Hello again and thank you so much to all of you who are still reading, commenting and waiting for new chapters. I know is taking me way to long to upload new chapters but unfortunately I'm not sure how often I'm going to be able to post new chapters from now on. I'm not giving up on the story, I really love to write and I have so many ideas and plot lines, but for family reasons I can't write very often and is going to take a long time for me to post the next chapter. Let me know if you prefer extra long chapters even if it takes me longer to update or short chapters but more often.
With that said I hope you like this new chapter!
I lay down on my cot, looking at the top of my tent and thinking about the night before. By the time I had come back to my tent the night before the first lights of the day were picking behind the forest, I made a successful sign to a very tired looking Rick and finally entered my tent. Harry was lying down on his own cot, loudly snoring and looking as he fell down from the sky, each limb pointing in a different direction and with a piece of rope tied to one of his wrists. I was too tired to ask anything and my brain was focused on something else. But after a few hours sleeping my brain and body were finally back under my control and I wondered what that was about.
Harry wasn't in his cot anymore and I took a few more minutes to collect myself. The night before had been eventful, unexpected, exciting. I needed to give the good news to the group and talk with some of them about Winky's visit. And I needed to talk with Daryl, who probably wasn't very interested in talking to me after what had happened. If he knew about his magical blood, why did he take that risk? I had already explained what would happen with any wizard or witch involved in the ritual. And if he didn't know about it he would be overwhelmed. Learning about your own magic wasn't a small thing.
I left my tent stretching and cracking my back, it was passed midday and the camp was seething activity. And it was looking like I had missed something important while I was sleeping. Lori and Carol were packing up things in the cars, Rick was further away pointing to something and looking at a map while talking to T-Dog. No sign of Daryl or Harry but I could see Merle leading the kids carrying stuff around. Shane and Andrea were far away -not a problem for me- still keeping watch on the perimeter, and I thought they probably didn't trust my wards. And it was fine with me because I didn't trust them, especially after Winky's visit.
Smiling to everyone and waving my hand I made my way to Rick. He was still looking at the map but this time Hershel was next to him, looking a bit better than the last few days. His skin was looking clearer, his eyes rested and his hair was carefully groomed.
I got to Rick and throwing my hands in the air I asked him:
-What's happening? Are we leaving?
He looked at me smiling and, for the first time in many days, he had a look of relief in his eyes.
-No, we are just moving to the house. Hershel was finally ready.
I was surprised, happy but still dubious after learning about the walkers in the barn.
-Well, that's good. I guess.
-Yes, it is. We will take care of the walkers, if not today maybe tomorrow. And then we can focus all our efforts on making this place our home.
-That sounds good. Listen, I need to talk with you about something. -I lowered my voice and looked around to make sure nobody would hear me. -Winky came yesterday, and she said something. Something about Shane and Andrea. She told me not to trust them. She was terrified about them, Rick.
I was sorry for wiping his happiness from his face but the sooner he knew about Winky's warning the better. I had to be something serious for her to be that terrified.
-Did you tell someone else?
-Not yet, I was looking for Harry and Daryl. I'll tell Merle and Glenn too.
-Daryl left early in the morning followed by Harry. He looked… unsettled. Everything alright last night?
I thought for a second, everything good last night? Well no, not really. But I felt like I needed to talk to Daryl first before sharing my thoughts with anybody else. He liked to keep his privet life, private. And this was definitely part of his private life.
-Nothing alarming. I'll deal with it.
-Are you sure? -the look in his eyes was the same look I had seen in Mr. Wesley's eyes so many times when he was talking to his kids. Concerned and loving. It made me slime.
-Yes, I'll go check on the wards.
I left him to keep going with his work, smiled at Carl in the distance and walked towards the barn. It was good to check on the state of the barn but also it was the perfect place to check on the wards. The lack of people around the building -for obvious reasons- was the perfect environment for me to focus on my task. With time I would feel the wards like a part of myself, but until then I would have to check on them periodically.
The barn doors were in the same state as yesterday and the wards were up and running. I wave of pride washed over me. I had created them from nothing and I wasn't trying to diminish the work from the rest of the group but I felt they were my little accomplishment. Like an artist who just finished a particularly good picture, they were my creation.
After coming back from the barn I was thinking of putting myself into a new task. Now that we were safe against the immediate danger of the walkers it was time to focus my efforts on the next task. I needed to learn about medicine and more particularly pregnancy. I still couldn't believe Lori was pregnant, who would be so careless? And the most inappropriate question I had in my head was who was the father? I didn't want to ask that, I couldn't do it. But even if I didn't want to think about we had to deal with it.
