June 15th, 1693. Salem, Massachusetts.

I have been living at the Hathorne house, in the servant's quarters, for about four months now. It is just as terrible as I expected, but still better than the Salem jail. My son and I have enough to get by-just barely enough, mind you, but enough nonetheless. And best of all, we are alive.

I have also managed to sneak out once an evening to go and visit Dorothy. In disguise, of course. She and her father have still been living on the streets of Salem, just as homeless as ever, but I know their favorite spots. It was not hard, really. Sarah had told me about them already, and they are usually places that provide shelter from rain, snow or excessive heat. Places sheltered by trees, or the bank under the bridge leading into the next town.

Dorothy knew me right away, the first night I went to fetch her. I had charmed my disguise so that only she would be able to see me for who I was. That way, I would not frighten her. I made sure to go when she and her father would be asleep. I would fetch her and sneak her into my old house for the night. Down into the basement-into my secret room that only I and other blood relatives can unlock.

I have been helping her. Helping her with her magic. Helping her to control it. Everything that she has gone through has traumatized her greatly. Perhaps more than I had feared. But I am hoping that with my help, she will learn to control her magic instead of trying to force it inward and hide it. Doing that is dangerous at any age, but especially for someone as young as her who has not learned to control it yet. I cannot let her be ashamed of who she is-for many reasons, actually. She should not have to be ashamed-none of us should have to be. We should be proud. Secondly, as I have said, it is dangerous. If she continuously tries to suppress her magic, she could seriously injure-or even kill-herself or someone else. And the consequences for that would be quite severe. Even if she does not die in the process, the punishments she would suffer would traumatize her even more.

It has been hard work, getting her to open up, but she is slowly beginning to. She is still quite frightened of herself and what she can do, but she has made progress over the past few months. Slow progress, but progress, nonetheless. She and I have grown closer and it almost pains me to bring her back to her father about two hours before dawn-before he wakes up for the day and notices her absence and before I am expected to be up for chores at the Hathorne house. It allows me to get about forty minutes of sleep once I return home, but it will all be worth it if I can help this little girl.

It is also somewhat of a miracle that I managed to figure out a way to sneak out of the house every night. The door to the servant's quarters is locked every night and the window to the outside is small and covered with iron bars. Another safety measure as far as John Hathorne is concerned-remember when I wrote that they believe iron will stop a witch's magic? It does affect it, of course, as I believe I have said, but it does not stop it completely. Back in my cell in the jail, I had iron shackles around my wrists. Those would have messed with any magic more directly. Here, the bars are only on the window, and believe it or not, I had transfigured my old wand into the very quill I am writing with now. I did so before I got arrested-obviously. Just in case I ever found myself in a position to use it. Using it for magic in the jail would not have worked because of my bound wrists, but here...here, it works. See? I do keep a few tricks up my sleeve-tricks I can't even write about here too quickly. What if this diary had been confiscated beforehand? I could not have given away all my secret too fast, or else I would be left with nothing.

So, with my wand, I have been able to magically unlock the door, magically silence my steps and my breathing, and magically make my way out of the house and to wherever I could find Dorothy. And then I spend a few hours teaching her whatever I possibly can.

I am very proud of her. I can only hope that I can help her feel more comfortable in who she is--enough to prevent any harm she may do to herself or others. At least that way, if I get caught doing this, it will all have been worth it. I will have saved her. And I would have done my part. I will have upheld some part of my promise to Sarah. Even if I could not take care of her daughter as if she were my own, I can take care of her by helping her become less afraid of who she is. I can help her find acceptance and forgiveness and realize that she is never alone.

I slept in later than I planned to the next morning. In fact, Rachel was the one that had to wake me up, and she did it by throwing a pillow at my head. I sat up with a gasp and looked around wildly to see Rachel standing over by the window, already dressed for the day as she pulled back the curtains on the window, letting the sun stream through.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" she said.

