Chapter 2: Bill's Town - 2

After forming an alliance, Bill and Harry relax around each other. To seal their deal, they share breakfast. Harry brings out his salted meat and honey containers. Bill, who has apparently taken up the job of a farmer for a while now in order to feed himself, brings fresh milk and apples from his garden. They eat in peaceful silence, glad for a meal with such variety.

"So," says Bill after a while, holding a honey-coated apple slice with sticky fingers, "how is it possible that no one every knew magic is real? As a kid, I woulda given my left arm to see real magic."

Harry thinks over what he could answer. He knows this world has no magic, and Harry is the only magical being present. He does not want to admit being from another world, so he decides to give an over-simplified explanation instead.

"It used to be different. Centuries ago magical and non-magical beings lived together well enough. But when the witch trials began, the magical community decided to hide instead of going to war over it. All the magical plants and animals were hidden away. Things like unicorns, dragons and trolls were placed in zones kept hidden with magic. Every proof of magic was taken away until normal people thought we were just myth and fantasy. When the outbreak happened" - Harry is careful to avoid mentioning any dates, since he doesn't know when the outbreak happened exactly and doesn't want to give away his otherworldliness - "there weren't many hidden magical communities left. We were on our way to extinction. The infection decimated our numbers. I'm the only magical being left, now."

A nice lie to adequately explain his current situation.

Bill is envious. "Dragons, huh? That must have been quite the sight."

"Yes," Harry agrees, "it was."

"What else can you do? Do you have any more magic tricks up your sleeve?" asks Bill.

"I can create fire, water and all sorts of things. I can summon something from a distance and I can repair things. The bigger the effect, the harder it is for me to do."

Bill nods. "I'll set up a list of things for you to do. That way you'll pull your own weight around here. Using your magic to repair windows and doors should pay for the shelter and food I'll provide you with."

Harry frowns. "I can repair windows, but wooden or metal doors might not be possible." Reparo works much better on glass and porcelain than wood and metal. With his wand it would not be a problem, but without it he might not manage to repair metal things.

"As nice as it would be, kiddo, I'm not helping you out of the goodness of my fuckin' heart. If I'm going to help you, then you need to help me in return. If you ain't capable of repairing those doors, I'll find something' else for you to do. As long as you get your ass working, I don't care."

After a moment of thought, Harry nods. "That seems fair. So..." He searches for a subject of conversation, something for them to discuss in order to get to know each other and cement an amicable working relationship. "I told you what I went through. What's your story?"

That was the wrong question to ask. Bill's entire face darkens in a scowl.

"None of your fucking business."

Inwardly, Harry sighs in annoyance.

One step forward, two steps back.

Harry narrows his eyes. "So I open up and tell you about my life, but when it's your turn, you back out? That's not an equal exchange."

Bill crosses his arms. "That shit's private. Don't think us helpin' each other out means I should spill my entire life story."

Harry rolls his eyes. "I'm not asking for your secrets. I have no idea who you are, really, and I just want to know more. Your job before the outbreak, your favorite colour, where you grew up… Anything you're willing to tell. I'm not asking for something you don't want to share. I just want to know you so you're not a complete stranger to me."

Bill hesitates. If he doesn't share any information about himself after Harry has done so, then he would be a hypocrite, considering he is the one who proposed a mutually beneficial relationship in the first place and such a relationship means there has to be an equivalent exchange. If Bill isn't even capable of equivalent exchange in casual conversation, then it does not inspire much confidence over their continued partnership.

"Well, I had a nephew. Black hair, green eyes and a bit older than you. You two look similar." Bill looks down at his lap. "His name was John. He survived the outbreak as a kid and Frank and I took him in. Frank is the one who's good with kids. I always had trouble with John." Bill pauses. "Two years ago… John got caught by a bunch Clickers and bitten. I never had the guts to end him, so I left him with the other Infected that I let live to serve as the town's protection." Grimacing, Bill looks away. "When I saw you running from all those fucking Clickers, for a second I thought you were my nephew, come back to life somehow. 'Twas stupid."

