Merle watched Luna crafting a shape with her wand, using a very thin microscopic laser, if he had been any further, and not a hunter he wouldn't have been able to discern the red glow that emanated from her wand tip to the crystal. It was just a couple of purple coloured crystals she had in pieces of jewellery she'd kept despite the end of the world. How she could see what she was doing was anyone's guess. Only once her wand tip stopped glowing an hour later did he speak. "Will it work if it's not real crystal?"
"It is amethyst, I tested it, and it's the best for this kind of work. Amethyst is a crystal energy structure that takes natural energy and magnifies it three times greater than other gem. It will make sure the runes work better at keeping the prison secure." Luna explained, "It will make things easier when Harry uses the spell to bind them together."
"Why ain't you doin' it?" Merle asked, finding taking to Luna better than even reading Hogwarts a history. When she'd said they learned in a castle, they really had learned in a castle. The picture moved, and it showed Hogwarts in its entirety and he had to admit it was a sight.
"He's more experienced casting wards, which means they have a better chance of holding longer and stronger if he casts the spell," Luna explained shrugging her shoulders. "This part I'm better at, my magic will go into the crystals itself, Harry will harness them all around the prison, we'll both be able to feel anything that happens." with that she picked up the last (fourth) gem and began to use the laser to carve in the rune. Before long the four of them were crystallised runes, ready to be buried under the prison earth and activated. "We can both replenish them this way, so neither of us are expending too much magic."
"It ain't somethin' can keep goin' itself?" Merle questioned, frowning deeply.
"No, think of it like a battery, a steady stream of magic output is fine as long as you don't overdo it, while you have a backup on charge, like my ipod. Doing too much magic can cause you to dip into that backup charge, we call it our magical core, and well it can leave you feeling as through you've drained yourself, empty even, like there's no more magic left in you. It's a horrible feeling and nobody willingly wants to experience it. It's why when you're putting wards up the more people that do it the better. The drain depends on how much power is required to push into your wand to cast the spell, the most common drain cause is focus, having to focus your magic to a great extent." four people doing it would have been preferable, like what the founders had done, and their magic was still going strong, now imbibed with hers since she'd had to fix the rune before leaving Hogwarts. She however, hadn't made the rune so she couldn't sense anything from Hogwarts, which admittedly would have been a comfort to her.
Merle grunted and gave a nod.
"I have many books that you could read on magic to help you understand it more if you like instead of just the school?" Luna suggested, delicately placing the four amethyst crystals into individual velvet bags. She didn't want to risk them being chipped, a single crack could make her hour long effort for nothing, and she'd have to start all over again with different crystals, she only had those ones, she'd need to wait and find pure amethyst from the shops. Harry didn't want to wait, he wanted the prison up and running and she wanted to help him achieve that.
"Alrigh'," Merle agreed, he wasn't apposed to learning more about magic. He would need to get through Hogwarts a History first though.
"I know that book isn't for everyone," Luna said grinning widely, sliding the velvet bags into her jacket. "More than half the school's population has never picked it up never mind read it. I just gave you it since it was the first book I read when I got my acceptance letter." she'd been wondering where the hat would place him, outwardly she'd have no problem going with Slytherin, his self preservation seemed to come first. She knew though that what people showed was only a facet of their true personality sometimes, he might have a bit of a Gryffindor hidden in there, or a Ravenclaw. Who was she kidding he was a survivalist, a complete Slytherin, Daryl was too. "It also helps explain the basics of magic and school for everyone, even people new to magic." she'd unconsciously stopped using the word Muggle, why? She'd observed that Harry never used it either.
"The war you told me about, if you were a pureblood why were you targeted?" Merle asked after a few minutes of silence, inwardly kicking himself when the amusement faded extremely fast from Luna's face, and kicked himself again when he found himself missing the smile. What the hell was wrong with him? He ain't anyone's bitch he thought vehemently.
"What makes you think I was?" Luna asked seriously, her good mood vanishing quicker than a niffer that had sniffed out gold.
