Sarah paced back and forth in front of yet another campfire in another secluded wood during the oncoming night.
"Maybe we could get in touch with Charlie," she mused, as the others picked at their dinners--a few nuts, meats, and cheeses they'd swiped from Tom's storage.
"There's no point tracking down the dragon," said Jacob. "If Potter hasn't ditched it by now, he's been eaten."
"Okay, what if I try to send him a patronus-message? Tell him who we are, that we want to help."
"He'd be mad to listen to it. A strange patronus with a stranger's voice claiming to help him out of nowhere? It reeks of a trap."
Sarah grunted in frustration, pacing harder than ever.
"You should probably eat something," Barnaby told her, though he cast a longing glance from his empty plate to her full one.
Sarah gave the plate a dismissive wave, and Barnaby snatched up a piece of salami to roll up and pop in his mouth.
They'd left the Leaky Cauldron in a hurry, but not quick enough to miss the frantic whispers of its terrified, yet excited patrons.
"Potter's back? Really?"
"Robbed Gringotts?"
"On a dragon! I saw it."
"Heard he took something of You-Know-Who's."
"Does this mean Potter's going to fight him?"
"Shhh! Do you want to lose your head?"
The mass killing at Gringotts had not done quite enough to dampen the spirits that rose with Harry Potter and the dragon into the air. Potter may as well have flown a banner over the wizarding world: "Don't lose hope. I'm here. I'm fighting."
Sarah felt a surge in energy unlike she'd had in weeks--a call to action. No longer could she cower in the woods and flee at the flash of green light. She would follow Harry Potter, she would fight alongside him when the time came. But how to find him? What could she do?
"There's nothing we can do for now," said Jacob, as if he sensed her thoughts (which, he probably did).
He stood. "We best get some rest. We've had a....a difficult day."
He was right, of course. Elena had hardly spoken since they'd left the bank, often staring off into nothingness. Merula, on the other hand, muttered to herself continually, only pausing to glare venomously at anyone who asked her if she was alright. Barnaby had dropped Sarah's slice of gouda at the mention of today's events, his face greening slightly.
How could they sleep, after the horror they'd just witnessed? Sarah's muscles yearned for action, for justice. She needed to avenge the tragedy that had rained down from Voldemort's wand. The Gingotts goblins had always sort of creeped her out, but they didn't deserve to die. They were pointless casualties in a war between wizards. Sarah knew if she tried to sleep tonight, she'd only be plagued by visions of stampeding patrons and jets of green light, and the sounds of an evil, anguished yell over a hundred final screams.
Still, go to bed they did. Sarah lay awake in her bunk, feeling the anxious energy in the air that suggested her tent-mates were wide awake, too. She couldn't help but feel she was waiting for something. It was as if Harry Potter had turned over an hourglass, and she would be summoned once the final grain of sand fell.
Perhaps that was why she sprung out of bed without a second thought when the blinding, blue-white light shone through the tent flap. Or perhaps she was just stupid.
She barely registered the stern voices as she hurried across the floor, shaking away the arm that had clutched at her. She was even hit with a tripping jinx. She clattered to the floor, but sprang to her feet as if she was made of rubber and leaped forward to tear open the flap.
She'd expected the sliver doe, but instead she was met with a lynx, floating before her. Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke to them.
"War is striking Hogwarts. The Dark Lord is preparing an attack upon the castle. If you should wish to fight, apparate as swiftly as possible inside the Hog's Head Inn. We will be defending our home."
The patronus vanished. Sarah stood there staring at the place it had been, her heart thumping madly. She turned to find the others standing behind her.
"Well," she breathed. She'd been waiting for this moment, but now that it had actually come, her brain seemed to be malfunctioning. "Well...I guess we better go, then."
She strode passed them and into the tent, though it felt more like she was floating. She seemed to have little feeling in her legs.
She heard Jacob and Merula arguing as she conjured a privacy wall in front of her bed to change, but she paid them no mind. She almost donned the robes she'd been wearing earlier that day, but they smelled too much of sweat and fear. She needed to avoid fear for the next few minutes if she was going to do what she needed to do. If she couldn't summon courage, this strange numbness would do.
She dug in her bag instead for the robes Charlie had given her when she visited the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary--strong but light, and covered in dragon scales. She tried to dress quickly but but carefully, and when she stepped around the wall, pulling her hair back into a tight ponytail, she found Merula dressed for battle too, in her enchanted black Curse-Breaker's robes.
"Sarah, we can't go," said Jacob, abandoning his attempts at reasoning with Merula. "I've said it a thousand times, You-Know-Who can't be killed! We'd be walking straight into another massacre, like at Gringotts."
"So, it's just coincidence that Harry Potter, the Chosen One, broke into the same vault you were certain was holding a horcrux?" she asked.