Bill's face is stony and hard, but Harry can see the man is affected. The way Bill has stopped looking at Harry, the way he bows his head and the way his body has tightened as if ready to defend itself from a blow are all clues of how much he cared (and still does) about his nephew.

Harry suddenly realizes something. "That's why you helped me and why you proposed that we work together. I remind you of your nephew."

Bill shakes his head, disagreeing. "Don't look too deep into it, kid. I've helped plenty other before you. You're not a special case just 'cause you look like someone I knew."

Harry does not believe the man. Bill obviously said that because he does not want to look soft. Nevertheless, Harry does not draw attention to Bill's poor lying skills.

"So who's Frank?" Harry asks.

Bill seems happy to steer the conversation away from his inferi nephew. "He's my partner. Well, was. Nowadays we just fight so much that it's a miracle we can still work together."

"What kind of work do you do?" asks Harry.

"We have our own gardens for growing vegetables and fruit. Frank helps me out. He's mostly in charge of drying grass and other plants for us to feed the animals during winter, and he salts the meat to preserve it. He has trade contracts with several other survivors who give us supplies we need in exchange for food. I take care of the gardens too, and I'm in charge of the animals." Bill nods at the empty canister of milk they had during breakfast. "That milk was from one of them. I'm also in charge of herding the Infected, stop them from gathering in one place and ensure they are spread out around town in some specific places. Me and Frank can't kill them all, so we use them as a way to protect our town against looters and thieves."

"That's smart," says Harry.

Bill shrugs. "It's a necessity. We can't protect the town by ourselves, so might as well use those things for somethin' useful." He pauses. "Can you do anything with your magic to help protect the town?"

Harry thinks carefully, trying to recall what he knows. "I have ways to attack intruders face to face." He can blast them with one of the many offensive spells he knows, assuming he can cast the spell fast enough and successfully without his wand. "I don't think I can set up a barrier or something around the town. I'm just not powerful enough. I could use some spells to help build traps, though."

Bill nods. "That'd be good. If you can't do that, I can just get you to use repairing spells on some things, or use your fireballs to kill some of those Infected. There are too many around."

Harry thinks back on the hideous faces of those Clickers, the ones he is used to calling 'Blind Ones'. They are very unpleasant to real with.

"Agreed."

Harry thinks over what he has learnt about Bill.

"Do you think I could meet Frank?" he asks.

Bill nods. "Might be sensible. If Frank doesn't know you're here with permission, he might attack you. Though…"

"What?" asks Harry.

Uncomfortable, Bill grimaces. "We've been on the outs, lately. Have this unspoken agreement to stay outta each other's way. I haven't seen him for a few weeks now 'cause the last time we saw each other we had a… disagreement."

Harry does not pry. "Will it be a problem?" he asks instead.

Bill takes a moment to think. "No, it won't." He stands up. "Let's go."

Blinking in surprise, Harry stands up too. "Now?"

"Might as well." Bill shrugs. "It's best to get this over with as soon as I can."

Bill heads over to a wall at the other end of the room with a ladder leaning against it. The ladder leads up to a large window that's too tall to reach through other means.

"Take your weapons with you in case we come across any fuckers on the way," Bill orders as he starts climbing the ladder.

Harry picks up his bow and attaches it to his backpack with a small belt he'd stitched there to hold his weapons. He tightens the belt to be sure it will hold, and then follows Bill.

They exit the building through the window. On the other side there's a closed metal dumpster that they step down on, before jumping onto the alley.

They are between two derelict buildings, and Harry notices a large amount of explosive traps everywhere. Since Bill's safehouse is here, it makes sense.

Bill opens a door that leads into the building next to his safehouse, and ushers Harry in.

