Here is Chapter Twelve! I hope you all enjoy! Sorry for the sluggish updates, still pretty busy at the moment.

CHAPTER TWELVE

I watched my mother pour the tea, she was an elegant woman. Rose Diggory was the voice of patience and reason in the household. Her gentle and unimposing nature a good balance to my father's tendency to be overbearing and somewhat obnoxious. She was the only person who really knew how to get through to dad. She could silence him with a touch on the shoulder, or a look. Mum seemed to be the only person in the world dad actually listened to when it came to things he was certain about, and that was most things. He was at work, and I knew he would be, I hadn't expected to see him. If I had he would have remained as distant as he had over the past few years. If I had mentioned Louisa or Harry he would have stiffened up and it would have taken all of mother's tact to keep him from going on a rant. I would be lying if I said I wasn't hurt by it. I had gone from being the most glorious son he had ever wanted to being... whatever I was to him now. I tried to remind myself that it wasn't my fault, he had been the one to build me up like he had. He had formed this very clear idea of who I was and who I was going to be in my head, he had imposed that idea on me, and for a long time I had adhered to it. I didn't think he had done it maliciously, he never meant to hurt me or anything like that. He was just dad.

"Harry's birthday is tomorrow, then the wedding is the day after..." I was telling her and I sipped at my cup of tea, glancing around the familiar parlor. The nostalgia was nice, I hadn't lived here in several years and hadn't realized how much I had missed the well known sights and smells of home until now, "Been busy, and cramped. Very cramped. Louisa and I are staying in her tent..."

Mum smiled when I looked at her, feeling mortified to admit I was sharing a tent with my girlfriend, "How is Louisa? I hope she's healed well."

"She has, it barely scarred at all," I nodded, "Mrs. Weasley and Lupin made sure she was looked after."

"I like her," Mother leaned back on the cushions and looked out the window thoughtfully, "I only spent a few moments with her, but she seemed strong. Clearly she has a good heart. I know much of her secondhand. She's all you've written about for the last few years it seems. Even when the tournament was going on and you were dating Cho Chang, she made an appearance in every letter."

I nodded, "Yeah, she's... Louisa. She's great, wonderful, extraordinary. Ridiculously stubborn, reckless and impulsive, loyal to a fault, cross one of her friends and you'd see her temper. She's a firecracker."

"A dangerous one your father things," Mum noted with a smile, watching me carefully, "But you know Amos. He doesn't like change. You've done quite a bit of changing since you turned seventeen and it all seems to revolve around her."

"I have changed, and probably because of her, but I'm happy I did." I heard the defensive tone in my voice.

"Yes, love sets us free. Love turns you into who you were meant to be. Your father knows this, but it scares him. You are a young man now, a man that goes out and fights darkness," She told me gently, "A man who comes home bleeding and broken. It is terrifying to know that your child has grown into a soldier. To know that they have the courage to fight the battles so many wouldn't. We are both so afraid for you, but mostly, so very proud."

I blinked at her and she continued, "Your father is too, he just struggles with the fear more I think."

She set her cup down and got up, moving over to the cupboard in the corner and looking through the drawer there, "I sent you away to your final year at Hogwarts and you were still a boy. So handsome, and smart, so well liked, talented... and innocent. You are a man now, a man who has ghosts in his past, present, and future. That's okay, those scars are a sign of your bravery, and your goodness Cedric."

She returned holding an old jewelry box and she sat it on her lap, "You are a man in love. If you love her then she must be worthy of you. I remember the last time He-who-must-not-be-named was active, it was terrible times. Those times are back, and it kills me to know that you may not see the end of them. The good things like love are what you need to hold onto, they are what will get you through. So I think you should hold on to this."

Mum produced a small round box from within and handed it over to me, I frowned at her and opened it. It was a ring, an engagement ring. It was a sapphire nestled in sparkling diamonds and held on a white gold band. It was beautiful, and I knew it was my grandmother's. One she had left my mother when she had died.

"Mum, I can't take this it's... too much." I shook my head.

"Don't be silly, and don't think I'm trying to rush you into anything. I just think you should have it for when you're ready. That's what she wanted, she wanted your wife to wear it Cedric."

"Louisa and I have only been together a month..."

"I think we both know it's been much longer than that," Mother smiled at me, "You just didn't realize it."

"Why are you giving this to me now?"

