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bush-viper-cutie · 4 years

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“Back at Hogwarts” || YEAR 3 – Ch.8 (HP au)

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Day posted: 8/4/2020

Word count: 3,200

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

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A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

Apologizing in advance for any extra spelling or grammar errors than normal! I didn’t have as much time with this chapter as usual because I am in the process of moving and its very hectic right now XD Thanks for reading tho! :D

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“What happened? You feinted and scared us all to death is what happened!” Ron shook his head and sat back down.

“Are you alright?” Hermione helped Harry back up to his seat.

Heather sat back and watched him piece together what had just gone down.

“Did you hear that woman screaming?” He looked around as if there was an extra person hidden somewhere on the compartment.

“You heard screaming? None of us heard it,” Heather looked at Ron and Hermione worried. They were all thinking the same thing. “Was it another snake? Was it that thing?”

Harry shook his head, “No. No it was a woman.”

There was a snap and a surprised squeal from Neville. Everyone turned towards Professor Lupin who was offering up pieces of stale chocolate.

“Here, everyone. Take some,” Professor Lupin handed out all the chunks of a chocolate bar and sat back down.

“What was that thing?” Neville pointed a shaking chocolate smudged finger at the door.

“A dementor. Or as I’m sure you’re more familiar with… an ‘Azkaban Guard’.”

They all stared at him hoping he’d go on, but he simply put away the leftover chocolate and stood, making his way out the compartment door.

“I’ll go speak with the driver. Everything’s fine now.”

Heather stuck her hand on Harry’s forehead, “You’re really ok? Do you want my piece?”

Harry shook her hand off him and looked around at everyone once more, “No one heard the scream? What happened then?”

“It was horrible!” Neville scooted as far back from the door as possible. “It stuck it’s head in and… and…”

“Everything went cold and I remembered when that spider seized me up around my waist… It was weird,” Ron shivered. “I’d forgotten what happiness felt like.”

Hermione nodded and put her arm over Ginny who was still sobbing into her sweater sleeves.

Harry looked at Heather, “Did you fall off your seat too?”

“No, but I remembered some stuff I thought I’d forgotten.” She looked down at her hands and rolled them into fists, squeezing tight and let go. “It looked at you and you were closest… so I’m sure that’s it. That must be why it affected you so bad.”

The compartment door opened and they all jumped. Professor Lupin was back with a smile.

“We’ll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes. Better get your robes on.”

The train stopped at Hogsmeade station and every student hurried to get off, excited for a new year. Nothing seemed too different, not at first glance. There was the usual horde of older years, the bossy voices of Prefects and Head students cutting through eager chatter, and Hagrid who still stood as tall as the carriages trying to herd all the first years to the boats. What was different this year, was the cold and rainy atmosphere instead of the usual somewhat warm and sunny one.

Hagrid noticed them as they walked towards the carriages and waved. They waved back and spotted an empty carriage and made their way inside. Heather pressed herself to the window and watched as the castle grew and grew as they got closer. Her excitement was seeping from her body and all she wanted to do was jump out and run the rest of the way there. The carriage stopped and she jumped out, pulling Harry off faster. They helped push the crowd to move faster, wanting to get to the feast as soon as possible.

“Heard you feinted, Potter!” Draco’s voice hushed the crowd of students pushing up the stairs.

Everyone stopped and looked down, up, and to the side for Harry and Heather. She was about to respond with ‘I didn’t feint’ but thought better of it. She didn’t want to throw Harry under the bus, at least not when he couldn’t help his reaction to the horrible creature.

“Weasley, did you feint too? I can imagine it now, a pile of rags crumpled to the floor under a scawy dementor!” Draco hopped up the steps to level with Harry. “Which one of you looked more stupid?”

Heather frowned and put her hand up to stop Ron, “No one feinted, Malfoy.”

Draco turned on his heels and pointed at Neville, “Calling Longbottom a liar then?”