I peered over at her, propping myself up on my elbow and rubbing my eyes with my free hand. "What time is it?" I asked blearily.

"Nearly ten!" Rachel said, turning back towards me with her hands on her hips. "I let you sleep for as long as I could, but I was actually starting to think that you'd died."

"No," I yawned, sitting up and resting my elbows on my knees as I dragged a hand through my hair. "Just tired."

Rachel continued to look at me, an eyebrow raised. "You know," she said, "I'm not sure if I dreamed it, but I could have sworn the sound of the door opening woke me up for a few seconds last night and that I saw you coming back into the room before I fell back to sleep."

I gave her a guilty smile. "You didn't dream it. I left for a little while. With Fred."

Rachel smiled and came to sit on the end of my bed. "George told me Fred kissed you yesterday," she said.

"He did," I told her. I let out a puff of air as I stared aimlessly at the window. "Twice, actually. And I kissed him back. Both times. He kissed me first on the boat and then...I couldn't sleep last night so I woke him up and took him to the museum where my mother left me." I looked back at Rachel. "Rach, I showed him my scars."

Rachel's eyebrows shot up. "You did?" she asked. "You haven't willingly shown anyone those! You won't even wear a dress if it means they're visible."

"I know," I said.

"You haven't even shown me," she whispered.

"I know," I said again. "And I'm sorry if that makes you feel like I don't trust you. I do-completely. I didn't plan on showing Fred, but we were there and I just felt like-like it was right. I know you don't trust him when it comes to me, but I do."

Rachel studied my face. "I know I haven't exactly been the most supportive about your relationship with him but he did come all the way here with us. And I saw you two yesterday when we were at the park. You were happy, and Fred was too. I'm starting to think that instead of wanting to use you to fill a void, he needs you because you fill that void and make him whole again. And the same with you. He's shown you what it's like to balance between humor and kindness. Crudeness and gentleness. He toes the line between them, just like he always has and it works."

I thought that over as she finished talking. "I think you're right," I said.

She smiled before it suddenly turned devious. "So...how was it? Kissing him?"

I laughed. "It was...nice," I said.

"Nice?" Rachel laughed. "That's it? You know, a third of the girls in Hogwarts imagined what kissing him would be like and I think you just let them all down."

"Wow, a third of the girls?" I asked with a roll of my eyes.

"Well, another third of them didn't like him at all," Rachel said. "Most of them were Slytherin girls who hated him simply for being a blood traitor and a Gryffindor. A few other girls simply thought he was an asshole." She shrugged. "Then there were people who were indifferent and either weren't interested or genuinely didn't give a shit."

A corner of my mouth turned up into a smile as I traced patterns into the quilt covering my knees. "Well...he does seem to know what he's doing," I finally said.

Rachel let out a loud laugh. "You are completely blushing right now."

I felt myself blushing even more at her words as there was suddenly a knock on the door that led into the twins' room.

"Looks like that's them," Rachel said, standing up to answer it as my head snapped up.

Rachel opened the door and let the twins inside. They were both dressed and ready to go for the day, leaving me the only one sitting there with tired eyes, messy hair and wearing my pajamas-I'd kept the sweatshirt on from the night before and just changed into polka dot pajama bottoms once I got back from being with Fred.

"Well, you certainly look rough," Fred commented lightly when he saw me.

I scowled at him as he laughed.

"Don't worry," George told me, "I had to quite literally kick him out of bed to get him to wake up this morning."

"You did not," I said as a smile lifted my lips and a laugh bubbled out of my mouth.

"I did," George answered proudly.

"That's amusing to you?" Fred asked me, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms.

"Well, since the way I look is amusing to you, then yes," I retaliated.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Fred asked, dropping down onto the bed next to me and leaning lazily against the headboard. He positioned one arm behind his head and stretched his other one out on the mattress behind me. His hand almost absentmindedly came to rest on my hip and my stomach fluttered as he slowly moved his thumb back and forth over the thin strip of exposed skin between my sweatshirt and the waistband of my pants.