"Because you came to say goodbye," She told me knowingly, "Because you are going away and you may not get a chance to come home again. At least not until this is all over, and who knows how long that could take?"

I swallowed and closed the box, I felt a pricking at the back of my eyes but I blinked it away quickly, "Yeah. We have to go help Harry."

"I know." Mother reached up and touched my cheek gently, "I can still see that little boy in there. My handsome little boy. I expect for you to come home when this is all over, with Louisa. We'll have a family dinner."

"I love you mum," I put an arm around her slender shoulders.

Her eyes were glistening as she kissed my cheek, "And I you."

"If she keeps insinuating that we can't trust Hagrid she's not going to look so great at her wedding," Louisa grumbled.

I chuckled, "Leave it alone Lou."

We were outside helping set up the garden for Harry's birthday party, it was mostly a happy occasion, but also it put everyone on edge. Harry was of age now and that meant that soon we would leave to hunting horcruxes. Louisa had filled me in over the last few days on the preparations she and Hermione had been making. Now they both had very similar little bags that they had enchanted and filled with most anything we might need. The plan was to pack up our tent and things tomorrow before the wedding so that we were ready to leave at any moment. Louisa said she had a bad feeling about the wedding day, and it wasn't just that she thought Bill could do better than Fleur. Which she did. I had to agree, things had been too pleasant here at the Burrow for too long, something awful was bound to happen. Even with Mad Eye's death hanging over us all we had the wedding to focus on. We thought about that rather than how his body had yet to be recovered, we thought about that rather than Voldemort.

Remus and Tonks had arrived and moved over to where we were talking with the twins, "Wotcher Scruffy!"

"What's up with the 'Scruffy' thing?" Louisa raised an eyebrow.

"It's from the days when shaving was less of a priority," I explained simply, "It just sort of stuck I guess."

Louisa laughed and moved to rub at my jawline, "Getting a little scruffle there Scruffy... thinking of bringing the look back?"

"Maybe..." I grinned, "Why, don't you like it?" He moved to kiss her quickly.

The twins were eying us uncomfortably now, their protectiveness had worn off over the past month but it was still there. Harry had now joined us with Ron and Hermione, his was about the same level. Louisa rolled her eyes at them all, "Oh come off it, I can kiss Cedric if I want to."

"Really, why do none of the guys here think I'm good enough for her?" I noted at their expressions, "Sirius didn't like, Harry doesn't like, Fred and George don't like it, and Moody didn't like me at all. I mean that night when he came to our tent and we were..." Harry was glaring at me, "... having an intellectual debate he wouldn't even look at me."

Louisa snorted loudly and George raised an eyebrow, "Nice save."

"Very smooth," Fred agreed.

Hermione shook her head, "Don't take it personally Cedric. With Harry and Sirius it was just a family thing. Fred and George just like making you uncomfortable... and Moody just wasn't very loving."

"Yeah, don't worry," George told me, "We have accepted your relationship."

"We realize it's probably just a phase."

"Once it's over she'll come back to us."

"Our only real problem is how ever will she choose between us?"

"Well, I only have one ear."

"I have both! More to love."

"How would you like to have none?" I grumbled and they laughed.

After that it was all mostly pleasant again as more guests started to arrive, the reveal of Harry's golden snitch cake was impressive. Then it happened, because why would Harry have a normal 17th birthday? Mr. Weasley's patronus appeared and announced at the Minister would be joining them. This meant that Lupin and Tonks made a quick exit as the very exhausted looking Minister came up the walkway and insisted to seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione alone. Louisa didn't like it so she paced outside the door while I leaned against the garden wall and watched her. I continued to play with the small velvet box in my pocket, I took the ring with me everywhere. Probably wasn't the safest place for it, but I couldn't bring myself not to have it handy. I had joked about marriage with her before, but I knew she wouldn't go for it.

"What do you think he wants?"

"Probably more of the same," I sighed.

"I almost think I prefer Fudge over him. Fudge was incompetent but... at least he wasn't malicious." Louisa noted, "This guy... ugh. I'm so glad you decided not to become Minister of Magic, apparently it makes people into complete prats."

"Never really thought about being Minister of magic," I noted, "That was you."

"Whatever," Louisa paused at shouting from inside. Molly and Arthur went in quickly and shortly after Scrimgeour was storming out of the yard looking very flustered.

