(Much thanks to all of you fabulous reviewers!)

"Well, it's not all that bad," Mike comforted me Monday morning. "I mean, it's not like she's sending you the divorce papers or anything."

"It feels just as bad," I muttered.

Things hadn't exactly gone quite the way I wanted the other day. It was true, Katie wasn't moving away or anything, but the situation still wasn't very comforting.

"Well," Mike said. "I have a solution." I looked up at him. "You could do what I've been telling you for the past year. You could quit."

"Mike, we're so close to him, I know we are," I said. "I can't just quit. I mean, what if we find him?"

"Oliver, I don't think you quite understand it," Mike said. "You're taking Katie for granted. Like I told you before, if she was my wife, I would have quit this job A.S.A.P."

"I'm not taking her for granted," I defended. "I love her."

"But do you love her more?"

"What?"

"Do you love your job more or Katie more?"

"Katie, hands down!" I insisted. "But-"

"Then why not quit?"

"Mike, we're so close to finding him," I said.

"Not as close as you are to losing Katie."

I thought about what Mike had said, I really did. But, we were so close to finding Voldemort…… closer than I knew.

I woke at 2:30 AM to find Mike's owl attempting to peck at my face. "What is it?" I groaned, taking a letter from it. "Lumos." The words were scribbled so horribly, I could barely read.

Wood,

We've got a location on him. Get to Headquarters. I'll meet you there.

-M

I jackknifed myself out of bed and struggled to find some clothes. With a loud crack I apparated to Order Headquarters, where things were in complete turmoil. "Oliver!" I turned around and spotted Jen, waving me into a room. "We've got an emergency meeting for those who are going after him," she told me. "Come on, in here." I followed her into the room where several others of the Order sat. Jen and I took our seats, just as Albus Dumbledore came through the door, closing and locking it behind himself.

"We've got one reason and one reason only for this mission," he said. "And that is to capture Lord Voldemort. I've specifically chosen the ten of you to do this, and only this. Five of you will be back-up. It will be your job to help the first five, should they not be able to fulfill their duties. Am I clear?" There were nods all around the room. "Mr. Wood, Ms. Rawlings, Mr. Smith, Mr. Leery, and Ms. Jennings will be the front five," Dumledore continued. "The rest of you shall be back-up. The location we've received came from two of our spies, both of whom have been tracking 3 alleged Death Eaters. They tell us they expect him to have his own form of back-up as well." He looked up at us, his eyes scanning the room. "Like I said, I've chosen the ten of you for this mission. My intentions are not to add any more pressure on you, but I will tell you that the wizarding world is depending on you."

We left, Dumbledore's words hanging over us. Equipped with only our wands, we took a portkey a mile north of Voldemort's location. No one spoke, we just made our way through the old forest, our wands raised and lit. We came to a small cliff, which was where the back-ups were supposed to wait. The rest of us put out our wands and continued on.

For the first time in a while, I felt fear. I hadn't been able to really feel anything lately and now all I could feel was fear and anticipation. "Hey Mike," I whispered.

"What?"

"After this, I'm taking your advice. I'm quitting."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"There it is!" Jen whispered. Through the dark, I could see her pointing at a small cave, hidden among the trees.

"Everyone ready?" I asked. No one said a word and I knew exactly how they felt. "Well then, on the count of three. One, two……" I didn't want to say it. "Three."

We rushed forward, as quiet as possible, our wands at the ready. Mike went into the cave first, all of us right behind him. We shot spells everywhere and there were shouts and cursing. I saw a hooded figure run past me, towards the entrance of the cave and I dove on top of him. "Stupefy!" I shouted. The Death Eater stopped struggling and I put a Binding Charm on them just as the Cruciatus Curse bounced off the cave wall next to me. I spun around and began shooting Impediment Curses everywhere.

"Expelliarmus!" My wand shot out of my hand and landed several feet away. A spell hit me on the back but nothing happened. That was when I realized Mike had hit me with a Shield Charm. A Death Eater shot a hex at me and it deflected away.

