"I've got a leaf now don't I?" While once that question might have been bolstered by the bravado she never seemed to lack with him, now it came out squeaked and sniffled, the last syllable breaking sadly on the air. She had to stop and take a breath before daring speech again.

"That ought to get me there." It wouldn't. His prayer would be answered no, she knew. For all the unthinkable things that had happened since Lily stepped off of the train and into the woods by the farm back in Sa-Hareth, for all the impossibilities she had been presented with, some things were too far-fetched even for a situation such as theirs.

"You'll be brave and brilliant. You'll save her, and everyone else too. I know you will."