Sarah slept in the next morning, lying across from Diego on the two beds Penny had supplied for them. Her friend had been shocked, but pleased to see them, and didn't hesitate to offer them sanctuary.
Talbot wasn't there; he'd been called to the ministry on some emergency. They filled Penny in on what had happened while she made them some stew, then ate a couple bites a piece to appease her before she let them go to bed.
Sarah awoke at the knock on her door. "Sarah?" Penny stuck her head in. "There's an owl for you. Also, breakfast is ready whenever you are."
She closed the door. Beside her, Diego yawned and sat up, revealing his bare chest. He slept without his shirt on.
"Morning," he said. "I don't know how you look so beautiful in the mornings."
Sarah gave a small smile at the compliment, knowing she must have looked dreadful. It had been a fitful, nightmarish sleep.
She flung aside the covers and hurried to the kitchen. Penny was setting a jug of orange juice on the table with one hand, the other resting on her swollen belly. Only a month and it would be time for the baby to arrive. Sarah wished he or she would be greeting a brighter world than this one.
Sarah opened the letter Penny had left in front of her plate of bacon and eggs, scanning it hurriedly as Diego walked in, fully dressed.
"Barnaby's awake," she exclaimed. "Chiara says his mind seems to be fine!"
"Oh, thank goodness!" said Penny, pulling Sarah into a hug.
"I'm going to go see him," she said.
"Hold on, eat some breakfast first," said Penny. "You still look weak enough to fall over any second. Barnaby isn't going anywhere."
Sarah hesitated, but then obliged, happy to sink her teeth into Penny's delicious cooking. It was the first time she'd felt like eating since she'd received Liz's letter.
After breakfast and a shower, Diego accompanied Sarah back to St. Mungo's. Sarah noticed her friend fidget uncomfortably as they entered the hospital.
"What's up?" Sarah asked him.
"It's nothing," said Diego.
Sarah didn't press the matter. Her stomach was in knots as it was. What would Barnaby do when he saw her? She'd abandoned him, sent him away. If it wasn't for her, he might never have been taken by the Death Eaters. Would he even want to see her at all?
"It's just," Diego blurted, apparently forcing the words out while he still had the courage, "it's been a while since Hogwarts. I assumed when I met you in Diagon Alley that you and Barnaby had split up. But then, last night, you just seemed so...I guess what I'm asking is—"
If Diego finished the rest of the sentence, Sarah didn't hear it. They'd entered Barnaby's room. He was sitting up in bed, and he locked eyes with her as soon as she stepped foot in the room.
They froze for a moment, regarding one another, as if unsure how to react. Then, Barnaby's face broke into a grin of pure joy, and Sarah ran toward him.
She forgot herself for a moment and sprang into his arms, but he only let out a small wince of pain before wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her so tightly she thought she might burst.
They stayed like that for a long time, until Barnaby began rocking her back and forth and whispering, "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," and she realized she was crying again.
"I'm sorry," she said. She felt stupid. He was the one who'd been abandoned. He was the one who'd been kidnapped and tortured by his own parents, the one recovering in the hospital. Yet, here he was, comforting her.
"It's okay," he said again.
"No, it's not," she said in between sobs.
"It is." He pulled her away so they were looking at each other. He was still smiling as if he were the luckiest man in the world, not sitting in a hospital bed. "I promise."
She smiled back at him, wiping the tears with her robes.
"Chiara said you brought me here," he said. "Did you...rescue me from my parents?"
Sarah nodded. "Not just me. Diego and..." she looked around, realizing she'd forgotten Diego was there.
But he wasn't there. "Where's Diego?"
"Diego Caplan? Why would he be here?"
"He came here with me. He was just here."
"Was he? I guess I didn't notice," said Barnaby, smiling down at her. "All I could see was you."
"I met Diego in the reception area just a moment ago," said Chiara. Sarah quickly slid off Barnaby's bed and into a chair. "He wanted me to tell you that something important came up, but he'd find you later."
Sarah frowned, wondering what could have possibly come up. She didn't like the idea of Diego wandering off alone, especially with the Death Eaters after them both.
"How are you feeling?" Chiara asked Barnaby.
"Excellent," he said. He'd grabbed hold of Sarah's hand when she slid off the bed, and still held it tightly.
"Good," said Chiara, smiling at the pair of them.
"When will he be able to leave?" asked Sarah.
"Two, three days," said Chiara. "He's still having to take a lot of potions to recover from the attack."
Sarah nodded. "Thanks so much for everything, Chiara. You and the other healers."
"Of course," she said.
Chiara headed off to check in on her other patients, and a cold shiver went down Sarah's spine as Snape's voice sounded in her head.
Lee is still being hunted, as are you. Get him out of St. Mungo's and go into hiding. Stay put until Dumbledore orders otherwise.
Sarah shuddered and opened her eyes. Barnaby was staring at her.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, but we need to get out of here. Can you walk?"
"'Course," he said.
Still, he was wobbly as he stood from the bed, and Sarah could see him fighting not to cry out from the pain. She grabbed his robes from the hanger next to the bed and helped him get to the bathroom.
"What are you doing?" said Chiara fiercely, marching over to her. "I just told you, he needs to stay here."
It may have been unwise, but Sarah decided to trust her old friend.
"Sorry Chiara, but we have to leave. The people who attacked him are still looking for him and he's too exposed here."
"He'll be perfectly safe here," said Chiara, affronted.
Sarah stared hard at her. "Safe from Lord Voldemort?"
Chiara's face drained of what little color it had. "I should have known you two would be mixed up in all of this," she whispered. "He really is back, isn't he?"
"Yes. And I promise, all of us will be safer if you let us leave."
Chiara nodded. "Alright," she said. She pulled Sarah into a hug. "Good luck."
Sarah let Chiara leave the ward before she grabbed Barnaby and led him back down to the reception area and out of St. Mungo's to the crowded muggle street.
"Do you think you'll be able to apparate?" Sarah asked.
"Yes," he said. But the effort of walking had drained the color from his face. "Without puking? Probably not."
"We'll have to take the knight bus," said Sarah. "And hope nobody recognizes us."
"I don't see how that lessens my odds of puking, but okay," said Barnaby.
"Penny will be able to take care of you once we get to her place," said Sarah. "I just hope Diego's already there."
Keeping a firm grip on Barnaby, she held out her left arm to hail the knight bus.