Neville made himself as small as possible behind two Gryffindor boys, “Sorry, Harry! I was telling Dean…”

“Why don’t you shove off!” Ron pushed passed Heather and Hermione.

“Or what.”

He looked at Harry, who nodded. “Or we’ll make you.”

“That won’t be necessary, will it?” Professor Lupin came up the steps behind them and put his hands on Ron and Harry’s shoulders. He stared down at Draco with a grin.

Draco looked him up and down, taking in the little tears and undone seams at the edges of Professor Lupin’s teaching robes and chuckled. “Of course not, Professor.” He turned around and headed up the steps followed by Crabbe and Goyle.

“Everyone keep heading up, now,” Professor Lupin smiled down at the four of them and led everyone into the castle.

They made their way into the Great Hall and split up, taking their seats in their respective houses. Heather sat across from Pansy and rolled her eyes at her annoying smirk. Draco crossed his arms and stared at the podium looking bored out of his mind. There were decorations everywhere with hundreds of candles hovering above them and their house banners swaying gently over their heads. The golden plates and cups were spotless and everyone wore sparkling smiles.

After everyone was settled, Professor McGonagall marched dozens of scared looking first years up towards the stage to begin the sorting ceremony. She unrolled her parchment and picked up the sorting hat, calling the first years up one by one. Each house applauded for their new members, even Draco added to the cheers for new Slytherins.

“Can’t we hurry this up? Why can’t they arrive early or something for this,” Draco dropped his head on his arms over the table.

“I agree. They should take a different train. Or get sorted over the summer!”

Heather rolled her eyes at Pansy’s annoying neediness. Draco didn’t even reply to her and she was smiling like he’d just given her a compliment.

“Are there ever any students here during the summer?” Heather didn’t think they’d know, being pruebloods and having no need or interest in staying in school, but it was worth an ask.

“Oh, poor Heather. Can’t stand those muggles anymore? Why don’t you just stay with your other family? Or.. oh, woops. Sorry,” Pansy pushed her lower lip out in a pout.

“You’re forgiven, Pansy. I know remembering things can sometimes be hard for you,” Heather quickly turned up towards the High Table for fear Pansy’s gaping mouth would make her burst out into a laughing fit.

“Merlin. It’s finally over,” Draco sat back up. “Now this old toad has to make a speech.”

Professor Dumbledore stood up at the podium and smiled at every house, lingered on Gryffindors, and more specifically Harry. He smiled at everyone and started his usual beginning of term speech. “Welcome everyone!” He paused for the applause to end. “It is a new year at Hogwarts, and so I have some new things to say. The most serious of them being, the dementors of Azkaban.”

Heather looked over at Harry, who eyed her back.

“They have been placed here by the Ministry of Magic… to guard the school.” Professor Dumbledore sounded annoyed and tapped his fingers on the podium. “Because of their presence, I will be asking everyone not to leave the school without permission. There is no fooling dementors. Not with disguises or even any invisibility cloak.”

Heather stared at Harry until he looked away at Ron, who was also being stared at by Hermione. Heather’s heart started beating faster and her palms got sweaty. If the dementors were so dangerous, why was the ministry placing them at school? What if Harry DID try to leave school with an invisibility cloak? She looked over at Draco and then at Marcus far down the table. They were laughing at almost all of the warning. Maybe she should have stayed to get the permission slips signed somehow. So that Harry wouldn’t even be tempted to try anything. She tuned back into Professor Dumbledore’s speech.

“They only know how to be predators and how to identify prey. So please, do not give them any reason to want to hurt or harm any of you. Prefects and Head Boys and Girls, I am putting my faith in you to enforce these rules. For the safety of others.” He looked around at all the prefects and Head students.

Heather heard quiet snorts and scoffs from the Slytherin table and saw a few students with badges rolling their eyes.

Draco chuckled and leaned towards her, “Wouldn’t want anyone feinting, oh no. How embarrassing it would be.”

“Please welcome Professor Lupin, our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher” Professor Dumbledore motioned for him. “And Professor Hagrid, our new Care of Magical Creatures teacher.”