"You were attacked," Merle stated, "It ain't your family, you speak of them with fondness." and to be honest it baffled him, he wasn't used to people having parents they loved, everyone he knew held nothing but distain for their parents. He had cared for his mama though, as best as he could, considering she'd been a neglectful woman who cared only for smoking and drinking. He regretted not being there for his brother when their mama died, but that was as far as his feelings went.
"And you've deduced that it was during the war?" Luna asked, realizing he must have seen her scars at some point, she couldn't help but ponder on when, she'd never bathed anywhere near anyone, because she didn't want to endure the pity. Not that Merle held any pity for her; in fact she didn't think Merle knew what pity was for.
"Only logical," Merle pointed out, he already knew he was right, Luna just didn't want to talk about it he'd bet.
"Being attacked implies a chance to fight back, I wasn't even given that," Luna replied, her blue eyes darker than usual as she thought on the darkest part of her life. "I was kidnapped from Hogwarts, pretty much the second I stepped foot back inside after the holidays. Three months it took for the entire magical world to be turned upside down. Pureblood's weren't as safe as you'd imagine, only those who had parents or relatives on the dark side were." Luna crossed her legs and stared at Merle watching him for any reaction. He definitely was different from all she knew.
"Why?" Merle asked, despite what had happened, it hadn't broken her, otherwise she wouldn't even be able to talk about it never mind so casually to someone she barely knew.
"A few reasons, my dad was a writer, he had his own magazine and we printed the truth while the other papers wrote lies before the war really started. You see nobody believed Harry when they were told Voldemort was back, all other newspapers were calling him an attention seeking liar and every other variation of it. We published an interview with Harry in it, sales went through the roof, and it pissed a lot of people off. The Quibbler was a tabloid that was owned, written and edited by my dad, by the time the war was at its greatest it was the sole voice of truth. The Death Eaters kidnapped me to keep my dad quiet, that and I was a known friend of Harry's, and they thought I'd know where he was. Basically my dad was blackmailed into keeping quiet and getting in touch with the Death Eaters if Harry ever came around, if he gave Harry over I would go free." Luna explained, "Harry did go to my house while on the run from the Death Eaters, thankfully Harry and the others realized what my dad was trying to do, and they got out. My dad was put in prison, and our house was destroyed." which was rebuilt...for all the good it did, it was abandoned now.
"How long were you taken?" Merle questioned, wondering why Luna wouldn't stop staring at him, she hadn't blinked once since she had started.
"It was seven nearly eight months," Luna informed him, she hadn't been alone though, and being able to help Ollivander enabled her to forget her own pain and loneliness. Knowing what his next question would be, she continued on. "Harry, Ron and Hermione were eventually caught after being on the run. Within half an hour they managed to find a way out, but that's Harry for you, he's incredibly resourceful and sneaky." Luna shook her head amused. "Not that it was easy, hearing the tortured screams of your best friend and unable to do a damn thing, but she was strong, strong enough to lie under the most painful curse known in our world, its as if a million burning hot nails being driven into your body, as if layers of skin were disintegrating with acid, a few minutes under that curse drives even the strongest person insane literally,"
Merle actually visibly winced, he could tell by the tone of her voice she had personal experience with his so called 'curse'. It was no wonder those two were coping so well compared to the others with this situation. They'd been through something much worse at the end of the day, survival was already ingrained.
"Harry called Dobby to him, he's a house-elf, he got everyone out and he and Ron went to get Hermione, it wasn't without its fatalities, or rather fatality, Dobby died getting everyone out of there. I stayed at shell cottage to recover and they went right back out, for months they were on the run again before it ended at Hogwarts." Luna revealed. Her dad was released and they patched up their relationship, she had been so angry at him for betraying her friends, but he'd regretted it, and they'd moved on, thankfully, she would never have forgiven herself if she'd stayed angry and the world ended without her dad knowing how much she loved him. Now he was reunited with her mum, she liked to think they were happy together. Her dad had been living for her and her alone since her mum, Pandora died.
"And your da?" Merle queried.