I was on my way to my tent to get my books to start with light reading -an extensive journal on basic healing skills written by one of the most famous wizards of the 20th century- when I saw Merle looking at me and as soon as he saw me looking at him, he pretended to do something else. And he was terrible at it, his neck was stiff, his arms swinging uncomfortably and he shouted an order to the kids who looked at him like he had two heads. The time when they were scared of him was long gone, they looked at him smiling and laughing. I changed my course of action and called him, Merle turned around, ignored my call, and tried to walk away. The majority of the members of the group were inside the house helping out the set the beds and new accommodations, which convinced me to do it. Just this time, just because I felt deep in my bones Merle knew something important.
The spell sliced through the air and hit him in the back of his shoulder, paralyzing him. I stood in front of him and saw in the distance T-Dog and Carol looking at us, Carol was smiling and pulling T-Dog's arm to return to their own task.
-You knew, right? You knew he had magical blood in him and you didn't say anything. Why?
My voice was piercing, my best version of Professor Snape. I canceled the spell and he moved his head to look at me.
-Don't ever do that to me again, princess. That was nasty of you.
-Nasty of me?!
-Shhhhh, lower your voice.
With a quick sign of his head, he started to walk towards the forest and I followed him.
-Our father was a son of a bitch, he use to beat us, especially when she showed any of her powers. With time she suppressed them and when Daryl started showing signs of being like her, we started to make excuses. It wasn't too hard to lie to him, you know? He was drunk or high most of the time. So we blamed the neighbors, the cat, another kid, sometimes me or my mother would take the blame. With time Daryl forgot about it. I honestly thought he lost it. But last night you said the ritual would push any wizard or witch involved to get closer so I thought, good, some help for these two pussies.
I hit the back of his head at sat down next to him. I knew how hard was for him to share this kind of memories. Showing any feelings wasn't in his vocabulary.
-He didn't want that, Merle. He said, "Not like this".
I was probably talking too much, but couldn't hold the memory of him kneeling down and struggling to breathe.
-That wasn't about you, it was about that son of a bitch again. That's how were conceived, he forced our mother.
I looked at him in shock, he wasn't looking at me, his eyes were lost in the forest. Lost in a maze of bad memories and nightmares. I hugged him, because I knew after all those years he needed someone to rely on emotionally, at least for a few minutes.
-And then he killed her, he served just a couple of years in prison because they believed it was an accident. But when he got out I had to go away, or I would have killed him. And I left Daryl with him. I came back when he died years later. He choked on his own vomit, the prick. I should have killed him years earlier.
-Why she didn't ask for help?- I didn't want to sound harsh but I was honestly curious. -There was supposed to be a magical school here, or maybe the ministry.
-My ma did it. There was a girl before Daryl. Her name was Edith, like our grandmother. My ma was 15 when she was born. She called them, asked for help. And when they came and they saw how we lived, the state of the house... How she was and addict too… So they took her, they said it was for her own good. And we never saw her again. So when Daryl started to show signs of the same we just hid it.
-You have a sister?
-Daryl doesn't know, he was a baby when they took her.
I could see the weight of that story, of his life, had been a heavy burden on Merle's shoulders for many years. He had lost his mother, a sister and in many ways his brother.
-You have to tell him, he needs to know about all of this.
I left Merle sitting down there after one last pat on his shoulders and came back to the camp to start with my new studies and finish up another batch of blood replenisher potion.
Merle and Daryl's story was a tragic one, not unheard unfortunately and it reminded me of Professor Snape's story. How many times had authorities failed? They failed Daryl and Merle, Professor Snape, Harry and me. Who knew how many others.
After a couple of hours, Harry came back to the house, dirt on his clothes and looking exhausted. He had left Daryl and Merle in the forest having a conversation nobody else was invited to. I knew what was happening but not knowing how Daryl would react to the news or what he would think about his magic was driving me crazy.
After what felt like an eternity they both came back from the forest, a very angry looking Daryl and a bruised Merle. His left eye was inflamed and he spit out some blood to the side.
Daryl left again to the forest and Merle busied himself again moving things from the car inside the house.
