For the next few weeks, Barnaby remained confined to that bedroom, except for bathroom breaks. Sarah was at his side constantly, and the only time they saw anyone else was when Penny brought them meals. Barnaby supposed they were coming up with a plan to get rid of the Death Eaters, but of course, no one told him anything about it.
They continued to practice occlumency for hours on end. Barnaby hadn't felt Elena's presence in his head since Halloween, and now he could pretty much keep Sarah out of his brain at will before his exhaustion got the better of him, but they still couldn't be sure one or both the Andrels weren't listening in.
"I don't get how she found you again. You've become a rather accomplished occlumens," said Sarah. "And the physical distance alone should make it harder for Elena to see in your mind than me. I suppose she could be a far more powerful legilimens than me, but that seems unlikely given that I'm a natural-born legilimens, and I've been practicing way longer than her."
"Is there some kind of Dark Magic that helps you be a better one?" asked Barnaby. "Maybe that's why the Dark Lord and Snape are supposed to be so good at it."
"If there is, I've never heard of it." She sighed and sat back on the bed. "Different factors can effect how well legilimency works. Jacob can access my mind easily because we're blood related. Maybe having your fate so intertwined with hers when you made an unbreakable vow gave you some kind of permeant connection somehow?"
"Maybe," he said, though he didn't care much for the idea. From the look on Sarah's face, he guessed she didn't either. "If that's the case, why did I only feel the connection last night?"
"Maybe it was the first time she tried to open the connection. Maybe she's been trying for weeks but this is the first time it's worked. Sleep can make the mind more vulnerable to legilimency, but so can powerful or uncontrolled emotions. Were you feeling a powerful emotion when you felt her presence?"
He thought about lying, but that hadn't done him any good last time.
"Yes."
In truth, he'd been feeling a swirl of strong emotions at the moment he'd first noticed Elena's presence. Though he'd very nearly convinced himself weeks ago that he'd come to think of Sarah as merely a friend, his true feelings had been harder to deny each day since Elena had left.
The night of the party, he told himself it was a bad idea to ask her to dance, but he'd done it anyway. It was a bad idea to watch the way her body moved as she danced, it was a bad idea to let himself focus on her eyes, it was definitely a bad idea to let himself hope. But he'd done it all. All that and more. Perhaps it had been a good thing, in a way, that he'd felt Elena in is mind when he did. He might have done something stupid otherwise.
Sarah said nothing, but nodded and stared vaguely at the ground.
They were interrupted from their thoughts by a light knock on the door. Penny entered, a tray with their supper floating behind her.
"Vegetable soup, but without much vegetable I'm afraid," she said, guiding the tray to rest on the desk in between the beds. "The food situation is--well, nevermind." She glanced apologetically at Barnaby.
He just nodded. He wasn't meant to know anything at all about what was happening downstairs, no matter how trivial it might seem. Still, Penny hovered in the room a moment, as if she had something she were longing to tell them.
"Well...goodnight," she said at last, before turning on her heel and closing the door behind her.
The pair of them ate their soup in silence, then Barnaby picked up the tray and sat it outside their door for someone to collect.
They practiced occlumency for a few more hours before bed. As Barnaby couldn't be trusted not to go wandering around at night, Sarah had taken to sleeping in the bed next to his. There was something about them being surrounded by four walls, rather than the fabric of a tent, that made it incredibly awkward for him. One of the first nights, Barnaby had to lay in bed and try not to listen to Sarah and Diego's row outside after she'd caught him pacing back and forth in the hall, "Prowling like a tiger."
Tonight was no less awkward as they took it in turns to get ready for bed in the bathroom, hid under the covers in their small beds, and whispered goodnight to each other. Barnaby tried not to listen to Sarah's steady breathing as he went through his nightly ritual of trying to clear his mind and rid himself of emotions before he fell asleep. He'd never thought there was much going on in his mind until he was told to clear it out. He couldn't keep himself from wondering what the plans were for getting everyone off this farm, what would happen to him and to Sarah, and why Elena had made contact with him when she did.
Eventually, he must have fallen asleep, because he was awoken suddenly just before dawn. He sprang out of bed at the sounds of explosions and yelling. Sarah had already snatched her wand from the table and thrown open the door, running into the hall wearing only her pajamas. Barnaby picked up his own wand and followed her.
