Sarah worried about Hagrid the entire journey to the cave, until they stumbled upon him and Grawp tucked away in the very cavern to which Barnaby had been leading them.
Fang, who'd insisted upon being carried the entire way, bounded from Barnaby's arms with a merry bark and ran over to jump on Hagrid, though he was careful to stay as far from Grawp as he could.
"Knew you lot would make it out alrigh'," said Hagrid jovially. "I reckon yeh were righ' about the party bein' a bad idea after all, Sarah."
Hagrid had a few scratches on his face and hands and several tears in his clothes, but otherwise appeared unharmed.
Grawp sat with his knees up in front of him, grumbling under his breath in giant language.
"Look how calm he's being," gushed Hagrid. "He was in a right state on the way up 'ere."
"Are you sure it'll be safe for you here?" Sarah asked.
"Sure, sure. This is where Barnaby's been hidin' fer a while. I had to come up 'ere before when I got sacked by tha' Umbridge hag. Even Sirius used to stay 'ere while the ministry was after him, when he wanted teh visit 'Arry. 'Ardly anyone knows about this place. We'll be righ' as rain up 'ere, won't we Grawpy?"
Grawp huffed, then resumed his angry mumbles.
"He's got a fightin' spirit, like most giants. Didn' like runnin' away. I promised him he'll get his chance to fight, once the Order says so."
Sarah jumped at a furious squeak from her pocket.
"Oh, yeah." She pulled the squirming Merula. The brown, surprisingly tiny rat never stopped squeaking as Sarah placed it on the ground and preformed the counterspell. The rat spun and transformed into an irate Merula, who only managed to get out, "How dare--?" before she nearly fainted from exhaustion.
Barnaby had to catch her before she fell to stone floor. Sarah conjured up a cot and Barnaby helped Merula onto it, where she promptly passed out.
"We'll have to stay here at least for another night," said Sarah, distressed. "She's in no state to travel."
"We've got plenty o' room and good company fer yeh," said Hagrid. "Though I'm afraid we'll have to go without sneakin' out fer food or a fire today. They might still be lookin' fer us."
Grawp ceased mumbling to look up at Hagrid, dumbfounded. "No food?" he whined.
"Yeh'll be alrigh' fer one day, Grawpy. 'Sides. Yeh've got snacks in your bag, haven't yeh?"
Grawp sniffed, but pulled what appeared to be an entire stag leg out of a bag that hung from his shoulder to his hip, and sucked on it like a lollipop.
To be safe, Sarah placed protective enchantments around the cave's entrance, then the group spent the day swapping stories of what had been happening to them in the last few months, and jumping at small noises.
Sarah knew that Hogwarts had changed since Dumbledore had died, but the stories Hagrid told made her furious she hadn't managed to curse its new Headmaster when she'd seem him earlier.
"It's just Dark Arts Class now, never mind defense," said Hagrid at one point. "Amycus Carrow, one of the Death Eaters from this afternoon, teaches it. They make the kids practice the Dark Arts. They've even got the older kids learnin' the cruciatus curse, so they can use it on students who break the rules."
"No!" uttered Sarah. "They couldn't!"
"That's not good," said Barnaby meekly. "The Dark Arts twist your brain. They make you think and do things. Bad things."
"That's why the other teachers have stayed on," explained Hagrid. "So their posts can't go teh more Death Eaters, and so they can do whatever they can to protect the students."
Sarah stared at Hagrid. She'd been so disconnected from the wizarding world, some days she almost forgot the extreme turn their society had taken. Stories like this one were all too real reminders that though he still hadn't revealed himself, Lord Voldemort was now in control.
"Anyways, wha' else 'ave yeh been up teh, Sarah? I 'eard yeh on the radio. Well done on savin' the muggle Prime Minister."
"Thanks," said Sarah, managing a meek smile.
"Wha' else 'ave yeh been doin'?"
"Well, before that we were in Spain," she said, casting a weary glance at Elena. "We helped some muggleborns and muggles sneak out. They're staying with Diego's family."
"Wow. Jus' you and Merula?"
"No, Diego and Penny also went with us, along with her daughter Sophia. But we left them in Spain for safety."
"Seems odd tha' Diego would be willin' teh be left behind," mused Hagrid. "Figured he'd wan' teh be in the middle o' the action."
"Yes, well," Sarah cleared her throat. "I think he wanted to stay to protect his family. And the muggleborns, in case they we were followed," she lied.
"He must miss you," said Barnaby.
Sarah met his eyes. They reminded her of a mooncalf's--large and curious, but cautious.
"Maybe," she said. "He's probably glad to be rid of me, to be honest."
"Oh."
"Yeah, Spellman ground up his heart like it was bicorn horn," said Merula, having woken from her slumber at the worst possible moment. "It was hilarious to watch."
"Sarah and Diego Caplan?" asked Hagrid, amazed. "I never woulda guessed you two would get together."
Sarah felt her face go red, but Merula answered before she could.
"'Together' is a strong word," said Merula. "It was less of a relationship and more like Sarah had a galleon on a string and Caplan was a dimwitted niffler."
"Why do you always have to be like this?" Sarah asked.