Heather clapped under the table where no one could see. Only a few other students clapped, mostly those who knew Hagrid and then those in the same compartment as Professor Lupin on the train. Again, Heather felt she had to hide her enthusiasm, hardly anyone from her table even looked amused in the slightest. All of the Gryffindor table was clapping though, and the hall was so loud she was sure the other tables must be clapping as well.

Heather looked up at Professor Lupin and Hagrid standing awkwardly and nodding at the applause. Professor Lupin didn’t look like the normal teachers. His robes looked second hand, with tatters and patches just barely noticeable. Either he didn’t care how he looked – except the way he looked awkwardly around and fidgeted with where to place his hands told her otherwise – or he couldn’t afford to purchase new teaching robes. He sat back down quickly and shook Professor McGonagall’s hand to his right, turned to his left where Professor Snape sat looking away, and quickly turned back to Professor McGonagall again.

“See that? Professor Snape won’t even look at him. I bet he’s just as worthless as the last one,” Draco turned to the food that had just appeared before them.

Pansy nodded, “Maybe it’s because he applied again for the position and was refused it!”

Heather pulled a chicken leg off the large plate and plopped some steamed vegetables on her own. “Maybe it’s harder to find a good potions teacher?”

“So typical of Dumbledore to value POTIONS over DARK ARTS,” Draco ripped some meat off the chicken bone.

Pansy ran her tongue over her teeth behind closed lips and nodded, cutting her bone out with a fork and knife. “I was just about to say that.”

Heather laughed, “No you weren’t.”

Pansy’s head shot up, “Of course I was, Potter! You think just because you’re a stupid Potter you’re a genius or something?”

Crabe banged his goblet down, “They physically can’t be. Duh.”

Goyle nodded and Draco and Pansy snickered to themselves. Heather stared down at her food, stabbing it calmly, trying to pretend she didn’t know what he meant. Does Draco think she can’t beat him at potions because she’s not a pureblood like him? She’s only ever heard him make fun of muggleborns… but there was absolutely no reason he wouldn’t think less of her too. She imagined his face on the tiny carrot pieces she was stabbing and breathed out. She needed him for Quidditch. If anyone could help convince Marcus again it’d be him – at least until her muscles set in. A darker part of her mind wanted to try out for Seeker, just to see Draco crying with fury, but she could feel how horrible of an idea that was all throughout her current bruise-less body.

The rest of the feast Heather kept her eyes down and ate, even during dessert. She soon heard people getting up to leave and waited in her seat until most of the Slytherins had gone. As soon as the Quidditch team, the older students, and Draco, his goons, and Pansy had left she got up and sat in front of Harry and Ron and between Neville and Hermione.

“I hope you heard that one specific part,” Heather eyed Harry menacingly.

“What part? I was too busy thinking about getting expelled,” Harry laughed and avoided a well-deserved slap on the wrist from both Heather and Hermione.

“Oh look! Most everyone’s gone!” Ron got up and led them to the High Table.

“Hagrid congratulations!” Hermione jumped up and down.

Hagrid looked down shyly, “Now now, I’m sure yeh won’t be saying that after I start teachin’.”

Professor Sprout tisked at him, “You’ll do fine Hagrid! Don’t you worry! It’s just the new teacher jeebees. Believe me.”

“You’ll do great,” Harry gave him a thumbs up.

“I always… I always…” Hagrid blew his nose with a napkin and dabbed at the small tears forming in his large eyes. “Always wanted tuh teach.”

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat next to them, “Mr. Potter, Mrs. Granger. If you would please follow me back to my office.” She got up from her chair and started walking around the table.

“What did you do now!” Heather pinched Harry.

“Ow! I haven’t done anything!”

“Well I certainly haven’t.” Hermione waited for Professor McGonagall to walk around the table.

“On your way, please.” Professor McGonagall started walking towards the large wood doors.

Ron and Heather watched them leave with arms crossed.