"Come on, let's just celebrate, they will tell us everything later," I encouraged and she nodded in consent. We all ate and had a fairly good time even though Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed pretty tense. The party was getting cleaned up when we finally got the chance to speak with them alone.

"The deluminator?" Louisa shook her head, "Ronald you're clumsy enough with the lights on."

"Hey, it's cool," Ron said defensively.

I was flipping through Hermione's book, "Well everyone who grew up in the wizarding world is familiar with the Beedle."

"Yes, it's similar to your Grimm's fairy tales." Louisa said and when they blinked at her she rolled her eyes, "Aunt Eliza appreciates muggle culture. Not like your dad, Ron, but she appreciates it enough to be knowledgeable."

"Sounds grim," I noted and she rolled her eyes at me, but grinned at it all the same.

"So Scrimgeour thinks the snitch must contain something," Louisa frowned thoughtfully, "It would have to be reasonably small I think. I don't believe there are many ways to enchant a snitch to make it roomier." She would know, she and Hermione had been using that sort of spell a lot lately.

"Yeah, I've got no clue," Harry shrugged helplessly.

Hermione sighed, "It's getting late, we should all go to bed before Mrs. Weasley has us do more chores. Big day tomorrow."

We all nodded and separated, they headed inside the ramshackle house and I followed Louisa into our tent. It would be our last night staying at the Burrow. I think we both knew it somehow, even though it wasn't certain. It was more than knowing that Harry was eager to leave as soon as possible. I felt darkness creeping into the edges of my mind, pushing at the protective barriers around us. We were in a bubble of safety, of good times, that bubble was about to break. That's probably why we didn't talk much before we went to are rooms within the tent and went to sleep. I had nightmares again, they were different variations of the same one. In the dream I was running, sprinting so hard I felt my legs and lungs burning with effort. Yet I never seemed to make any progress, I couldn't quite see what I was running toward but I knew I had to get there. I knew Louisa was there, she was in danger, and I had to get there. No matter how hard I pushed myself the horizon was just as far away. I always woke up in a flash of green light.

The next morning we had a hurried breakfast of toast and coffee before I got ready and helped Louisa pack up the tent. Once we had it stowed in her tiny bag she went into the house to get ready with Ginny and Hermione. I had a good laugh at Harry's disguise and helped set up the delicate golden chairs while the guests arrived. I ended up loitering with the twins as the guests began to arrive, they were quite excited about Fleur's veela relatives. Their Aunt Muriel thought I was very handsome even if with my bent nose and thought I should ask Ginny to dance. As everyone started to get settled Louisa was one of the last to emerge from the house. I had expected her to be breathtaking, and that's the only way to describe it, I stopped breathing for a moment.

Louisa smiled and floated over to me in her dark blue dress, the shimmering silk fabric swirling around her knees. We hurried to our seats before she spoke, "Look at you Cedric Diggory. A handsome mess," She smiled and and brushed a bit of lint off my collar.

"Fleur is going to hate you for looking like that on her wedding day," I told her softly as the music started playing.

Gabrielle and Ginny came down the aisle looking very pretty in gold, Ginny gave the disguised Harry a wink. I liked Ginny, the more time I spent with her the more I could see how she and Harry were such a good couple. It was a shame he had ended it, but I understood why. Ginny was underage, she didn't have the option of going into hiding. I was glad that Voldemort had been kind enough to wait until Louisa was of age before becoming particularly active, certainly saved me a lot of worry. Fleur was glowing, no really, she had a very veela-esque glow as she walked down the aisle. This was the wedding I had needed to see. I appreciated the love Tonks and Lupin shared, but I hadn't been able to see it as clearly, it had challenged my ideas of romance. Now it seemed as though the scars had faded from Bill's face from the force of love alone.

I turned and watched her face and there it was, the force welled up inside of me stronger than ever. The roots of the tree tightened around my ribs and I wasn't sure if was going to explode or implode from it all. Mother had been right, these were dark times, moments like this would be so rare from now on. I had to grab love, and hold on to it as tightly as I dared. It had only been a month, but Tonks and Lupin had gotten married in less time than that after he had decided to be with her. In the stories they always say you just knew when you had found it. An indescribable wisdom. Something that you just don't understand until it grips your soul. There was a chance that I could die before this war was over.

