Bombs Fall, Witches Burn (TheSilentProtagonist and Vi)

[Lady Vi]

Winter was coming to the forest at the edge of the Bowden moor. The first proper freeze was weeks away yet, but every day was shorter than the last. Today had been a damp, miserable sort of day. Heavy clouds had starved the sky of sunlight and threatened to dump chilling rain. Eloise had hurried through her outdoor chores for fear of being rained on, but the first drops were kind enough to wait until she was safely inside. Inside the little house, a pot-bellied iron stove clunked and clanged as it's fire warmed them against the night. Ellie was at the old porcelain sink, pumping water into the basin to wash a few dirty bowls. On the stove, a kettle boiled beside a large pot of left-over stew that would probably be breakfast for the next day. Antique-looking oil lamps were at every window, chasing away the terrors that waited. A careful observer, however, might notice that the lamps burned with neither wick nor oil.

Outside, the rain pummeled the trees as if it would knock off their browning leaves. Even without those nameless creatures in the woods, Ellie wouldn't have wanted to be outside in that mess. At least the rain pelting down would fill the well. The cabin's water supply had run dangerously low over the summer and had left Eloise with a nagging nervous fear. Of course, Luna hadn't been concerned at all.

Ellie glanced across the cabin's single room to where Luna was stringing up bundles of... Weeds? Wildflowers? Herbs? Who knew. The fair-haired girl had an uncanny talent for finding uses for useless items. For all Elle could say, they might be priceless lifesaving remedies. Dressed in powder-blue pajamas that were just a little too big for her small frame, Luna hummed contentedly as she hung the days' harvest. Her hair was down, a pale tangle that nearly hit the small of her back. Ellie was tempted to suggest brushing out the knots, but that often ended up taking hours. The witch had absurdly soft hair. And soft skin. And lips...

Eloise grit her teeth and poured out some scalding water into the wash-basin before scrubbing the night's dishes with renewed energy. Admiring Luna was... a dangerous line of thought. Oh sure, they had enjoyed a few tender moments on occasion, but nothing near what Elle craved. It had been a long couple years in the woods.

"I may go into the village tomorrow, if the weather holds." Eloise drained the wash basin, watching the filthy water spiral away before gripping the pump handle and splashing cold water over the dishes to rinse them. Muscles in her arms rippled with the movement. Ellie had been a thin girl when they had first arrived, but soft. Her most strenuous activities had been dancing until dawn, not the sort of thing that would ruin a manicure. Now her hands were calloused and strong, her body tighter than a bowstring. She wore a tank top that fit too tightly and a pair of comfortable grey sweats. Elle was also blonde, though her hair wasn't nearly so long as Luna's. It had been a fashionably short length once upon a time, all styled and club-perfect... Now? Well, her ponytail was tidy at least.

"Oh?" Luna blinked as she climbed down from the cabin's couch. The ceiling was crowded with drying bundles of varying age. "Why? Do we need something?"

"Well, I finished that quilt last night and I think we can get a good price now that the weather's turning. We could use some more wool for socks... And batteries." Elle muttered the last under her breath. Apocalypse or not, there were some things a girl shouldn't be expected to do without. "Joe Phearson was saying last month that he thought his generator would be running again soon. I want to see if he'll let me charge my iPod. He's a sleazy creep, so it should be easy."

"You don't have to do that, I've nearly got it figured out." Luna said blithely as she sat cross-legged on the couch. Her absurdly large eyes looked nearly blue as she held up a rechargeable battery in excitement. It was charred with several black lines at the ends. "There were hardly any sparks this time!"

"That's great, but..." Elle paused to stare as Luna levitated the battery several inches over her palm. "God, Luna, stop that! What if someone was looking in the window?"

"They'd be rude for not knocking. No one is outside anyway, not after dark and not with Them in the woods." The blonde girl smiled in dreamy delight. "It's so much simpler now. I used to need a wand for this, you know."

Eloise sighed and began drying the dishes with her back to the window while she watched Luna play with the battery. Soon she was smiling along as more small objects joined in to spin wobbly orbits around the pale girl.

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

Alexander King finds himself adjusting to the apocalypse rather well, all things considered. He misses the luxuries of his old life, like stable sources of food and running water, but all things considered, he is still better off than most people, even in this new state of the world. He’s always kept in good shape, and having worked security back when something like that still had a point, he is rather well equipped to handle himself in a fight. The man’s Mediterranean features seem to be a bit more prominent now thanks to the amount of time he’s spending out in the sun, and his once short cut black hair has grown out quite a bit.

Scratching at his chin, Alex thinks that he could really use a shave soon. It wasn’t a full on beard yet, and the rugged look could be considered sexy, but he prefers to keep his face clean when possible. Stopping to take a sip of water from his canteen, Alex turns to his traveling companion. “So hey, know of any spell that lets me handle grooming?” He asks. The slightly shorter blond man fixes a hard gaze right into Alex’s brown eyes, the message coming through loud and clear. If he did, then he’d have already used it himself. “Right, magic doesn’t work like it’s supposed to.” Alex says with a laugh. It had been the excuse Draco used every time a spell failed to work or did something completely different than what he intended.

Well, Alex isn’t complaining too much. The whole world seemed to have gotten turned on its head. Hell, it’s probably the reason why he started showing his own signs of magical power. Oh yeah, that’s definitely been the biggest plus to this whole end of the world thing. Alex loved fantasy stuff and he’s not ashamed to admit that he used to pretend he was a wizard. Now the 27 year old man is living one of the dreams he’s had since he was five. He does wish it hadn’t come at the cost that it had, of course, he’s trying to make lemonade.

Alex is pulled from his thought by a sound of something scraping by in the woods. “Inferi!” Draco shouts, taking out and clutching his wand. Alex isn’t sure why he would, since magic is unreliable at the moment and wands don’t even seem to be needed, but he figures it’s an instinctive thing. To a wizard, a wand is their most valuable tool, an extension of themselves. To go from relying on that for one’s entire life to just throwing it away isn’t exactly easy. Besides, as Alex draws his own weapon, a rather hefty “What good will that do?” Draco asks, being right of course. Inferi did not play by zombie movie rules. A shot to the head didn’t really stop them.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Alex says, pointing at the wand before looking around. “Come on, this way!” He shouts, running in the opposite direction of the sounds. Soon the duo are running up a hill towards the only source of safety they can find, a small cabin nestled at the top. Up there, Alex looks around slowly, creeping under the windows. There are plenty of trigger happy people in the world, after all. Leaning up, Alex peaks through the glass, his eyes widening as he does. “A couple of blonde cuties.” He whispers to Draco, the wizard just rolling his eyes in response. “I kinda feel like the odd man out here now.” Alex peaks again, his eyes going even wider before quickly dropping. “One of them used magic!” He says eagerly, not bothering to hide the excitement in his voice.

That seems to get Draco’s attention. The blonde wizard had already lost so much, even before the apocalypse. For the longest time, he’d been worried that his magic was lost forever. It was the only thing he truly had, his pride in being a wizard. The depression before realizing that simply the rules had changed left him almost incapable of acting. He’s determined to familiarize himself with his magic again though. His pride wouldn’t let him settle for anything else. The chance encounter with Alex at least gave him someone to travel with, even if that someone was a muggle. He could make do.

Well, he isn’t technically a muggle, not anymore at least. He’s a mudblood though. No, a muggle born, Draco corrects himself in his head. Too much has happened in his life time, too much has changed for him to keep using that term. Old habits die hard, but he needs to move past it. Alex is proving a useful ally, after all, no matter the circumstances of his birth or how he got his magic. There’s no denying that the black haired man can get grating though. He always seemed to have a joke on hand, and had absolutely no qualms about flirting with everyone and everything he meets, including Draco himself.

So hearing that there’s a couple of cute girls in the cabin only earns some exasperation from Draco. Hearing that one of them used magic though, this he has to see. The wizard runs to the window, looking through it. His brow furrows for a moment before he shouts out in realization. “Lovegood!” He exclaims so loudly that there’s no way the two girls would have missed it.

 

[Lady Vi]

At the sound of the strange voice, Elle dropped her bowl. It didn't break, thankfully, but it made an awful clatter. Luna whipped her orbiting objects into her hands, face going even more pale than usual.

"There's someone outside!" She gasped. Thanks to glare on the glass, she couldn't make out the faces but she didn't need to see them to know that they were in danger.

