Worthy Of Magic

Part 43 - Rebirth

Time Unknown. A coast.

"I'm close," he groaned.

"Wait!" She increased the pace. "Almost there," she gasped.

The door was knocked hard and Sirius lost his concentration and came with a pleasured groan.

"God dammit!" she cursed as she felt him warm and go soft inside her.

The door was knocked repeatedly again.

The woman leaned against his chest as he lay sprawled over the sofa with an expression of lazy pleasure in his eyes.

"Sirius!" called a young feminine voice from outside with impatience.

"Mind if I get that?" Sirius asked with his trademark grin.

She huffed and got off with annoyance. "Couldn't hold it in for a few more seconds, could you?" she grumbled under her breath and began to gather up her clothes.

Sirius pulled on his pants with a roll of his eyes and opened the dilapidated door that served as an excuse for privacy in the magically enforced sand hut.

It was Daphne.

She looked in and scowled when she saw the back of a woman pulling on a shirt.

"We have guests I think you'll want to meet," she said tightly.

Sirius sighed and raised a finger asking for a minute.

He turned to the woman who was looking at him expectantly and smiled when he handed her a bag lying on the bed in the corner.

"Nice doing business with you," she whispered and left with a swagger, leaving Daphne a fake smile as she went past her.

Sirius opened his mouth to explain but she just raised her hand and shook her head. "I don't want to know," she said darkly.

"So, who are the newcomers?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Come on," she huffed and turned on her heel.

Sirius followed with an eye roll.

It was late in the evening and the air was rapidly cooling as the light gave way to darkness. In the distance, within the grasp of fading light, crooked mounds of hardened sand that served as simple housing could be seen haphazardly spread around with survivors outside wrapped up in blankets starting to light fires.

Daphne spied the skinny woman lazily making way to where most muggles had made camp.

The huts with wizards and witches in them were the big ones that had dozens of smaller ones around it. Magic was needed to survive the harsh environment. Without it death clawed into life mercilessly.

Daphne had taken initiative and encouraged sharing magic from the moment the first muggle strayed to their little camp of two.

Sirius's hut was away from the majority and closer to the sea. Not many dared to brave the proximity of the sea at night. It was where monsters came from to hunt when they got hungry.

In the mornings, there was a mad rush at attempts to fish but the receding sea line deeply impacted their courage of the settlement to venture further away from the strange familiarity they had made with the desert. Not to mention a terrible island lay a few miles off shore and the further the water pulled away, the closer Azkaban got.

"What was in the bag?" Daphne finally asked as they walked towards what they considered the entrance to the settlement. Venture further outside that invisible line and there was probably no return.

"Apples," Sirius replied.

Daphne scoffed. She didn't believe him. "Where did you find apples?"

"A boat wreck a little down the beach. Marla happened to see me salvaging it and we worked out a sweet deal."