I turned my head and looked at him over my shoulder. He shot me a questioning look, silently asking if it was okay that he was touching me. I nodded and he smiled, continuing to move his thumb back and forth.

"Well...we could try to finish the diary," I said. "There doesn't seem to be all that much left. We could go to the public library and try to find out more about John Hathorne and his family tree-you know, try to get some clues that will help us prove that Eric's related to him and how. And if we can't find that, I was thinking maybe we could find an old town map at the library and...try to find Elizabeth and John's house. It could still be standing."

"The library," Fred repeated with a sigh. "Not my favorite place, but I guess you're right. Looking for that information is a good place to start. Personally, I'd love to check out the Proctor's house if it's still around. That would really be cool."

"Is there any place good to eat around here, first?" George asked, flopping onto Rachel's bed. She rolled her eyes at him, but didn't comment. Instead, they all looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to answer George's question.

"Um," I began, letting out a puff of air as I thought. It had obviously been quite a bit since I was last here and even when I had been here, it wasn't like I was visiting a lot of breakfast spots. My lack of knowledge that a resident-well, former resident-of this town should have was almost embarrassing. Finally, I thought of a place. It was again, somewhere I'd gone with my mother a lot, and I'd even visited with one or two of my other foster families before Eric. "There's a diner off of Essex street," I finally said. I glanced at Fred over my shoulder. "It's not far from the museum, actually," I said in a low voice.

He gave me a reassuring smile. "Well, then get dressed and let's go. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

As if on cue, my stomach growled. I actually had to laugh as I clamped my hands over it.

"Well, I guess that answers that question," I said, pushing myself off of the bed and heading for the bathroom. I shut the door and leaned against it, taking in a deep breath as I closed my eyes.

I never in a million years I thought I'd be back here in Salem-and under these circumstances. Looking for Eric and being scared out of my mind, but almost enjoying myself. Enjoying the little parts of Salem I hadn't experienced since childhood. It still felt almost wrong to be having fun and to be doing things like stopping for breakfast, but I found myself caring less and less and actually wanting to do these things more and more. And I had never been more grateful to have Rachel, Fred and George with me. I had a group of honest to goodness friends. And I'd be damned if I let anything happen to them.

Once we made it to the local library, we made ourselves comfortable at a table in one of the back corners of the building. As out of sight as possible. I didn't think Eric was one to come to the library, but if he were keeping an eye on me, then he just might.

Of course, everyone looked at me when it was time to get started. They had no idea where to begin or even where to look. It wasn't as if I were exactly knowledgeable about this place either, but I was able to at least find us some books that got us started on Salem's history and anything that could possibly help us be able to locate where the old Proctor house was. Or where it used to be. Anything would be a help at this point just so it felt like we were doing something.

"This is boring," Fred sighed in exasperation, resting his head on his hand and flipping absentmindedly through the book in front of him.

"Do you have any better ideas on what we should do?" I asked, glancing up from my own book to look at him. "I thought you wanted to go to Elizabeth's house. We can't do that unless we find out where that is. Or even if it's still standing."

"Yeah, I know," Fred grumbled.

"Would it be?" Rachel asked. "Still standing, I mean."

"It could be," I answered. "There are quite a few old houses from that time period still standing around here."

"It shouldn't be too hard to find the address, don't you think?" Rachel went on. "Elizabeth and John were huge parts of the witch trials. Their house must almost be considered an important piece of history."

"Maybe," I shrugged.

"At the very least, it has to be in some old town record somewhere," Rachel said. When I shrugged again, she sighed and continued. "Come on, don't lose hope just yet."

"You know," George said thoughtfully, "the library probably does have a bunch of regular maps, wouldn't they? We don't necessarily have to look through books."

"You're right," I said. "That's a really good point. I'm surprised I didn't think of it, actually."

