Jacob hadn't left them. When the others arrived in their most recent hiding spot, he, Merula, and Elena were gathered around a fire. They all jumped to their feet with wands raised, but slowly lowered them when they recognized the disheveled wedding guests.
"Took you long enough," said Jacob. "You sure it was just Bill, or did the whole parade of Weasley children get married in turns?"
"We were detained," said Talbott, yanking his loosened tie from his neck.
They explained what had happened at the wedding.
"How did they find you? How'd you get out?" asked Merula.
"They let us go," said Talbott. "They weren't looking for us, they were after Potter. We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"You still are," said Jacob. "What on earth did you come back here for? You've probably led them straight to us!" He scrambled to begin packing up the tents.
"We weren't followed," said Sarah.
"As far as you know."
As the others began packing and arguing, Elena pulled Barnaby aside, deep into the trees and out of earshot.
"Aiden?"
He shook his head and tears formed in the corner of her hazel eyes.
"Why didn't you grab him?! Why didn't you tell me where you were so I could come?! I've been screaming at your for hours!"
"I know," he said. His head was still pounding. "I did everything I could."
"Obviously not!"
"If I hadn't, I wouldn't be here talking to you, would I? No, I'd be dead."
He glared at her. Didn't she realize that he was being torn apart because of her? His whole life, he'd tried become strong to protect his friends, to be ready to give his life for them, but when it came down to it, he'd been the coward his father always said he was. He'd left Sarah and Diego alone, helpless, all so he could help her, and now he was being yelled at because he hadn't done enough.
He'd given her everything he had. What more could she want?
Elena took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I just...we were so close."
"I know. I'm sorry too."
He was sorry for a lot of things. He was sorry he hadn't gotten through to Aiden, sorry that his legilimency was still so poor, sorry that he'd made the stupid unbreakable vow in the first place. He was sorry that he realized he and Elena had entwined their fates together, and now it was obvious they both had things and people they cared about more than each other. She hadn't been worried about him when he'd been captured at the wedding; he hadn't been thinking about her when it came to choosing to save his own life or rush to the aide of his friends.
"I'm going to go help the others pack," he said. "If that's okay."
"Yeah, fine," she said, but she wasn't looking at him. Her thoughts had taken her far away.
******************
With nothing else to do, they group continued their fruitless hunt for horcruxes. Jacob led them all over the countryside, into London's seedy, Dark Underground, Knockturn Alley, and even the Hog's Head Pub to spy for information. Jacob began relying on them more and more to split up and hunt for news on their own, but the only information anyone was able to learn was disheartening news about more disappearances, including Harry Potter's.
"He's probably in hiding now, same as us," said Talbott.
"If only we could find him, help him somehow," said Sarah. "I'd feel better if I knew I were doing something to help the Order."
But, Harry Potter was nowhere to be found, and Sarah and her friends' morale dropped with each new location they searched, only to find nothing.
Something else was bothering Sarah. It grinded on her ever since the wedding, just over a month ago now.
What was going on with Barnaby?
She'd known he hadn't been quite himself ever since he'd joined Jacob's company, but now, she hardly recognized the man she saw across the campfire. Barnaby was no coward, yet he seemed terrified every time he glanced at Elena. Sarah also spotted him staring into nothing for long stretches of time, his eyes glazed over. He was obviously practicing his legilimency, and whatever he saw when he left his own body to search in someone else's brain left him quite rattled. When he returned to his own mind, he always clutched at his heart, like he was worried it would stop the next instant.
Sarah paced back and forth in her tent, wondering what to do. She supposed she could pull him aside, try to talk to him, but Elena would hardly leave him alone, and she had a hard enough time shrugging Diego off long enough for a bathroom break.
No sooner had that thought crossed her mind than Diego pushed back the tent's flap and stepped inside. "There you are." His charming smile fell slightly as he watched her pace. "What's wrong, now?"
"Shh, I'm thinking."
She supposed she could try to enter Barnaby's mind, but that posed a number of problems. One, now that he was practicing legiliemency himself, he might notice her presence. Two, she hated to read others' minds, especially without their consent. Everyone deserved their own secrets. Goodness knew she had a few of her own she didn't want the others to learn. And three, she was worried sick about what she would find. She could sense the power and fear that radiated off of him lately, the anxiety and pain. She hated to admit it, but she was afraid to uncover the source.
"Watch the door," she told Diego. "Don't let anyone through."
"Why? What are you doing?"
She ignored him, but pulled out a chair and sat down at the wooden table, resting her elbows on the table and her hands on her temples.
"How am I supposed to keep people out?" asked Diego.
"I don't know, tell them I'm changing or something."
Diego said something else, but Sarah took a deep breath and let her mind go blank. She'd broken into Barnaby's mind without his consent before, but that had been to save his life. She told herself that's what she was doing now. The question was, who was she saving him from? Elena? Jacob? Himself?
