When I woke up, it took me a moment to remember what had happened, and I was still foggy.

But the tear induced headache and swollen eyes reminded me. Adam.

I took a deep breath and tried to get my bearings. Should I have been prepared for this? Was I overreacting? I thought about it, and I couldn't convince myself that I was. I held firmly to the belief that if Ginny had been in a dangerous position last night, Harry would have gone to help her right away.

I couldn't build up the courage to go out there and face them. I knew it was late in the morning. The shadow on the tent's canvas was dark, meaning the sun was high in the sky. They had left me alone.

I wasn't sure I could even talk to Harry. I felt so let down by him. Before, I had thought of him as a hero. I struggled to shed the view of monster now.

"Kat?" Hermione asked, poking her head into our room. "We made breakfast... will you please come out and eat?"

The idea of saying no, like I wanted to, made me feel a bit like I was a toddler having a tantrum. "I'll be right out," I managed, but found my voice awful hoarse.

I put on a sweatshirt, as the air was particularly nippy today. It seemed like the weather was now officially fall. I stepped out of my room quietly and quickly. The three of them sat huddled near the fire, speaking quietly. A pan with eggs cooking in it sat over the fire, though I was not hungry.

I could not bring myself to meet anyone's eyes, so I focused on the fire instead. A quick glance down the hill told me embers were still burning in the camp down there. I wanted to go investigate, but didn't want to while everyone was still watching me.

"Are you going to eat, Kat?" Hermione asked, quietly.

I shook my head. "No, thank you," I mumbled.

Ron scooped the eggs onto his plate and began to eat. For a few minutes, the only sounds were of his fork meeting his plate and the crackling of the fire.

"Ron," Hermione asked when he had finished. "Will you help me with the washing up?"

He nodded and the both went inside. They left me alone. I sighed.

Harry moved closer to me. "I am really sorry, Kat," he said, quietly.

"Sorry doesn't do a thing," I replied. I hugged my knees to my chest. "You know for a fact that if Ginny had been the one getting attacked by whoever the hell that was, you would have moved the earth to make sure she was safe."

"I had to protect you," he told me. "I know you're upset with me, but I couldn't guarantee you would be safe if you went out there..."

"Adam is dead because of you," I told him.

"And you are alive because of me," he said. "I'm not discussing this anymore, Kat. We won't get anywhere. I am not entirely convinced Adam died last night, but you seem pretty firm in that belief."

"Did you not hear what went on last night?" I asked. "Or see the fire?"

He shrugged. "I'm going inside," He stood up. He turned around at the last second. "I forgot, it's your turn to wear this," he said, tossing me the locket.

I sighed and put it on. I hated having to wear the locket, though somehow experience made it easier. I was worried that after last night, wearing the locket would be worse. Though at least now, I would have it off before bed. No extra nightmares tonight.

Like I expected, the low hum of anxiety that always surrounded me got a lot harder to deal with, though no freaking out this time.

I was left alone out there, in front of a dying fire. The cold air bit at my face but there was too much on my mind. I was not ready to go in the tent and have to deal with them.

When the fire had pretty much burnt out, I resigned myself to going inside. As I stood up, the camp caught my eye. I just had to go see what was left.

The distance between our camp and where the other men had set up was further than it looked. They were at the bottom of the hill, and we were at the top, and the steep climb was slippery, but I was determined.

When I was only about fifty feet away, a tree root caused me to trip. The sudden collision on my face to the ground was discouraging, but after a moment, I realized I was all right. No twisted ankles or broken bones, and no one around to see it. The only things that hurt were the palms of my hands.

I walked into their camp. Most of what had been here was now ashes. Remnants of their salmon dinner were charcoal in a tray above the fire. Everything smelled like smoke.

I didn't see any bodies. I prepared myself for that, but I didn't need to. So what had happened to them? I wondered. Did whoever attacked them last night capture them? Had they all been killed and their bodies taken? Or had they escaped?

I hoped they had all escaped. I had not one shred of hope, but this was undeniably a little suspicious. Maybe they were all fine and safe now, somewhere eating a good meal.

But I couldn't guarantee that, so I still worried. I stood in the midst of the ashy camp for awhile. I didn't know what to do with myself.

"Kat?" a voice called.

I turned around to find that Ron had joined me. From the way leaves clung to his pants and how he was rubbing his hands, I guessed the same tree root that had tripped me had claimed another victim. "Hi," I said.

"I'm really sorry, about..." he gestured to the mess I was standing in.

"It's not your fault," I told him. "It's okay."

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure who to side with," he said, "you or Harry. I understand that he wanted to keep you safe, but at the same time... if it was Ginny, we both would have been out here in an instant. I think that might be one of the reasons he's such a git today, is because he knows you're right."

"I don't think you should take sides," I said. "I think we're already a side- we're out here fighting against You-Know-Who, we don't need any more subdivisions."

"You know what I mean," he said, a small smile on his lips. I tried to return the smile; though I was afraid it would just come out as a grimace. "Anyways, Harry sent me down here to get you. We're relocating."

I just blinked at him. Moving already? This felt like a personal thing. He was taking me away from here so I wouldn't be reminded of Adam anymore and I was not happy. "Why?"

"The Snatchers were just too close to us for comfort," he said. "Those men last night that attacked them, they're called Snatchers. Bounty hunters, I guess."

