The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Jacob's Plan

"No no, you need to rest. Up Merula, or I'll curse off your ears."

"It'd be better than listening to your nagging," she grumbled, but she sat up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before stumbling drunkenly to the door. 

Elena hurried to join her, and the two shared a hateful look before casting spells to make themselves look like a pair of elderly, well-off witches and setting out. 

Jacob flopped on his bed and was snoring within minutes, but Barnaby sat across from Sarah to watch her work on the potion. 

"Anything I can do to help?"

"I don't think so, but thanks. You should probably get some sleep."

"I'm not really sleepy," he yawned. 

"You sure about that?" she asked with a laugh. She double and triple-checked her measurements for the boomslang skin before dropping some in the cauldron. 

"Well I guess my body's a little tired, but my brain is wide awake. I can't stop thinking about our plan. Sometimes, it seems like we've got it all figured out and it will be easy, but sometimes it seems impossible."

"I know what you mean."

Sarah's heartbeat increased as she forced herself to pay attention the potion and not look up at Barnaby. She had to get this right the first time. It had been suspicious enough when Merula had stolen the potion book from Flourish and Blotts and Elena had bought all the ingredients for polyjuice potion under disguise in the apothecary. They were running out of time before they would be discovered, and they couldn't afford to wait another month if this potion went wrong. 

She placed a chunk of bicorn horn into her mortar and began to grind it. 

"You're very good at that," said Barnaby, as Sarah measured out the powdered bicorn and added the appropriate amount to the cauldron.

"I'd rather Penny be left to something this complicated and important, but I was always pretty good at potions. Especially when Snape's not breathing down my neck."

"I'd have already blown up the cauldron," Barnaby remarked. 

Sarah smiled, then focused back to the cauldron. She turned up the heat and counted to twenty.

"That should do for now," she said, waving her wand over the cauldron. 

"Is it done?"

"No, it won't be done for another two weeks," said Sarah. "But, I've reached a stopping point. It needs to simmer for twenty-four hours before I do the next bit."

She rose to her feet, her muscles popping after hovering over the cauldron on the floor for so long. Barnaby got to his feet too. 

"What now?" he asked. 

Sarah looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearly 11:30. She'd been up since 4 in the morning to work on the potion. 

"I suppose we should rest a bit. We've been up for hours."

"Yeah."

She met Barnaby's eyes, then felt the familiar tug at her chest that she had ever since she'd seen him walk through Hagrid's door. It was like her feelings for him were a vine she'd cut, forcing it to wither, though it had never died completely. Now, every time he looked at her, she could feel it sprouting within her chest once more. 

Barnaby looked at her now, as if he were waiting for something, though he stole occasional glances at Jacob's snoring form. 

"B, I'm glad you're here with me," she blurted. "I mean, I'm worried about this plan, and scared we'll get caught, but I'd be even more scared without you. Because then, if I did get caught or killed...you'd never know how sorry I am. For every time I've left you behind, or let you down, which was a lot. I know there's not much I can do to make it right, but I wanted you to know that I regret it, and...yeah."

She was pretty sure that wasn't what she'd meant to say, but she'd said it, and for the moment she couldn't say anything else. Barnaby stood there, and she forced herself not to use legilimency to see what he was thinking.

He took a step toward her. 

"Careful!" she held out her hands, and Barnaby jumped back just before he could kick over the simmering cauldron.

Jacob turned over in his sleep as Barnaby stepped carefully around the cauldron, then pulled her in for a hug. It felt so good that Sarah nearly burst into tears. She let herself sink into him, let him hold her up as she rested her head on his chest and breathed in the smell of him. 

"It's okay," he said softly. "I understand why you did what you did. At least, sort of. Nothing worse than what I've done. I've been pretty stupid, honestly." 

"No," she mumbled. "I understand why you you did what you did, too. Sort of."

He pulled away slightly to look down at her, a soft smile on his lips. 

"I'm glad I'm here, too. And don't be scared of getting caught. I'll make sure that doesn't happen. I promise."

She nodded, then buried herself in his chest again. There was more to be said, but that was enough for now. Jacob's bed creaked as he rolled over again. Sarah watched him breathing heavily, then yawned. 

Barnaby let her go, then they both found their beds, gratefully accepting a few hours of peace.