She let her vision go black as her mind reached out.
***
When Sarah returned to her own mind, she found herself staring at Diego. He had pulled a chair up next to her, eyes searching hers with concern. He had a hand pressed on either side of her face, and she could feel her tears puddling in between her cheeks and his fingers.
"What is it?" he asked. "What did you see?"
She pushed him gently away, worried she might throw up on him. As she'd expected, Barnaby's fear and anxiety washed over her and she was nearly overcome by the wave of emotions that now permeated her mind.
As she wiped at her wet face, she noticed someone watching her through the open tent flap.
"Can I talk to you?" asked Barnaby.
"I don't think this is the best time--" Diego began, but Sarah put a hand on his arm.
"It's okay."
He looked helplessly between the pair of them, then nodded and left the tent. Barnaby sat in Diego's chair.
"I'm sorry," said Sarah.
Barnaby shook his head. There was no need to apologize.
"What did you see?"
Though it felt like hitting herself with the cruciatus curse, Sarah forced herself to reflect on the images she'd seen while she'd been in his mind.
"B...I just can't...I don't...why did you do it?"
"I don't really know. Well, that's not true. I know why. Because I know how close I was to being trapped in that life, how close I still am everyday. I wanted to help rescue people from that fate, because I understand what its like. I know how tempting it is to join the Death Eaters when you think you've got no other choice. And I know how it feels to think you're all alone in fighting that darkness. I wanted her to know that I would be there for her, to help her and her family, no matter what."
So, he'd made the vow. Sarah could see it. Elena's desperate eyes, Jacob's cold look as he'd bonded them. She could still feel her heart pounding in her chest, as Barnaby's had done.
"That's why you ran away at the wedding," she whispered.
He nodded. "Because I'm a coward. I'd seen Aiden and I went after him instead of helping you. I was more worried about saving my own neck than y--than my friends."
Sarah didn't have to look in his eyes to feel his shame and regret. She'd felt it for herself.
"It wouldn't have done us much good if you'd dropped dead on the way to us," she said.
Barnaby said nothing.
Sarah put her face in her hands, her mind swirling. What could they do? The simplest option of course would be to kill Elena. You couldn't be bound to someone dead. Could she do it? Sarah realized down in her gut, and it horrified her, that she could. What would Barnaby say? Would he be able to forgive her? Would she be able to move on herself?
"So, you basically have to do whatever she says, including use Dark Magic and abandoning the rest of us, if she thinks it will help her brother?"
He nodded. "I'm sorry. I've been stupid."
"No. I'm sorry. This never would've happened if--"
If...so many things. It wasn't worth dwelling on, she realized.
"Are you going to tell the others?"
Sarah thought a moment, then shook her head. If she told Talbott and the others, they'd realize the next logical step would be for the group to separate again. If Barnaby and Elena were likely to betray them or abandon them at any moment, if they were willing to risk the safety of the group by delving in the Dark Arts, they couldn't be trusted.
But Sarah didn't care about logic at the moment. Barnaby had shouldered this burden for months by himself, and it was rotting him from the inside out. From now own, she wanted to be there for him. She wanted to be there if push came to shove, if Elena needed to be dealt with once and for all.
"Thank you," he said. He gave a small smile, and she could see that already some of his burden had been lifted. He wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, then stood up and walked away.
He paused at the entrance to the tent, looking back over his shoulder.
"I'll always love you, too."
Then he was gone, leaving Sarah to dwell on her anxiety, and to hate Elena, hate her brother, hate every person who had ever done anything to harm Barnaby Lee. She hated herself most of all.
***************
Barnaby hadn't quite reached his own tent when once again, he felt someone searching through his mind. It wasn't Elena. She cleaved through his brain with precision like a sharp knife. It wasn't Sarah either; he'd instantly recognized her presence when his body became warm all over. This knew person beat at the walls of his mind like a troll wielding a club.
Who are you? he asked.
I'm the one you've been searching for.
The voice was so faint he could barely register it.
Aiden?
What do you want of me?
I know your sister. She wants to see you.
Barnaby felt his vision go in and out as Aiden tried to remain in his mind. One or both of them clearly wasn't a skilled enough legilimens to keep their connection going for long.
Where is she? Where are you?
You should talk to her. I'll--
NO! said the voice, this time so loudly that Barnaby stumbled back. I will find her when the time is right. For now, she is safer not knowing you have reached me. Is that clear?
Barnaby nodded. For the next minute, he tried to ask Aiden questions, tried to see what he was seeing, but the connection was broken, though whether on purpose or not, he couldn't say.
He blinked and saw Talbott watching him with concern.
"You alright, mate? You went all wobbly for a second there."
Barnaby just looked at him. Was he alright? There was no way to answer that question, so he just resumed his walk and disappeared into his own tent.