“Why them?”

“They’re not in trouble… I don’t think Hermione would ever be stupid enough to get caught doing anything,” Ron tapped his chin thoughtfully.

Professor Sprout cleared her throat, having heard the part about Hermione not getting caught. “I’m sure she wouldn’t do anything worth getting in trouble over. Regardless if she got caught or not…”

Hagrid laughed, almost spitting out his wine.

“Do the ‘creatures’ count as animals?” Heather thought she should change the subject with anything. She didn’t get why she always heard the word ‘beast’ and ‘creature’ when it came to large snakes and color-changing foxes and toads and other animals like that.

“Merlin, you’re as bad as Hermione.” Ron took her arm and led her away from the table.

She pulled her arm back and punched his arm, running away before he could exclaim anything. She ran towards Professor McGonagall’s office, Ron following close behind, and spotted Harry walking out.

“What was that about?”

He shook his head, his cheeks were going red. “Nothing.”

Ron huffed next to Heather, punched her arm back, and stood straight. “What d’you mean ‘nothing’?”

Hermione came out, smiling. “And you’re sure you’re ok? Madam Pomfrey said it was perfectly normal to still feel some effects after – ”

“I’m fine!”

Heather couldn’t help laughing with Ron. It was both impressive and disgusting how quick news spread around the school to the point even teachers had heard about the dementor mishap. She felt guilty about being glad it hadn’t been her that feinted. Maybe the fear of feinting again would do a good enough job at keeping Harry put in school.

“We should go before the Prefects enter the common rooms.” Hermione started up the stairs.

“I should go too.” Heather waved goodbye and headed down.

She was on the last few stairs when she saw the tall Slytherin Prefect girl waiting by the corner of the Slytherin passageway and locked eyes with her. She gave a smile and walked deeper in. Heather’s anxiety rose like a busted fire hydrant and ran to the common room door just in time to watch her close the door with a single nasally ‘HA’.

Heather groaned and banged on the door several times. She figured she’d still receive some hate for Slytherin losing the house cup for the first time in almost a decade because of Harry. Why couldn’t they understand she was just as devastated about it as them! She banged harder and gasped when her fist didn’t meet the door like always. Pansy stood at the entrance and looked her up and down.

“Heather! Don’t you know you’re supposed to be here in time for the password?” She shrugged and stepped aside, “You’ll have to ask Professor Snape for it tomorrow.”

Heather stepped through with her arms crossed. She smiled, “Oh, no need.” She spotted Draco quickly and ran over, slowing down just in time to appear calm and collected by his side. She looked over her shoulder at Pansy who slammed the door and stared her down. She turned to Draco and dropped the act. “What’s the password? I wasn’t here for it.”

He scratched his head, “Poison Pines.”

“Thanks.” Heather headed into the girls’ dormitories and into the room with her, Pansy’s, and the two other girls from last year and the year before’s names on the door written with some type of permanent chalk.

She smiled at Toad sleeping peacefully in his cage, curled under his little overgrown moss. She ran to her trunk and took out her new potions guide, new herbology guide, and the sketchbook from last year and stuffed them under her pillow before anyone else walked in the room. She jumped on the bed, pulled the emerald curtains shut, and took out her sketchbook. She opened it up to the last page where she had written down her goals.

She circled the words ‘Dark Arts’ and triple underlined them like she had potions and herbology. “Hopefully this year Defense isn’t a total waste of time… and I guess it wouldn’t matter if Hermione is better at the other subjects.” She didn’t like hearing those words coming out of her own mouth. She wanted to be the best at everything, but this stuff was good enough… hopefully. She’d be able to rub it in Draco’s face and she could at least handle being tied for smartest with Hermione.

She went to change into her pjs in the bathroom and came back to see Pansy sitting up on her bed with her hands folded. Heather crawled into her own bed and waited for her to speak, knowing it had something to do with her.

“You know, I think maybe I’ll ask Draco to include me in his potion’s lessons with Professor Snape.”