The building is a large warehouse. It has big windows that let in a lot of light, illuminating the room much more than most abandoned buildings Harry has been in. There are pots of all sizes everywhere, with all kinds of plants growing inside them.

After taking a good look, Harry realizes that the plants are in fact specific kinds designed for human consumption. It's an indoor vegetable garden.

"We have several gardens like this one all over town," says Bill. "Sometimes inside buildings, sometimes in what used to be people's gardens. Sixty percent of it will be dried for winter. We grow much more than we need so we can trade some of it for certain resources."

"What kind of resources?" asks Harry, following Bill through the warehouse.

"Well, me and Frank, we trade with a group of nomads who make annual trips to the ocean with huge carriages to get salt. Since salt isn't something I can grow like a vegetable, Frank deals with them for it. Everybody in this state knows them as the salt merchants." Bill pauses to turn a pot around so that the plant can get more sun from what comes through the windows. Once he is done, he straightens up and continues walking. "There's also a nearby town who grows a lot of cereals and has medecine, so we deal with them too. Frank also has some contacts with smugglers who get ammo and weapons to us in exchange for food."

"That's nice," says Harry. "It's good to have that kind of a trade system so you have everything you need."

Bill nods. "There are a lot of broken pots and buildings in a fucked-up state. If you could use your magic to repair that, then we could increase our production."

"I can repair broken pots easily enough," says Harry, "but I'm not sure about the buildings. I'd have to see what state they're in to judge that."

"Fair enough," says Bill.

They reach a door on the other side of the warehouse and walk out onto a small parking lot.

Bill strides forth immediately, but Harry follows him a little more hesitantly, still not fully trusting the man despite knowing him better. Bill trusted him enough to show him one of his food resources, but Harry is still a little wary.

He stays tense as he follows Bill out of the parking lot.

It is early, which means the sun is not directly over Harry's head. The sun is hidden behind the tall buildings of the town, making it hard to locate. Without the sun, Harry cannot tell if Bill is leading North, West, South or East. He usually has a good sense of direction but this town has a lot of identical streets which only serves to confuse Harry's senses. He has no idea where they are right now, but he trusts Bill enough to believe the man is not leading him into a trap to kill him in order to steal his things. They haven't known each other long, but Harry's instincts are telling him he can trust the man.

They do encounter a few Clickers on the way. The blind Infected (or, as Harry used to think, 'the blind inferi') are meandering aimlessly around a large boulevard. There are only three of them, so Harry uses his bow to kill them. Bill doesn't do anything, content to watch and stand guard in case more enemies arrive.

Other than that, they don't come upon any other enemies on the way. It is clear that Bill is in his element as he seems to know the town by heart. He leads Harry through a complicated path meant to avoid all places with high percentages of Infected. They end up in a more suburdan area with cracked roads full of weeds and moss and houses that have managed to withstand the passage of time quite well.

Harry notices a wild cat lying on the roof of a rusted car, seemingly without a care in the world. Harry wishes he could be that relaxed.

"This place is pretty quiet," Harry remarks. "Is this where your partner lives?"

Bill points at a house with an attached garage. "That's where he lives. And don't be fooled by the silence of this place." He looks around suspiciously. "There are a lot of Clickers around here, 'specially in the garden of some of these abandoned houses. Frank and I do some annual Clicker cullings in Autumn to minimize the risks of having to deal with a Bloater, and I've seen first-hand how many Clickers hide around here."

"What's a Bloater?" asks Harry as they begin heading towards Frank's house.

"Well, you know there's several stages to the Cordyceps infection, right? Until a few years ago, everyone thought Clickers were the last stage. But it turns out that there us an other stage to the infection where a Clicker turns into a huge fat motherfucker covered in that damn fungi that protects it like armour. Bullets do nothin' against it and it can throw balls of spores that explode when they're thrown. That's what a Bloater is. They were discovered a few years ago and not earlier 'cause it takes years for an Infected to become a Bloater. Small mercies." Bill shakes his head, looking tired with the whole situation. Unlike Harry, he's been dealing with this for years.