"He got out, the magical world tried to put itself together and then the entire world went to hell, its why we were so badly caught of guard, we thought the bad times were over and then in a blink of an eye its gone." Luna explained, "But hopefully we were smart enough to fight the walkers and endure. Unfortunately my father isn't one of them; he was bitten during the early days, when the fever hit he sent me a patronus, one of the last things he said was that he loved me and was proud of me."
"Did you leave anyone else behind," Merle asked, his voice suggestive, as he smirked at her. He honestly had no idea how to respond to her previous statement so he changed the subject.
Luna rolled her eyes at him, that was the normal Merle back, so he resorted to that when he felt uncomfortable? That was interesting; she'd need to remember that titbit of information. "I didn't have a boyfriend if that's what you mean," she said wryly. And if she did would she still be attracted to Merle? She supposed there was no point to speculating something so utterly inane and pointless...this was life now and nothing would change that.
"I find that hard to believe," Merle replied, she was hotter than a goats butt in a pepper patch. He could only imagine how she'd look all gussied up and well out of his league. If he'd seen her around before this all happened he imagined he would have left her nameless and probably been kicked in the balls for his trouble either that or given back as good as she got. She was strong, determined and despite her quiet nature never let anyone get one over her.
"Oh? Why is that?" Luna asked smirking at him, a knowing look in her electrifying blue eyes.
"Sugar you don't want to go there," Merle told her, finding himself increasingly amused by her ribbing.
"No?" Luna said slyly. "Are you sure about that?"
Merle just grinned in feral amusement, he really, really liked her, he'd always had a thing for blondes, like Andrea for example, but she didn't hold squat when compared to Luna.
"Screw this," Luna muttered, it was obvious Merle was just going to continue taunting and teasing, although from what she'd picked up on his nature it wasn't like him. He was always so blunt, and straightforward, if he liked her why hadn't he said anything yet? Well she'd soon enough have her answer, she thought as she stood up and moved towards Merle, inches from his face she gazed at him, "I'm not a girl who cares for one night stands, nor do I share Merle Dixon, and believe me you don't want to know what I'd do to you if you did...impotence spell would just be the first on my list," Luna murmured honestly, waiting to see what his move would be. She had basically told him she wanted to be in a relationship with him, but it had to be long term and well...it was entirely up to him.
Merle laughed darkly, not that he found the threat to be amusing and an empty one, but rather he had known Luna could be quite vindictive when pushed. Both Harry and Luna could, the group knew about Harry, mostly due to Randall, but nobody realized the quite shy Luna Lovegood was so...ruthless. It might be another reason he was so attracted to her, she wasn't the goody two shoes everyone saw, she was like him, willing to do whatever it took to protect those she loved and cared for even if it made them hated by everyone around them. It had been months since he had gotten any, so he wasn't about to turn it down, or at least he tried to tell himself that's why, he failed spectacularly as he reached out and grasped Luna's neck, and brought her closer towards him. A quiet groan leaving his lips as Luna straddled him, his brother was never going to let him hear the end of this, and he wasn't stupid he would know what he felt for Luna. All thoughts of his brother swiftly left as he concentrated on Luna.
End Of Flashback
"She's one of the last remaining Blacks," Harry explained, sitting on the grass, his gaze going to the prison to make sure nobody was going to make an appearance. "Remember how I told you about the system within the magical world? Well the Black's were considered one of the most 'pure' lines; in fact their motto is 'Toujours Pur' which means always pure. Only two of the remaining Black's had kids, there isn't a male heir, the last one was my godfather, Sirius Black, and he died when I was fifteen years old. Blood was important to the magical world, they felt it was important to persevere their bloodlines and make sure they had an heir to continue their names, the only good thing about having girls in the magical world is having someone to marry off into a line you want to merge with your own." it showed that Harry didn't care for any of those practices by the grimace on his face.
"You folk have really weird names," Merle said, a sarcastic grin on his face. "I bet he got bullied rotten,"
Harry grimaced, "No, try the other way around, he almost killed someone when he was sixteen years old...and it wasn't an accident."