I took a deep breath. "I see," I said. That didn't make me feel any better. "Where are we going?"

He shrugged. "No idea. Wherever he wants, I guess."

I sighed. "It's always what he wants," I said.

"Yep," Ron said. "Welcome to my life."

We went up to the camp and helped to pack up. There wasn't really much to do, as Hermione and Harry had taken care of most of it already.

We apparated to a new clearing. I had no idea where it was, though I hadn't had much idea at the last place either. This time, we had to hike for a bit to find where we could set up our place. It was quiet, no one seemed to want to have a conversation, though Hermione turned and said something to Harry quietly every once and awhile.

After about an hour of climbing on the steep rocky hills, we found a place that was flat enough for us. Harry and Hermione started setting up charms to protect and conceal us.

That left Ron and I to set up the tent. There was such a divide in us right now, and I felt like that could be really dangerous. Though at the same time, I still didn't really want to talk to Harry. I just felt that we needed to stop splitting things up between Harry and Hermione and Ron and me.

We set up the tent quickly and I put on a pot of tea. Maybe if we all sat together for awhile it would be a little better. When Harry and Hermione came in from setting up charms, I had a pot of tea and four nearly fresh cookies waiting.

I looked at the three of them, and it seemed like no one wanted to talk. So I gave up and sat in the awkward silence.

Finally, Hermione stood up and broke the silence. "Kat, do you want to go see what kind of food we can find?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes," I said. "Let's go."

It was good to get out of the tent. Hermione didn't say a lot at first, but it wasn't uncomfortable with her. We were trying to find water, I knew.

"I'm sorry about last night," she said.

"I know," I said.

"Even if you weren't with him anymore, I know that it must be killing you... not knowing," she said. "But... I don't think he is dead, Kat. I really have hope that somewhere out there... he is still alive."

"Why?" I asked. Harry had said that earlier, but I didn't really want to talk about it with him.

"I think he probably apparated away," she said. "It doesn't look like there was any killing in the camp, certainly. And the Snatchers left pretty quick, from what Harry says, and they wouldn't have if they were able to get people."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm telling the truth," she said. "It was scary but I think it's going to be okay. Of course, I have no idea where he is, but... just don't lose hope, Kat. Hope, faith... they're really important right now. Sometimes you just have to suspend your beliefs and hope for the best. Right now is one of those times."

I nodded, unsure of what else I could possibly say.

"And I know that you're angry with Harry," she said. "And I'm not taking either of your side's... I just want you to try and put yourself in his shoes. He wanted to protect you. That was his priority. And really soon you two need to make up... We need to stay united."

"I know," I told her. "I just... I need a little time."

"That's understandable," she said.

We were quiet the rest of the way as we walked downhill far enough to find a small stream flowing. I sat on the bank, careful not to let my legs dangle in the water. It was too cold for that. "Accio fish," I said.

A few fish came flying towards me, and I was careful to catch them in my sweatshirt. In the end, I had five or six fish wiggling in my arms.

Hermione was laughing at me. I was sure that it was a funny site. "You're not going to help?" I asked, a little peeved. I knew that if I didn't have the locket around my neck, then it wouldn't have mattered at all. I would have been laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face at the funny sight of me with six fish in my arms.

"Oh!" she said. She took out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus!"

One of the fish stopped wriggling and I handed it to her. This was such an odd sight, I knew. A year ago, I never would have been okay with touching a fish, let alone knowing I was going to be hiking back up to the camp and cooking it for dinner.

Ten minutes later, all of the fish had been rendered immobile and wrapped up in my sweatshirt. She placed it in her bag and we started our trek up the hill. We made dinner and it was actually pretty good. Having full stomachs always improved our moods.

It had been about ten hours since I had taken the locket from Harry, which meant it was time for Ron to wear it. I handed it to him and he put it on. His stomach was mostly full, even he should be in an okay mood tonight.

I felt a lot better at the end of the day then I had when I woke up. I had some more hope that maybe Adam was still out there. But I was exhausted. All of the walking we had done today had exhausted me physically and the locket and everything that was going on had exhausted me mentally. So I was really glad that Hermione said I could take the third watch for the night and get some sleep first. I went to bed at a really early hour and didn't even care.

It was easy to fall asleep. I was fairly sure I had before my head even hit the pillow. However, I didn't stay asleep for very long.

There was some sort of commotion happening in the living room of the tent. I rolled over and got out of bed, really concerned.

"I'm leaving," Ron said.

"What?" I asked. I half wondered if this was a dream or not. It didn't seem real.

"I am leaving," Ron told me. "Would you like to come with me? I'm sick of it here. It isn't fair, he has no idea what we're doing, and I'm done."

I couldn't glance at them to see their faces, so I just nodded at Ron. The allure of leaving was so great. Wherever we went, I could probably get a hot shower, and there was nothing I wanted more than a hot shower. I could track down my family and know they were safe. I wouldn't feel so alone.

In the room, though, I felt so much tension. Right now, I just wanted to get out of this tension.

"Okay."

Author's Note: Another chapter! I know I'm going to get a negative response to this, but oh well. Can't wait to see what you're all going to say to it. Anyways, thanks a ton to potter-reading-coastie, for betaing this chapter. Let me know what you all think!