so excited. Maggie, my brother Shawn, and I were gonna dress up and everything! It's too bad that the apocalypse couldn't hold off for the last Harry Potter movie to be released right?"

He shrugged.

"You know what? I'm gonna get you to read those books."

"Is that right?" Daryl said sarcastically.

"Mhmm," She nodded. "As soon as we find a book store or somethin', I'm gonna grab a few for you."

"Ain't gonna read 'em,"

"Oh yes you will, I'm a girl on a mission. And in my opinion, everybody's gotta read Harry Potter at least once before they die."

"If I promise to read 'em will you promise to practice properly with that knife?"

"Scout's honor," Beth saluted.

"Whatever, I need to get workin' on those rabbits, quit naggin' me."

"Fine, I'll go. But mark my words Daryl Dixon, before I die, you will have read those books." She said.

"Yeah yeah, get on now." Daryl waved her off.

"Oh and Daryl?" She called.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the knife lesson, it was really helpful."

"Ya needed to learn," He said nonchalantly.

She nodded and started walking to go sit by her dad across the fire. About halfway there, she spun around and walked back the way she came. Daryl didn't even look up when she approached him.

"Forget somethin'?" He asked while he skinned one of the rabbits.

"Kinda. I- um wanted to also say thanks for, ya know, saying that I ain't useless." She said awkwardly.

He looked up from where he was squatting and met her eyes.

"Oh, er- it ain't nothin'."

"Well, it meant somethin' to me. I'll- uh let you get back to your rabbit." And without another word, she turned and carried on her way back to the others. She'd been sitting on the log for no less than 2 minutes when Maggie plopped down next to her, inquiring still evident in her expression.

"What was that about?" She whispered in her ear

"Iunno," Beth admitted. "He was barrowin' my knife and he wanted to show me how to really use it."

"That was awfully nice of him,"

"Mhmm,"

They didn't talk anymore about Daryl after that. The afternoon shifted into night and everyone began to settle down for the night. But with the way the wind was picking up, it was probably going to be another sleepless one. Beth pulled out her diary again and picked up where she left off.

God, I was so stupid. If these past few months have taught me anything, it's that you can't just duck out. You gotta keep up. You gotta keep going. But above all, you gotta survive. And I think I'm getting better at that.

Daryl showed me some knife tricks tonight. It was mostly pretty basic stuff, but it will help me stay alive. I ain't great at it yet, but he was a good teacher… Even if he was a bit impatient. Either way, I'm taking a step in the right direction. That's what matters right? Moving forward.

-Beth Greene

As she was closing her notebook, Beth felt something drop on her blanket covered lap; her knife. She looked up and around until her eyes landed on a pair of angel wings on leather walking away.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it! The next chapter has been drafted so I'll be posting it soon. It's going to be a bit more angsty than this one (you gotta balance the fluff, right?). Anyway, as always please make sure to leave a review even if you hated it. I live for your thoughts!