Maggie wakes up with a jolt, her eyes blinking violently against the harsh bright light, the sheer cleanliness of the ceiling, and the familiar smell of the scent of sterilizer that hospital rooms always have lingering. She looks behind her to see the fancy monitoring equipment that everyone from before took for granted.
For a moment she wonders if she awoke from a coma and the whole apocalypse was a nightmare, the thought bringing mixed emotions. Especially when she catches the sight of Glenn sitting slumped in a chair beside her with his hand protecting her slowly growing stomach while he sleeps.
She feels a small smile grow at the domestic-ness of it.
Yes, she'd have her family without the apocalypse, but then she'd never have met Glenn or been carrying their child. It's not like she can go back anyway so she has to find what little happiness this world offers or she'll crack. Slowly she reaches and threads her hand atop his, trying to force her heart to slow before the monitor goes off or something, her adrenaline fading as she takes in Glenn's relaxed expression and sleeping face.
She hears a slight knock at the entrance of the room and her head swivels to the source, leaning relaxed against the doorframe is Harry, or boss as the one woman likes to call him.
Maggie silently takes in the stark contrast to what her fear-filled mind supplied compared to the person standing before her.
"Hullo," the British twang to his voice soft as if he cares not to wake Glenn, "would you mind?" He nods into the room indicating that he wants to come in but is allowing her the sense of control to say no.
"Would it stop you if I said no?" She whispers not wanting to wake Glenn, but still willing to push buttons.
He gives her a knowing smile, his eyes more hypnotic in the daylight, "No I wouldn't, if you don't want anyone in here besides your Husband then I'll give the word, but I'll have to excuse the medical staff or you won't be able to get access to their care." He says it's simple.
Like they didn't just come and try to brutally murder their people.
He shifts awkwardly, clearly wanting to say more, but is too polite to overstep the boundary he lets them have.
"Just, come in," she says tiredly, slumping into the bed.
That gets her a charming smile, and if she wasn't married and he wasn't gay and a 'to-be-determined' enemy she'd have crushed on his pretty boy self like a schoolgirl.
"Good, 'cause I'm a part of that medical staff," he says cheekily walking into the room and brandishing a pair of latex gloves making her roll her eyes, how could she have forgotten the man was screaming about still having a chance to save Abraham?
Speaking of, "how is-" she starts but coughs as her throat is still dry, a cool bottle of water is pressed into her hand that she gladly takes.
"How is Big Red?" The others finish for her, "he's still in ICU for the time being but I am optimistic that he will recover, will need extensive physical therapy, and probably will have memory gaps if not full-on amnesia." He says as kindly as anyone can in the situation.
"How?" She can't believe it, some god must be looking out for them.
If she only knew.
"My husband is many things but a bad shot isn't one of them, I don't want to give Negan too much credit but I think he intentionally shot the way he did, the shot missed most of his brain's integral parts." She watched the bullet fly, and still couldn't believe this was happening.
"What's going to happen to us?" She asks he takes it as her asking about the whole group, but she was mainly speaking of Glenn and her baby.
"That is up to you all, I would personally like it if those who need it stay here until they're able to leave without endangering themselves or others but I'm not a warden, if you all want to leave and recuperate in your territory I understand."
He shakes his head, "I hate that it's come to this," he mutters loud enough for her to hear.
"Come to what?" She asks, confused.
He gives her a look, though thankfully the frustration isn't aimed at her, "Just all of it, the needlessly killing, the choosing of the lesser of the two evils. The justifications of killing anyone with no true reason other than us or them." He rants somehow keeping his voice from rising, making her feel jealous at the control he has over his emotions.
"Yeah I understand," she murmurs, ever since she has become pregnant she has been reevaluating a lot more lately.
"Can you tell me if there is anything wrong with my baby?" She asks, feeling anxious about the what-ifs.
That gets a smile out of the other man, "Yeah I'll tell you if there is anything wrong, and your husband can stop pretending now," she feels a giggle trickle up despite herself at the way Glenn yelps in surprise at being caught.
She wondered how he knew she didn't even realize
"You sure?" Teddy asks feeling uneasy, the outbreak had just been announced three days ago and it's already hit the fan. He anxiously watches as his gran's neighbor and fellow former Hogwarts student Deetri stirs the Polyjuice potion. He's only known the adventurous older boy for a few days.
Deetri is the son of a young purebred couple struggling from the aftermath of the war. His gran insisted that the boy stay with them since his parents hadn't returned from work since this all started. They were a couple of ambitious Aurors who were inspired by his papa if he remembered the other boy's words correctly.
Of course, they'd be inspired, no one is more worthy of hero-ship than, he thinks feeling a grin of pride at the thought.