Bill stops on the porch of the house and knocks on the door. He uses a specific rythm, and Harry realizes it must be some sort of code, though the meaning eludes him.

It does not take long for the door to be opened, revealing a man that's younger than Bill, with short brown hair, a nose that looks like it was broken at some point in the past and tanned skin from often being outside.

"What do you want?" asks the man, expression resigned as though he's expecting bad news.

Bill puts his hand on Harry's back and nudges him forward. "Frank, meet the town's newest resident."

"Couldn't you have asked me before deciding to bring in someone new?" asks Frank, annoyed. "You never think these things through." He looks at them both—Bill with his unrepentant expression and Harry who is uncomfortable being the centre of attention. Frank sighs. "Come on in."

Harry enters first and discovers that the inside of the house is much homier than expected. The Cordyceps infection broke out twenty years ago and usually abandoned houses are rotted and full of dust, holes and rats. Frank's house is dirty, but it is obvious it has been cared for and lived-in these past few years.

Frank brings them to the living room and gestures for them to sit on a saggy sofa. He sits in front of them, looking at Harry warily.

"Who's the kid?" he asks Bill.

"Harry," answers Bill. "Found him earlier this morning, being chased by an ass-load of Clickers. Saw he had some talent, so I thought he'd be useful and I took him in." Bill makes no mention whatsoever about the fact that Harry is a wizard. Harry thinks it's strange. His magic is his biggest selling point and the primary reason why Bill decided to allow him to stay in Lincoln.

Frank is Bill's partner, and from what Harry understands, they are both in charge of the town. Frank is angry due to the fact that he hasn't been consulted on the issue of whether Harry should be allowed to stay. By avoiding any mention of magic, Bill is not doing a very good job of convincing Frank to let Harry stay. In fact, he's acting like Frank's opinion doesn't matter, and Bill is doing his partner a favour by introducing Harry to him.

The two men seem incredibly different. While Bill wears military-type clothing with a bullet-proof vest, several weapons strapped to his person and no bright colours, Frank wears a pair of baggy jeans with a very noticeable Superman shirt that offers no camouflage whatsoever.

Still, they are supposed to be partners, so Harry can't understand why Bill doesn't mention that Harry's a wizard. It is, after all, his defining feature. But then, Harry notices the Bill's smug smile and his expression as he looks at Frank, as though he knows something the man does not. And Harry realizes at that moment that Bill purposely kept Harry's skill a secret by only alluding to some vague 'talent' Harry has and giving no further details. Bill probably wants to goad Frank into asking about Harry's talent just so Bill can reveal it in a suitably dramatic manner. Either that, or Bill wants Harry to be the one to reveal his status as a wizard.

One thing Harry is sure of is that Bill will reveal Harry's magical capacities to Frank at some point. If he intended to keep it a secret, he would have asked Harry to stay silent on the matter before they met up with Frank.

Frank scoffs. "A lot of people who went through this town 'had some talent', but we never let any of them stay. What makes this one so different?"

When Bill's self-satisfied smile widens, Harry realizes his first prediction was right: Bill didn't mention Harry's magic because he was waiting for the right moment to reveal it in a suitably dramatic manner.

"Harry's special," says Bill. "His skills could help a lot around town, and—"

"I can do magic," says Harry bluntly, tired of Bill's procrastination.

Incredulous, Frank laughs. "Are you serious?" he asks Harry. He turns to Bill without waiting for an answer. "You've been conned, Bill. I can't believe you'd be so stupid. You're supposed to be the paranoid one. Did you get hit over the head? It would explain why you came here when you usually avoid my house like a coward. Though even if you did get a hit that knocked a few screws loose, even you wouldn't believe the shit this kid says. There's no such thing as magic."

