The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Love and War

On the other side of the villa, sleep didn't come for Sarah either. Penny snored lightly in the bed next to hers, and Sophia lay still as a rock on the cot between them. It had taken hours for Penny to calm the fussy child down long enough to sleep. 

"It's because she's such a daddy's girl," Penny explained, as Sophia cried and demanded juice. "She's always like this when Talbott's gone overnight."

"You both must miss him a lot," said Sarah.

"So much it hurts. But I know he'll be okay, and that all this will be worth it when You-Know-Who has been defeated for good and Sophia can grow up in a world that's safe again."

Once Sophia was finally settled, an exhausted Penny collapsed on the bed and slept within minutes, but Sarah tossed and turned. She told herself it was because her body wasn't accustomed to the warmer climate, but in reality she couldn't keep from worrying about Barnaby. 

Penny had filled her in on what had happened when she'd spent a month locked up with him. Lupin had reached out to all the Order members he could, begging for assistance, and they'd agreed to show up at dawn on November 25th to ambush the Death Eaters. That was when the food would run out, and hopefully by then they would be off their guard. Diego, Merula, and Penny were to find an opening in the battle and escort the refugees to safety, then Diego would take them all to Spain. Unfortunately, there was no way to inform Sarah and Barnaby of the plan without risking that information reaching the Death Eaters. They trusted that Sarah would join the Order or the refugees, but Barnaby would have to be abandoned. 

Sarah huffed in annoyance as she sat up, resigning herself to a restless night. She slipped out of bed and crept silently out the door to seek fresh air. As she walked silently down the dark corridors, she thought she ought to transform her pajamas into a long, white, lacy gown, like the troubled maidens who lived in places like this in stories. 

She stopped when she reached the center of the house, which featured large, glass doors that lead to an outdoor balcony. She pushed open the doors and strode across the patio to the balcony railing, resting her hands on it as she took in the moonlit panorama and the Spanish air. 

Where was Barnaby now? Was he safe? She remembered wondering the same thing when she'd sent him off to Romania after she'd joined the Order. But then, he'd had Charlie. Now, he was presumably alone. How ironic, she thought, that she'd left him because she thought she couldn't trust him with secret information. It turned out, as his torturous kidnapping had proved, Barnaby could keep a secret. But, because he'd gone to Romania, because he'd become involved with the Andrels, now his mind couldn't be trusted. It was all Sarah's fault. 

Sarah shuddered. She felt her mind reel back at a sensation similar to walking into a door you didn't realize was locked. Subconsciously, she'd let her mind drift until it found Barnaby's. As soon as he'd noticed, he'd thrown up his shields, but now his mind was relaxed again. 

She knew she shouldn't press him, that connecting with his mind posed a dangerous threat, but she couldn't help herself.

Are you okay?

Barnaby's legilimency wasn't strong enough to form coherent sentences at such a distance, but Sarah could feel his emotions--after the shock wore off from feeling her in his mind, he seemed quite calm, even content.

Where are you?

A fuzzy image formed in her mind of dingy walls and an old, wooden bed. He might have been staying at the Leaky Cauldron. 

She tried to send him an image of the villa, and she could feel his wonder, along with a twinge of jealousy. 

I'm sorry we left you. I--