"Maybe you guys should go without me," Abigail suggested warily. It was now the holidays and she was at Grimmauld Place with her father and Sirius. "They're all kind of pissed at me at the moment."

"Mrs. Weasley invited all of us so all of us will attend or none of us will," Lupin informed her. "Besides, it's the season of forgiving or whatever it is they say."

"I said and did some pretty awful things."

"I'm sure they knew what you only said it to push them all away."

"Doesn't make what I said any better."

"Try and apologize," Lupin recommended, "We'll leave early if we have to."

"If it's any help, Harry is mainly just confused," Sirius spoke up, "Not even sure you'd have to apologize to him just explain why you did whatever you did."

"What exactly is it that you did?" Tonks inquired.

Abigail bit her lip in thought, "You want me to name just one thing?"

"Sleep on it," Lupin suggested, "You'll have a different view in the morning."

She did not.

"Dad, please don't make me go," Abigail begged.

He let out an exasperated sigh as he faced his daughter, "They'll want to see you."

"No," she countered, "They won't."

"At the beginning of the year you wanted nothing more than to be with your friends."

"Things change."

"Abigail, I really don't have the energy for this right now."

"Fine," she frowned, "But only for a little."

"You're staying at the Burrow for the rest of break."

"What?" she gaped up at the man. He looked tired beyond measure. It didn't help that it was the first night of the cycle. "You can't be serious!"

"Tonks and I will be gone all week and Sirius has tasks from the Order."

"I can stay at home alone," she countered, "Better yet, I'll stay here with Sirius and keep him company while you're away mingling."

"No."

"Why does he get to stay here?"

"Because he's technically dead."

"I could be technically dead," she pointed out, "It would make a lot of other things easier too."

"You really want to have this conversation with me?"

Abigail thought it over for a moment before shaking her head, "No, I don't." She fell back on the couch with a dramatic sigh, "Fine, I'll go but I won't be happy about it."

He patted her leg as he made his way out of the room, "You wouldn't be you if you were." She frowned slightly but sat up, "We leave in an hour. Have your things packed and be ready to go please."

"I think it funny that now that I'd rather stay home he's changed his mind about everything," Abigail informed Sirius and Tonks with a huff. "It would be nice if he would just agree with me for once." She faced Tonks immediately, "Don't give me the 'it's a full moon speech', this is an all the time occurrence."

She put her hands up in surrender before leaving the room where her father had just walked out.

"And if you start the whole, 'everything will be okay' speel, I will hit you because we both know that's crap."

"I spent twelve years thinking I would be stuck in that cell forever," he reminded her, "I didn't die that night because of you. I'm a changed man."

She scowled at this, "And to think I used to like you."

He rolled his eyes as he sat on the arm of the couch, "What are you so afraid of?"

"What isn't there to be afraid of?"

-

"Merry Christmas," Abigail greeted as Mrs. Weasley pulled her into a hug.

"Merry Christmas, dear," she returned, "The kids are in the other room if you would like to join them. I can take care of your things."

"I can take them upstairs."

"Oh, no," she shook her head, "I've got it."

Abigail smiled tightly, "Thank you." She glanced back at her father who nodded his head in the direction of the other room and she let out a sigh before joining everyone.

She entered the room and took a seat in the empty chair quietly, doing her best to avoid any and all attention. If she played her cards right, maybe she could avoid any awkward conversation till at least the end of the night.

"Um, Abigail?" someone spoke quietly and she looked up to see Harry standing there. He held a box out to her, "Merry Christmas." Abigail looked down at the box then up at the boy, at a loss for words. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I bought it before, you know, yeah...I want you to have it."

She wanted to apologize to him more than anything but she didn't know how. Really apologize. But maybe this was how things were meant to be and there was nothing she could do about it. Maybe things would be easier if they weren't talking. She took the present from him with a tight lipped smile, "Thank you."

Harry nodded stiffly before he made his way back to where Lupin sat. He immediately dropped into a speel about all the things he's observed the past year and the theories he has.