"Of course not," said Jacob. "But we don't know if Potter's destroyed it yet, or if there are others out there. We've got to be sure. This isn't the right moment."
"It may not be the right moment, but its happening," she said, fighting the quiver that threatened to erupt in her voice. "Hogwarts is under attack. There'll be innocent kids and teachers there. The rest of the Order will be there. I'm going to do my part to help protect the school."
Jacob moved to block their exit to the tent. "If he can't be killed, everyone who stands against him at Hogwarts will be slaughtered. Then there will be no one--no one--left who knows how to stop him."
Sarah took a deep breath. The feeling was returning to her fingers, which wasn't good. She couldn't cope with feelings. She had to move now, before she took Jacob's advice and ran away.
"I can't let everyone I know die without trying to stop it, Jacob. I'm going. You don't have to come with me, but...I'd be happy if you did. I don't want to be split up anymore."
She met his eyes, saw the desperation in them. But, she was certain that he was wrong. This was the right moment, the only moment. She was as certain as she had been each time she'd crossed the threshold into a cursed vault. This was her task, to support Potter, to avenge Dumbledore, to protect her friends.
"I'm going," said Merula. "I'm leaving in the next two minutes, with or without the rest of you."
Sarah looked at Barnaby, who started at the recognition, but nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm going with you."
Elena nodded.
Jacob rubbed at his face furiously.
"Alright, then."
Sarah managed to smile at him, then led the others out of the tent, not bothering to pack it up. They all hooked arms, Barnaby on Sarah's right, Jacob on her left. She closed her eyes and thought of the Hog's Head with all her might--of the straw covered floors and the worn out chairs and the dirty glasses. There was a sensation of falling, of being sucked through a tiny tube, and her feet touched ground.
"For the love of all that is cloven-footed!" a familiar voice cried. "I thought I'd just sent up the last of them."
"Aberforth!" Sarah cried, opening her eyes to see the old barman. "We're here to--"
"Yes, Yes, I know, you're all very brave and very stupid. This way, hurry up!"
They followed him upstairs and into a sparsely furnished sitting room. Aberfoth swung a picture of a young girl off the wall above the fireplace mantle, revealing a dark tunnel.
"In you get!" said Aberfoth.
They all clambered onto the mantle and into the passage, Merula leading the charge.
"Good luck," they heard Aberforth call as the passage closed behind them.
They clambered up steps for what seemed to be miles, then finally found the exit, emerging in a room Sarah had never seen before. It was filled with hammocks and banners of all the houses, apart from Slytherin.
"Ginny!" said Sarah, spotting the girl who'd been pacing back and forth, only to jump at the sight of them. Sarah barely recognized her; she'd met Bill and Charlie's little sister before on visits to the burrow, but hadn't seen her in years. "What's happening? Where is everyone?"
"They're meeting in the Great Hall. McGonagall's giving instructions for when the fighting starts!"
Merula charged out of the room, and the others followed. It took them a second to orient themselves as they weren't quite sure where they were within the giant castle, but soon they charged down the corridor, looking for the stairs. They'd arrived at the fourth floor landing when they skidded to a halt along the stone floor.
A voice sounded. It echoed off the walls and seemed to penetrate into their very hearts. It was an evil, cold voice--a voice Sarah had only just heard hours before and hoped she'd never have to hear again.
"I know that you are preparing to fight."
Several screams reached them from the first floor. Elena covered her ears. Sarah clutched Barnaby's arm.
"Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers at Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.
"Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."
Silence fell. Jacob checked his watch.
"11:30."
Sarah glanced back at the others. They all seemed to take a moment to shake the voice out of their heads, then they nodded. Sarah turned and proceeded toward the stairs.
There was a great deal of movement by the time they reached the grand staircase. Several students and adults were running up. Sarah thought she saw Kingsley, but he didn't stop to talk, so she continued on, fighting through the throng to the Great Hall.
The Hall was packed. Sarah could see Filch directing the younger students toward the doors. "Alright, this way. If you're of age, you can stay, but don't let me catch any of you younger ones lingering behind."
As the students were escorted from the hall, Sarah noticed with a rush of pride that nearly all the students who had stayed to fight were Gryffindors. She saw with disappointment that not a single Slytherin remained, though she supposed she couldn't blame them. Many of them probably had relatives outside right now, surrounding the castle in the dark and awaiting their master's signal.
"Professor!" Sarah cried, spotting McGonagall at the teacher's podium, shouting directions at the hall's inhabitants. They sprinted toward her.
"Miss Spellman, good to have you all," said McGonagall. Her eyes widened at the sight of Jacob, but Sarah guessed she'd seen enough tonight to be little surprised by one of her old students coming back from the dead.
"What can we do?" Sarah asked.
"Lupin could use some more help maintaining our defenses outside. You'll find him out front."
"Right."
Sarah turned and hurried past the long tables, through the great oak doors, and outside.