"Oliver!" Jen was waving wildly at me and threw my wand into the air. The Death Eater made way to get to it and Mike hit him with the Jelly-Legs Jinx. I caught my wand and hit him with a Stunning Spell.

"Crucio!"

The sound of Jen screaming cut through the air and I heard Mike curse. Jason Leery shot a hex at the other Death Eater, as he yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" There was a flash of green and as I hit Jason with a Shield Charm. The Killing Curse was too powerful and I watched in terror as Jason crumpled to the ground. Mike managed to shoot blue sparks into the air, summoning the back-up. As I looked around for them, another figure rushed past me out into the forest.

The last Death Eater dove on top of me and we fell to the ground as I grunted in pain. "Mike!" I shouted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mike rush past me after the Death Eater who was attempting to escape. I elbowed the Death Eater who was on top of me and he fell off of me, but managed to grab my ankle, pulling me back down to the ground, causing me to drop my wand. My leg was killing me and I fumbled around for my wand, finally finding it. I hit the Death Eater with a Stunning Spell and put a Binding Charm on him as well. I struggled to my feet and nearly fell over again as the pain in my leg grew worse. I limped my way into the forest, calling after Mike. After limping for what seemed like miles, but was probably only a couple hundred feet, I met up with him.

"He's gone," he mumbled. "He got away."

"Mr. Wood?" A Healer stuck her head into my room. "You've got a visitor. It's your wife."

Oh, shit.

It was 6 AM, only a few hours after everything happened and I was sitting in St. Mungo's.

Katie appeared through the doorway and the Healer shut the door behind her. Katie didn't say anything, she just sat on the edge of my bed and slipped her arms around me. All I can say is, it felt great to be holding her again. After a brief moment, she sat up and her eyes met mine. "Explain," was all she said.

"I don't know here to begin," I said.

"Well then, let me," she said. "I get a letter at 5:30 AM, telling me to get to St. Mungo's hospital. Totally and completely unaware of what the hell is going on, I come here and find out that you've been injured while on a mission for the Order."

"Katie, if you just let me explain-"

"Oh, believe me, we're not leaving here until you do."

I sighed. "OK, where do you want me to start?"

"How about with you telling me what the hell is going on," Katie suggested.

I thought things over in mind, trying to figure out what exactly to say. "For the past 3 years, I've been working for the Order."

Katie stared at me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Katie, you have to understand, I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I couldn't. If someone found out that you knew, they could use you against me. You could be in danger and there's no way I could have lived with myself if something ever happened to you."

"So you lied to me."

"I didn't 'lie' to you. I just-"

"You lied to me, Oliver. For the past 3 years, you've been lying."

"Katie, I couldn't tell you."

"Yes, you could have!"

"I couldn't take the risk of you getting hurt!"

"Forget about that!" Katie exclaimed. "You didn't think I'd be hurt if you'd…… you'd……… If something worse had happened to you and I didn't know why?"

"Katie, I thought about that, I really did, but I just couldn't tell you. You have to understand that. Please don't be mad at me. I love you so much."

"Oliver, how can I not be mad at you?" Katie asked. "You've been lying to me for the past 3 years. I think that gives me the right to be a little angry."

"You're right, it does," I admitted. "You have every right to be mad at me, but please, just forgive me."

Katie sighed, and slipped her hand in mine. "Oliver, I love you so much… but I mean, you lied to me. I understand why you didn't want to tell me, but it just makes me feel like maybe our marriage is a lie too."

"Katie, I love you, you know that. I know you do," I said.

"But this is just so-"

"I've already told Mike I'm quitting," I said quickly.

"Ol, I can't lie to you," Katie said. "I'm proud of you. I mean, I had no idea that you would ever do something like this but… just… just promise me things are going to change."

"Of course they are," I promised.

Katie sighed and kissed me. "When you get out of here, I'm so going to kill you for this."

(Well, there you go. Review and let me know what you think.)