Heather’s annoyed smirk dropped. Pansy smiled and laid down, pulling the sheets up and snuggled in. Heather gripped her sheets and threw them over her, crossing her arms over her chest and rolled away from Pansy. She couldn’t tell if Pansy was just saying that to annoy her and regardless if Pansy just confirmed the potions lessons were real, it bothered Heather to a new extreme. She could handle Draco boasting about being top of the class… but if Pansy did it too…

Heather shook her head refusing to think on it more. She was about to close her eyes when she remembered her workouts. She carefully slipped out of bed onto the floor and quietly did the barrel pushes and a few forward pulls before sliding back into bed and forcing herself to sleep, thinking only of what the next day would bring.

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katalyna-rose · 7 years

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Medicine

Hey, do you guys remember that little piece of story I asked for critique on a while ago? I called it A Little Bit Better and it was the first chapter of an original novel I’m slowly but surely working on! Well, here’s chapter two! I would greatly appreciate comments and critique on this! It’s so different from what I’m used to and I really want to make it right, you know? I have so much to say using this story and I want it to be clear and enjoyable and interesting.

The basic premise is two women in a post-apocalyptic world who just want to survive. And there’s no One Big Bad Guy for them to fight, they’re not out to save the world or rebuild society. Society will rebuild itself on its own because that people do and they just want to live through it. They’re just people, not heroes, but when they find people who are in trouble they help. They’re kind and generous and one of the points I’m trying to make is that we can’t see how our actions affects other people, not really. So each chapter is told through different eyes, never those of the two main characters. There’s so much I want to say and I want to do it right! Help me out?

I am posting this because I am looking for thoughts, suggestions, and constructive criticism. Thanks!

Updated!

“Maddie, deep breaths,” Alec coaxed as he pulled her along. She glared at him and struggled to breathe at all. She didn’t know what exactly she was allergic to in their breakfast, but she was quickly heading for anaphylactic shock. She knew she was allergic to eggs but there shouldn’t have been any in the can of stew they’d eaten. They were usually so careful, but it was hard to be careful when they had to scrounge through broken buildings and trash cans for years old food.

“We’re almost there, Maddie, come on,” Alec told her, gesturing down the road to the old pharmacy. “There’s gotta be some epinephrine there still…” Maddie was no fool and she knew the odds were better that she was going to die today. She’d survived for almost fifteen years after the world ended and it was just her luck that it would be a damn allergy that killed her rather than a bullet or hunger or any of the usual ways people died. It was infuriating and if she had the breath to curse rather than cough she wouldn’t stop until her heart did.

The hives were getting worse and she was pretty sure her eyes were starting to swell shut but the pain was constant and all over but there were distracting knives in her stomach so it was a little hard to tell. She coughed and struggled for breath, hearing herself wheeze, and she briefly had to ponder the benefits of throwing up again but her stomach wouldn’t turn. Alec wasn’t strong enough to carry her and both their packs at once, so she had to struggle and stumble along, his arm around her waist to keep her as steady as possible. It was getting hard to think and even with how dangerous the world was and how much of a racket she made she kept her gun holstered because she wouldn’t be able to shoot the side of a barn from point blank range in her condition. She could barely stand, let alone keep a steady hand to aim. She was helpless, utterly reliant on Alec to get her to the pharmacy and search for the epinephrine that she did not expect to still be there. Even if there was still some there, there was no guarantee that it would still be useable.

Darkness closed around her as they went from the sunny day outside to the dim, unlit interior of the pharmacy and Alec grunted in relief. He dropped them to the floor almost immediately and she tried to contain her wheezing cough at the sudden change as she looked up. The windows of the pharmacy were almost all broken, few though they were, and there was just enough light inside to see once her eyes adjusted a little. The shelves looked oddly intact, ancient bags of potato chips still sitting in place. She had a moment of hope that maybe there were still some drugs in the back and she didn’t have to die. She looked at Alec but he had his gun out and pointed into the store. She tried to calm her breathing and heartbeat to listen and almost immediately caught the sound of someone rifling through the place.