"Shit. Shitshitshit..." Ellie bolted for the front door, unlocking and opening it while grabbing the cricket bat that served as her... 'pest control'. With her free hand the slender woman grabbed for Alex's jacket and pulled him inside, grabbing for Draco's wrist before Alex had even stopped moving. Gaunt, putrid hands clawed at the edge of the porch, afraid to come closer to the light. "Get in, damnit! Hurry! God, what are you idiots doing out in the dark? Are you mental?!"

Eloise locked the door behind them, just as one of the crawling creatures pulled itself onto the top steps. She sprinted, bat in hand, to each window to crank up the lamps. The extra light should be enough to keep the inferi at bay...

Inside the cabin it was warm; smelling of woodsmoke, flowers, and stew. The single room was sparsely furnished: just a couch, coffee-table, and the butcher's table that served as a kitchen counter. Shelves on each wall held muggle books on various subjects, as well as bottles, baskets, and their pots and pans. There seemed to be very little organization to the shelves, but everything was clean at least. In the far corner was a nook with two bunks built into the wall, both piled generously with handmade blankets. The only other door to the cabin was slightly ajar to show a very old toilet and a chipped porcelain bathtub.

Luna stood beside the coffee-table, hands forming tight little fists at her sides. She was very pale, Elle noticed, and seemed to be staring at the blonde man. Eloise couldn't really blame her, even scruffy the fellows were rather handsome, but Luna didn't seem exactly 'smitten'. She seemed... Angry?

"Hello, Draco." Luna said with her usual breezy calm. Ellie noted uncomfortably how the hairs on the back of Luna's neck were beginning to stand up, as if they were passing through a thunderstorm. Perhaps not so calm..."Have you killed anyone lately? Who's your friend?"

"Ah, what? You know him?" Ellie crossed her arms under her breasts nervously while keeping her bat nearby. She'd come back to the 'killed' comment later.

"We attended the same school." Luna said with a nod. The static in the air dissipated as Luna gathered her self-control.

"Oh, so he's a... Like you?" Elle was careful not to say 'wizard'. Around here, with the town so close, that sort of title could get you killed. Her brown eyes lingered on him, taking in the dirt and mud as well as his unkempt hair. So very blonde! Were all magic users so... White? "Well, okay then. Hi, I'm Ellie. Uh, you know Luna..."

She held out held out her hand to the darker fellow. Luna didn't know his name, so best to learn it as soon as possible.

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

Truth be told, it’s probably a good thing that Draco called out that girl’s name. The inferi had been getting closer, and now that the ladies noticed the duo on the outside, it makes getting into some shelter much easier. Running in past the girl at the door, Alex has his gun at the ready, hoping he won’t actually have to take any shots. Fortunately, the walking corpses keep their distance, letting them safely close the door. Still, Alex keeps his eye on the window. The last thing he wants is for the practically mindless enemies to somehow get a drop on them.

“We were out first. If anything, the dark was just being inconsiderate by not giving us more time to get away from it.” Alex replies when questioned on what they were doing. He can’t really help it. Joking is his way of dealing with tense situations. Staying on his post, the black haired man tries to remember what he did to get a spell working last time. It had caused some fire to burst out, but he hadn’t since been able to recreate the circumstances of its cast. Maybe there wasn’t one and it had been what Draco had suggested, a burst of magic to show that he had some ability, but was still untapped. Basically, what happened to kids before they started practicing their magic.

Alex then remembers seeing the girl using magic as well, and turns his attention to her. Was she the Luna Draco mentioned earlier? She’s cute at least, he can tell that much. There was something odd about the girl though. Alex can’t quite place a finger on what it is though. Well, hopefully there would be plenty of time for him to find out. Before he can speak up again, the girl confirms her identity and gives a rather pointed remark to Draco. He’s a bit confused. When did his traveling partner kill anyone? The blonde wizard was pretty quiet about his past life, though Alex is sure he came from high standing. That was just something he picked up on during their travels. Draco didn’t seem used to roughing it, didn’t really like getting dirty, and had a constant air of superiority around him, though one he at least tried to hide.

Alex tries for another joke to diffuse the situation, figuring a fight right now would only cause a lot more trouble. “Not anyone who was still living.” He offers before realizing the humor was maybe a bit too dark. “Uh… never mind…” Alex adds with a cough. Hopefully things could warm up. When the other girl introduces herself, he smirks at her, accepting the hand and shaking it. “I’m charmed… though not literally, which is starting to be a real problem apparently. My name is Alexander King. You can feel free to call me Alex or King. Whichever is more comfortable for you.” He mentions with a wink before nodding towards the other boy. “As you know, that’s Draco. I have to say, we’re really lucky to have run into you two.” Looking back at the blonde witch, Alex can’t help frowning. “At least, I hope we were. Draco, what’s she talking about, if you don’t mind me asking.” Had he been traveling all this time with a murderer?

Draco is quick to defend himself. “I never killed anyone!” He snaps, waving his wand around uselessly before pausing. His hand shakes and he clutches the piece of wood even tighter. “I… I never killed anyone, but some people…” He looks to the floor, a sad memory playing in his mind before he shakes his head and glares at them with false confidence. “Don’t listen to Loony over there. Next she’ll be telling you about invisible hair sprites or something! How did you even end up here?”

 

[Lady Vi]

Elle stared at 'Alex' as he tried to cover up a particularly bad joke. Her lips twisted in a wry expression that was trying very hard not to be a smile. Tongue in cheek, she arched an eyebrow as if to ask 'Really?'. Of course, once the blonde guy started waving his wand around, Ellie became a bit more serious.

"Woah, now. Careful with that, wave your wand about and someone could lose an eye." She put her hand on Draco's wrist and firmly lowered his arm until the wand was pointed at the floor, rather than her friend... 'Loony'? Well, that was mean. Accurate though, funny it hadn't occurred to her before. "Wait, are you talking about wrackspurts? Jesus, they get in your hair too?!"

Eloise scratched at her scalp nervously, just in case any of those nasty bugs were hiding. Luna sighed and rolled her eyes. Elle could stand down a crowd of drunk, angry muggles without blinking, but show her one baby acromantula and she's shrieking and sobbing in the bathtub, throwing shoes...

"They don't live in your hair, that's just ridiculous. They live inside your head." Luna frowned and gave Draco a frank once-over. He was filthy, both of the men were tracking mud all over her nice clean floors. But most importantly, he looked miserable. "Well, I suppose you have to stay the night. The inferi are too rude to let you pass through in the dark. I think we have some clothes your size."

Luna opened a trunk and began rummaging around with her ass in the air. Elle watched for a moment or two, entertained by the way the thin fabric pulled tight across Luna's little bottom. Catching herself, she looked away and hurried over to the bunks.

"Here, you're soaked. Take off your boots and take a blanket." She looked back over her shoulder. "Um. You might want to undress first though. Sorry, but you guys are pretty dirty."

"We met in Glasgow. When the explosions started, I was in Norway researching the northern variant of the crumple-horned snorcack. I tried apperating, but it went a bit sideways. Here, try these." Luna stood, oblivious to the fact that anyone might have been staring. She handed both men a pair of plain grey sweats.

"She means literally sideways, too." Elle brought over a couple heavy quilts, hand-stitched though fairly well made. "I was crashed at a friend's house after a party and went out for some breakfast. People were shouting and looting, and I had the worst cotton-mouth, you wouldn't believe it. I just kinda wandered around until BAM! Luna hit me head-first in the gut. I guess some folk saw. It was pretty ugly."

"Eloise stole a car-"

"Borrowed! I haven't given it back yet, is all."

"Oh, right. 'Borrowed' a car and we came out here." Luna held up shirts of various sizes, finally handing Alex a faded black one with a band logo on it. "This one. It looks good with your eyes."

"I went with a bloke once who took me out here for a weekend. Older, and terrifying when the mood was on him, but knew how to have a good time. A bit off his rocker, though." Elle shrugged and gestured to the lamps. "I didn't notice it then. Or if I did notice, I was too high to care. All this magic stuff was here already, so I guess he was a wizard. It was really lucky I remembered where it was..."

Luna motioned for the boys to change while she turned her back and stared at the ceiling. Her long hair made a waving curtain that brushed the curve of her rump with her head tilted like that. Ellie seemed to remember the stew for the first time.

"Oh! Are you boys hungry? There's more than enough to share." She turned toward the kitchen area, giving them privacy and putting Luna out of her vision. "There's brandy too. It's not very good, just some homemade stuff from down the road, but it will knock you on your arse faster than... A flying witch."