Bill glares. "Now wait a second. This kid is the real deal—"

"He's obviously lying," snaps Frank. "How'd he convince you to let him stay in our town? Did he do a card trick?"

Bill crosses his arms, lips pursed. "Harry," he says, "think you can show Frank what you can do?"

Harry nods. During his time in this world, one of the spells he's had to use the most was the Levitation Charm. Often his road was blocked by rubble that he had to levitate away. Additionally, whenever Harry was tired during his travels, he would walk with his backpack floating next to him so he didn't need to carry it.

It's strange, when one thinks about it. One would think that in a post-apocalyptic world, Harry's favourite spell would be Alohomora, to enter locked buildings in order to look for supplies, or a spell to start a fire so that he can cook his meals. But that is not the case. Most doors are old enough for Harry to break them open by force, and many shops have the necessary things for starting fires. The levitation spell, however, doesn't have an easy muggle alternative, which is why Harry uses it much more often.

Harry has levitated objects as heavy as Frank before and as long as the man doesn't start flailing, the demonstration should work fine.

Harry directs his hand at Frank, with the palm facing the floor and all of his fingers pointing at the shot-haired man.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he says firmly, concentrating on the desired effect to be sure the spell works properly. It would not do to fail—that would only prove Frank right.

It works. Frank's feet leave the floor and he floats upwards. The man's eyes open wide and he flaps his arms, trying to keep his balance in the air. Harry raises his hand a bit higher, still keeping his palm parallel to the floor, and Frank is moved higher until his head bumps into the ceiling.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Frank yells, raising his hands to try and grip the ceiling. His face is white as he looks down at the floor. "I get it! You were telling the truth. Please let me down!"

Harry tilts his hand, and Frank's body mirrors the movement.

"I get it!" yells Frank again, nearly hysterical. "You're the real deal! Please let me go!"

Bill has tensed up, looking at Harry with considerably less warmth than before. "That's enough, kiddo. Put him down gently, now." Despite how worried the man must be for his partner, his voice remains steady as he talks.

Harry looks at Frank, who is holding his head and has brought his knees up to his chest, clearly terrified of the lack of control over his own body.

"Don't call me a liar again." Harry's tone is firm. He doesn't apologize, because that would make him lose face. Frank probably has some sort of fear of heights Harry was not aware of.

Harry lowers his hand, and Frank floats downwards until he's back on the ground on unsteady feet.

Without realizing it, Harry rubs his forehead.

His scar is itching.

Frank sits down, still breathing a bit hard. "I..." He clears his throat. "I believe you." He looks at Bill. "Sorry for doubting your reason for accepting the kid. Having a magician on our side will definitively be useful."

Bill settles back down on the saggy couch reluctantly, keeping a wary eye on Harry. "I wouldn't invite just anyone to live here," is what Bill finally says. "Havin' help from someone who can use magic is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Harry doesn't move or say anything, hoping he won't draw too much attention to himself. The stunt he pulled on Frank lowered the amount of trust Bill has in him. When it comes down to it, Bill probably cares more about Frank, who he's known longer, and would gladly throw Harry out of the town if he treats Frank badly.

Being thrown out of town wouldn't be catastrophic, but now that Harry has the opportunity to settle down and live in a community (if three people can count as one), he's not keen on ruining his chances. That means he won't be using a levitation charm on Frank again anytime soon.

Frank is distrustful. "And what does the kid want in exchange? Magic isn't something you'd find just anywhere, so it wouldn't come cheap."

Harry frowns. "The kid's name is Harry," he says pointedly. "In exchange for my help around here, I'd like food, a place to stay and... human company. I haven't talked to anyone in a while. Changing that would be nice."

Frank leans forward. He no longer looks pale from his involuntary flight and his breathing is even. "Making things fly..." begins Frank, thoughtful, "... is that the only thing you can do?"

This is Harry's opportunity to regain Bill's trust and have Frank see him in a more positive light. If he wants to stay, he needs them to see him as a valuable and useful 'ressource'. So he begins what he hopes will be a good sales pitch.