"Ah, well, Fred and I aren't completely unfamiliar with libraries and how they work," George said with a smile. "I thought of it because Hogwarts had its own collection of maps. Fred and I were quite familiar with them."

"Really," I said, looking between the twins skeptically.

"You accidentally turned them all purple," Rachel said. "Working on one of your joke products."

"Now that is the explanation I was expecting," I laughed.

Rachel actually let out a giggle of her own. "Madame Pince, the librarian, went completely bonkers. Chased Fred and George from the library, screaming at them. And it took her a little while and some careful magic to set the maps right, too."

"McGonagall gave us a week's worth of detention for that," Fred said with a reminiscent smile. Then he made a face. "We had to spend the week in the library helping Madame Pince with anything she needed. Cleaning, shelving books, dusting the books. All by hand, and no magic allowed. So yeah, George and I are actually pretty familiar with libraries, just not because we spent time in there studying. Not much, anyway."

I let out a breath of laughter and shook my head. "Unbelievable. Anyway, I guess I'll go try to find the maps, if you all want to stay here and continue with the books. Maybe between those two methods, we'll find something."

"I'll come help you," Rachel said, standing up.

"You really trust these two unattended in a library again?" I asked, looking at Fred and George as I got up from my chair as well.

"Ha, ha, very funny," George said.

"We've grown since then," Fred added.

"Marginally," George continued.

"And even that's up for debate," Fred finished.

"You're telling me," Rachel snorted. She looked at the two of them, almost warily. "Seriously, please do behave while we're gone. We'll be back once we find anything useful."

Fred and George both saluted her. "Got it," they said.

Rachel rolled her eyes before linking her arm through mine. "Come on," she said, leading me away from the twins.

"So..." I began, once the two of us had located the maps and were rifling through them.

"So what?" Rachel asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I never got the opportunity to ask you...what's the deal with Nick?"

"Nick from last night?" Rachel asked.

I nodded. "What other Nick would there be?" I snorted. "Unless you've been seeing multiple guys named Nick without anyone knowing."

Rachel laughed and rolled her eyes. "No, don't be ridiculous. I'm just surprised you asked."

"I asked because I wanted to know." I looked at her curiously. "Do I not seem like the type to care? Asking is what friends do, isn't it?"

Rachel laughed again. "It is. And of course I know you care. But there's not much to care about." She shrugged. "It's not like I went into anything thinking it was going to be serious. I'm leaving to go home eventually."

"Right, that's a reason why I was asking."

"Nick knows we're leaving at some point, too. Most likely soon. Or as soon as we can, really." She hesitated before quickly adding, "Don't worry, I didn't tell him why we were here. As far as he's concerned, we're just here for fun and excitement."

"And multiple lessons in history," I said with a quiet laugh of my own.

"I didn't want to bore the guy," Rachel said, waving her hand around dismissively. "Anyway, it was just a bit of fun and we both know it. It's not like we could really stay in touch anyway. I mean, I can't just send him a letter by owl, can I? And even if I could tell him the truth, he'd just think I was mocking him." She gestured around us. "Given the town he lives in is basically witch city."

"Some people do call it that, you know," I said with a wry smile. "Witch city."

"Of course," Rachel said with a shrug as she examined one of the maps in front of her. Suddenly, she tilted her head and her eyes lit up as she pulled the map out from the stack. "Hey, look at this." She held the map towards me and pointed to a spot on the outskirts of town. It was circled in emerald green ink and above the circle were the scribbled words Proctor House.

"Well, that was almost easy," I said, taking the map and peering at it more closely. "It doesn't seem like it's centrally located from what I can tell. It would be a far walk. We'd probably have to Apparate." I frowned slightly as I traced my fingers over the green ink. "Does the ink seem relatively fresh to you? It's really clear. Not faded or anything."

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't necessarily mean anything if it's just not faded. It could just mean it was done in the last few years even. It doesn't mean someone circled it recently and is looking for the same house that you are."

