Aww, thanks for the comments Connie and Jesse! Glad that you guys are enjoying it so much

Harry was silent, staring into my eyes with a kind of frantic confusion which slowly shifted to anger before finishing with fury.

"That is not going to happen Abby!" Harry said, loud enough that one or two of the kids near by turned to look at me.

"Keep your voice down Harry," I said, smiling at the kids before turning back to him. A weird kind of calmness had overcome me since I had finally told him.

"I am not going to let him kill you Abby. We'll find another way...we won't let him win. You can't let him win like that!"

I nodded my head. "I am not giving up Harry, I am just saying if the time comes and that's what needs to be done, then I am going to do it. Period."

Harry glared at me. "That time will not come Abby. I am not going to allow you to die for me."

"It's not just for you Harry, it's for everyone. It's for this world that would turn to nothing but pain and torture with Voldemort ruling it. I can't let that happen."

Harry fell silent again, a rush of thoughts swimming through his brain. Hermione and Ron had caught on to us talking about something important and were now staring at us intently. I smiled at them, giving them a small wave that nothing important was going on. They didn't look convinced.

"Abby," Harry said, looking at me pleadingly.

"I know," I said, giving him a gentle tap on the shoulder. We couldn't do this right now in front of all these people. This was clearly my fault for letting this conversation get so far with so many peoples eyes and ears in the room.

"Let's talk about it later," I said with a smile.

"Okay," Harry said, turning back to the group of students that were looking at us expectantly.

"Let's just call it a day for now, and we'll meet again later this week. Be sure to pay attention to your coins for the time and date. Great job everyone!" Harry said, doing his best to muster a positive smile and tone. While everyone wasn't so sure they all said goodbye to Harry and thanked them for the great lesson.

Everyone was leaving except for Ron, Hermione, and Seamus who was standing by the corner, concerned about me. Harry looked at me, but I just motioned for him to go on ahead with Ron and Hermione since I didn't get the impression that Seamus was going to leave without me telling him what was wrong. Reluctantly Harry went over to Ron and Hermione and just motioned that they should go through.

Once the doors were closed behind them Seamus came closer and turned me so I was looking at him.

"Are you alright Abby? You seem upset about something...did Harry hurt you?"

"No, no, not at all!" I said, not wanting Seamus to think Harry was the cause of my downtrodden mood. "It's complicated."

"Well...can you talk to me about it?" Seamus asked, rubbing the side of my arm with his hand. I had folded my arms across my chest without even realizing it, but now that he was rubbing my arm soothingly I felt them relax.

"Not really...it's just...I don't know," I said, shaking my head, my eyes falling on those god forsaken dummies.

Angrily I ripped my wand out of my holster and pointed them at one of them shouting, "REDUCTO!"

I had been expecting for the dummy to merely turn to a pile of black dust, but it didn't. Instead the dummy began to freeze, working from the bottom all the way up until it hit the top. Seamus was staring at it in awe.

"Abby...how did you do that?" Seamus asked, having been expecting the same result as I had.

"I don't know. My magic is confused," I said, moving towards the dummy. Once I got to it I reached out and touched it on the chest, the color of the ice the same as my hands, the coolness feeling the same temperature as my skin. I held it there for a while before winding my fist back and punching it forcefully, the dummy shattering to a crumpled heap of ice on the floor.

I looked at my fist, expecting there to be cuts or something on my knuckles, but there weren't. I thought that punching it would have made me feel better but it didn't. It didn't change what had happened and it didn't change what could potentially be happening. Harry and I were stuck, both of us wanting to fight something that seemed so inevitable but at the same time knowing that in the end the matter was probably out of both of our hands.

Seamus came over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I closed my eyes at the feel of his touch and let him turn me so I was facing him.

"Abby?" he whispered, leaning his forehead in so that it was resting against my own.

I moved my head so that it was lying in the crook of his neck and he wrapped his arms around me. I just let him hold me for what seemed like forever, but he didn't care. In his arms I was safe. In his arms things were normal. In his arms I could just be a teenage girl.