Hey guys i am soooo sorry for delay in update, I lost my muse after chapter 7 and some stuff has happened in real that has caused me to not be able to produce another chapter. This one isn't very long and to be completely honest I am not a 100% happy with how it ended, if there is anything that you feel may have made this chapter better, please feel free to let me know and i may go back and edit this chapter.

I cant promise ch9 will be out anytime soon. I have a cousin who is 8 that's extremely sick in the hospital and some stuff going on with my husband's back but i will try to work on the next few chapters so i can get them out to you all. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding!

As always I do not own either!

The next day the group left on the highway split up again. This time there was three groups consisting of Luna and Daryl, Merle and Andrea, and Shane, Lori and Carl. T-dog and Amy decided to stay back with Dale and Carol in case Amelia showed up with Rick and Sophia. As the morning dragged on Luna was starting to get worried. Sure she had all the faith in her best friend but a part of her couldn't help but worry, Amelia could easily dispatch a small group of the undead especially with Rick's help but a hoard?

"Hey, you don't need to worry so much yeah?" Daryl said as they trudged through the woods.

"I know but if they come across a hoard, I'm not sure if they will be able to escape." She replied as she withdrew her wand and cast the human reveal spell again. "I'm sure they have found Sophia by now but still, I can't lose her you know?"

It was quiet as they continued their trek. Luna would cast spells every now and then including the one's that would tell her if Amelia was alright. She knew Amelia had one on Sophia, unfortunately that didn't help her any. She could keep checking to make sure Amelia was fine but not Sophia and that was what really worried her.

It was around noon that they stopped briefly and climbed up into a tree to rest and eat something small. They needed to keep up their energy and even though she hated to, she knew that it was for the best. It was as they sat there eating that she realized her cousin was studying her, looking up she cocked her head to the side. "What?"

"Amelia said she adopted you into her family. What does that mean exactly?" Daryl questioned.

"We did a ritual of sorts, basically we shared blood which gave me access to the Potter family holdings and property. It also gave me a boost in my magic. Basically in every way that matter's I am also a Potter as well as a Lovegood now." Luna replied as she took a sip of her water.

"So it doesn't erase the connection you have with our family?"

"No just adds me to the Potter family. Why?"

"Just curious. I may have grown up knowing about magic but I never really studied it. You know the old man didn't care about none of that." Daryl grimaced as he replied.

"Yeah I know. Why do you think daddy refused to come visit once your grandparents passed away? He didn't like him at all. We would have taken you with us you know, but we weren't allowed to." She scowled briefly. "I know how he was with you, you know. Amelia went through the same thing with her relatives."

"Did she?"

"Yes. Just don't ask her about it. She doesn't like talking about it either. Though if I'm reading the signs right, Rick will know about magic and her past by the time they come back." She laughed lightly.

"Rick huh? Didn't think she'd go for him." He snorted and smirked. "Shall we continue on then? We should head down the other side back towards the highway, by the time we get there it'll be almost night again."

"Yeah alright."

They both climbed down and continued on their way sticking close to the river. With Luna's magic they had been able to apparate to the spot they had ended at yesterday before apparating back to the highway so they had been able to cover more ground. It was late afternoon when they heard the gun shot echo around the woods. They both stopped and looked off into that direction, all sense's alert. "That wasn't one of ours was it?" Luna questioned.

"No. Amelia made sure everyone knew that sound attracts them." Daryl replied.

"Shit. Come on we need to get back to the highway. I have a feeling that we will find out what's going on when we do." Luna replied before grabbing him and apparating to the spot they had yesterday before they both bolted to the highway.

They came running out of the tree-line and over the barrier to find everyone except Shane, Lori and Carl back and standing around worried. "What happened?!" Luna demanded as they came up to the group.

"We don't know. We had just gotten back when we heard the shot." Glenn replied as he stared into the woods.

Scowling Luna climbed up the ladder to the top of the RV and grabbed the binoculars that Dale had set down and swept the area. Silence fell as the tension in the group grew. It was about twenty minutes later when she saw someone riding a horse come out of the tree-line further down the road and she alerted the group.

They stood waiting, their weapons raised and their guards up as the woman rode up alongside them. "Are you Amy?" She asked the young blonde female that stood on the RV steps.

"I am. Why?" Amy replied.

"Carl's been shot, it was an accident. Otis brought him along with Lori and Shane back to our farm down the road there. She mentioned that she left a group here on the highway." Maggie replied.

"Dammit. Rick isn't going to be happy." Glenn said as he ran his hand through his hair. "We need to go. Now. We can't leave Shane there alone with her family." Dale looked at the female. "Can you show us where to go?"

"No wait we can't leave! Amelia and Rick aren't back yet with Sophia!" Carol spoke up panicking slightly.

Andrea put her hands on Carol's shoulders. "Carol listen to me. We will leave a note on one of the cars and we can come back and check everyday to see if they have come back yet. In the meantime we need to go and make sure Carl is going to be alright."

Carol debated with tears in her eyes as she glanced at the woods before reluctantly agreeing. With that they all loaded up in the vehicles while Luna wrote on one of the windows for the three of them to stay there and that they would be back for them. They quickly left following along behind the horse and all the while Luna was anxious. She knew very little about magical healing and nothing about the non-magical kind, she just hoped that they could save Carl or she was afraid Rick would snap.