"No...but it's also interesting that it's circled and labeled at all."

"So many people come here, Soph," Rachel said. "You said yourself that it's particularly crowded around Halloween. You're not the only one who probably has an interest in the Proctor House."

"This could be a clue from that woman," I muttered.

"Again with the clues?" Rachel asked with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded. "It's the only way she can really communicate. She's been leaving bits and pieces of my past behind all along without saying a word. She probably knew that once I found out the truth about Elizabeth that I'd want to find her house. And she made it easy for me." I traced my fingers over the ink again.

"I don't know...it's a little bit of a stretch if you ask me," Rachel said slowly. "But hey, in any case, it looks like we've found the house. Doesn't matter how, really. Why don't we go tell Fred and George?"

"Yeah, all right," I said, still studying the map as the two of us made our way back to where we'd left the twins. As we neared the end of the aisle of books that would bring us to where we'd been sitting earlier, and where the twins were now waiting, I continued to study the map, trying to make sure I knew exactly where in Salem the house was so that I could accurately transport us there.

"Hey, guess what," Rachel announced as we neared the twins. "We found the--what's wrong?" She stopped abruptly and I bumped into her from behind, looking up in alarm at her sudden stop, as well as the tone of her voice.

Fred was standing up beside the table we'd been working at, a note held in both of his hands. His face was pale and he was trembling slightly.

"What's wrong?" I asked, echoing Rachel's question myself as I looked at George, who was still seated, but also deathly pale. "George, what happened?"

"An owl appeared at the window," George said quietly. "We let him in and he dropped that note in my lap before flying away. It's from Ron."

"What does it--Fred!" The map in my hand drifted to the ground as Fred's legs seemed to give out and he dropped to his knees. I rushed to his side and knelt down beside him. "Fred, talk to me. What happened?"

I reached out for Fred's arm, but he shook me off as his strength suddenly seemed to return. He stood up, discarded the note on the table and grabbed his wand, before turning to George. "We're leaving," he said urgently. "Now."

"Hang on," George said, "don't you think we owe Rachel and Sophie an expla--"

"We don't have the time!" Fred practically shouted. He pointed a finger at George. "If you think I'm going to have another repeat of what happened to Percy, then you're wrong. I'm not going to sit here on my ass and do nothing. I'm not going to sit here and let someone else die. And if you don't want to help me, then I'll just have to go myself."

"Fred, of course I'm coming with you," George said. "But we can't just leave without telling Rachel and Sophie why."

Fred swallowed thickly and ran a hand through his hair. He was trying to be calm, but I could tell he was anything but calm. He finally looked at me and for the first time in a while, when I looked into his eyes, they were cold, closed off and empty. Emotionless--almost exactly how they'd been when I'd first met him. I remembered because it had been one of the first things I'd noticed about him. His beautiful, but emotionless eyes. I'd seen that change over the past few months and seeing the sudden reversion was almost jarring.

"I"m sorry, Sophie," he whispered. "George and I have to leave. Immediately. We've got to go home."

"Why?" I whispered, feeling an awful sense of dread and terror start to fill my body.

"It's Ginny," Fred said, his voice hoarse and impatient as he looked at me. "Someone attacked her and Luna in Diagon Alley. They're being taken to St. Mungo's as we speak."

"This is all my fault! I was worried something like this would happen! I didn't want to involve everyone for this exact reason!"

To say I was hysterical was an understatement. I was more than hysterical. I wasn't even sure if there was a word to describe what I was at the moment.

Rachel and I were back at the Hawthorne Hotel. I was pacing rapidly around the room, while Rachel sat cross-legged on her bed, chewing on a fingernail and watching me. Both she and I had told the twins at once that of course they needed to go. Of course, when I'd said it, it had come out breathless considering how in shock I was at the news of what had happened to Ginny. I'd then sunk down into a chair and sat there in a daze as the twins talked to Rachel for a minute more, their voices getting low at one point--a point at which I knew they were also glancing at me. I didn't know what they said, but I also didn't care. I couldn't focus on that at the moment. It wasn't until Rachel and I had returned to the hotel--after Fred and George had left--that I'd suddenly brought out the hysterics.