“I hate allergy season. All the damn pills are always gone from these places, even when they leave almost everything else. It’s ridiculous!” The voice belonged to a woman who didn’t seem to know that they were there despite all the noise Maddie was making trying to breathe. She looked at Alec, who looked back.

“Get out of here,” she rasped to him as quietly as she could. He shook his head.

“No. We’ve made it this far, we’re getting you the damn medicine,” he insisted. He dragged her to her feet and they made their way to the back of the store where the medicine was kept. He kept his gun up and she just tried to stay as steady as possible and not get in his way.

Two guns were cocked as they rounded the end of the shelves, the people holding them crouched in defensive positions behind the pharmacy counter. Alec kept his gun up, too, but so far no one fired.

“Who are you?” demanded the voice from earlier, complaining about allergies, ironically. Maddie coughed hard and struggled to stand, but she was so dizzy and there was an elephant on her chest and knives in her stomach and she didn’t have the energy to even be angry about the situation anymore.

“My name is Alec,” Alec said, adjusting his hold on her. “This is Maddie.”

There was a pause, then a woman with curly blonde hair stood up from behind the pickup window, her wide eyes on Maddie. “Asthma?” she asked, observing the way Maddie was wheezing, though her long, ratty hair hid her face and hives on her skin.

“Anaphylaxis,” Alec corrected, stress and fear making his voice tight.

“You’re here for epinephrine?” the woman asked.

“Yes. That’s all we want,” Alec told her desperately, letting his gun drop in a show of good faith. “She’ll die if we don’t get it. I can’t… Please, we just need epinephrine.” Two guns were put away and another woman stood up. She was taller, broader, with short brown hair and a long, pale face. She stared at them without comment or expression as the small blonde opened the pharmacy counter door.

“Come on, then,” she said as she ushered them back. She smiled encouragingly even though the other woman kept her gun, a flashy, fancy rifle, trained on them. Alec followed the summons as Maddie struggled to follow. Agony was in every movement and at this point it barely mattered if they were being tricked to come closer so they were easier to kill and loot because she’d be dead soon anyway.

But they didn’t get shot or stabbed or anything. Alec propped her up against the wall and left his pack beside her as he began combing through the shelves for what they needed.

“Hey, careful!” the blonde reprimanded when Alec’s shaking hands knocked over a pill bottle. It didn’t break open, but she glared at him as she picked it up, anyway. “We’re trying to salvage this stuff, okay? Don’t break it!”

“Over here,” the brunette called, speaking up for the first time. Alec ran to her and began tearing open a box of epi-pens. “I don’t know how to tell if they’ve gone bad.”

“This one turned pink, it’s useless,” Alec muttered, tossing a tainted needle over his shoulder. “Well, not useless, it’ll cause hallucinations at best. Don’t use them if they’ve turned pink or brown. Nice thing about epi-pens is that they don’t degrade much even past their expiration dates if they’re kept out of sunlight and not exposed to oxygen. Might need two because they’re less potent, but they won’t poison her. Ah-ha!” He grinned and triumphantly held up an untainted pen, nervous rambling ceasing. He ran back to Maddie as he ripped open the packaging. She tried to smile at him though the pain as he slammed the pen into her thigh and pressed the plunger. There were a few breathless moments of waiting, and then Maddie was able to take her first deep breath in hours. She breathed and coughed and breathed again, finally starting to relax.

“Thank you, Alec,” she breathed. He dragged her into his shaking arms and held her close. She relaxed in his embrace, then looked up at the two women. The blonde was watching them with a smile while the brunette was off doing something with the medicine. “Who are you?” Maddie asked them, her voice still hoarse. She started shaking, her usual reaction to finally being able to breathe. She was tired and weak and aching and she hoped the two strangers wouldn’t make them leave right away because she wasn’t sure she could even move at all.