"I can also repair things. Bill thought I could repair windows and I could do the same to broken pots so that you guys can have more of them to grow more food reserves for trade. I have a spell that cleans everything in depth. I could help make some places more hygienic and reduce risks of infection or disease. But I'm not that good at using the spell and it tends to really wear down stuff if I use it on one thing several times. So cleaning people or clothes with it wouldn't be a good idea, but for cleaning buildings once or twice it should be fine."

Harry doesn't mention his more destructive capacities, fearing it would give Frank a bad impression. Bill, who knows Harry can magically cause explosions, doesn't say anything about it either.

"Does your repairing magic work on rusted metal? Could it get one of the cars in this town in working order?" Frank seems strangely intent on hearing Harry's response.

Harry hesitates. "I don't think so. Sorry."

Frank's shoulders slump down. He seems dishearted. "It's fine."

Bill shrugs. "Even if the brat repaired a car, you'd still need a battery to get it going. There's only one workin' battery in this town—"

"And it's at the local high school, which has the highest concentration of Infected in town. You're always raving about that damn battery, but you'll never have the guts to go get it, Bill," says Frank, glaring at the other man.

Harry can sense the barely hidden animosity. Something happened between these two, and it has soured their relationship.

Bill scowls. "If you wanna stay alive, it's better not to go looking for a fight against the Infected. That'll just get you killed. You're always spouting shit 'bout wanting to leave this town for a better place to live but your dreams shouldn't make you forget your own sense of self-fucking-preservation."

There's a lot of tension in the room and Harry senses Bill and Frank are about to fight. He decides to change the mood by asking: "If I'm going to work around here, I think I'd need someone to show me around town and maybe point out the things I should use my magic to repair."

Bill breaks eye contact with Frank and turns to Harry. "Yeah. We have a specific work schedule 'round here. I'm mainly in charge of agriculture, our animals and herding the Clickers around town to post them wherever the town needs most protection from outsiders. Some people come to my town thinking it'll be easy pickings with only two people to protect it, but they don't realize just how many Infected we leave alive to serve as the town's protection." Bill snorts. "At least those fuckin' Clickers are useful." He nods towards Frank and continues, "Frank's in charge of importing and exporting. He makes deals with nearby communities and trades stuff. I already told ya that earlier, so I won't go into detail. He's also the one who searches buildings for useful things like clothes, weapons and buildings tools."

"You could help Bill gather hay," says Frank, looking thoughtful. "Every two days he goes to one of the gardens where we grow hay and cuts it. He carries it over to one of our workshops so it can dry. We use it for the animals during the winter. You could make the bags of grass float so it's easier to carry 'em."

Looking like he agrees completely, Bill nods firmly. "Fuck. That would be great. It always kills my goddamn back to carry all that around. You have noidea how much food those frickin' goats need during the winter."

It's not exactly glorious work, but Harry believes it should be simple enough to do.

"It seems fine," Harry responds. "What else would I be doing?"

Bill scratches his head absent-mindedly. "I could bring you to a few places this afternoon so you can fix up some windows. It would make some buildings safer since the Infected wouldn't have access to them anymore. I know some of them have sturdy doors, so as soon as the windows are repaired I could use some of those buildings as extra safe houses. It'll give those shits less places to access and hide in."

Bill and Frank discuss a bit longer, with Harry piping in from time to time. It seems that Bill and Frank's weekly work schedules are completely different. At no point do they meet up, work together or have any sort of contact, and it feels like the schedules were arranged that way on purpose. Harry has realized by then that the two men are on bad terms and Bill would never have gone to meet Frank if Harry weren't there.

The polite facade Harry is being shown hides some unresolved issues they don't want to argue about in front of Harry, who is after all a stranger.

