Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Walking Dead and I don't earn any money with this story.

Author's note: First of all, thank you all for your reviews! I've thought about prolonging the story after all, but in the end decided to finish this part of it. I do, however, have ideas for a sequel, which would go more into the relationship between our boys. Let's see how that goes.

Rating: M

The next few weeks dragged on and on.

Severus's injuries healed completely, Daryl went on supply runs almost daily or helped with the security and Harry slept on. Did it count as sleeping, when the person wasn't even breathing and looked dead? It was still freaking him out to be honest, but Daryl tried not to think about the workings of a magically induced comas too much.

A month passed and with the next one came a daily nerve-wrecking moment of anticipation. Each day Fawkes, whose fluffy down slowly gave way to glossy red and golden feathers, hopped onto Harry's chest and cried a few tears into the wizard's mouth. So far they hadn't worked.

The other man was, however, not his main concern for a change – at least momentarily. Upon returning from their supply run, Glenn and Clarice had apparently ended up in one of the containment rooms, because they'd portkeyed a person not belonging to the Sanctuary. It turned out to be-

"Merle?" Daryl was staring at the man in the cell, his brother, who didn't really look worse for wear except for the contraption attached to his right wrist. Instead of the hand he'd sawed off, Merle was pulling off a Captain Hook, though instead of a hook he had a blade. Daryl… didn't know what to feel or, well, what to say, too. He had been positive that his brother was still alive, but after the trip to Atlanta he'd honestly no longer believed that he'd see him ever again. A lot had happened in the last few months. He wasn't sure how Merle would fit into his life now. If he'd fit into the Sanctuary and what would happen if he didn't.

"Looks like you found a nice place, little bro," Merle stated while leering at Clarice, who was glaring back at him. "Officer Friendly set this place up? Could do without the bars, though. Let good ol' Merle outta here, yeah?"

"We found him in a town not too far from here," Glenn explained to Daryl, completely ignoring the older Dixon brother's ramblings. "He was trying to kidnap me for some reason, but Clarice stunned him, then we brought him here. We've already notified Severus. He should be here after checking on Harry."

And speaking of the devil, the older wizard rounded the corner with a scowl. Fawkes was absent, but that wasn't a big surprise. The phoenix tended to stay with Harry in the sick bay, warbling progressively melodious songs. He was slowly but surely becoming the mystical creature Daryl had imagined.

Severus studied Merle from head to toe and finally locked their gazes without so much as a by your leave. With every passing second, the man's expression darkened further, unsettling not only Daryl but Clarice and Glenn as well. Merle on the other hand had adopted a nasty glare.

"What? Ya got somethin' ta say to Merle, asshole?"

Severus disregarded him with a slightly raised eyebrow and turned towards the small group in front of the containment room. His face was expressionless again, but Daryl knew that the wizard didn't have good news to share. What had his brother done to get that kind of reaction from Severus?

"Apparently, we have a neighbor. Several miles from the Sanctuary there is a town called Woodbury. The people there are being led by a man known as the Governor, who robs and kills survivors to appropriate their resources… among other things. Also, the town's entertainment seems to be arena fights between humans and revenants."

The reactions to Severus' words ranged from disgust to outright horror, except for Merle who was gaping at the wizard.

"How'd ya-"

"As of yet, they aren't a threat to the Sanctuary, simply because they do not know of it and cannot get close to it. The matter requires attention however," Severus went on, turning to Daryl. "As for your brother. Disregarding his actions in the name of the Governor, he seems to be ill fitting for the Sanctuary. I-"

"Severus, Daryl!"

As one, the group turned to the newcomer, who was running up to them with a wide-eyed expression on his face. When he stopped next to Glenn, he gasped for breath, but quickly recovered and beamed at them.

"It worked! I don't know if it was a cumulative thing or if Fawkes' tears are finally potent enough, but it worked! The contamination is gone, we just have to wake him up."

Daryl was gone long before Maurice had finished his second sentence and he didn't even hear his brother shouting after him. The brunet was single-mindedly focused on getting to Harry as quickly as possible and nobody would stop or delay him. The people walking through the corridors seemed to sense that and jumped prudently out of his way. Upon reaching the sick bay, Daryl strode to the bed next to the barred window.

The wizard still looked too pale and unmoving, but Daryl trusted in Maurice's medical knowledge. If he claimed that Harry was healed, he'd belief him. He took the vial with the pre-prepared potion that Fawkes was holding in his beak and sat down on the edge of the mattress. Daryl pulled out the stopper and carefully rubbed Harry's throat after administering the antidote for the Draught of Living Death.

For a long moment, nothing happened. Severus, Maurice and several other people joined him in his waiting with bated breath.

Then, when his anxiety reached its peak, Harry's eyelids began to flutter, until they finally opened. The wizard blinked, still dazed, but his skin slowly regained color, though the flush and clamminess of the fever was thankfully absent.

"D'ryl?"

"I promised I'd be here when ya woke up, right?" Daryl stated with a relieved upwards twitch of his lips. He overheard Araminta ushering everyone else out of the room, but didn't pay much attention to the proceedings on the other side of the room.

Smiling back, Harry inched his hand towards Daryl's and was met halfway. Their fingers intertwined above the blanket and squeezed reassuringly. Fawkes, who had refused to leave, hopped onto the mattress and trilled, before nudging the wizard's cheek with his beak in greeting.

"Hey Fawkes, looks like you've saved my life. Again. Thank you." The brunet raised his free hand and gently scratched along the phoenix' soft breast feathers, something they both shared a fondness of.

"Been about a month. This guy here barely left yer side," Daryl remarked, watching them. He could already picture Harry turning into his animagus form and the two birds spending some time in the air. It would do the wizard some good to figuratively and literally spread his wings after the last few weeks.

"Bet you were here, too, whenever you could," Harry mumbled with a smile that was equal parts fond and apologetic. "Did anything noteworthy happen while I was… out of commission?"

Daryl opened his mouth to mention the miraculous appearance of his brother, but quickly snapped it shut again, before a word could leave his lips. Instead he leant down and pressed a kiss to the other man's tempting lips.

"Nothin' that can't wait until yer back on yer feet."

Harry tried to protest, but Daryl just kissed him again and again and again until the wizard relaxed back into the mattress, splayed his fingers across Daryl's neck and kissed back in surrender.

Daryl smugly grinned against the brunet's lips.

"Maybe I shouldn't-"

Severus rolled his eyes for the nth time that day. "Potter, go."

"But-"

"We can deal another few weeks without you. Woodbury won't find us that quickly and even then, we're more than equipped to handle them even when you're absent. If anyone gets bit, we still have the extra tears from Fawkes. Go and find the rest of your trio. This place will still stand when you get back."

Reluctantly, Harry nodded and carefully refrained from hugging the other man in gratitude. Severus would probably get a heart attack if he tried. The brunet shrank his bag with his new blackthorn and horned serpent horn wand and attached it to his belt, before going over to Daryl, Merle and Fawkes, who were waiting for him. The latter was relentlessly pecking and nipping the older Dixon brother, who just couldn't resist badgering and insulting the phoenix. Merle would be joining them on their trip to Australia to be with his brother and to keep him far away from the members of the Sanctuary for now.

He wrapped an arm around Daryl's waist and waited for Fawkes to stop getting revenge on Merle to grip one of the phoenix' legs. Smiling, he waved at the group sending them off, then nodded at Fawkes, who had fortunately decided to stay with Harry for now.

"Let's go."