It was late that night when I finally gathered the courage to look for Daryl again. Carl was sleeping in the top bed of our new bunk bed -one of the beds I had transformed from a pile of wood to make space for all of us- I left my bed and opened my bag as quietly as possible. After a few minutes, my hand touched the familiar leather on the side of one of my most beloved magical books. The best introduction to the magic world one could hope for. I left the room and walked the quiet corridors of the house, Merle and Daryl had taken the living room for themselves but that night I found someone else there.
Carol and Daryl were sitting down on the floor, backs resting against the couch, their heads resting close and whispering to each other.
-Sorry, I didn't want to intrude. -their whispers died as soon as they saw me standing there, interrupting their moment and I felt like the most stupid person in the world. How could I be so blind?
Carol looked at me and smiled a genuine gentle smile. Of course they had developed something, she was a nice, beautiful woman from his own world, I could imagined they had had similar experiences during their lives and they obviously get along very well. Although I could have swear Carol's attentions where directed towards the other Dixon brother, and they seemed mutual. But apparently I was wrong on that, so I must be wrong about Daryl and Carol's relationship.
-No worries, we were just talking. -she said still smiling, I could see a bit of humor in her eyes. But I couldn't get mad at her, this had all been my own mistake.
-No, that's alright. I just wanted to... -in that moment what I was planning to do lacked reasoning and goal. What if Daryl didn't want to know about magic anymore? Showing him the book without knowing what he wanted to do was simply stupid of me. I put the book back under my arm and said sorry one more time before leaving the living room as fast as I could.
I went back to my bedroom, Carl was still peacefully sleeping and I laid down on my own bed. So that was why Daryl said Not like this, not because he didn't want to do it under the influence of the ritual, but because he actually had something with Carol. I felt deeply ashamed. It was true I didn't have a lot of experience on romantic matters, but how could I be so wrong? It was stupid, I knew it was. Crying about something that didn't even happen, something I had imagined, made up in my mind. But I couldn't avoid seeding some tears that night.
The morning after I promised to myself to not let anybody see how affected I was about it. They already knew about my crush -based on their comments it was pretty obvious- but there was no need to let them know how deep were actually my feelings. I woke up earlier than Carl, planted a little kiss on his forehead, and left the room quietly. My eyes were red and my face too white, nothing too hard to fix with a simple charm.
Out of the house, on the front porch, I found Rick and Glenn in a quiet conversation. I gave my good mornings and got a hot cup of coffee in return. I took advantage of the peace and silence and checked on the wards, they were still in place and perfectly working, as I was expecting.
-Hershel is ready. -said Rick holding his cup and finishing his breakfast.
Perfect, something to focus on. That was exactly what I needed.
-Alright, do you have something in mind?
-He left about an hour ago to dig the graves, I think Maggie and Beth are helping him. I was thinking of sending Harry and T-Dog there to help them out.
-Better to keep Shane and Andrea out of the way of all of this.- muttered Glenn. Rick told me about your friend's visit.
-Sorry, Glenn. I had in mind telling you about it.- I didn't want him to think I didn't trust him.
He shrugged and smiled, not giving any importance to it. It was so easy to get along with him.
-There is a ladder in the side of the barn, we could get access to the top floor and take care of everything in a matter of minutes. I could silence the guns, quiet and peaceful. -a plan easy enough to carry it out in just a few minutes took shape in my head. Quiet and fast.
-What about Daryl?
Rick asked me, looking into my eyes. He didn't want to gossip, he was just genuinely concerned about me and it warmed my heart. But I didn't want to talk about it.
I lifted up my shoulders without saying anything more and ate the piece of dry meat Glenn was passing me in silence.
After a couple of hours the graves were ready in the back of the farm, the same zone I had used for my ritual just a few days before. We were on that top floor of the barn, looking at the walkers and thinking if that was how our future looked one way or the other. It was hard not to be a pessimist when there was a group of walkers, moving aimlessly around, moaning and rotting minute by minute.
It was, as I had thought that same morning, fast, quiet and easy. Our guns were silenced and thanks to the good aiming of Rick, Carol and Glenn they were finally gone in about a minute or two. And all that was left was silence and the smell of decaying corpses. It was revolting, but most of all, was sad.
We could finally breath, relax and try to thrive without any immediate danger at our doorstep. Winky will made contact again soon enough and until then, until we could go back to Hogwarts, we could live safely here. Right?
Well that's it. As you can imagine, is not going to be as easy as Hermione thinks. I hope you like it and I promised I'll try to better at answering comments from now on.