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

No matter how well Ellie tries to hide it, Alex smirks as he picks up on her holding back a laugh. He considers it a victory, personally. He looks over to Draco incredulously. “Come on man, be nice.” He tells his traveling companion. Alex doesn’t mind a joke, but not at someone else’s expense. The exception there is when he’s friends with someone and knows they won’t mind. That’s clearly not the case here as Draco seems to have intentionally used the term maliciously. “Just try to get along. Don’t antagonize our hosts, alright?” The blonde haired wizard glares at Alex before turning away instead of responding.

Sighing, Alex shakes his head. He turns back towards the girls, curious what the hell they’re talking about. It could all just be a joke, but after what he’s seen, he’ll believe just about anything. “Yeah, sorry. We don’t plan to stay too long.” The black haired man says. “In the morning, I’ll head to the nearest town, assuming there is one nearby. I’ll see about getting some supplies, so if you two need anything at all, just let me know.” He offers politely, the smile on his face implying more than just rations or new blankets being offered.

Thanking the girls again for the fresh clothes, Alex watches as Luna goes digging for them. He… stares. He unashamedly stares and watches her ass unintentionally wiggle as she looks for the outfits. Feeling a smack on his head, he looks back to Draco. “What?” He says, the other wizard rolls his eyes, muttering for Alex to control himself. “I am.” Alex points out. He hadn’t been with a girl since before the apocalypse, so he really was showing some restraint, the man figures. Besides, if most of the world’s population is wiped out… he starts to think, looking back towards Luna only to see that she’s already taken out the clothes. Damn, oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Plus, he’d noticed that he hadn’t been the only one staring. That really only added fuel to the fire as thoughts race through his head about what the girls might have gotten up to while alone out here.

Alex holds up the shirt. He really wasn’t a fan of anything besides solid color tees or button up shirts, but he’s not about to complain about getting some fresh clothes. “Thanks.” He says to Luna, smiling at her as he takes it. “And some food sounds amazing!” He shouts back to Ellie. “We’ve been making do with rations from an army surplus store. That stuff is really, well, not designed with flavor in mind.” Looking around, Alex shrugs his shoulders before taking off his current shirt. Other than the sweat that made it stick, the article was also covered in dirt and holes. He uses it to quickly wipe his toned body down before balling it up and leaving it in a corner to throw away at some point. He then does the same with his pants, leaving him in only a pair of black boxer briefs. “Feel free to enjoy the show. Least I can do to pay you back.” He jokes with a wink at Luna before quickly getting dressed again, not wanting to make the scene too awkard.

 

[Lady Vi]

Luna kept her eyes averted a while longer, but only because she had noticed a fascinating pattern in her herb bundles on the ceiling. It looked a bit like the head of a sea-serpent, or possibly a small dragon. She was about to draw everyone's attention to the interesting shape but when she turned, the words fled completely. Alex was pulling up his sweats and the motion was infinitely more interesting than her herbs. Ellie seemed to think so too. Behind the men, Eloise had stopped ladling the stew and was watching Draco with a near predatory expression. Luna had seen that expression occasionally on her friends face, but it wasn't until this context that the witch recognized it as lust. Suddenly, all those shared showers were just a tad awkward.

"There's a town just three miles away. Elle was going tomorrow, weren't you Ellie?" Luna drew the other girl's attention back to the conversation before she burned herself on the stove. "The people there aren't very friendly though."

"That's an understatement. Those bigots are fuckin' dangerous." Elle finished filling two bowls and took a partial loaf of rough bread from under an over-turned bowl. She tore it into two chunks and put one in each bowl before bringing them to the boys. The stew was remarkably well-seasoned with bits of shredded meat and chunks of various root vegetables. Oats gave it a rich texture as well, though the bread was pretty tough. "Bon apetit. Look, I wouldn't try trading with the town if you can avoid it. They... Don't really like your sort of people. New-comers or wizards. You'll probably get cheated at best, staked up at worst."

"We could vouch for them," Luna piped in while Elle sat on the arm of the couch. "If you and I took them to market, no one would try anything nasty."

"Yeah, I guess, but someone should stay here just in case. I don't like leaving the house unguarded." Eloise let her gaze linger, noting absently that Luna was staring a bit as well. Without intending to, she began speaking: "Where are you guys heading, anyway? Winter is coming and it should be a hard one, will you be safe traveling? With the inferi out, maybe you should just stay here until spring. You know, when the days are longer and you can cover more ground?"

Luna stared at Elle this time, shocked that she would open their home so easily. Of course, it made sense. There was work that needed doing, and more hands would help... Winter was particularly lonely, too. Company would be welcome in the long, dark hours.

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

Alex doesn’t miss the staring, which brings a pleased smirk to his face. He never minded putting on a show for a cute girl. Draco doesn’t make a presentation of it when he changes, just getting it over with. The black haired wizard notices Ellie glancing at the blonde anyways though. Well, that certainly made things easy. Luna and Draco don’t seem to be on the best of terms, so if things all worked out then… wow, Alex realizes quickly that he is getting way ahead of himself. The smell of dinner pulls him away from that though and gives him something else to think about.

“Thank you so much!” He says, grinning broadly as he takes his bowl. “This looks amazing. Way better than I expected and what we’ve been having lately. I honestly started debating the ethics of grilling inferi.” Alex jokes as he digs into the stew. It tastes just as good as it looks, and the darker skinned wizard burns himself more than a few times as he tries to scarf it down. Draco rolls his eyes and scoffs as he eats his own food more slowly. Though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, he’s clearly just as impressed as Alex is with the meal.

The two wizards look to each other and shrug their shoulders. This wouldn’t be the first town to give them a hard time. They’d been run out of the last one they were in, even. “We’ll handle it fine.” Alex remarks. “They’ll probably already hate me enough just for sounding American. Hey Draco, should I play up a Texas accent again? That’s always worth a laugh.”

Draco naturally ignores his traveling companion, instead making plans with the girls. “I can stay behind back here while Alex deals with the town. If those muggles are going to cause problems for no reason, then I don’t see why I should waste my time with them.” There seems to be a pause between those and muggles, as though he was leaving some word out between the two. “I’ll stay here and guard whatever there is in this place.”

Alex is okay with this plan, personally. Draco really wasn’t good around other people for the most part anyways. He tended to rub them the wrong way. It seems clear he was sheltered in some way, though as Alex realizes, Draco wasn’t sheltered from everyone else, just the muggle world. “Winter is coming? Really?” Alex asks teasingly. “What next, are you going to tell me you always pay your debts?” He jokes with a soft chuckle. Still, Ellie did bring up a good question. “Well, truth be told, we don’t really have any place in mind. No maps. No GPS. Nothing. We’ve just kinda been wandering around, looking for some place safe.” The offer did sound nice, but Alex isn’t too sure about it. “As good as that sounds, I don’t like planning out too far ahead. We appreciate you guys letting us stay here, but I figure we’ll see how things go in town first before thinking of making it last until spring.”

 

[Lady Vi]

"Of course we pay our debts," Luna said, head cocked to the side in curiosity. Elle started to chuckle as the joke sank in, earning a questioning glance from the girl.

"I didn't catch that. Well done. Don't worry Luna, just a muggle joke. Be a dear and make us something warm to drink?" Luna shrugged and walked to the kitchen area to fetch the teapot. The cracked clay thing had seen better days, but it kept the water warm much longer than fragile china. "I guess you're a muggle-born, then? Luna had no idea what a telly was, gave us a laugh trying to explain it."

Luna filled the teapot's basket with herbs, mostly raspberry leaf, and walked past them again to fetch the kettle. She kept glancing at Alex, catching him watching, though she couldn't understand why. Hot water went in the pot, setting the dried leaves to dancing. It was lovely to watch, so she did. When the motion was still, Luna brought over four mismatched mugs and a plastic pot of honey. Ellie poured, chattering away about nothing at all. The brandy was offered again, and Luna squeezed several spoonfuls of honey into her tea. Eloise drank hers without.

"It's a bad idea," Luna said quietly as she sat beside Alex. "The people in town can be... just awful. There's a lot of them, too. It's best not to make them upset."

"She's right. It's been a while since the last fire, but people get... Anxious. A lot of folk blame you lot for the war." It was clear from the way Elle said it that she did not share the opinion. "That's actually why I try to keep Luna here instead of coming with."

Well, that and the alone time. Which wasn't likely to happen again for a while... Eloise sighed. Oh well, if these fellows had 'gone without' as long as Ellie had, asking them to stay would probably be more satisfying than 'alone time'. The trick would be picking one.