“I’m Anae,” the blonde said, still smiling. “That’s Samantha.” She gestured in the general direction of an annoyed grunt. Anae’s eyes traveled over Maddie’s dark brown hair and olive skin, then over Alec’s similar coloring. “Are you two related?”

“She’s my sister,” Alec murmured, still holding Maddie close. Anae was silent for a few minutes as they all calmed down a little.

“You don’t look like you’ve been out in the wilds for long, if you don’t mind my saying so,” Anae observed as she wandered back to the shelves of medicine to look through them, tossing rejects on the floor and grouping the rest on the counter.

“We got a letter from a Haven where Richmond, Virginia used to be,” Maddie told them, her breath finally slowing to a normal rate, though fatigue weighed her eyelids. “We still have family there. We were trying to get there and I ran into some egg that shouldn’t have been in the food.”

“Or got bitten by something,” Samantha added. She came back over and offered Maddie a box. She took it curiously and found that it was filled with epi-pens, all of them carefully still in their wrappers and the proper color. Her eyes filled with tears as she smiled up at the woman.

“Hopefully that’ll get you to Richmond,” Samantha said softly. She still didn’t crack a smile, but her dark brown eyes seemed kind.

“There’s still a Richmond to go to?” Anae asked, sounding surprised. “With all the flooding I thought the entire coastline was gone for a hundred miles inland. Last I heard, all of Delaware and most of Florida is gone.”

“It was, for a while,” Maddie told them. “But eventually the waters receded somewhat and some of the buildings are still standing.”

“Won’t there be more storms, though?” Anae asked. “The last one I can remember, which was I think ten years ago now, destroyed the coast all the way into Canada and as far inland as Michigan. Is Richmond even a safe place for a Haven?”

“They’ve been there for almost eight years, our aunt told us,” Alec said, finally releasing Maddie from his tight embrace. He sat beside her and kept an arm around her and she leaned against him gratefully and fought to keep her eyes open. Her whole body felt so heavy but also light at the same time, and she was so tired.

“Doesn’t mean it’s very safe…” Anae muttered as she kept sorting. Samantha carefully started packing the boxes and bottles on the shelf into wooden crates, double checking each one. The crates looked freshly made, like the two had built them for this purpose and quite recently.

“Are you scavengers?” Alec asked them. “I’ve talked to some of the people who sell supplies to Havens. They weren’t usually as friendly as you.”

“We’re whatever we need to be to survive,” Anae told them, flashing a smile that looked forced. “We found this place yesterday and we were shocked by how much of it is still intact. The nearest Haven is only a day’s walk down one of the safest roads around. We figured the supply lines between Havens could get this medicine distributed and that’s a much better use for it than just sitting here and rotting. Besides, we need to be able to spend some time in a Haven for once…”

“Why don’t you just go to a Haven and live there?” Maddie asked sleepily, watching them work methodically, always in tune with each other. It was like a dance, almost.

“We’re not welcome in most Havens,” Anae said softly. Samantha coughed at her, but she shrugged. Anae glanced at the two of them and raised a brow and Samantha scowled, then finally sighed and stacked the packed crate along the back wall with a few others. Maddie wondered how they would get all those crates to the Haven without having to spend weeks taking trips back and forth.

“Why not?” Alec asked suspiciously, stiffening slightly.

Anae smiled sadly. “We didn’t commit some horrendous crime or anything,” she assured them. “Just the crime of existing, really.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Alec asked harshly. Maddie smacked his arm, though she doubted it had much effect, drowsy and weak as she was from the sudden adrenaline crash of not dying.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us,” Anae told them as she moved to another shelf to keep sorting. “But we’re not helping the repopulation effort and we never will. That’s the reason most people use. It’s all bigotry, really.” She scowled at her work and a bottle hit the counter with more force than before.

“You’re infertile?” Alec asked, suddenly sound sympathetic.

“I have no idea,” Anae revealed with a shrug. “It doesn’t matter, though, since we have no interest in finding out.”

