Sarah made sure to stand up and muster some dignity before she removed the disillusionment charm.
"Nice to see you, too."
Jacob frowned, then rolled his eyes at the sight of Barnaby.
"You stay there," he said to Elena as he strode over to Merula's cot. "What happened?" he asked, kneeling down beside her.
"Your sister, what else?" said Merula. She was acting weaker than she was, but she was unable to hide the smirk on her face. "She got me splinched when she brought me here."
Jacob turned back to Sarah. "Why did you come here? And please tell me you have an extremely good reason for being with those two again." He nodded at Barnaby.
"Crikey, next time Death Eaters are about to kill us, I'll just let them do it I guess," said Sarah, annoyed. "We had to make a quick escape, and the forbidden forest was the first place I thought of. I admit it wasn't the best hiding place, but once we got here, Merula was too badly injured to travel somewhere else."
"Thanks to you," she said.
Sarah bit back a harsh reply, answering Jacob's other question instead. "Barnaby and Elena were here when we arrived. They'll have to leave though, now that Snape's on the lookout. I think...I think they should come with us."
"You know why we can't do that."
"We can trust them. Barnaby's proven that time and time again. Aiden Andrel hasn't bothered him or Elena in weeks. They want to help us."
Jacob looked back to Merula.
"And you're seriously okay with this?"
"Of course not. But, I've been on my death bed this whole time, there wasn't much I could do."
"'Scuse me," said Hagrid, finally recovering at the sight of Jacob Spellman, alive before him. "Does someone wanna tell me what's goin' on?"
"No," said Jacob. "Sorry Hagrid, but you're not exactly famous for keeping secrets."
"Thanks for asking how we've been, by the way," said Sarah. "Aren't you even a little bit curious about why we're all hiding in a cave with a giant?"
"Believe it or not, the giant's the least troubling thing about this situation," said Jacob.
He conjured a chair and sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Sarah only just noticed how awful he looked. His skin, normally darker than hers, had become pale and sickly. He had dark bags under his eyes, which were red with tiredness. "We need to get out of here. How soon until you can travel?"
"Right now," said Merula. She swung her legs off the cot and stood--too quickly. Jacob had to jump up and stop her from falling. "I'm alright," she insisted, standing up straight.
"She could maybe travel if we used the knight bus, or if we had a flying carpet," said Sarah. "But in this state, I don't think she should appartate. She'll probably splinch herself again."
"You splinched me! I'd never be stupid enough to splinch myself!"
"Alright, alright," said Jacob. Sarah could practically hear him thinking. "I could leave and come back for you, but this many magical presences in one place won't go unnoticed for long."
"No one's ever been found up 'ere before," said Hagrid.
"And yet here I am," said Jacob. "I notice there was no spell preventing me from apparating directly inside this cave."
All heads swiveled to Sarah. Her stomach squirmed; she hadn't thought to put up the enchantments she'd lowered when she and Barnaby left.
"Hang on, I'm not the only that should remember to put up defensives," she bellowed. "And anyway, you wouldn't have been able to apparate here if you weren't rooting around in my brain!"
"The Knight Bus won't work," said Jacob. "The conductor's made to check your name and blood status now."
"We're all pure or half bloods," said Barnaby.
"And you're wanted for treason."
"Oh, right." Barnaby frowned. "Well, what about the thestrals?"
Jacob gaped at him. "Thestrals?"
"Yeah. The Death Eaters can't track them, most people can't see them, and if someone holds onto Merula, it's not an uncomfortable trip."
Sarah looked at Jacob. "That could work."
"Great. Fine. But we'll wait until dark. Then, we can rustle up a couple."
"We'll need at least three," said Sarah. "But four would be be better."
"I'm not taking them with us," said Jacob. "You're lucky I haven't cursed them into oblivion. I should at least wipe their memories, so they don't know we were here."
Sarah stepped in front of Barnaby, her hands help up imploringly to her brother. "Jacob, please. Trust me."
"It's not a question of trusting you. It's them I'm worried about."
"If you question them, you question me."
Jacob stared at her disbelievingly.
Barnaby stepped around Sarah. "I understand why you don't like me," he said. "But I'm not with the Death Eaters. I know how to fight off their influence. I've been doing it my whole life." He glanced at Elena. "I know I've made a few mistakes, but I've learned from it. You can trust me. I just want to make things right."
Jacob shook his head in bewilderment, but before he could reply, Elena came out from behind her rock, taking several bold steps forward. Now, she looked more like the confident witch Sarah loved to hate.
"I've let my brother go, so I could fight for this side. He is lost to me, perhaps forever, but I will make those who took him suffer for it. You have a chance to fight alongside your sister. Do not waste it over your fear of me."
The cavern was silent, apart from Grawp picking at his teeth. Hagrid stared at them all open-mouthed. Sarah looked from Jacob glowered down at Elena, but she merely gazed back, the picture of defiance. Sarah realized hers and Elena's relationship had changed since last night, but only just. They certainly weren't friends, but Sarah found she no longer thought of the Romanian as the enemy.