"Well, regardless, I'm not going to town tomorrow if the weather stays like this." Ellie leaned forward to set her mug down before reaching her hands over her head and arching back to 'stretch'. Yes, entirely a stretch and not a ploy to make bits of anatomy more visible. "A six-mile slog through the raid is not my idea of fun, thanks."

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

“Ah, finally someone who gets this stuff!” The black haired wizard shout s gleefully when Ellie laughs at his joke. “Do you know how hard it is these days to find a crowd that appreciates a good pop culture reference?” He jokes, looking over to Draco who just sneers at him. The blonde wizard never much cared for his companion’s humor. Alex is smirking even more as he keeps seeing Luna look at him. Of course, that could be due to all the staring he’s doing himself. At one point when she looks his way, he can’t resist winking at her, just to see how she would react.

“Yeah, muggle born and raised.” Alex answers, slowly taking his eyes off Luna. “I never even knew I had magic till after the bombs dropped.” He says, shrugging his shoulders. “Actually, maybe I didn’t before that. All sorts of weird shit happened thanks to it. I’m not entirely ready to rule out that I developed magic thanks to the apocalypse.” He looks over to Draco and nods at him. “He doesn’t know the cause. We’re both trying to figure out the rules involved here.” That makes him remember what he first saw when he got here. “Lu, you were making something float earlier, weren’t you? How’d you do that?”

Draco scoffs. “Of course those people blame us for everything. Never mind that magic never could have done what those bombs did. If anyone’s to blame, it’s the muggles.” He mutters angrily. This is not the first time Alex has heard the complaint, and while he agrees, he just doesn’t see the point of putting the blame on one group of people, especially generalizing it as much as magic vs muggle folk. The blonde wizard points to Alex. “He never seems to mind what the weather is like. As he once told me, unless it’s raining acid, the water isn’t going to hurt.” With that, Draco leans back and sips his honeyless tea. “So I suppose you will still be going then?” He asks his traveling companion.

Alex shrugs his shoulders. If neither Ellie nor Draco were going, and Luna avoided the town, it sounds like now there isn’t really an option. “Yeah, I’ve got no problem going on my own.” He says. “I think I can handle it. If there’s a working car anywhere, that would help though, but I’d make do with just a wagon. What supplies do you ladies need anyways?” He asks, smiling at the two girls.

 

[Lady Vi]

Luna blinked in mild confusion at Alex's wink. Elle had noticed though, and she was trying to smile encouragingly without the boys noticing. It came off... well, rather maniacal. Even without her friend's silly grin, Luna knew when she was being flirted with. Okay, maybe she only knew sometimes, but Alex wasn't really being subtle. His attention wasn't unwelcome, but she wasn't entirely sure how to respond. In the old days, before the war made such a mess, she might have asked him to go hunt nargles or get a butter-beer in a tavern. Good witches always dated for a while before getting 'entangled', but if the men were leaving in a few days she didn't really have time. And getting 'tangled' sounded like fun. Luna wasn't nearly so attention-starved as Eloise, but even she was beginning to question the value of being 'good'.

When Alex asked about her levitation, Luna's pale face lit up. This was easy. She knew just how to behave.

"Oh! Here, let me show you! Sit.... Right here!" She took his hand and dragged him to an open spot on the floor. Ellie laughed and hopped over the back of the couch to sit beside Draco.

"She's so happy to have someone to show off for." The muggle girl leaned over so she could speak to the blonde fellow without Luna hearing. "I don't understand a lick of it... But even I can see that you folk aren't to blame. They're just ignorant, inbred, pikey bastards who happen to have the guns."

Meanwhile, Luna was holding a single depleted AA battery about six inches off the palm of her hand. It rotated lazily in the air, following an unseen pattern. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing Alex. Gracefully, Luna rolled her wrist and 'pushed' the little cylinder towards Alex's chest. It moved as if underwater.

"Hold out your hand and just... Feel it. It's a bit like the seed of a grape to me. All dark and solid sitting inside a round sweet jelly. That jelly is what you want to move." She poked at the air around the battery with one finger, as if she expected it to resist her touch. "I was supposed to be filling these for Ellie. Sparks are easy, it's how we light the fire when it goes out. She thought I could put a little energy back inside, but that's when I started noticing the 'jelly'. Everything has it, I think, but some things are just too heavy or the jelly isn't thick enough. I can lift about 30 kilos at once this way, but heavy things are harder."

Luna gathered up more of the batteries, encircling them in a ring. Eloise watched in amusement for a moment or two, until she realized just how it looked to have all those empty batteries lying around, rechargeable or not.

"We found those here! You know, for the wireless?" Ellie felt her cheeks going red as she struggled to explain to Draco why they had so many dead batteries. "I used a bunch up in my stereo too..."

"Mhm, she goes through them so fast." Luna said cluelessly, causing Eloise to rub the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Maybe you'll have more luck filling them than I did. I've done it once, but... I'm not sure how. Anyway, we have the car but no pitrollf."

"Petrol..." Eloise laughed nervously. At least Luna had changed the subject. "Well, there's a little in the tank, but only enough to get into town if we're lucky. As far as I know, there's none to be bought in town."

"We just walk. It's not a bad walk at all. The moor is lovely." Luna smiled, watching her little satellites whizzing around.

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

Well, it seems like at least his flirting has the girl’s brain running through some thoughts, Alex thinks to himself. He’d figure out if that’s a good or a bad thing in due time, he’s sure. He lets Luna drag him over to the floor, sitting next to her as he watches the witch explain her discovery. Raising an eyebrow he nods and tries to look closely at the battery. “30 kilos? Damn, that’s not bad. Does it strain you much?” He asks, curious if it was like carrying that amount manually. “So, jelly, huh? Does everything have it? Like uh…” He remembers a word an ex of his used to be fond of. “What, like its aura or something?” That made an… odd sort of sense to him. If magic exists, then why couldn’t something like that?

Draco scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Well of course she is. All the Ravenclaws were like that. She was always a…” The wizard wants to choose his words carefully this time. Even he realizes that he’s a guest here and being rude after them feeding and sheltering him would only cause unnecessary trouble. “special one.” He finally decides on. “I’m sure you’ve noticed it though.” He tells Ellie. He realizes that he hadn’t told her she could sit next to him but then… well, he didn’t necessarily mind right now. Admittedly, he had missed having more people around, especially women, and this girl in particular was quite attractive for a muggle. That thought makes him scowl and he unintentionally edges a bit away from her, not even noticing that he did it. “Oh joy, more guns. Alex will be happy to know about that. He’ll probably want them for himself. He insists that somehow he’s going to learn to shoot magic out of his.” The blonde wizard says, clearly thinking the idea is ridiculous.

Alex hears him and laughs. “Why not? I’m just saying, after everything I’ve seen, I’m not ready to discount any idea that comes my way.” With that thought, he concentrates. The air around the battery seems to distort, maybe, or maybe he’s just seeing things? Either way, he focuses this time on moving that small area around the battery. To his surprise, the small object starts to shake around in his hand, beginning to lift up, though Alex is straining himself to do so. Hearing what Ellie says next though causes his concentration to break as he bursts into laughter.

He looks over to the muggle girl and smirks. “Going through them quick in your stereo, huh? Hopefully that won’t be a problem for much longer, huh?” Draco and Luna both seem lost on this. Then again, from what Draco has told him, even flashlights and cars were new concepts to a lot of the magical world. “Don’t worry about it.” He says to their questioning looks, putting his attention back on the battery. “I can try to figure it out, but I should admit, so far all I’ve really done with my magic was push things back and make them go boom. So uh… hopefully that doesn’t happen.”

Standing up, Alex stretches while coming to a decision. “Walk it is. I’ll head out in the morning. If you guys have a fuel can I can take along, I’ll see about getting some gas… er, petrol? Man, your words are weird.” Draco lets out an annoyed growl, telling Alex his joke is old. “What? Who calls fries chips? I’m just saying.” He shakes his head and laughs lightly. “Right then, so tomorrow morning. Who’s coming and who’s staying? Draco, you already said you’ll be holding down the fort, right?” He figures it would be good to plan this out now. It was already getting late and they’d need to take turns on guard duty next.

 

[Lady Vi]

Luna shrugged and the batteries all bobbed in unison. It took a great deal of concentration to hold them still, movement was so much simpler. She began pulling them, one at a time, back to her waiting hands. The pale-haired girl caught them like bits of dandelion fluff: delicately and with both hands. The batteries all went into a little cloth pouch except for two. One was left hovering near Alex while Luna turned the second in her hand.

