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"I don't recognize him,"Joey said as he moved to examine the dead man,"He doesn't run with any of the local gang, no one should be looking for him."
Astoria glanced at the man and shrugged. "Good riddance, I say." She got up and pulled her wand from her pocket. She waved her wand and the man's body turned into a single bone. She buried it next to a nearby tree.
It made Joey sick to his stomach how easy it was to get rid of him. This is why they never found bodies... There were no bodies. It was to easy to kill muggles, too easy to hide them...
Astoria turned back to Joey, and seeing the look on his face and in his eyes made her stomach churn. "You.. You should go.." She said softly, watching him steadily.
"Why?"Joey asked, worried he had done something wrong. This was not the time to upset a witch...
Astoria was totally thrown off by the question. "Becsuse.." She searched her brain for a good reason. "Because it's better if you leave.."
"I don't believe that,"Joey said calmly, watching her,"Why don't you trust me? You could kill and dispose of me faster than I could say 'Abra Cadabra'."
Astoria almost laughed at the way he said it, but she kept her face straight. "And why would I trust you? I only met you yesterday. Also, why would I trust you if you don't trust me?" She slowly approached him. "I can see it in your eyes." She pressed her wand against his cheek. "Doubt."
"And your eyes scream fear, even with all this power you are still afraid,"Joey whispered, their bodies less than a foot apart. He reached for her hand gently, his fingertips slowly encasing her palm, holding the wand tighter against his own face,"Because without the power, you don't know how to survive. And I do."
The touch of his fingers sent a tingle down her arm. In the past, she would have killed him immediately or cringed at his touch. But she remained where she was, her eyes unwavering. "You don't know me." She whispered, gripping her wand tighter, her hand shaking slightly, her other one curling into a fist at her side.
"No I don't, but I know people,"he said, feeling her shake. He slowly lowered their hands between them, the wand pointing at the ground,"And you're a person, just like me. Living in a horrible, terrible world."
Astoria looked down at their hands, taking a deep breath before pulling her hand away and stuffing her wand back into her pocket. "It is, indeed.." She whispered, looking back up at him.
Joey nodded, gazing into her eyes for a moment,"So I'll keep.checking on you until you stop letting me in."
Astoria nodded and took a step back, the cool air passing between them. "Alright." She answered, forcing a small smile.
"You might want to heal your arm better... Your wand can do better than my torn shirt,"Joey said, the cold air brushing against his bare skin on his side.
Astoria felt heat rise to her cheeks and she nodded, looking away. "You're right." She answered and she let out a soft chuckle, a sound that seemed foreign to her.
When she chuckled Joey couldn't help but smile. I it was rare to make people feel good these days. He stepped his cold body towards the fire, he didn't see fire much unless it was from some battle during the daytime.
Astoria watched him closely, then she slowly raised her wand and cast the protection spells once more around the surrounding area. She then went and sat by the fire, grabbing some bread and tossing it to him.
"the kids are going to begin to think I'm a wizard,"Joey said as he slid the bread into his backpack, licking his lips.
"You should eat some. You don't want to starve do you?" She asked, leaning back against a post on the tent
"No, and I won't. But I'd rather make sure everyone else has some first. These kids go through enough... A girl lost a finger yesterday, her frostbite was too bad and we couldn't save it,"Joey explained, shaking his head,"It sucks."
Astoria frowned and looked down at her own gloved hands. She slowly took them off and handed them back to him. "You should give these to one of them. They need it more than me. I'm perfectly fine."
"No, they have them, some of them. I'm the only one that sticks around. Our home is more like a pit stop on the trail to mid country, if I gave those away we would never see them again, keep them, You're new,"Joe said with a shake of his head.
Astoria rose an eyebrow. "I think that you're forgetting that I'm a witch. I'm perfectly fine." She said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"That's not what I'm giving you,"Joey said slyly, watching her before looking back at the fire.
Astoria looked up, a confused expression on her face. "What do you mean?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You're not alone, and you need to know that even when you're by yourself. I'm lending you a helping hand. You're not cold, but you are by yourself, but you won't be alone. It's something us muggles do,"Joe explained softly, watching her.
Astoria shifted uncomfortably and fingered the necklace that's around her neck. "I.." She sighed and swallowed hard. She closed her eyes briefly before continuing. "It's late. You should go.."
"I'll be back tomorrow,"he said before disappearing back into the forest, finding some food in the form of berries and leaves. The winter was always very, very hard.
Astoria stood up and put the protection charms up before putting out the fire and going into the tent with her fire jar. She fell asleep slowly, thinking about the mysterious Muggle, Joey, and the way his hand felt against hers.
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