Either way I knew I would spend the rest of my life with her. Joking with her, fighting with her, sitting quietly and drinking coffee with her. I looked down at her hands, those elegant hands that I had dreamed of holding so many times before she had let me. I reached out and took the one closest to me now, rubbing the scarred words on the back of her hand with my thumb. I felt the anger flash again, I would spend the rest of my life trying to protect her. I saw the white line that remained of the wound on her collarbone, it was so faint you might not notice if it weren't looking. Yet I knew it was there, I would always know, always remember. Louisa was it for me, my parents' home didn't feel like home anymore because I had found a new one. It was the smell of lavender mingled with honey, the warm depths of those intense brown eyes. That's all I was thinking about when I pulled the ring from my pocket and pressed it into her palm.

I watched her carefully as she frowned at me and then moved to examine the object, she paused and just stared at it. She turned it over in her fingertips, the stones glinting up at her. Louisa looked up at me and I met her gaze, I saw it all there, the intense feeling that matched my own. She smiled softly and slid the ring onto her left ring finger. I released a breathe of happiness and just pressed my lips against her forehead for a moment. Then we turned and watched as golden sparks showered over the newly married couple.

"What is that?" Ginny was the first to notice it when we all met up after the ceremony to look for a table.

"It's an engagement ring," Louisa told her innocently.

"My grandmother's," I smiled.

"Yes, but when did you get it?"

"During the ceremony, don't tell Fleur, I don't think she'd appreciate us stealing her thunder," Louisa smiled. Ginny shook her head and just flagged down Hermione and Ron from the dance floor and forced Louisa to start telling them how it had happened. I just smiled and moved over to where the disguised Harry was sitting and chatting with a seemingly agitated Viktor Krum.

"Oh, hello Viktor," I greeted and he nodded at me.

"Hello Cedric, it's been too long." Though he didn't really seem too sincere, he was looking past me and I turned to Louisa had detached herself from the others and was starting toward us, "I recognize her."

"Yes, that's Louisa."

"She's gotten very attractive." He noted, "Is she here with someone?"

"Yes, I'm afraid she's engaged actually," I noted with a proud smile, Harry looked at me sharply but then Louisa was there.

"The twins know now," She told me with a smile, I put my hand on her waist and noted Viktor's realization, "I didn't expect to see Viktor Krum here," she greeted him pleasantly.

He nodded and downed his goblet, "Congratulations," he said curtly, "Vot, is the point of being a international Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?" he grumbled and started away quickly.

Louisa laughed lightly, "What was that about?"

"No clue," I told her innocently.

Harry was looking at us, "Isn't it a little soon? To be engaged?"

"Not really," Louisa shrugged, "We're not getting married until this is all over. Keep in mind that I've been training Cedric for years now."

"Exactly," I agreed and rolled my eyes, "Shut up and dance with me Black."

"So needy!" Louisa smiled and let me pull her onto the dance floor.

I had a really great time at the Yule Ball, dancing with Cho Chang, but this was completely different and better. Like with everything, with Louisa it was much more fun and I was a lot less concerned with how we looked. I twirled her because I liked how her cheeks flushed when I did, and dipped her dramatically to make her laugh. It was several songs before she pulled away from me, eyes bright and panting.

"Cedric, go ask Luna to dance. I'm going to go dance with Harry, someone needs to."

I smiled and nodded, "All right, I'll see you in a bit."

Louisa smiled and turned in the direction we had last seen the curly red hair of Harry's disguise last. She disappeared into the swirling group of people and I moved over to where Luna was spinning and waving her arms. It was a curious dance, but I knew better than to be surprised at this point. She was Luna, after all. At least she always honest, I definitely appreciated how much she didn't seem to care about what other people thought.

"Hey Luna, how would you like a partner to dance with?" I asked.

"Cedric Diggory," She greeted dreamily, "I suppose we could try it."

She had me set in that unsettling gaze of hers as he swayed somewhat awkwardly, "Ginny told me that you and Louisa are engaged."

"Yes," I smiled proudly, "We are."

"Good, I think that's good. Weddings are fun." Luna noted, "I was surprised though, I didn't really picture the two of you together."

"You are probably the only one, Luna." I noted with a chuckle, "Always refreshingly original."

"Thank you Cedric." Luna smiled at me, there was a outcry from the other side of the tent.

We stopped and looked up I saw the misty figure of patronus fading away and suddenly we were surrounded the popping sounds of hooded figures apparating into the tent. I drew my wand and deflected a curse flying at us quickly.