"An aura isn't so thick. This is almost like... Mushy tapioca, but not quite. Sort of solid, sort of not... Some objects have more solid 'goop' than others." Luna frowned at the cylinder in her hand, running her fingertip over the spark-scarred label. "Everything has it, but some things have more, so they're easier to hold or move. It's easier to carry things this way, actually, but not by much. I think it's getting easier though."

'Special' was an understatement, Elle thought. Luna was bizarre and scattered, near mad, but with a profoundly open mind. On more than one occasion Luna's lateral thinking skills had saved the day, though she never seemed to realize how obscure or odd her answers were. To Luna, they were as natural as breathing.

"I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel like the Watson to her Holmes." Ellie said with a smile. Running her fingers through her hair, Elle gave Draco a lingering look. She was nearly certain he had been giving her the once-over, but now he was leaning away. Was he gay maybe? Married? Both? Before Eloise could ask, Alex interrupted with his teasing.

"Hopefully that won’t be a problem for much longer, huh?”

"That's up to you boys, innit? Still, a girl can hope." She fired back with a wink. Though she much preferred the blonde, Elle wasn't about to refuse the darker boy either. Although... It did seem rather rude given the way Luna was watching the line of his jaw. Perhaps there was a simple way to settle things?

"Well, lads, sleeping arrangements are going to be a bit of a maths problem. There's four of us and three beds counting the couch. I don't recommend the couch. It's a bit lumpy and there's a loose spring toward that end. So either we split down gender lines, pick a partner, or Luna and I share a bed and one of you blokes draws the short straw and tries ol' squeaky." To make her point, Ellie bounced up and down to make the couch creak. She was rather proud of her solution. Sorting the sleeping arrangements would also be able to tell her where the men's interests lay: either they slept together, picked a girl, or slept apart. So clever!

"Or the boys sleep together and one of us takes the couch." Luna piped in, nearly drawing an audible groan from her housemate. "One of us could also take the floor. I think I saw an extra mattress pad somewhere..."

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

This magical field Luna is telling him about has Alex extremely interested now. He tries concentrating even harder, and to his surprise, starts to make out an odd shaped… well, it’s still a distortion in the air, but it’s easier to make out. This makes moving the battery around much easier. “I’m wondering if this is what it was always like.” The black haired wizard mutters to himself. Maybe this sort of field always existed and that’s what wizards and witches actually manipulated. There is some sense to it. From what Draco had said during their travels, levitation was one of the first and simplest spells all wizards learn to cast. Wingardium Leviosaor something like that.

“What is a Watson?” Draco asks with some confusion. “I never had one in my home. Is it a muggle attachment?” He wonders. Alex had never mentioned one when talking about his house either, so as far as the blonde wizard can tell, it has to be something that isn’t standard in homes. “What?” He asks when he notices Eloise looking at him weird. He can tell she’s pondering something, but isn’t sure what it is. Shaking his head, he returns his attention to Lovegood. As much as he’d prefer to ignore her, he realizes that she may actually be the key to gaining control over his magic again.

Up to the boys? Alex smirks, his decision already clear. He would be more than happy to help the ladies not have to burn through batteries so quickly. It seems stumbling on this place was very lucky for him. A new thought occurs to him though. The walls in this house must be extremely effective if Luna has no idea what her friend has been up to. Hopefully he’d get to put it to the test soon enough. The solution to the bed situation seems easy enough to Alex, since he prefers one person stay awake for shifts anyways, but Eloise’s suggestions make it clear that neither of them want to go with the obvious choice. He has to chuckle a bit. It was aas subtle as an Inferi attack.

Yet somehow, Luna doesn’t seem to pick up on the hint. How Alex had caught her looking at him, he’d assumed that she was at least interested. Well, maybe he has a way to check and find out. “I’m not quite tired yet, and Draco and I are used to taking guard shifts anyways, so I think I’ll stay up for a bit longer. I’d like to hear more about this field if you don’t mind, Luna.” Smiling, he nods over to Draco. “Why don’t you let Ellie here show you to one of the beds? We’ll figure out the sleeping arrangements from there.” He suggests. Alex certainly didn’t mind playing the wingman. Of course, now he’s curious if he’s playing it to his traveling companion, or to the girl that wants him. Draco shrugs his shoulders and nods, standing up to follow Eloise to one of the bedrooms.

 

[Lady Vi]

"What's a... Really? You're kidding!" Elle laughed as she started leading Draco towards the back of the little house. The willowy young woman paused, holding up a finger to still him for a moment before hurrying over to one of the shelves behind Luna. Ellie tapped the other girl's head affectionately as she passed. Eloise stood up on tip-toe to reach the highest shelf and her shirt rode up as she stretched for a cheaply-bound book. The over-sized sweatpants she wore slipped down on her hips, emphasizing the dip of her waist. She tugged them up as she brought the book back. "Here. I love these stories, I even made Luna read them when I found this copy."

Gaudily embossed lettering proclaimed the book "The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". The cover artwork was melodramatic, all bloody daggers and shadowed pipes. Clearly it was a muggle novel.

"She did." Luna nodded, barely sparing a glance for her friend. Alex was improving at such a rapid pace, she felt compelled to keep her eyes on him at all times. Just in case she missed something new. Yeah, that was the only reason. "It was a bit hard to follow sometimes. I had to ask for definitions."

Elle handed the book to Draco before taking his wrist in a rather forceful grip and pulling him toward her bedroom. If it could even be called a 'room'. The space was enclosed, yes, but it was scarcely larger than the bed it held. There were drawers underneath the bed for clothing and other belongings, but one would have to be on the bed to open them. The bed itself was barely larger than a twin and piled high with blankets and while it could be said that the bed was made, it was not in any tidy way. No windows were on the walls, making the little room seem even more like a closet. Or possibly an animal's den. The air should have been musty or stagnant but it smelled of warmth, dried flowers, and clean bodies. A small shelf over the head of the bed held one of the magical oil lamps as well as a glittering glass bottle of amber-colored perfume. Elle blushed and snatched up a scrap of lace off the bed before stuffing it hastily into one of the drawers.

"Sorry, there's not much space, but the bed is soft and there are blankets enough to keep anyone warm." It struck the blonde woman very suddenly that she had usually finished the wooing before bringing the bloke to her bed. Hell, it was rare if they even bothered speaking once in the doorway! How exactly was she supposed to seduce him? It wasn't like she could invite him up for coffee... To make room for him to step inside, Eloise climbed onto the bed and sat against the far wall.


In the main room, Luna was focused intently on Alex's progress. Soon she was pushing with her own will against him, watching him struggle to keep the battery in the air. Amazingly, he succeeded.

"Incredible. Could you tell I was pushing it down? How many can you hold at once?" She held out the pouch toward him so he could levitate more batteries. Her greyish eyes lit with delight. "It wasn't like this at all, before. It used to be... Talking. Like the witch and the world had a secret language that the world obeyed. Now... Well, the magic has forgotten how to speak. It's all body language now."

Luna took the dark-eyed man's hand, her own palms warm and shockingly smooth. She directed his movements delicately, spinning the battery like a top in the air. Her thumb ran idly over the inside of his wrist, feeling his pulse flutter like a tiny fish. Of course, once she realized that she was holding his hand, Luna blushed to the roots of her hair. Dropping his hand (and her control on the battery) she began looking around the room. Thankfully there was no one else around to see her embarrassment. Wait, where were... Oh.

"I almost feel bad for him." Luna tried to change the subject. "Elle can be very pushy when she wants something. The mysteries weren't even very mysterious."

Of course, now Luna figured that Eloise would be pushing for something a bit different than simply reading a book. She wasn't stupid, after all, she had just thought that Ellie was bad at hiding her vibrator. Luna was only being polite by ignoring the incidents. It hadn't occurred to her that those 'embarrassing accidents' were invitations. How would that have worked, anyway? Would they have... Luna realized with a start that she was staring at Alex, head cocked, musing about the logistics of lesbian sex. She blushed even deeper and shifted uncomfortably while trying to think about anything else.

"So... You think you can make it shoot fire? Uh, the gun, I mean?"

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

Draco furrows his brow but gets up and follows Eloise anyways. He has to admit that he ends up staring a bit as she lifts herself up to get whatever is on the shelf. Well, he is only human, and muggle or not, the girl is very nice to look at. He quickly turns away though before anyone could notice him staring. That would be the last thing he needs, he thinks to himself. He doesn’t want to imagine how immature Alex would be about the whole thing not having picked up that his traveling buddy is trying to make it all arranged.