"Woah," said Barnaby.
What looked like every statue, sculpture, and suit of armor in Hogwarts had come to life to surround the castle. Several beat clubs or swords in their hands and a few were emitting war cries. Every few feet, Lupin had placed a person who held their wand in the sky, casting protective enchantments. The magic was so thick in the air, Sarah could see it glisten above them, like they were in the world's largest snow globe.
"Perfect," said Lupin, spotting them. "We could use a few more people over by the training grounds. Don't stop casting until they've completely broken through."
Sarah didn't like the use of the word 'until,' but she and the others hurried to the training grounds, took their places amongst the other students, and began casting their protective enchantments.
"Don't see much point in this," Merula muttered. "Don't we want them to get through? Gonna be hard to kill them if they don't."
"We're buying time," said Jacob.
"For what?"
"Breathing? Mustering courage, maybe. Saying things you might not be able to say later." With a deep breath he turned to Sarah, his wand still firing spells as he spoke. "Thank you for bringing me. I know what I said about this not being the right moment--it might be true--but really, I was afraid." He swallowed. "I've done bad things, Sarah. I've ripped my soul in two. I'm no better than Voldemort, really."
Sarah tried to speak, but Jacob barreled on.
"When I used my horcrux to come back, I wasn't sure what happened to the two halves of my soul. Was one gone forever? Did they find each other and sew themselves together? Am I broken now, inherently evil because of my inherently evil act?"
"No, Jacob--"
"I told myself everything I did was justified. I traveled, stole, lied, killed. I felt like a shell, a hollow thing that used to be human but wasn't anymore, all in the name of bringing down people who were no worse than me. But then, I found you two."
He glanced back at Merula, who was watching him as if she were unsure whether to burst into tears or throw up.
"And little by little, I started to feel like a person again. I started to remember what I'm fighting for. I began to think, maybe, that I would be alright, that my soul had healed."
He looked forward, at the Death Eaters they could not see. "I'm afraid to die again. I'm afraid of what will happen to my soul this time. I don't know if I'm...whole enough, to-to move on. That's the real reason I didn't want to come, I guess."
Sarah took Jacob's hand. "I think you're whole. I think you're good. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."
He smiled at her. "I love you, Pip."
"I love you, too."
"And I love you, Merula."
"Tell me that after we've killed all these bleeding Death Eaters," she snapped, turning her attention back to the barrier with blushing cheeks.
********************
Selene stood beside her husband on the front lines of Lord Voldemort's army, watching Hogwarts disappear behind a thick fog of protective magic. This was no place of honor, but of punishment. They were the likeliest to die as soon as the barrier had been breached; she, Drystan, the Malfoys, and Aspasia, along with the rest of their master's most disappointing soldiers.
Selene did not care. She wasn't worried about herself. She had a destiny to fulfill. Her son was in the castle, she knew it. Fighting for the wrong side because the infuriating girl with the blonde hair had poisoned his mind while his parents trapped in Azkaban.
That had been the force that kept her alive while others rotted away in neighboring cells. She had to stay alive so that once she was free, she would be reunited with her son. How different he'd been when she'd first seen him again. She'd always imagined the child she'd left behind; a chubby boy with scabbed knees and defiantly messy hair. Now, he was tall, taller than his father, and even more handsome. She saw in him the same strength she saw in her husband, and the same fire she knew in herself.
She had been certain they'd been on the verge of cleaning his mind of the filth Dumbledore had poured into it for years, when the girl had returned and taken him. Selene would kill her for that. But no matter, Barnaby would see now. He would see that his parents were still looking out for him, that he had chosen the wrong side, and he would, at long last, accept his place in the family.
She held up the ring on her right hand. It was a pretty thing, though the small gems and flower shape weren't exactly to her taste. Still, she liked to pretend Barnaby had bought it for her as a Mother's Day gift. She spent hours a day fantasizing about the life she would have had if Harry Potter had not lived. The Lees would rule over muggles and wizards alike, second only to Lord Voldemort himself, and Selene's son would be the pride of the Pureblood family tree.
That dream would soon be realized. She still had time. She just had to get to her son first, before her husband. Drystan had given up. He took to heart his master's words, that branches of the family tree that weren't fruitful must be pruned away.
Drystan smiled at her, his wand twisting in his hand. He also had a special mission tonight--to kill their son.
I love you, she thought, smiling back. But, I'll kill you if I have to.
The entire army froze as the sound of the clock struck: midnight.
Selene heard the voice of her master, as close as if he were standing right behind her, and she shuddered.
"Begin."
As one, the Death Eaters raised their wands and cast every spell they knew to remove the barriers. Sparks flew and explosions sounded.
Selene Lee smiled.
I'm coming, Barnaby.
A/N: Voldemort's dialogue is a direct quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, just like his exchange with the goblin in the last chapter. Rowling's words.