The two men talk together and Harry is easily added to the work schedule. He will be shadowing Bill for a few weeks, helping the man out, and once his trial period is over he'll have a personalized work schedule and will be considered a full member of the town. Harry agrees when they propose that, and the tentative plan is set.

Harry feels happy, knowing he's been accepted in Lincoln (even if he first has to go through a trial period). This place isn't Hogwarts, but after the amount of time he has spent homeless in this post-apocalyptic world, alone and hungry, he's just glad to have somewhere to settle down and that he has some sort of home until he finds a way back to his own world.

The next problem that comes up is deciding where Harry will be living.

"I can take him in," says Frank, gesturing around him at his house. "I've got enough room here, and I don't mind sharing. Some company is always nice."

For a second, an ugly expression crosses Bill's face. Harry can't be sure of what it is—Jealousy? Anger? It's certainly nothing good.

"You live right next to the high school, where there's the highest percentage of Infected hanging around!" spits out Bill. "You're already dumb enough to want to live here. That doesn't mean Harry needs to live somewhere that dangerous too! And besides, if he's going to be helping me with my daily work, then he'd need to live near my church, wouldn't he? I ain't gonna let him sleep there because I don't like to share my space, but some nearby building should be fine. If he lives with you, he'd have to cross half the town every day to meet up with me!"

"Don't exaggerate," Frank protests. "It's not half the town. It would take twenty minutes, tops."

Bill shakes his head. "You and me both know it's a dumb idea. Clickers are attracted to noise, and with the amount of them around here, they're more likely to notice two people in one house than if it's just you."

It's like a tug of war, with Harry as the rope in the middle. It's… extremely childish, especially considering Harry (and any sane person in general) wouldn't want to live in Frank's house if it's close to so many Infected. Furthermore, it annoys Harry greatly that they're fighting over the issue without even askinghim, the concerned party.

"I'm sorry, Frank, but I agree with Bill."

Frank looks disappointed, which Harry finds surprising. Did the man really expect him to agree to live so close to a large amount of Infected?

"So… I guess that's it, huh?" asks Bill, standing up.

Frank stands too. "Get him a change of clothes and some covers 'n pillows for a bed. There's all the necessary stuff in that building on Stratton Street, where we keep all the clean clothes. Then you can get him settled in."

"Yeah, thanks," says Bill. "We'll just…"

Frank nods. "Yeah, see you whenever…"

They keep staring in each other's eyes, waiting for the other to say something more. It doesn't happen.

Instead, Harry clears his throat meaningfully, which brings Bill back down to Earth. They both leave the house, with Harry waving one last time at Frank.

Harry is a bit curious to know what is going on with Bill and Frank, but he doesn't know Bill enough to feel comfortable asking something like that.

Bill leads Harry to a large building made out of red brick that's a few streets away. The ground floor used to be a sweets shop, which the upper floors were once flats. The building is relatively intact and doesn't have any broken doors, windows or walls that might let Infected in.

One of the flats on the second floor has been cleared out and instead there are bags of clothes there, shut tight to avoid any moths biting holes into them.

Bill finds an empty bag and allows Harry to look for some clothes his size while the man gets some blankets and a pillow.

They work efficiently and silently, mindful of the ever present threat of Infected. They might be in a secured building, that doesn't mean those creatures couldn't somehow find a way in. It's best to be overly cautious than dead.

Once they are done, they head up to the roof tops and Bill shows Harry a way to navigate from rooftop to rooftop. It's not a very effective mode of travelling because it doesn't work everywhere, but right there the buildings are about the same height and close together so it's easy to navigate with minimal risks.

Bill brings Harry to a two-story building with grey walls that look like they might have once been white. It's large, and looks modern with sleek design that has lost its lustre as the years have passed and decay has set in. The large house is within sight of the church where Bill lives.