Though his smile fades as he listens to his granny cough in her room, she's been sicker lately.
Shaking his head he focuses back on their task despite feeling like this isn't the best idea, he wants to distract himself from the fear of what's to come.
Deetri looks up at the motion, "Come on? What's the worst that could happen?" He grins, his left canine sticking out slightly as he shows off his teeth, some deep part of himself feels his hackles rise at the sign of aggression.
The beast within him simmers as it remembers that humans smile to show happiness and not aggression.
"Idk, I-" he stops not knowing how to speak of the lycan stuff.
"Come on! Please, mate, I want to change my hair color so fuckin' bad!!" Deetri exclaims undeterred by his worry. He looks warily at his grandmother's door, she's silent so maybe she went to sleep, and she won't catch them.
"Alright," he says reluctantly, plucking a strand of hair and dropping it into the cauldron. Watching in fascination as the potion flashes an array of colors before settling into the familiar murky brown that it should be, according to the books.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Aunt 'Mione always said that if the potion veers off from its description then it's better to not change it and just start again.
Deetri shrugs, reaching for the cup, he brought along with his mother's potion stuff, why she left polyjuice ingredients out in the open is no one's guess, "Who cares, looks bloody fucking' cool!" He chirps excitedly, using the ladle to scoop some of the polyjuice into his cup.
Giving Teddy a grin he quips, "Ready to be' amazed, blue boy." He says and proceeds to down the potion, Deetri's face immediately grimacing as the taste hits his tongue. The effects are immediate and the other's face starts to bubble and shift while canine features contort and revert making him feel ill at the thought of unintentionally cursing the boy with lycanthropy.
Teddy is fortunate enough to be a metamorphmagus, so the transformation to wolf is inherently smoother and painless than it would be for a regular human.
Fortunately, the other features settle into a familiar albeit bland version of himself.
Teddy tilts his head, is this what he'd look like without his morphing ability, mouser brown hair, and fortunately the same amber eyes as his father?
'I look like' mother, from her Hogwarts pictures when she hid her ability out of bullying'. The thought comes and goes so quickly, the stories his gran told him about his mom will always be precious to him.
He watches in sympathy as Deetri grabs the mirror before whining in disappointment when Teddy's ability doesn't translate, "Man! I was hoping it would work."
Teddy is about to respond when he is suddenly bombarded with the feeling of nausea, his magic flutters in agony at something, he quickly excuses himself to the bathroom as the feeling intensifies.
"Sorry I'll be right back," he promises, before entering his room and closing the door his fingers shift and his teeth lengthen as the sheer force of something fundamental breaking causes his mind to freeze and he just has the mind to close the door activating the silencing ward with a tap of the griffin toothbrush holder.
"Wh-what is going on?" He whimpers as he throws up.
He feels his hands shake as he tries to reach for the door handle to open it, and tell Deetri to call for Harry when he slumps unconscious. Teddy succumbs to the shock of experiencing his grandmother's death. The sensation of the bond leaving is too much for the young pup's fragile mind.
He feels delicate hands cradling his face as he slowly wakes from the nightmare and memory. The hands slowly leave his cheeks to reach behind and squeeze his neck comfortingly, the tactile habit engraved into the 'potter gang' ever since Teddy has been with them.
Her tone was soothing as he blinked away the sleep, "Teddy it's gonna be okay, we are almost there, I know you want to let it out, but just wait a little longer."
She gives him a watery smile as he slowly gets up, he can see that their campsite is already packed for the trip, "We can break down when we are in Harry's arms,"
"I'm going to need you to look after me when we arrive," at his panicked look, she soothes his fears, "I'm going to be fine, I'll need to recuperate in a modified stasis for a few hours as this vast transportation will take a lot out of me even with the help of an international portkey."
She gives him a gentle smile, "Don't worry all you're responsible for while I'm down is to make sure the protection runes are activated properly upon arrival."
She leans into his ear like she is going to whisper consciously.
"The wrackspurts will keep us safe," she says, making him laugh at the oddity. Everything will work out, he has to believe it or he'll crumble.
A/n:
Okay, so I scrubbed this one out to clarify (retcon ( ͡ ͜ʖ ͡)) how teddy is still alive.
I hope it's not unbelievable, in my mind it's just two boys trying to find entertainment while the dead walk and then the combination of Teddy being mentally old enough to remember experiencing his first bond death caused him to faint in the bathroom.
I'm going to explore the trauma Teddy will have of waking up to the sight of his dead grandmother who ate the boy who was wears his face.
Harry was to distraught at the sight to sense Teddy in the bathroom especially with all the high emotions from the early stages of the apocalypse.
Hopefully this clears up any confusion regarding Teddy