Merula met her eyes for an awkward moment, then turned to easier prey.
"What about you, Romania? You still messing around with Lee so he'll be your Order informant?"
"Wha?!" gasped Hagrid, as both Elena and Barnaby shot to their feet.
"What's your problem?" barked Elena.
Merula sat up in bed, though Sarah could tell it made her nauseous.
"Besides being bedridden in a cave and surrounded by a giant and a handful of morons? I mean, there's the end of the free world going on, I guess."
Elena pulled out her wand. Grawp gave a warning growl. Hagrid went to comfort him as Barnaby dragged Elena in the opposite direction, away from a smirking Merula.
"You know, being in a bad mood doesn't give you the right to be a jerk to everyone," said Sarah, her arms folded.
"And me telling the truth doesn't give you the right to act high and mighty. You're no better than me, Spellman."
"I don't think I'm better than you, Merula! Honestly, the only person that ever compares the two of us is you. I want us to work together, maybe even be friends, but the only way that'll happen is if you get over whatever insecurities make you act like this."
"Insecurities? No one's more secure than me! I'm the most secure witch at Hogwarts!"
"Listen to yourself! We're not even at Hogwarts anymore. You've got to stop dwelling on all your old baggage. Stop pushing people away, or one day, they'll finally leave you for good."
Sarah turned to walk away from her.
"Hey, Spellman."
She paused, looked back.
"I'm glad you're here with me," said Merula in a mocking voice.
"I haven't left your butt here, have I?" she muttered, resuming her walk.
Merula scoffed and muttered something, but Sarah kept walking, sitting at the mouth of the cave to peer down at the village below.
As soon as it was dark enough to justify going to bed, they all conjured up cots and climbed in. Sarah hadn't spoken to the others in the time being, apart from Hagrid and Grawp.
"Barnaby's not an informant for the Order," she whispered to him, while they kept Grawp entertained with shadow puppets made from the light of Sarah's wand and Hagrid's beefy hands.
"O' course he's not," said Hagrid. "I learned not teh bother with Merula when yeh were all at school. I hope yeh've done the same."
"Partly," Sarah admitted. She knew Merula teased and lied to make herself look better than everyone else, but she also had a knack of targeting exactly what Sarah worried about in herself.
As was so often the case these days, she found she couldn't sleep. So, once she guessed the others to be asleep, she crept out of her cot to sit once more at the mouth of the cave. Lights still shone from many of Hogsmeade's windows, and if she squinted her eyes, Sarah thought she might have seen the lights from the top floors of the castle.
After a time, she did start to feel sleepy, and nearly fell asleep leaning on the wall of the cave's entrance. Just as she considered going back to her cot, she heard footsteps approaching. She expected Barnaby, or maybe Merula coming to make some backhanded apology, but it was Elena that sat down beside her.
"Couldn't sleep?" Sarah asked her, as they both looked out at the starry night.
"No. I'm uncomfortable resting so close to a giant."
"Yeah, it's his snoring that got me."
Elena sighed, then fidgeted. She stroked her hair, stretched her neck, fussed with her clothes. Sarah pretended not to notice, but she was intrigued. She'd never known Elena to be nervous; she gave off a confidence that rivaled Merula's, feigned or not.
"I know you don't like me," said Elena at last, "I don't like you either. But I want to thank you for trusting me. Not many would."
"It's not you I trust, it's Barnaby." Sarah looked away from Elena's twiddling thumbs, back to the dark mass that was the forbidden forest. "Besides, I know what its like to lose yourself searching for a brother."
"Where is your brother?"
"I don't know. But, he's undoubtedly doing something dangerous. He always is. But so am I. No wonder my parents gave up on us, all that worrying is exhausting."
"I worry about my brother, too. He's my only family. Real family, at least."
Sarah imagined the psychotic, angry boy she'd been snatched by and reckoned Elena's cause was lost. Still, she supposed madder things had happened. If there was still hope for the Andrels, perhaps there was still hope for her family too. So, she smiled and chose to believe in them.
"If you get your brother back, what will you do?" Sarah asked.
Elena sighed again.
"Go back to Romania, I suppose. I miss my home. Aiden loves books and I have a talent for creating cocktails. I'd like to open a bar that also functions a library or a bookstore. We could run it together." She chuckled. "It seems so ridiculous. Like a dream that slips away the harder you try to remember it. I don't know," she shrugged. "What about you? If you and your brother both survive this war?"
"It's hard to imagine it," said Sarah. "We lost so much time. I guess I'd want to do stuff normal siblings do, stuff we didn't have the chance to before. Travel, go to shows, throw each other surprise birthday parties...I don't know, it sounds dumb to say it out loud. What do normal siblings do?"
"Who knows?"
They stared out at the darkening valley and the forest below them, each lost in her own thoughts, until there was no light but a few peeking stars.
Then Sarah said, "We should probably get some sleep. Who knows what we'll be be up to tomorrow."
"You're right."
The two witches rose. Elena returned to her cot--the one nearest Barnaby's--and Sarah found her own. She settled in, wondering where her brother was, if Diego was safe and happy, and marveling that today she could have died while wearing a golden party hat.