"Let me guess it was swept under the rug because of who he was?" Mira guessed resignedly.
"That's putting it lightly," Harry replied blankly, refraining from snapping at her, she didn't know Sirius, so she shouldn't even be allowed to say things like that. It was different with him, he was Sirius' godson, and he knew Sirius so he was allowed to say stuff like that.
"We've gotten largely off topic, and we don't know how long we have," Luna cautioned them, there was better times for reminiscing over Sirius Black, although she was glad Harry could talk about him now without getting angry or sad or both. She had been the one to offer him comfort when he had died; she had seen how devastated and broken he was.
"You're right," Harry agreed.
"Are you Marius' daughter or granddaughter?" Luna enquired curiously.
"Daughter," Mira confessed, unable to believe she had come across two magical people from Britain, their accents gave them away.
"How exactly did you end up with Andre?" Harry got back to questioning her, making sure to meet her eyes.
"We were in a safe zone...a camp really, in Atlanta, I didn't know him or anything, but the biters got in, they started biting others and it was chaos, I was almost crushed under the weight of people trampling over me. I got up and ran, I ran as far and as fast I as could, avoiding the bullets that the army were firing on all of us! It wasn't just biters, it was a massacre. I heard a little boy screaming and crying as I ran, I couldn't leave him there, not when I could help the men with him just lay there either already dead or drugged up. I had no idea how long I'd be able to keep us both alive, but I knew I had to try." Mira insisted, as if she was trying to convince them.
Merle scoffed, unable to believe she had risked her life for a child not her own. Of course, he blanched when he noticed Luna's narrowed eyes on him; it was as though she could see right into the very heart of him. He shifted just slightly, unable to meet her eyes, he knew she would do the same thing, but it didn't stop him believing neither woman should have risked their lives for a kid they didn't know. Hell he didn't think Harry or his brother should have looked for Sophia but he'd never pretended to be a hero or a good man.
"The walk...biters as you call them, didn't get in," Harry explained solemnly, "We're all infected, when we die, unless our death is caused by some sort of blow to the head, gunshot or knife, and we return no exceptions."
Mira's eyes widened in shock, wanting to blurt out that it just wasn't possible, but she had that sinking feeling in her stomach that it was true. It made everything click. She's thought someone had gotten through against all the odds, everyone was always thoroughly searched when they were accepted in, kept in a separate area for up to three days to make sure they hadn't been scratched or bitten then allowed to settle in at camp. The area had been secure, really secure; she hadn't understood how it had happened, until now.
"I guess you don't have somewhere to stay?" Harry asked resignedly.
"No," Mira confessed, "If one camp can be over run...what's the point of looking for other safe zones? At least that was my thinking, for twenty four hours, and then I realized we couldn't possibly survive on our own. I'm good at being able to defend myself, but I can't do that properly with a child strapped to my back. The biters are everywhere, and there is nowhere to get food, it's all been swept off the shelves. I wish I had been able to grab some food from camp," she'd been feeling the affects of the sudden onset of starvation for the past two days. She wasn't just supporting her own weight; she was carrying a three year old curious boy, who didn't understand the dangers, well not truly. She'd been running almost constantly for days, stopping when she was literally seconds away from collapsing unconscious. It hurt to move, she just wanted to curl up and sleep for a year. "I just beg of you to let Andre stay if you don't want any more strangers, he will be safer and have a greater chance of survival in a big group like this."
Harry glanced at Luna who nodded subtly, and then around to Daryl who did the same, before his green eyes bored holes into Merle, Merle grumbled under his breath, but nodded reluctantly knowing why Harry was glaring at him pointedly. He wouldn't say anything to or about the kid, he never would have even if he wasn't warned, there was no fun in that. No he just liked winding them up, T-dog had made it all too easy. Plus he was sure he'd end up regretting it, not just Harry either but his little moon would ensure it too.