"Luna! Get down!" I urged before plunging into the crowd, "Louisa!"

"Cedric!" It was Ron who was suddenly at my side.

"Let's find the others..."

"There!" I lurched after Ron through the panicked wedding guests and saw Hermione Harry, and Louisa starting toward us. Harry had a hold of Hermione's arm and he grabbed Louisa's hand quickly. Hermione was holding her arm out to Ron who took it and turned to grab my wrist. Hermione turned quickly and suddenly we were being squeezed through a rubber tube. My next breath of air was in the middle of a busy street.

"Where are we?" Ron asked.

"Tottenham Court Road," Hermione answered quickly, "Just walk. Stay calm."

Louisa took my hand again and we walked after the others down the sidewalk, with passers by snickering at our clothing, "We need to find a place to change."

"Yeah, you guys are a little conspicuous," Louisa agreed.

Hermione pulled the others into a shady alley way quickly and started to pull their clothes from within her tiny beaded bag. They seemed very astonished by this, I knew they hadn't been that involved with the preparations but I thought they would at least know about the two bags of wonder that had been made. Louisa was handing me some of my clothes as well. I had a brief thought about modesty but at the sight of Ron's pale legs it quickly faded and I just started to change quickly. I zipped up my jacket a few minutes later and then we were all back on the street trying to figure out a plan. We ended up ducking into a shabby cafe to sit down and get our bearings. Louisa had been too busy helping the others with their discarded robes to get changed in the alley so she went to the toilet quickly to get out of her nice dress. I sat down at a table with Ron, Hermione, and an invisible Harry and sipped on some pretty terrible coffee that we had ordered. When she sat down with us, looking worried. The bubble of happiness that had surrounded the wedding had burst. We were back in reality again.

Ron and Hermione were bickering about where to go, Ron really wanted to go the Leaky Cauldron, which was a horrible idea. I could see why he was concerned, his family was back in that tent under attack. I was worried about everyone there too, I could see the worry in Louisa's eyes as well. Harry had already voiced his concern and had Hermione and Louisa reason with him. We knew that a lot of the Order was there, but still, it wasn't ideal. Vaguely I noticed two large men sit down in the booth next to us, the others continued to whisper plans. I felt a strange sense of dread suddenly and I turned to examine the two men. One was very large and blond, and responsible for collapsing the ceiling in the corridor at Hogwarts last year.

"Death Eaters!" I shouted quickly when I saw them make a move for their wands.

Ron shoved Hermione down and a stunning curse narrowly missed his face and shattered the tiled wall behind him. I felt something hit me in the chest and I fell back. When I opened my eyes things were quiet except for Louisa muttering the counter curse for a stunning spell over me.

"Ennervate," She sighed and smiled at me, "Good morning sleepyhead."

I sat up slowly and rubbed the back of my head where it had smacked the hard floor when I fell, "What happened?"

"We have it under control. Hermione is wiping their memories now and Harry and Ron are cleaning up the Cafe. It got a little wrecked." Louisa told me and helped me to the my feet, "How's the noggin?"

"Little sore, but I'll live." I noted we rejoined the others while they were arguing about where to go next.

"I agree with Harry, Grimmauld place is really our only option right now," Louisa sighed, "We can't stay on the streets. Especially if we don't know how they found us."

So it was agreed and we made our way to a safe place from which to disapparate. Soon we were standing in the familiar street and number 12 Grimmauld place was revealing itself to us. We were all silent as we entered and stood right inside the door. We all felt the fear of the unexpected. We knew that spells had been placed on the home against Snape, but I was starting to wonder if they would recognize Snape. Also if he had already gotten through them somehow. I drew my wand, feeling Louisa doing the same beside me.

"I think somebody's been in here," Hermione pointed a trembling finger at the umbrella stand shaped like a troll leg that had been knocked over.

"That could've happened as the Order left," Ron replied, we were all talking in hushed voices.

"Yeah, especially if Tonks was here," Louisa noted and I grinned, remembering how many times she had tripped over that thing.

"So where are these jinxes they put up against Snape?" Harry asked.

"I don't know much about them," I responded to their curious looks, "I didn't really help vacate this place... been busy."

"Maybe they're only activated when he shows up?" Ron noted with a hopeful tone.

We hadn't moved any further into the house than the doormat, we were squeezed tightly together and I felt the door pressing against my back, finally Harry spoke, "Well, we can't stay here forever."