Back in the room, the blonde wizard rubs his temple. Reading is absolutely not his idea of fun. “Is books the only way to see this?” He asks with a bit of annoyance. “What about those theater pictures that Alex was telling me about, how you muggles invented it for entertainment. Do you have any of those that I can look at instead?” The bedroom is small. He can’t even say he looks around in it since it seems everything is in his line of sight. When Elloise climbs onto the bed, he starts to open his mouth to ask where his room will be before closing it.

Only two beds, so one belonged to Luna and the other… Well, he wasn’t about to sleep in Loony Luna’s room, he tells himself. Yes, that is his goal to avoid, nothing else. Getting onto the mattress silently, he sits next to Eloise, keeping a bit of distance between them. “So, what was that you picked up anyways?” He asks, not having gotten a good look at the object and wanting to make conversation. Draco had never had trouble talking to girls before, but then, he’d always had his name and his prestige to back him up. Wait, what is he even thinking? She’s a muggle. That would be… completely unimportant, he tries to remind himself. He’s better than that now, and in this day and age, with so few people remaining, the difference was becoming much less important.

If Alex hadn’t been paying so much attention to how Luna was looking at him, he might have turned and stared at Ellie as well. That would have been rude though, so he takes the self control route and keeps his eyes on the blonde witch, telling the other two people good night when they head off to the room. Noticing that the battery seems to be getting heavier and harder to control, the black haired wizard focuses his energy to push it back the way he wants it to go. Where was this extra force coming from, he wonders.

Alex shakes his head. “Well, I could tell something was adding resistance to the battery, but I thought it was my own power waning or something.” He admits. When Luna mentions the talking, he starts to prod the field again, even if he can’t physically touch it. “Maybe you can still talk to it, you know?” He mutters, mostly thinking out loud. “Like, what if you need to mix both to make it do what you want. Levitating is easy, but the other stuff, well you’ll kind of need to make suggestions on what it will do, won’t you?”

Alex’s smile grows when Luna grabs his hand. He lets her guide it for a bit before she realizes what she’s doing. He chuckles softly. Had the witch really become so caught up in this that she hadn’t noticed the two leave? Well, he can’t blame her. He’s gotten caught up in similar ways before. “I never read the books.” He admits. “I watched the TV show though. I swear, every girl I know went mad for Benedict Cumberbatch.” The last bit is muttered with some annoyance, clearly glad to not have to deal with that bit anymore.

Noticing the tilt in Luna’s head and how she starts to blush, Alex is now curious what’s going through her head. His smile turns into a smirk as he moves over to sit next to her, working to keep as many of the batteries levitating as he can. If they’re all close together, it becomes simple enough. Their fields overlap, essentially letting him move them as one object instead of needing to put attention into each one. He brings his hands up, trying to use each finger to manipulate a different battery with varying degrees of success before finally just letting them drop.

Lying back while sitting next to the witch, Alex has his eyes closed. “Hmm, well, it would be cool if I can do it. Basically turn this thing into my own special sort of wand, I guess.” He explains to Luna. “I don’t expect it to happen easily, but if I can do it, then that would make travels a lot safer. This field thing might actually help matters, as soon as I figure out how to do something other than levitation.” Opening his eyes, he turns to Luna with a smile on his face. “Thanks for your help. It was really kind of you.”

 

[Lady Vi]

"Theatre... Oh, well, sort of. I mean, there are loads of films and programs, but we don't have any way to watch them. You need special equipment and power to run the equipment. Before all of this, I could have pulled something up on my mobile but the battery's been dead since day one and there's no signal anyway." Elle sighed sadly. Watching videos on a tiny mobile screen would have been the perfect way to break the ice. They would have to cuddle up, and if her hands wandered a bit, it wouldn't seem too strange. The blonde was fairly sure she had some naughtier photos to 'accidentally' flash as well. Oh well, no use crying over what could have been.

He asked about the panties she had snatched away and Ellie's face flushed a little. She shifted in apparent embarrassment while deciding what to tell him. 'Dirty knickers' certainly wasn't a sexy answer and at this point she needed all the help she could get.

"Just some laundry. Nothing to worry about." A sudden stoke of inspiration hit her and her smile took on a mischievous cast. "Luna said that your photos and paintings could move and talk. Did they all do that?"

She leaned over, intentionally smooshing her cleavage just a bit more as she turned to him. Even though the door was shut, Eloise lowered her voice as if someone might be listening. Her hand bumped his leg, a totally unconvincing 'accident'.

"Did you have, y'know, dirty ones that did that? I've been dying to know what you magical types did for porn. Lu's either clueless or dodging the question."



Luna cocked her head and smiled politely. She hadn't the faintest clue who he was talking about, but maybe she would ask Ellie later. She gathered his dropped batteries and did the calculations in her head. He had managed, in just half an hour, to master what had taken her weeks. Elle's suggestion that the men stay was rather appealing now. What else could he do? What could they discover together?

"Speaking out loud does help sometimes." Luna admitted as she sank to sit beside Alex. His leg was a couple inches from hers, but she could practically feel his body heat. Or maybe it was his 'jelly'... Or her own imagination. He was just so close! She felt remarkably distracted. Could a wrackspurt have infested her? Maybe that was why Eloise was acting so oddly earlier, a wrackspurt could have been buzzing around causing trouble before passing over to Luna. Luna's heart gave a quick thud and her toes grew a tad tingly, but it only happened when she thought about how near the newcomer was. Oh. Not a wrackspurt then, but probably the same problem as Ellie. "I think it's more about concentration than the words though. You shouldn't thank me for helping! You did that all on your own. It was only a matter of time before you sorted it out."

She glanced over, realizing rather suddenly that they were just stretched out on the floor.

"We don't bother keeping watch. Inferi are afraid of the light, so we just leave lamps in the windows. I don't think they're able to get through the walls anyway. If you're tired, I can take you to my bed." There was a moment of quiet as her phrasing sailed right over her head.

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

“Oh, those things. Alex had been complaining about it as well. We never had anything of the sort. We had our books and our radios, which was enough to get by with, I suppose.” Draco says. He still remembers when he’d talked to the black haired muggle born about all this. The man had complained that it was boring and wondering what the hell they did for fun. He’d made do without all of it his entire life, so he honestly didn’t understand what Alex’s complaint about the whole thing was anyways. Even Eloise seems pretty disappointed to not have access to all that fancy equipment, he notices.

Raising an eyebrow at the girl’s answer, Draco doesn’t think too much about it. If this was her room, then naturally she’d have some dirty clothes lying around. All muggles seemed to do that. He’d developed a habit over the years of being incredibly careful with his clothes. Not that it had done any good when the house elf was freed anyways. He frowns, remembering the little creature. How he’d treated him, how his family treated him, and what happened in the end. He shakes his head. There were more important things to worry about. He can’t dwell on the past, he reminds himself.

“Huh?” Draco asks, looking down when he notices Eloise’s hand touch his leg before looking up and getting an eyeful of her exposed cleavage. His eyes widen as he raises a brow before quickly turning to look away, not wanting to be improper. The girl’s question makes his face burn absolutely red. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t know about any of that. Not at all.” He insists far too hastily. Those pictures didn’t exist anymore, not since he’d gotten rid of them. He’d taken them when he was younger and more immature. “They um, they were possible, of course, but I wouldn’t take or have such pictures.”

With Luna sitting so close to him, Alex can’t resist broadening his grin. He laughs and puts an arm around her, pulling the girl into a half hug. He’s always been an affectionate sort of person, which tended to catch people by surprise. “Of course I need to thank you. If it wasn’t for your help, I never would have figured this out. The only reason I’m taking to it so quickly is because I have such an awesome teacher to show me what to do.” The black haired wizard points out, looking over to Luna and smiling at her so she knows how sincere he is.

“See, now that’s a bit new to me.” He says, looking out through the window from his spot on the floor. Sure enough, things outside seem calm and safe. “When you’re spending all your time running and hiding and camping out where you’re exposed, you start to get used to acting a bit paranoid. Besides, there’s more than just inferi out there.” Alex points out before realizing what he’s doing. The girls had been here for months without incident, and this cute blonde he’s been trying to flirt with just invited him to her room. He decides now is the time to shut up about the protective stuff. Standing up, he easily pulls Luna to her feet, but doesn’t let go of the girl’s hand after doing so. “Your bedroom sounds like a great place to be right now. Why don’t you lead the way?” He says, tangling his fingers up with the girl’s.

