"You here, Liz?" Barnaby called. There was no answer. He checked his watch and assumed she might have been asleep.
He'd had to travel by train and then broom from Romania to England until he got close enough to apparate successfully. He threw his wand on the couch angrily, supposing this lack of skill was another reason Sarah had left him behind.
He'd left Charlie soon after receiving Liz's letter that she needed help fighting an outbreak of bundimun at their apartment. Charlie hadn't been sure it was a good idea at first, but he finally agreed that Barnaby could do with a trip back home to cheer him up.
He'd been in a fowl mood ever since the night Elena had kissed him. He was angry for being stuck away from all that he loved, and furious that he was too stupid to help fight the Dark Lord. It didn't help that he'd been cooped up at the sanctuary in order to avoid running into Elena again.
Now that he was back home, he felt a little better, but his anger was replaced with grief. The pictures of him and Sarah were still hanging in his apartment. It had been months since he'd seen her. He was glad the bundimun hadn't destroyed them yet.
Barnaby sniffed the air, noting curiously that the flat didn't bear the foul stench of decay usually associated with bundimun, creatures that crept under floorboards and rotted away the foundations of houses.
"Liz?" he called again.
The door to Liz's bedroom opened, and Liz stepped out, tears streaming from beneath her glasses.
"I'm so sorry," she said. "Barnaby, I'm so sorry."
He stepped toward her. "Liz what's--?"
"It has been a long time, Barnaby," said an eerily similar voice from behind him. It was a voice he hadn't heard in years, a voice he'd thought he'd never hear again. It felt like icy water was running down his spine, as he slowly turned to face the wizard who'd spoken.
The figure was tall, but thin and gaunt. His long hair, once the same shade of brown as Barnaby's, had tuned long, wispy and gray, the green eyes dull and sunken-in. Barnaby knew he had to be in his late forties, but he looked much older. In fact, he looked like he could keel over and die at any moment.
"Father?"
The man smiled, revealing teeth that were yellowing and rotten. Several of them were missing. "Yes boy, it is us," said Drystan. His eyes focused on something behind Barnaby, and he turned to see a woman had followed Liz out of her bedroom and stuck her wand in Liz's back.
His mother held no trace of the beauty he remembered.
Barnaby swallowed, his throat dry. "I thought you were in Azkaban."
"The Dark Lord has set us free," said Selene. "He's graciously allowed his loyal followers to work by his side again, to rid the world of muggle filth." Barnaby winced at the scratching sound of her voice. It sounded nothing like she remembered.
"We're extending the same courtesy to you," said Drystan. "Join us, son. Together, we can bring honor back to the Lee name."
"No," he said. "I swore to myself a long time ago that I would never become like you."
Drystan's smile fell. He regarded Barnaby with the cold disappointment he'd seen so many times before. It was as if he had transformed back into a scared child, tensing his body in preparation for the blow to the head, followed by the harsh words that told him he was stupid, weak, and unworthy.
"You will come with us," said Drystan, "or the girl dies."
He heard Liz gasp as Selene cackled and dug the wand deeper into her back.
"Okay, okay," said Barnaby. "Just don't hurt her. I'll go."
But his mother wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the mantlepiece above the fire. "Drystan," she rasped, "that photograph. Is that the girl?"
Drystan snatched up the photo, his eyes widening as he peered into it. "Yes," he said. "This is the reason we had to borrow the Malfoy's wands. The Dark Lord has offered a nice reward for her head."
He limped forward and shoved the photo in Barnaby's face. It was a picture of him and Sarah, taken at Penny and Talbott's wedding. Normally, the occupants were laughing and holding one another, but now the picture version of Sarah had ducked low, trying to hide out of the frame, while picture-Barnaby swung around in circles, wondering where she'd gone.
"Who is this girl? How do you know her?" Drystan demanded.
"Nobody," said Barnaby.
Liz winced as Selene pushed her forward so she could see the photograph, too.
"That's definitely her," she said. "Carrow was able to snap a photo when she attacked Stan. Tell us where she is!"
Barnaby glanced over to where his wand lay on the couch.
"I don't think so," said Drystan, pointing his own wand at Barnaby's face. "Tell us about that girl, before we splatter this one's brains all over the walls."
Barnaby looked at Liz. Tears were still streaming down her face as she shook with sobs.
"It's okay, Liz," he said. "Look at me." She did, and he stared deeply in her eyes, mouthing, GO.
He surged forward, catching his parents by surprise as he tackled his mother to the ground. Instantly, he heard the pop that told him Liz had disapparated. "Stupefy!" he heard his father yell. Then, the world went black.