Things were quiet as the three walked through the woods. Rick in front with Amelia walking behind with Sophia walking beside her holding onto her hand with a death grip. All three were anxious to get back to their group so they could get moving. They had been walking most of the day and night was starting to fall.

"How much further Amelia?" Sophia asked softly.

"I don't know. Shouldn't be to much further though." She replied. She was tense, they had heard the gunshot earlier that day and she was extremely worried about the other's in the group. Especially Carl.

"We should reach the river in about an hour." Rick said from up ahead.

"We should camp for the night. It's getting too dark to see." Amelia said. She was annoyed. They should have reached the highway before this but thanks to a large group of walkers they had to escape from, they were farther away from the highway than they had been yesterday.

"I don't think we will find a clearing around here." Rick said just as they broke through the tree-line to find a cabin sitting in a small clearing causing Amelia to snort.

"How about a cabin instead?" She replied smirking.

"Alright, you stay here with Sophia, I'm going to check the place out make sure it's safe." Rick said before walking up to the door. Amelia held Sophia back with her arm around the girl's shoulders to keep her next to her while she scanned the area with her eyes and senses.

It was only a few minutes later when Rick appeared in the doorway and waved them over. They were quiet as they entered and the two quickly barricaded the door once it was shut. "There isn't much here but there is a sofa for Sophia to sleep on tonight." Rick replied as he grabbed a candle and taking a match out of Amelia's bag lit it. "This is the only candle I could find."

"It's fine. We won't need much lighting tonight." Amelia replied as she went about grabbing thing's out of her bag to make something small for them all to eat. Once fed and Amelia had helped Sophia clean up slightly with the water they had with them and change into something that was clean and comfortable (she had some female clothes in her bag that she resized to fit ) she had settled the child down on the couch with a comforter she had found. It did not take her long to pass out thankfully.

Rick convinced her to rest and that he would take the first watch but unfortunately she was not able to sleep. She spent a good hour tossing and turning, her mind refusing to settle so she could sleep. Her mind kept replaying the kiss from the night before. Is it safe to enter into a relationship with him? I mean with the world the way it is... she trailed off as she turned once again and sighed softly.

She needed to talk to Luna. Groaning softly she got up from where she had lain down on the floor next to Sophia and stretching she made her way to the small kitchen where Rick was looking out the window keeping watch. He had been walking back and forth from the kitchen to the living room keeping an eye on the surroundings from both sides so they wouldn't be surprised by anything.

She said nothing as she came up behind him and stopped. She knew he knew she was there, there was no way he didn't. He like her, was able to sense when other's came up on him. He did not turn around though instead keeping his eyes looking out into the night hoping to be able to see if something came upon them.

"Anything yet?" She questioned quietly.

"No. Can't sleep?"

"No. I'm anxious to get back to the group. That gun shot is going to draw more walkers to us."

"I know. I really hope it wasn't one of our group." Sighing Amelia stepped up next to him and leant against the wall and stared out into the night.

"You should try to rest Amelia. I promise I will wake you in a few hours." Rick said as he turned to look at her.

"Yeah alright. I'll try. I'll see you in a few hours." Amelia turned and walked back over to where she had lain down before, though she had a feeling she would get little to no sleep at all.

The sun was starting to set by the time the three of them broke through the foliage onto the highway. Amelia's heart dropped when they noticed the RV was not parked where it should have been. Sophia who had been holding onto her started to sniffle catching Amelia's attention, she crouched down and placed her hands on Sophia's shoulders. "Don't worry sweetie, they would not have left without a good reason. Okay?"

"Look they left the SUV." Rick pointed out as he jogged over to it. Amelia stood and grabbed Sophia's hand before following, she frowned as she picked up the piece of paper that was stuck under the windshield wiper and read it. She glanced at Rick before handing it to him.

"They left to a farm not to fair from here. We could probably follow them but I think it's best to stay here for tonight."

"I agree, at least they left us a vehicle if something happens." Rick frowned for a moment before looking back up. "They don't say why they had to leave though, what do you think it may have been to cause them to leave?"

"I do not know but there is no point in worrying overly much, they will come back tomorrow and we will find out then." Amelia opened the back door of the SUV and after setting up a pillow and blanket motioned for Sohpia to get in. "Go ahead and settle in Sophia, I'll grab you something to eat and then you need to sleep. You will see your mom tomorrow okay?"?

"Do you promise?" Sophia questioned as she climbed in.

"I do promise." Amelia smiled softly as she ran her hand over Sohpia's head before she walked around to the back of the SUV and opened the trunk. She quickly grabbed each of them a can of fruit as well as a bag of chips and bottle of water. They ate quickly and Amelia laid in the back with Sophia to help her settle down quickly.

Rick left them to it as he went along each car that they had not gotten to the day before and started grabbing things that he thought would be useful. He found a bunch of clothes and shoes for kids and grabbed the bag of them to put in the SUV. He also found a few more guns and even three swords. He had just climbed into the driver seat after putting the stuff he found in the back when he glanced back to find that Amelia had fallen asleep with Sophia draped halfway across her.

He smiled and reached back and brushed the hair off Amelia's forehead. Yes he was definitely already falling for her.

He turned back around and got comfortable for the night ahead, he would keep watch for a few hours before he woke Amelia. In the meantime, his gut was telling him that something was wrong with Carl. He just hoped whatever it was, wasn't the reason the group had to leave the highway.

The following days would prove to be trying for everyone involved, though more so for Rick.