As they hurled down the stairs, Barnaby noticed that the house was deserted. All the commotion came from outside. They ran out the front door to witness a battle in progress. At least a dozen black-robed Death Eaters were firing spells at Lupin, Talbott, and a few more Order members. Up ahead, he could also see Diego along with Penny clutching Sophia, herding the refugees away from the battle.
"We need to give them time to get away," said Sarah.
"You need to go with them!"
"There's no time for that now!"
She fired a spell at a Death Eater who was currently engaged with Talbott, then jumped into the fray. Swearing, Barnaby followed suit.
"Hurry!" he heard Lupin shout. "Take them out!"
Barnaby understood. None of the Death Eaters could leave this place alive, nor could they be given time to call for backup. He'd never tried the killing curse, but he remembered the power he'd felt after using the torture curse, and was sure he'd be able to preform it if he tried.
"Stupefy!" he shouted at a Death Eater with his back turned. The woman fell forward into the grass. Barnaby stepped over her body, aiming at another Death Eater as he spun to face him.
We meet again, Aiden Andrel spoke into his head.
Barnaby shouted, advancing on Andrel and firing every spell he could think of at his smug grin. Aiden batted them all away, but had to stumble backwards to stay out of Barnaby's reach.
Oh dear, still haven't mastered our emotions, have we?
"Where's Elena?!" he shouted, stumbling as Andre's slicing jinx caught him in the thigh.
Blood splattered over his pajamas, but he hardly noticed the pain as he fired the knee-reversal jinx at his opponent.
Aiden avoided the spell and smiled as Barnaby, his movements made slower by his wound, was hit by the dancing charm. Barnaby grunted in pain as his injured leg was forced to jump and twirl. Aiden was playing with him now.
She'll get what's coming to her, just as you are now. I'm only sorry I can't bring you back so your father can have the pleasure of killing you himself.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
Aiden's chuckle sounding in his mind became a scream as Barnaby spun in the middle of his dance and hit him with the sea urchin jinx. He screamed in real life as purple spines erupted from his hand and his wand fell to the ground.
Barnaby took the moment of distraction to remove the dancing charm. Aiden managed to reverse the spell with wandless magic, but before he could pick up his fallen wand, Barnaby blasted him backward with Depulso. Aiden was thrown into the air, tumbling in backwards somersaults before landing in a heap on the ground.
By the time he untangled himself from his piled robes and clambered to his feet, Barnaby had hobbled forward and snatched up his wand. Aiden glared at him, then gasped and spun on the spot, vanishing a fraction of a second before a jet of green light would have hit him.
"Damn it!" yelled Lupin from behind his shoulder. "One got away."
"Three," called Bill. "Cowards disapparated once they knew they were losing."
"We need to leave now, before more turn up."
"Where's Sarah?" Barnaby winced, the pain in his leg worsening.
He saw Lupin, Tonks, Bill, Talbott, and nearly a dozen other Order members, but Sarah was gone.
"I saw Caplan sneak back and snatch her," said Tonks, rubbing a hand over the small mound that was her pregnant belly. "She must have gone with the rest of them, as well as the Snyde girl."
Barnaby gazed back in the direction they'd gone, as if hoping he could still see them and catch up, but all he saw was empty fields and an old, stone fence.
"Episkey."
"Thanks," he muttered to Lupin as the cut on his leg sealed again.
One of the Order members, a large man with a long, gray beard, rushed over to Lupin after inspecting all the bodies on the ground.
"That's all of them," he said.
Lupin nodded, though he appeared slightly sick. "You and Mr. Winger hide the bodies as quickly as possible and then meet us at Safehouse eight."
The man nodded and walked away.
"I'm guessing I'm not going to Safehouse eight," said Barnaby.
Lupin sighed. "I'm afraid not. Perhaps we could find another--"
"Don't worry about it. It's not worth risking. I'll--I'll find my own way for a bit."
"You can't go on your own," said Bill, repairing the torn sleeves of his robes as he strode over. "If the Death Eaters can track you, you'll be a sitting duck with no one to help you."
"But if I stay with any of you, they can find out the Order's plans. That bloke I was fighting was one of the Andrels. He was speaking in my head easier than speaking to me in person. It's like Dumbledore said. I'm too dangerous to be a part of the Order. I'll just...take care of myself for now."
"Barn--"
But whatever Bill meant to say was cut off, as Barnaby spun on the spot and disappeared.