"You can stay, you will be responsible for Andre as if he is your own, and you will not look to the others to look after him all the time, although they wouldn't mind I'm sure, but you have to remain his primary guardian. I don't want to find him injured or worse still shuffling around as a walker and having to put him down." Harry stated seriously, ignoring the fact she was already nodding vigorously. "And listen closely, everyone here is the only one that knows about our magic." gesturing between himself and Luna. "That is the way it remains, if it gets out I will be extremely pissed off."
"I understand," She replied, giving him an odd look, "I've grown up my whole life knowing about magic I think I can keep it secret for a while longer." she couldn't help the sarcasm, she really couldn't, Mira knew he wasn't saying it to be condescending or annoying, he was just telling her how it was.
"You might actually have a chance of fitting in here," Harry said wryly, smirking at her. "This is Luna Lovegood, she'll take you in, have Carol get her something to eat and somewhere to get some rest."
"You might want to tell her your name, Harry, we don't want her giving you away when she learns it now do we?" Luna said, with a straight face, which lasted only a few seconds before she was grinning sheepishly at him.
"Very funny," Harry muttered, scowling in annoyance, "Maybe I shouldn't have used my real name with anyone here..." it would certainly have been better. With a little luck she wouldn't even know who he was? Maybe Figg had been the only squib who knew him...she had kept an eye on him since he was a kid until he left Hogwarts.
The Dixons just watched eyebrows raised in curiosity, despite all they'd learned they failed to realize just how famous Harry was in his world.
Mira just stared relieved, so happy she wouldn't have to go back out there and face the world alone, with a vulnerable child. As much as those two men intimidated the hell out of her, she'd rather face them than the biters. They must be good people if they were trusted with magic, and those two magical people seemed trustworthy, the first thing they wanted to do was feed a little boy that was a very good sign. They must have a good judge of character and she prayed she was right otherwise... well it didn't bear thinking about.
"You tell her," Harry said, "I'm going hunting," he'd barely had time to turn his back before Luna spoke causing him to groan, she was doing this on purpose!
"His name is Harry Potter," Luna informed her, still grinning, she shouldn't be getting so much amusement out of it but she was.
"What? Are you serious?" she spluttered. Her gaze going to the back of Harry's head as if she could somehow see it appear out the other side.
Harry turned and glared at Luna, "Go, now, we don't have all day, you still have something to do." sighing loudly, "Stop that!" he snapped in annoyance feeling old self consciousness rearing its head again. Merlin it had been so long since anyone had glanced at his forehead to see his scar. "It's just a bloody scar!"
"Scar?" Merle asked curiously.
"You're a hunter that didn't notice a scar on Harry's head?" Luna teased him, "Are you losing your touch Merle?"
"Well cut off my legs and call me shorty," Merle muttered, actually seeing the scar for the first time.
"I just might," Harry replied, "I'll see you guys later,"
"Be careful," Luna called, as Harry ran as if the hounds of hell were on him, eager to get away.
"He's....he's Harry Potter?...THE Harry Potter!" she squeaked out, eyes astonishingly large.
"Yes," Luna replied calmly, at least she'd have time to come to terms with the fact Harry was there before he returned. "Do you need a moment to yourself before you go in there?" she asked already edging away herself, she really didn't want to deal with any of the questions, damn it no wonder Harry had ran far and fast as possible. Cursing inwardly, her own amusement she felt was about to back fire big time.
"Why did he come here? Why was he here?" Mira asked, wandering after Luna, who internally groaned. Luna went to the edge of the prison and began to dig down.
"Malfunctioning Portkey." Luna explained, "He has a manor somewhere in America...I'm not sure where I never asked, either the idiot in the Ministry did something or the wards closed the manor down." if a single walker went near the property it stood to reason that the wards would have closed down to protect any living things in the manor. Once she was over eight feet down, where nobody would stumble upon it accidentally, she removed one of the pouches and checked the gem before placing it in, rune side up, and piled the mud back into position. One down three to go.
"Why hasn't he Apparated or flew home?" Mira asked, moving with her still curious.
As for the questions? Luna had no idea when they would end.