"Voldemort has chosen Draco Malfoy for a mission?" Lupin concluded after listening to Harry's rant.

Harry frowned slightly, "I know it sounds mad."

"Has it occured to you, Harry, that Snape was simply pretending to offer Draco help so he could find out what he was up to?"

"That's not what it sounded like."

"Perhaps Harry is right, Remus," Tonks agreed, "I mean, to make an Unbreakable Vow-"

"It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgement," Lupin explained, "Dumbledore trusts Snape, therefore, I do.

"Dumbledore can make mistakes," Harry pointed out, "He said so himself."

"You are blinded by hatred."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are. People are disappearing, Harry," he explained, "Daily. We could only place our trust in a handful of people. If we start fighting amongst ourselves, we're doomed."

The rest of the evening consisted of conversations here and there but Harry stopped asking questions after that.

Abigail stood up from the couch after some time and made her way outside to sit on the steps. She stared down at the present in her lap, contemplating opening it or simply returning it to the boy.

She cautiously opened the present, carefully removing the wrapping from what appeared to be a jewelry box. She opened the container to find a locket necklace in the shape of a heart.

Engraved on the outside of the locket was the words, 'this is forever' and she could feel her heart drop into her stomach. She opened the heart and found a picture from their trip to Hogsmaede the previous January.

It had been snowing and the four of them had been messing around, throwing snowballs at each other. Abigail had managed to trip but Harry had caught her before she could fall. Hermione had been taking pictures with a camera the entire weekend and had gotten a picture of the moment.

Harry had his arms wrapped around the girl's waist and they were looking at each other like they were the only ones in the world. And because magic is the way it is, the picture moved and Abigail could be seen adjusting the boys glasses ever so slightly.

Abigail's hand flew to her mouth as she stifled a sob. Everything seemed to be getting worse. Nothing was going how it was supposed to and there was nothing she could do about it.

Maybe this was exactly what she needed to do. Keep her distance before she could get more attached to him or better yet, him to her. But maybe she should have done this a while ago because in that moment in Hogsmeade it had felt like it would be for forever. But no one could promise forever.

"Abigail?" someone spoke from behind her but she merely shook her head, unable to trust herself to speak without letting more sobs out. The redheaded girl immediately closed the door and made her way over to the steps and took a seat, "Abigail, what's wrong?"

Abigail shook her head, "Nothing, I'm fine."

"If this is fine, I'd hate to see you when you're not okay." Abigail laughed at this but it was masked by a sob that escaped her throat. "Abby, talk to me. To someone. We're all worried about you."

She shook her head, resting her face in her hands as the sobs wracked her body. Ginny placed her arm over the girl's back as she tried to comfort the girl when she saw the open locket that rested on the steps below them.

"Why are you pushing everyone away?"

"It's easier this way," Abigail pointed out, wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her shirt, "It's easier if everyone stays as far away from me as possible."

"We're not going anywhere."

"You should," she pointed out, "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Ginny frowned at this. She couldn't figure out what she had meant by that. Abigail would never hurt any of them. "You don't mean..." Ginny trailed off, her voice growing quiet, "You?"

Abigail looked down at her hands, "The way this whole thing works...It's complicated. There are different possibilities. The future is in no way absolute, it's constantly changing and evolving. So everything I see doesn't necessarily happen but I've gotten better at knowing which is more likely. There are more solid images, which almost always happen. Then there are the more fuzzy ones, which don't normally happen but if someone chooses a different path, they're possible."

She looked up at the girl, "I've seen my death on multiple occasions and all of them were solid images."

"Then we just have to change it," Ginny pointed out, "You don't have to die."

"Yes, I do," she countered, "Because if I don't, all of you will."

Ginny stayed with Abigail for a while longer but eventually left the girl alone to her thoughts. Once Abigail had pulled herself together, she had put the necklace around her neck and slipped it under her shirt. She gathered the trash and turned to go back inside but the door opened revealing her father, Tonks, Molly and Arthur.