Alec frowned, looking adorably confused, thick brows lowered and his mouth in a twist of concentration. Maddie rasped out, “They’re gay, Alec.” He looked comically shocked, eyes popping wide.

Anae grinned at them and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if we’re gay or not, we’re together and that’s how it’s gonna stay.” On her way past Anae to collect another crate, Samantha stole a kiss and received a pinch on her butt in return. Maddie giggled, then groaned when her abused ribs protested. Alec pulled out his canteen and helped her drink from it. She smiled gratefully.

“Mind if we stay the night here?” Maddie asked. “We’re not interested in stealing your drugs, especially since you were so kind to give us extra epi-pens. I just need some rest.”

Anae and Samantha shared another look that seemed to speak volumes, then shrugged and returned to their work. “We have a fire pit set up in the greeting card aisle. I’m sure you can find something to eat in here. It’s miraculously untouched! The chips seem to be stale but otherwise fine. We have enough fuel for the Bunsen burner that you can go ahead and cook something if you want. Don’t want to have a wood fire inside, you know? Bad idea.”

“If you need more medicine, we’ll share,” Samantha said softly. Anae grinned at her.

“Yep!” she agreed easily. “We need to sell this stuff because we need to buy things we can’t salvage at the Haven, but if there’s something you need, give a holler and we’ll see if we can find it. Stock up while you’re here. We don’t need everything that’s in this building.”

“You’d share your find with us?” Alec asked, shocked. In truth, Maddie was pretty surprised, too, even through the stupor that followed the necessary use of an epi-pen. Scavengers were always jealous of their finds and would kill to keep them hidden and safe. It was weird that they’d even given her extra epi-pens, let alone offered to share what they had.

Anae looked at them both, still leaning on each other on the floor. “You need it. We have it. Sharing won’t put us in danger. We don’t mind giving you some. The only way the world gets better is if we all stop being such selfish pricks. Go get some rest. Your sister looks like she’s gonna fall asleep at any moment.”

“But how are the two of you gonna get all of that to the Haven by yourselves?” Maddie slurred as Alec moved their packs to the camp in the greeting card aisle.

Anae smiled at her and started packing up another crate with the sorted medicine. “We have a wagon that we salvaged parts for. It’s in the shipping docks in the back because it’s too big to fit through the doors to get it in here. Go get some rest and eat something. There might still be Twinkies!”

With a tired smile, she took the advice and let Alec haul her to her feet and set her down on her sleeping bag. She ate chips, careful of her still-churning stomach, while he cooked canned chili and then she drifted in and out of sleep for hours. When Alec woke her again, it was getting dark and he gave her more food. She was barely lucid and simply took what she was given. Anae and Samantha were sitting across the Bunsen burner fire, Anae’s head on Samantha’s shoulder as they ate and murmured to each other about how much they’d found and boxed up. Even in that conversation, Anae seemed to talk a lot more than Samantha did. They were really cute together. As Maddie spooned up the mostly tasteless microwavable soup that her brother had boiled over the fire, she thought about their situation. Those two women had to offer an entire pharmacy to a Haven just to be allowed to trade within its walls, but they were so kind and selfless that she didn’t understand how they would be kept out in the first place. She would have thought that any Haven would be lucky to have two such resourceful and caring women to help out, regardless of their sexuality. Maddie had never really been interested in sex, had shrugged off dates offered in high school because she just didn’t care and she’d been way more focused on soccer. It was tragic to her that because those two women loved each other they were ostracized from what remained of society.

Whatever happened, she didn’t think she’d ever forget them. They had shown her more kindness than she’d known in her whole life, even when the world still worked. They didn’t know her or her brother, but they’d given what little they had and offered to help. It was incredible and precious to her. She closed her eyes again when her bowl was empty and smiled as she fell asleep again, feeling better than she had since storms and earthquakes tore apart her home. (Tagging @solverne because I’ve updated!)

#katalyna writes #kat's originals #post-apocalyptic #post-apocalypse #constructive criticism #please

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