The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Help from Hogwarts

"Hullo."

Her head shot up. There he stood, frozen in the doorway and staring at her like she was a cornered chimera preparing to attack. How long had it been this time?

"Um, hi," she said. "You better shut the door. Can't let anyone see us."

He stepped forward and batted the door closed, without taking his eyes off her. 

"What...what are you doing here?" he asked. "You're the last person I expected to find here. Well, maybe not the last, but I was really only expecting Hagrid."

"We apparated into the forest. We had to make a quick escape from some Death Eaters, but Merula wasn't prepared for it. She got splinched."

As she spoke, Sarah's eyes trailed over to the bed, and Barnaby glanced away from her for the first time. 

"Blimey!" He strode over to the bed, his face going nearly as pale as Merula's. "She's not..."

"Not dead," said Sarah quickly. "But she is pretty badly hurt. Hagrid's gone up to the castle to get help."

Barnaby tore his eyes away from Merula. 

"Where's Diego? And the others?"

Sarah swallowed. Her throat seemed rather tight. 

"I left him not long after we separated from you. It's just been me and Merula for a while."

"Oh."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, move the conversation away from Diego. 

"Returning Fang to Hagrid. We were looking after the mooncalves."

"No, I mean in general. Have you really been at Hogwarts this whole time?" 

"For a while, yeah. Hagrid found me camping out in the forest, then showed me a better hideout in some caves not far from Hogsmeade. But I come here everyday to help Hagrid. We're training the creatures in the forest to fight for us if You-Know-Who shows up."

Sarah stared at him. He looked as healthy as she'd seen him in years. His muscles had filled back out and his skin had resumed its slightly tanned, rosy complexion. He'd even been able to shave his beard. She could have chalked it up to eating better or less stress, but she was sure it was mostly because he was back in his element--working with creatures.

"You look good," she said, then bit her lip, inwardly cringing at her own words. 

"Thanks. You do too. Well, accept you have a lot of blood on you."

"Have I?" She looked down. Her robes were stained with great red blotches. She stood up and used her wand to clean herself up. That finished, she looked back up. Barnaby was still watching her with wide eyes. 

"And Snape still hasn't realized you're here?" she asked.

He puffed out his chest, grinning. "I've gotten pretty good at keeping secrets."

She smiled. 

He stepped forward, then seemed to think better of it and backed away again. 

"Will you be staying here long?" he asked. 

"I don't think so. Once Merula is healed, we'll have to go. We couldn't keep the secret as good as you." She grinned, and Barnaby smiled back briefly. "You'd be welcome to come with us," she added, finding it difficult to maintain eye contact with him. "I mean, don't let me take you from your work here if you don't want....but if you, you know...wanted a change of pace. Merula's pretty sick of me as a travel companion." She gave a small chuckle.