"There ain't any Infected in that place," says Bill, pointing at the two-story building. "You can settle in there for now. It used to belong to a fairly well-off family, so there are lots of bedrooms. Pick one you like and settle down. Relax a little and do whatever you want. I'll come back at in about an hour so we can eat lunch, and then this afternoon we'll set off so you can start working to earn your keep. Got it?"

Harry looks at the house. It hardly looks inviting, but then again that's the case of most buildings in this world. Nobody cares about the upkeep of buildings anymore because survival is much more important. "Yeah, sure."

"Oh, and before I forget," says Bill. He gestures towards the left of the house. "The door is locked so you need to use the ladder on the side to get up to the balcony and in through a window you can slide up. There ain't any fucking keys for that place and I don't want to break the door down because then it wouldn't stop the Infected from barging in, so use the ladder to get into that house."

"I'll do that," Harry responds. "Thanks."

Bill nods. "Anytime. Just remember I'll be back in a bit so we can get some grub and get working. Don't fall asleep in there."

Once Harry is inside the house, he goes looking for the room he'll use to sleep in. There's a master bedroom, but he avoids it because it has bloodstains on the floor and bullet holes in the walls. The other two rooms belonged to girls – one is predominantly pink with a lot of dolls, and the other one looks like it belonged to a teenage girl, with several posters of teen idols from twenty years ago.

Harry chooses the room with the posters, and sets his things down there. He then opens the wardrobe, which looks like it was emptied in a hurry, and riffles through the clothes that were left. There's a black scarf in there which he wraps around his neck as protection in case a Clicker tries to take a bite out of him. He also takes a brown leather jacket which looks in relatively good shape and puts it on. Leather is tough, and should protect him from the bite of an Infected. The weather is a bit too warm to wear the jacket, but Harry knows it's best to be safe than vulnerable.

After that, Harry is at a loss when it comes to what to do. He has about an hour before Bill comes back, so what should he do until then? Since he hasn't looked at the ground floor yet, he decides to explore it.

The ground floor has a kitchen with a large amount of high-quality knives as well as several decorative plates hanging on the walls. There is also a living room with a TV full of cracks from falling down and several dead plants are on the floor with the shattered remains of their pots and a lot of dirt scattered everywhere. There's a bathroom with foul-smelling toilet water and a dining room with an over-turned table and broken chairs.

An idea forms in Harry's head. He knows what he could do with his free time.

He goes over to the dead plants, and tries casting Reparo. It takes several tries before it works, and Harry is disappointed to see that there are bits of ceramic that are missing – the pot has several holes in it. Harry is not good enough at Transfiguration to find a permanent solution, so instead he retrieves a glass and a metal pot from the kitchen and fills the latter with some of the dirt near the dead plants.

Once he is done, he leaves the metal pot and the glass on the floor, and hurries up to his room to get his backpack.

When his wand broke, he had needed to find alternate methods to use magic. Wandless magic only worked so well, and what he'd turned to instead was potion-making.

All non-magical plants could be used in potions, but there needed to be at least one magical ingredient in a potion for a magical reaction to happen, or else the potion would just be a mix of plants with little to no effect. And the only source of magic in this world was Harry, so… he'd taken to using his saliva or his blood and mixing them with plants that had positive effects like protection or healing.

One of the potions he uses the most often is a potion to make plants grow. He carries seeds around with him, and whenever he runs out of fruits or vegetables, he sows those seeds and uses the potion to make them grow.

In his backpack are several dried plants in plastic packages that he's spent his time on the road gathering for the express purpose of potion-making.

An agaric mushroom for fertility and growth, anise for purification to ensure the potion doesn't give any negative results, and a few beans for potency.

When it comes down to it, brewing potions is a bit like studying litterature. Every potion ingredient has a meaning behind it, just like a metaphor, and you have to understand what will happen if you mix the right metaphors together. Sometimes two positive ingredients can get a negative result, or sometimes it works the other way around. Harry has tried making potions several times in this world, and the potion he's about to do is the only one he ever managed to brew correctly. All the other po