We all took a step forward, "Severus Snape?" Moody's familiar growl called out to us.

Louisa shivered beside me and we all jumped back, startled, "We're not Snape!" Harry cried but I felt the magic brushing over our heads. My tongue suddenly curled back toward my throat uncomfortably, it only lasted a moment before the effects had worn off completely. I glanced sideways at Louisa who was opening and closing her mouth, clearly experimenting with the mobility of her tongue.

"That m-must have b-been the T-Tongue-Tying Curse Mad-Eye set up for Snape!" Hermione noted nervously.

"What gave it away?" Louisa grumbled.

Harry took another tentative step into the hallway and something started to shift at the end of the dark hallway. A figure began to rise out of the carpet, the same color the dust and walls of Grimmauld place. Hermione's scream set up the portrait of Sirius' mother who was now shrieking as the gaunt and sunken in figure of Albus Dumbledore began to glide toward us. The image seemed to fill me with ice water from my toes to the top of my head and I was left frozen in terror. Louisa had grapped my hand tightly with a gasp at its' appearance.

"No!" Harry had raised his wand toward the figure but wasn't casting, "No! It wasn't us! We didn't kill you -"

It exploded into a cloud of dust that left us all coughing and rubbing our eyes. Harry turned to comfort Hermione and Louisa rolled her eyes at her shrieking grandmother.

"Shut up!" She snapped and pointed her wand at the portrait, the curtains slammed shut over it and it became suddenly quiet.

Louisa looked at me pale and clearly shaken, we had just been confronted by two of our fallen comrades. Mad Eye's voice whispering to us hoarsely out of the shadows... Dumbledore's terrible likeness. All while in Sirius Black's house. I nodded and heaved a great sigh, Hermione checked for any humans, then had to explain the spell to Ron. We followed them up to the drawing room where I had slept while staying here and filed in. I helped turn on the old gas lamps along the way, it didn't really improve the eerie feeling of the house though. It had always been a little unsettling to be here, but after that experience downstairs it seemed even worse. We all agreed to stay in the room together for the night. Harry's scar flared up again, Louisa didn't look particularly surprised. I fought the urge to roll my eyes, so the connection to Voldemort had opened again and Harry had discussed it with her. She hadn't told me. Fortunately Mr. Weasley's patronus came to let us know that everyone back at the Burrow was safe. After Harry left to go to the bathroom Louisa went to help me get the old cot I had once slept on.

We didn't talk much as we all got ready for bed, pulling out sleeping bags and going to brush our teeth before going to sleep. Harry didn't even muster up the energy to glare at me when Louisa squeezed onto the cot next to me. I didn't think I would ever actually fall asleep, but apparently I did because when I woke up a few hours later Louisa was no longer next to me. Everyone else was sound asleep in their sleeping bags, Ron snoring faintly. I got up and moved quietly out of the room and up to the room that had been Louisa's while she had stayed. It was mostly bare now, Louisa was sitting on the stripped mattress and looking out the window.

"Hey..." I sighed and sat next to her, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking," Louisa bit her lip, "About... things."

"You mean about the..."

"Don't say it," She shook her head quickly.

I nodded, "Do you think you'll tell Harry now?"

"No, he's got enough to worry about without that as well. Besides, it's my problem, my burden," Louisa rubbed her eyes tiredly, "I was just thinking about Moody... do you think he died before? In the other time when I died? Or... do you think he lived? Dumbledore said that my surviving changed everything, maybe Mad-Eye would have still been alive, or Dumbledore, or... dad."

"I've considered that too," I told her softly, "But then I think about what if Hermione or Luna or Ginny or Neville had been killed at the Ministry of Magic? What if Bill had died on the floor at the mercy of Fenrir Greyback because you weren't there? What if you hadn't been there when Snape was chasing down Lupin and George? The timeline is different because we're alive. It may seem unfair that we are alive now and they aren't but... we don't know that they didn't die before. We just need to focus on who can save now."

Louisa nodded slowly and I was able to convince her to come back and get some sleep with the others. I fell back into dreary dreams of helplessness and endless running. Except now I was pushing my way through the faceless crowds of people all dressed for a wedding. The tent around us was on fire and I heard screaming, I knew Louisa was somewhere ahead of me and I had to get her. It didn't seem to matter how hard I ran I never seemed to get any closer.