"Just be ready to leave at nightfall," said Jacob. He stalked out of the cavern.
"Where are you going?" Sarah called.
"To fix the enchantments!"
When he was gone, the others stared at each other for a moment.
"WHERE FOOD?!?!" bellowed Grawp.
"Oh, right," said Sarah, and she pulled out the pouch.
*******************
They were a quiet group as they waited for the sun to go down. Hagrid had plenty of questions about how Jacob had survived and what he'd been doing for all these years, but Jacob wasn't in a talkative mood.
At around six, Barnaby left to fetch the thestrals. Sarah volunteered to go with him, but he thought it would be safer and quicker if he went alone, as he knew the exact paths to take.
Jacob had settled against the cavern wall and Sarah sat down beside him.
"Thank you," she told him. "For letting the others come. It was actually easier than I thought to convince you."
He shrugged. "Maybe I've let my loneliness get the better of me. It hasn't exactly been a pleasant time."
"What happened?"
"Well, the short story is I got careless and I got caught. I'd been trailing Bellatrix for so long without anything to show for it that I let myself get sloppy. She noticed me following her while I was pretending to be a wandless."
Sarah gasped. "Bellatrix caught you?"
He nodded. "Luckily, Bellatrix is a cat who likes to play with her food. And she underestimated my power. I was able to escape before she could do much harm."
"I'm sorry."
"You could argue it was worth it. I did learn some vital information. I think Bellatrix definitely has a Horcrux, and I know where it is."
"And we're going to help you get it?"
"Yeah." He looked up. "Sarah? I...I really am sorry. For everything. I spent a lot much time watching the Malfoys and the Lestranges, and I realized how messed up they were. How much Dark Magic had twisted their minds. How much it had twisted mine. So much so that I felt justified possessing my own sister."
He paused, but Sarah could sense he had more to say, so she remained silent.
"I told myself that I spent my whole life protecting my family, protecting my friends. But Duncan is dead, our family is in shambles, and you've been in danger from the moment you first stepped foot at Hogwarts. That's my responsibility. I should have walked away from R from the first moment I realized what the vaults really were, but I was in love. In love with the power the Dark Arts gave me."
"But you don't want that power anymore?" Sarah asked.
"Not if it is going to turn me into Bellatrix Lestrange. Seeing her family made me realize that ours isn't so bad--that maybe we still have a chance to fix it. But it's on me to own up to my mistakes. Like realizing you're not a little kid anymore, and that I need to trust you."
"Thanks," she said. "I think you're right. I think we can be a family again. As weird as that sounds."
He laughed. "Good. I guess almost being murdered by Bellatrix made me realize I needed to apologize. For everything that's happened since the first vault."
"You're forgiven."
Jacob patted her knee. "You've always been too easy to forgive."
Sarah smiled, unable to see that as a fault. Still, now that Jacob was talkative, she wanted to change the subject.
"Where are we going tonight?"
"The Leaky Cauldron. Tom's a good friend of mine. He's been keeping a secret room for me. It was a good idea of Lee's--the thestrals."
"Yeah. He's quite smart."
"Have you two gotten back together yet?"
Sarah somehow found this question more uncomfortable than Jacob's apology.
"What? No--I don't--we haven't--I mean..."
He chuckled. "I promise I didn't read your mind. It's written all over your face. Why don't you tell him how you feel?"
Sarah took a deep breath, willing herself to speak in coherent sentences. "It's more complicated than that."
"Your life has always been complicated; you're used to it."
She laughed. "So, is that what older brothers do? Give their sisters relationship advice?"
"I don't know, honestly," he said, smiling. "Probably only in books. But I feel like I should make amends. I'm mean, who knows what would have happened if I hadn't interfered?"
Sarah shook her head. She had no idea what would have happened. She was glad there weren't anymore time-turners at the ministry, or she'd be tempted to find out.
"Just think about it," said Jacob. "Once you hear my plan, you'll realize life is short. Better to get it all out there before it's too late."
"Gee thanks, that's really comforting."
They laughed, and Sarah forced herself to stay in the moment, rather than contemplate the last time they had laughed together. It was enough that they were laughing now.
Soon after, Barnaby returned.
"The thestrals are outside."
"Let's go then," said Jacob, standing up at once.
Sarah made sure to give Hagrid a hug. Her bones cracked in protest as he squeezed her tightly.
"Be careful, Sarah."
"You too, Hagrid."
"If you run into 'Arry out there, tell him I said, 'Hi.'"
"Will do. Goodbye, Grawp."
Grawp, was picking at something in between his toes and didn't acknowledge her. After giving Fang I final scratch on the ears, Sarah hurried outside to join the others.
Barnaby said most people couldn't see thestrals, but nobody present had any trouble climbing aboard their skeletal mounts. Jacob helped Merula onto the largest thestral, then climbed on behind her. Elena was uncomfortable riding alone, so she and Barnaby shared another, and Sarah got one to herself.
She couldn't fight the familiar glee that rose within her as her beast took flight. She clung as tightly as she dared as it flapped it's bat-like wings and dove off, into the night.