 

[Lady Vi]

Eloise watched him grow increasingly flustered, taking perverse pleasure in the way he reddened. Lord, were all magical types so repressed? Talking to Luna sometimes was like stepping in a time machine. Her old-fashioned ideals were very sweet, but perhaps a little liberation was in order. Draco was being so careful not to stare at her breasts, he was giving her all the space that he could. It would have been charming if it wasn't so annoying. Proper gentlemen were nice and all, but Ellie's patience was beginning to wear thin.

"Oh, come on... I may be living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland with zombies at my door and a housemate with telekinesis, but a bloke who doesn't look at porn? That's too far-fetched." She laughed and nudged his arm gently before resting her hand on his leg to try and make him a little more comfortable with her touch. "All men do it, most women too. There's nothing to be ashamed of at all."

Elle suddenly realized that he had specifically said that he wouldn't take pictures like that either. Odd, to bring that up... She couldn't help but smirk a little.

"Pity you never got a chance to take pictures like that. Being posed, giving the photographer total control of your body... It can be extremely erotic." Elle winked. Her flirting was passing into the blatant now. Short of shoving her hands down his pants, she wasn't sure how to be more clear. "Was your girlfriend just not interested in posing for you?"


Luna seemed surprised that he was holding her hand but she didn't attempt to remove her fingers from his grip. It was the first time in a long while that a man had taken her hand... Actually, the first time if one didn't count her father. Even Rolf, during their two dates before the war, had been careful to let her take his hand. That seemed wrong, but Luna couldn't think of any other boy holding her hand. She couldn't think of much of anything, really. Her heart fluttered and the bottom of her stomach did strange somersaults. It was a miracle that her knees didn't go all wobbly beneath her.

"So if you're American, how did you end up here?" The small blonde girl asked as she opened her bedroom door. Elle's door was shut, which was odd, but Luna couldn't be bothered to think about it too much. Her bedroom was almost identical to Eloise's, though perhaps a tiny bit larger. The bed was tidily made, but the bedspread itself was a riot of colors and patterns. Instead of a single shelf for a lamp, Luna had several shelves of varying sizes. Feathers, scales, odd rocks and twigs decorated the space. "How'd you meet Draco? He doesn't like muggles..."

Luna scrambled up onto her bed, sitting cross-legged against the wall beside a hanging string of bottle-caps.

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

Okay, Draco is caught a bit by surprise with the forwardness from Eloise there. He looks away, feeling his cock give a twitch at the thought of what she’d said. The blonde muggle had pretty much described exactly how it felt for him. If there is one thing that Draco loves, it’s control. To say that this didn’t make it into the bedroom in some way would be an absolute lie. He craves it almost as much as he craves the sex itself. Though of course, the wizard would never actually admit this out loud. His pride and upbringing wouldn’t allow talking about such things normally.

The girl’s hand on his leg, mere inches away from his erection, Draco feels his self-control slipping… then he’s hit with a realization. Why should he worry about self-control? If the muggle girl clearly wanted this too, then what’s the harm? Because she’s a muggle, a part of him reminds himself. Doesn’t that make this more important then, a perverse voice in his head questions. If he’s going to claim to be more open minded now, and not the Draco he was in Hogwarts, then this is how he can show equality to all humans. Okay, it’s a stretch, but at this point Draco has stopped thinking with the right head.

The mention of an old girlfriend does snap him back to reality for a short bit though. “No, she did.” Draco mutters, grinding his teeth as he remembers her. “She would do whatever I asked her to. I was royalty to her, and my commands were to never be questioned.” It sounds like it should be a dream come true, but how the blonde wizard talks about the girl makes it clear that it’s not a matter he wants to discuss anymore. Shaking his head, he looks back to Eloise, a smug grin appearing on his face as some of his old personality seems to start shining through again. “Why all the curiosity about the photography? Are you volunteering?”

Alex smiles at the closed door opposite the bedroom. Hopefully Eloise is just what the doctor ordered for Draco’s mood. His smile grows even more when he sees the small size of Luna’s room. Okay, maybe he’s wrong for appreciating the cramped space. Whatever, he doesn’t want to be right anyways. Instead of sitting next to Luna, he instead stretches out before lying down on the mattress, resting his head on the blonde witch’s lap. “You don’t mind, do you? Just figured this is the most comfortable spot in the house.” He says with a wink.

Yawning, Alex stares off at the ceiling as he answers Luna’s questions. “Well, I’d come over for a cousin’s wedding. Pretty much the day I was supposed to go home though, things turned to shit. I couldn’t get back to America because all flights were grounded. Instead of staying with family, I decided to make the most of things and travel a bit, see the sights.” He shrugs his shoulders. “I still don’t really know what happened to them, but their houses were abandoned.” After a moment of silence, Alex continues. “I met Draco a few days after everything went to hell. By then, I’d already had one run in with inferi, and managed to get my gun. I saw him running around with this pointy stick, trying to wave it around threateningly. He saw one of the creatures attacking me, yelled for me to take cover. I turned around and saw it, freaked, and somehow set it on fire. We’ve been traveling together ever since, trying to figure out how to get our magic to work.”

 

[Lady Vi]

"Why does it matter? Are you hiding a camera?" She shot back as he finally got the message. The pretty ones were always so dense! Elle took careful note of the way he talked about his ex. Anger, not grief; that meant she wasn't even a ghost of competition. Good!

"I think everyone likes feeling like royalty sometimes. Being worshiped is lovely on the ego..." Her smile went playful again and Ellie leaned close to brush a rogue hair from his cheek. To say that it was only desperation that made her bold would be a lie. Before it all, she often got scolded for being too forward. Though only other women scolded her, so the men probably enjoyed it. "Other times it's better to be the saucy chambermaid than the princess. Or the insatiable barbarian instead of the proper prince."

Elle dipped close again like she had seen a bit of lint on his shoulder, or another out of place hair, but instead of picking it off she planted a kiss on his throat. Her breath was hot and damp against his skin and her lips lingered below his ear for a few rapid heartbeats. She pulled away just an inch and seemed about to whisper something in his ear when there was a loud thunk on the opposite side of the wall. The woman actually did pull away then, even removing her hand.

"That was from outside..." She said with vague concern. "It's been a while since they went for the walls. They can't get through, don't worry."


Luna blinked into her lap and the man so comfortable there. What was the proper reaction to this? Should she thank him for the compliment? Be angry over the presumption? His position did look comfortable, so she couldn't blame him...

"I'm sorry about your family. My father is missing too." Without meaning to, Luna found herself stroking his hair. Perhaps it was just a comforting gesture, but she rather enjoyed the texture. It was like petting a cat, but much more... Luna's heart pounded again. Okay, so it was nothing like a cat.

"You men are the first wizards that we've met. I thought, with the muggles here being so hostile, that there weren't any others." Luna seemed sad for a brief moment, brightening almost immediately. "It's so lucky that you found each other! Draco was... Not a good person, but if he was willing to help you, he must have changed. I'm really glad that he's teaching you."

Outside, something hit the wall. The inferi probably sensed the extra people inside and were trying to get at them. Happily, the cabin had been built with old wards right in the foundation. Nothing was getting in. Still, the sounds of them pawing and clawing at the wall was unnerving. Luna shuddered and hoped that Draco was distracting Elle from the noise. The muggle girl had a tendency to panic over little things like spiders or the hungry undead. Luna might love her housemate, but she wasn't thrilled about sharing Alex's attention.

"Don't worry," She said breezily, patting his shoulder. "They can't break through the walls. Whoever built the place wove protective runes in with the beams. It's probably why the lamps and plumbing still work. Whatever broke magic was too weak for those charms."

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

Draco just shakes his head. “The camera doesn’t matter.” He answers Eloise, grinning at the opportunity to explain a bit of magic to her. “It’s the chemicals when developing that do the trick. You can make any picture move if you know what you’re doing. Luckily, potions was always a specialty of mine, meaning that yes, I know what I’m doing.” He says, grinning to show his perfect teeth. Just because it was the end of the world was no excuse to not look his best, he often told Alex.

The blonde wizard scoffs a bit. He would never be the savage barbarian. He always needed to be in control. So when the muggle girl starts to brush the hair from his cheek, he grabs her wrist and holds it tight, looking her in the eyes. Groaning softly as the girl kisses his neck, he’s ready to hear what she has to say when the thud at the wall makes him jump. “Dammit!” He mutters, looking behind him. “I swear, soon as I figure out how to properly use my magic again, I’m sending their heads flying.” He says before turning back to look at Eloise.