"It's not your fault," Rachel insisted from her spot on the bed. "Look, we all knew you were going to react this way, but no one is blaming you."

"Oh, you all knew?" I snapped. "Is that what you three were whispering about at the library? That I was going to take this horribly and try to do something rash?"

"Well...yeah," Rachel said with a shrug. "We all know how you've felt about involving anyone in any of this. It's not new information."

"You know it was Eric who attacked Ginny, don't you?" I said. "It was him. He's trying to get me alone."

"I thought Eric had followed you here."

"Then he has people working for him," I said, waving my hand as I continued to pace. "Or he's traveling back and forth. Using someone with magic for help." I closed my eyes as I thought of the Mystery Woman. Transporting this man magically back and forth, helping him with the aid of whatever other kind of magic he required to cause all the damage he had.

"I'll admit, it does seem like too much of a coincidence..." Rachel said. "I don't know of anyone else that would just attack Ginny like that. Her family hasn't been targeted at all since Harry took down Voldemort." She paused. "And it was something that effectively got Fred and George to leave Salem and go back home."

"Exactly," I said. "And it could be your turn next. You should leave before he attacks someone you care about. Your family--or maybe one of the girls at work."

"No, absolutely not," Rachel argued. "I don't want to leave you alone, for one thing. I came here to help and I plan on seeing it through. Secondly, Fred made me swear that I wouldn't let you out of my sight. He made me promise to take care of you. Not that he needed to. I would've done it anyway. We don't want you to finish this alone."

I shook my head as I paused at the window of the room, staring out of it and down at the street, a heaviness in my chest that I couldn't shake, and hadn't been able to since Fred had told us the news about Ginny. "I hope she's okay," I whispered. "She has to be okay. She's getting married in the spring!" I buried my head in my hands as I tried to hold back tears.

I heard Rachel get off the bed and a second later, she was putting her arm around me. I let her and I even buried my head in her shoulder as I sniffled slightly.

"She'll be okay," Rachel said confidently. "I'm sure you've noticed this by now, but Ginny's tough. She's probably one of the toughest girls I know."

"Yeah, I did notice that, actually. It's hard not to notice." I let out a watery laugh and raised my head off of Rachel's shoulder. I let out a deep sigh as I looked back out the window. Suddenly, I frowned and pressed my forehead against the glass. "Is that...Nick?"

"Nick?" Rachel asked, frowning as well and joining me at the window, pressing her own forehead to the glass, as well as the palms of her hands. "Where?"

"I think he just walked into the hotel," I said. "I could have sworn it was him." I glanced at her and shrugged. "Maybe he's coming to visit you. Did you tell him we're staying here."

"I did," Rachel admitted. "I hope that's okay. He did ask..."

I sighed. "I don't know," I said hesitantly. "I mean...we don't know him all that well. Maybe you shouldn't have…." I took in a deep breath before glancing at Rachel. "But he did seem nice...and I trust your judgement too."

Rachel beamed. "I'm glad to hear you say that—that you trust me, I mean." Then, her smile faded slightly and she looked at me almost guiltily. "I didn't think he'd come here," she said.

"I think he really liked you," I said with a half-smile. "He clearly couldn't stay away. Why don't we go down and find out?"

Rachel hesitated. "Are you sure?"

I nodded, my mind already working at double the speed as an idea started to form. An idea to get away from Rachel so I could find Eric alone. "Yeah, let's go."

The two of us made our way to the hotel lobby and sure enough, found Nick standing at the front desk, talking to the receptionist.

"Nick, hey," Rachel said as we walked closer to him. He looked up and smiled when he noticed the two of us coming.