"We're heading out now," Tonks informed Abigail, glancing back at Lupin for a moment.

"Yeah, alright," she nodded, choosing not to make another attempt at not having to stay.

"Dad?" Abigail inquired but he didn't respond.

"Remus," Tonks tried but he merely continued to stare out at the grassy field that surrounded the Burrow.

"Abby, sweetheart," Molly spoke up, "You head on up to Ginny's room. We've got it from here."

Abigail frowned but she nodded and made her way to the stairs but stopped short when she saw that Harry was sitting there. "Has Ron already gone to bed?" Abigail asked after an awkward moment.

"Um, no," he shook his head, "Not yet."

"Well, I'm just gonna..." she pointed up the stairs awkwardly.

"Yeah, of course," he nodded, stepping to the side. She started walking up the stairs but he called her name, "Abigail?" She turned to look at him and he cleared his throat, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Harry," she smiled but the sadness was clearly etched in. She made her way up the stairs leaving him behind.

Ginny's door closed behind her and she leaned against with a sigh. She closed her eyes for a moment but they shot open when she heard a noise in the room. And it wasn't Ginny.

Bellatrix scowled at her, the witches wand ready to be used, "I thought I had killed you."

Abigail raised an eyebrow at the woman as she tried to remember where her wand was, "Not quite."

"We can fix that," she pointed out and Abigail leaped out of the way, the spell hitting the door instead of her. She pushed herself off the floor as she groped for her wand which had spilled from her bag and was now under the bed. "Crucio!"

Abigail's body writhed in pain. She bit down on her tongue to avoid making any noise. She could hear the women laughing from above her and tried to block it out. After a moment, she moved to push herself off the ground. "Petrificus Totalus!" Bellatrix exclaimed.

Abigail's arms and legs snapped together and her whole body went rigid as she was forced still on her stomach. Bellatrix crouched down, brushing the hair behind the girl's ear as she whispered, "I hope you enjoy burning." And then she was gone.

She could smell the smoke before she felt the heat but it all seemed to happen at once. Just move, she thought, Just an inch to grab your wand. To save yourself. But nothing happened.

-

"Where's Abigail?" Harry asked once the shock of the burning Burrow wiped away and he scanned the group.

Everyone seemed to look around at this but she wasn't there. Harry moved to run inside after her but Arthur placed a hand over his shoulder. Lupin and Tonks ran inside immediately and Harry tried to join him only to fail as Ron and Fred held him back.

"Let me go," he tried, but they held on.

"There's no point," Ron informed him, "They'll find her."

Harry stopped fighting him after a moment and waited with everyone else. He stared at the door of the burning Burrow for what felt like a lifetime when Tonks and Lupin finally emerged, Abigail in the latters arms. Harry slipped away from Ron's grip and ran up to them quickly, "How is she? Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine," Tonks informed him as Lupin rested the girl down a decent ways away from the burning house. "She was under a spell but she's just out of it now. Now we just have to wait for her to wake up."

Harry nodded slowly as he knelt down next to the girl. Eventually, her eyes fluttered open. She sat up and scanned over everyone in confusion, "Bellatrix." She glanced up at the burning house and her hands flew to her mouth, "Oh my god."

"Everyone got out," Tonks informed her, "Does she know?"

"No," Abigail shook her head as she stood up with Harry's help, "She was just mad she failed to kill me the first time." She glanced back at her father who, although clearly worried, was out of it. "Take care of him, okay? I'm fine."

She nodded with a tight-lipped smile, "I will."

"Thank you," Abigail smiled in response before the auror walked away to take care of her father. She carefully touched around the burn marks on her arm and hissed slightly.

Harry spoke as soon as they were out of ear shot, "I thought you were-"

"I'm not."

"But you could have-"

"But I'm fine."

He scanned over her, "Are you?"

Abigail smiled tightly, "Always am."