Seeing the concern on the girl’s face, he smiles softly. “There’s no need to worry.” Draco reassures her. “Like you said, they hate the light and heat. They won’t get in here, and even if they do, Alex and I have been fighting them off in worse conditions.” The wizard leans back against the wall. Realizing he’s still holding Eloise’s wrist, he tugs it gently to pull her closer to him. “Of course, now I’m not sure just how much sleep I’ll be getting. You were going to tell me something.” He points out. “Go on then, say it.” He commands the girl, taking control of the situation.

Luna looks perplexed. Well, it beat angry but wasn’t as nice as delighted. He’ll take it anyways. Perplexed, he can work with, Alex figures. He smiles again when the blonde witch starts to play with his hair. He had other ideas of where her hands could roam, but this was nice and relaxing, and she seemed to be enjoying herself, so he isn’t about to complain at all. “I’m sorry about your father. I’m sure he must be worried sick about you.” He tells Luna, being honestly sincere. “If he’s as resourceful as you’ve proven to be though, then I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Yeah, you two are the first witches we’ve run into as well. Of course, we haven’t met many hospitable people anyways…” Alex pauses to think it over for a second. “Well, then again, there’s always the possibility that other people were witches and wizards and either didn’t know or actively hid it to fit in better. From what Draco told me, the wizarding population was a lot smaller than the muggle one.” He points out before shrugging his shoulders. “He’s a bit sour at times, yeah, but I get the feeling that he’s honestly trying to do his best. Truth be told, I’m pretty sure a big part of why he’s hanging out with me is out of necessity. Anytime I talk about muggle stuff, you can kind of see that he doesn’t like it much, but he’s trying not to be like that and wants to learn as much as I do.”

After the thud, Alex just smirks. “Who says I’m worried?” He asks before chuckling. “I’ve fought these guys off before.” The wizard points out. “Plus, back then I had no idea how magic worked at all, and I didn’t have a pretty girl to protect. So I’m sure these guys aren’t a major threat now.”

 

[Lady Vi]

Elle let him pull her closer, but instead of snuggling up like a timid little mouse she climbed right into his lap. With one knee on either side of him she twisted her wrist in his grip until she could take his wrist and guide his hand to the bare bit of skin where her tank-top rode up over her hip. Draco might get his control, but Eloise was clearly unafraid to voice opinions. Her hand, strong and covered with smooth callouses, cupped his jaw.

"You won't be getting any sleep at all. Not if you know what you're doing." Although she was whispering, the gentle teasing in her voice was perfectly clear. She kissed him without any sort of hesitation. Under his hand, tight muscles flexed just beneath her skin as Elle ground her hips against him. "Luna's room is just behind that wall. We should try to be quiet."

'We should try' not 'we should be'. After a two year dry spell, Ellie wasn't about to ask him to hold back but she felt like they should at least attempt to be considerate. Lifting herself up off his lap, she reached up and dimmed the lamp. As a playful gesture, she leaned forward as well so that the pale man got a face full of her breasts.




In the next room, Luna smiled at his compliment. She was a resourceful person, and she knew it. One didn't make it to Ravenclaw without being exceptionally clever. Her father had been in Ravenclaw as well, and he also had the benefit of years of wisdom and study. Though she missed him terribly, Luna was confident that he was safe.

"It's amazing that you've lasted so long, just walking. You must be so brave!" She said, eyes lit with admiration. "One at a time, an inferius isn't much of a threat as long as you can keep from panicking. In groups, though..."

Luna's shudder was enough to shake Alex's head in her lap. She hadn't seen an 'army' of the creatures in a long while, but even she would remember that sight for a long, long time.

"I never really thought about the population, but I think you're right. I think, when everything happened in the beginning, a lot of people couldn't cope. We depended on magic even more than muggles depended on your electricity. Without it..." She let her voice trail off. Talking about such dark things was unpleasant to say the least. "But we don't need to talk about that. You're safe now! We should be celebrating! I wish I had a cake, or streamers..."

 

[TheSilentProtagonist]

Draco’s smug grin admittedly disappears when Eloise surprises him by moving into his lap. That was nothing close to what he expected. Previously, the girls would just let the blonde wizard take control, or offer some playful struggle to pull away, but here the muggle was, actually pushing back. In a way, this excites Draco more than anything previous. A girl that wouldn’t just hand him the control, but make him earn it. Now there’s something he’d never had before, and he’s quite looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

“Well then, that’s a shame. I was quite looking forward to sleeping on a bed after so long. Too bad I know what I’m doing.” He responds to the muggle. While the kiss catches him off guard, Draco wastes no time. He grips Eloise’s hips tight, running his thumbs along her taught belly. He nips at the muggle’s lower lip, getting her mouth to open so that his tongue can find hers in the kiss. After all, he can’t have her initiating every step of the process.

Pulling away to catch his breath, the blonde wizard half chuckles. “Why should we try?” He asks. “Let them hear us, I say.” Now he has an extra goal in mind. Be so loud even the Inferi have to cover their ears. As nice as Eloise’s cleavage is in the dim light, Draco refuses to settle for just that. He takes hold of the bottom of her shirt, starting to lift it up to get the fabric out of his way.

Alex can tell Luna appreciates what he said, even if the words didn’t seem to have much effect. He can’t exactly blame her though. The wizard has been missing his own family, and wondering what happened to all of them. If only he could check somehow. Maybe there was a scrying spell? They’d have to try eventually.

“It’s really nothing.” Alex says, clearly enjoying the adoration. “Honestly, it’s in groups that I’ve found Inferi to not be too bad. They tend to trip over each other, or group in close so it’s easy to catch them in traps.” He mentions. Feeling the shiver, the wizard quickly grabs Luna’s hand and holds it. “Hey, nothing to worry about. Like I said, I’ll keep you safe.

“Well, it’s not the end though, right? After all, there’s a very simple way to make the population grow.” Alex mentions with a wink. At Luna’s suggestion, he raises his hands and lets out a “woo!” in celebration. “I don’t think there’s need for cake or streamers, you know.” The wizard says, looking right at Luna. “I say if you want to celebrate, there’s really only one way to do that right.” He doesn’t outright say it, instead wanting to see Luna guess.

 

[Lady Vi]

She returned his kiss with frantic enthusiasm. Her body, so long deprived, responded to his every touch. His hands on her hips had her trembling, strong grip promising so much more... Elle lifted her hands over her head to more easily allow Draco to remove her shirt. The skin under her arms was smooth, no sign of stubble or hair. At the time, having her body-hair lasered off had seemed like a bit of lazy vanity but now... Well, razors were hard to come by and it was sure nice to be prepared.

"Wicked man," She purred as the tank top was tossed to the floor. Eloise's bra was worn and plain, the cups just a hair too small. The fabric bit into her breasts and made a small ridge of soft flesh. She took his hands and led them up her back, letting his fingers trace the line of her spine and draw a few shivers from her. Would a wizard know how to unclasp a bra? She would have to see. "That could be a fun game, couldn't it? I try to keep quiet and you try to make me scream. Mmm, I might let you win, even if they could hear."

Ellie ran her hands up the front of Draco's shirt and raked her nails gently over his stomach. She leaned forward, hands sliding to his back while the blonde woman bit at his neck. Leaving a hickey was juvenile, an insecure woman's attempt at marking territory, so Elle tried not to leave a mark.

"I'll bet that you'd like that, wouldn't you?" She breathed into his ear. "Your friend listening while I scream your name and beg for more."



If Alex hadn't brought up population growth, Luna might have completely missed his meaning. As it was, it still took her several seconds to fully grasp the innuendo. She stared at his hand grasping hers, heard his so-kind promises of protection, and all she could manage to say was "Oh!"

Luna started to protest (they barely knew each other, after all!), but she paused to think first. He had a valid point, of course. Sooner or later wizard kind would have to rebuild and that would mean a larger population and that couldn't be achieved with crossed legs. Not that she was looking to get knocked up, obviously, just that... well, you had to start somewhere. The social laws governing 'good' behaviour were long gone. Ellie certainly wouldn't judge (Luna had heard enough stories to know that her friend probably never would). So what was stopping her?

All of this went through Luna's head in a flash, leaving her with one shocking realization: she had no reason to say no. Hell, she wanted to say yes. Alex was handsome and charming, he was clearly willing...

Luna bent down, her hair falling to envelop them in a rough curtain. She paused for just a moment before kissing the american man quickly on the lips and sitting back up.

"I'm not really sure how one... Starts." She admitted with a vague frown. "I've never been the one to take the first step."