"Hey," he said, turning away from the front desk and coming towards us. He looked at Rachel. "I was looking for you. I wanted to know if you'd like to hang out tonight, just the two of us."

Rachel smiled and I saw her eyes light up for a second before she glanced at me. "I can't," she said. "Sophie and I are hanging out tonight."

"No, I think you should go," I said. This had been exactly what I was hoping would happen when I suggested that we come down to talk to Nick. If Rachel went and hung out with him, it would distract her for the night, and I could go do some things on my own. Specifically, start by visiting the Proctor house. If Rachel was with Nick, it would keep her out of the way if I happened to run into Eric. And I thought I had a higher chance of that happening if I was actually alone. That was what he wanted. So in order to end this for good, I had to play into his game, just a little bit. I had to end this myself. Enough was enough.

Rachel turned and shot me a look before hissing in my ear, "What did we just talk about upstairs? I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"I'm sure Sophie has company for the night," Nick said. "What about her boyfriend? That redheaded guy and his twin."

"Not her boyfriend," Rachel quipped. "But I think she wishes he were." She nudged me and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut it," I muttered.

Rachel shrugged and turned back to Nick. "Anyway, they...had to leave unexpectedly," she said slowly. "Family emergency."

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that," Nick said, looking over at me, his dark eyes meeting mine. A slow smile lifted the corner of his mouth. "Why don't you just come with us then? I know a great place where we can get a few drinks, socialize...let loose, you know?"

Rachel looked at me and bit her lip. "I don't know, Nick," she said slowly. "I'm not sure if Sophie's up for something like that…."

"No, let's go," I said firmly. If Rachel wasn't going to budge on leaving me at the hotel alone, then I was going to have to hang out with her, then ditch her. And I wasn't going to be able to do that if she stayed here at the hotel with me all night. It would be a lot easier to do in a crowded place, especially if she'd been drinking and let herself get more and more preoccupied with Nick.

"Sophie, you hate this kind of thing," she said.

"I don't hate it," I said. "You've made me come out with you several times before."

"Yeah, but even then I don't think you've exactly loved it."

"I've been warming up to the idea," I answered. It was the truth. I had been. With every time we went out, I found it less and less unbearable. Mostly because I had started to become very attached to the people I was going with. Which was why I had to put a stop to the danger they'd all walked into just by associating with me.

"But this time it's just the three of us," Rachel said. "I don't want you to feel left out."

"I won't," I said. "Look, I think we could use a break after all that just happened. My brain feels fried from just thinking way too much. I imagine you feel the same way. Besides, I do want you to enjoy yourself. You did come all this way for me."

"Okay," Rachel said slowly. "But I don't think I really want to enjoy myself anymore. After all that's happened..."

"What's happened?" Nick asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Just that family emergency the twins are going through right now," Rachel said.

"Well, to me it sounds like it's all the more reason to go out," Nick said. "To take your mind off things. Take a break, like Sophie said.

Rachel looked at me. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

I nodded. "I'm sure."

Rachel looked at me suspiciously. "I don't know. I made Fred a promise."

"To not let me out of your sight," I told her. "If I'm coming with you, that's not breaking your promise."

"Come on, Rachel, the girl said yes," Nick said with a laugh. "Besides, the place I was thinking of going has these great drinks that come in glasses that light up."

"Light up?" Rachel repeated, her head swiveling to look at Nick. "How do they manage that?" Her tone was suddenly extremely eager and even I had to giggle.

"You'll only find out if you come with me," Nick said. "So is that a yes?"

Rachel smiled before letting out a breath of laughter and shrugging as if to say what the hell. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Great, then let's get going," Nick said, taking Rachel's hand.

"Lead the way," she said.

I smiled until she had turned her back before sighing and closing my eyes for a second, hoping my plan would work and that I could finally be able to finish this tonight without anyone else getting hurt.

A/N: I hope everyone has been staying safe and healthy! Times are definitely crazy and I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read this story and/or leave some feedback. You all are awesome :)