Chapter 3:
"So, you're truly magic?" Sarah asked Hermione the moment they were alone. They had been taken to a lounge room with a variety of gilded settees and tables and two bedrooms off either side. Each bedroom had a large walk-in wardrobe and an en suite. Everything was gilded and garish and gave Hermione an instant headache. However, compared to the shit-stained throne room, it was pure luxury. They were currently inspecting what was to be Hermione's bedroom and Sarah was staring out the window over the Labyrinth.
Hermione had briefly looked out over the moonlit sprawling maze beneath them, watching with curiosity as the walls moved and changed much like the staircases at Hogwarts, but her interest waned the longer she realised any attempt at Apparition was thwarted.
Hermione sighed. And then opened her mouth to answer but sighed again for good measure. "Yes. You were right this entire time." She sat down heavily on the bed. "I couldn't tell you because of the Statute of Secrecy but given that we're not in Britain or Earth for that matter now, it really doesn't signify what I tell you."
Sarah plopped down next to her. "So I guess I better tell you how I know Jareth."
"Jareth?"
"The Goblin King."
"Oh, you're on a first-name basis?" Hermione asked archly.
"Not exactly." Sarah flopped over onto her back. "I wished my baby brother away when I was fourteen years old. I had this playbook called The Labyrinth and I wanted it so much to be real. And it turned out it was. Jareth, the Goblin King, turned up, took Toby away and gave me thirteen hours to solve the Labyrinth."
"Which you did?"
"Which I did. In ten hours as a matter of fact."
"Wow, congratulations," Hermione said dryly. "Quite the accomplishment for wishing away your sibling."
"I paid the price," Sarah said quietly. "I have been able to see magic without touching it or having it for myself since then."
Like a squib, Hermione thought sympathetically as she rattled off the entire story. Hermione couldn't hide her horror and shock at the tale. Especially the kidnapping, tight pants-wearing King that seemed to have tried to distract her from winning by wooing her.
"So how did you end up with magic? You're not a fae like him." Sarah nudged her with her knee as she sat down on her bed.
"No, I'm human; I'm a witch." Hermione swallowed. "My parents are Muggles which means they're non-magic folk.
"Huh!" Sarah suddenly bolted off the bed and raced back to the window. "Well, could you magic us out of here?"
Hermione stared at her wand. "I think he is right that his magic is stronger than mine. It feels strange here." Besides, she had already tried to Apparate from one side of the room to the other and nothing had happened.
She cast a levitation charm on a nearby vase. It rose easily enough but something about it felt strange; leaden like the feeling when you have just hopped off a plane and even though you know you're on solid ground, your brain still thinks you're bobbing up and down with the turbulence.
"Like my magic hasn't caught up with me yet," she explained, lowering the vase back to the table. "I don't trust my magic in this place."
"I see." Sarah frowned and turned back away from the window she'd been peering out of it. "I was disappointed that you didn't hex his bollocks off."
Hermione laughed. "But then how will you have lots of ridiculously attractive children one day?"
Sarah narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"It's clear he is attracted to you and it's clear that on some level, you are attracted to him too."
Sarah hissed like a territorial goose and the next thing she knew, her friend was tossing all the pillows and cushions at her head. Hermione batted them effortlessly away with her wand, sending the odd one straight back to Sarah.
"Oi!" Sarah covered her head as the barrage was turned on her. "That's cheating."
They got so engrossed in their pillow fight they didn't even hear the knock on the door until it was blasted open and a seething Severus Snape stood framed in the door.
Hermione stood sweaty and dishevelled on the bed with pillows circling her head as she held her wand aloft giving it an effect of a giant cushion lasso. Sarah was crouched on the floor with one of the blankets over her head for protection.
Hermione dropped her wand arm and the pillows cascaded into a ring around her on the bed.
"Yes?" Hermione asked curtly.
"Have you quite finished destroying His Majesty's guest wing?"
"No," Sarah chimed in, muffled by the blanket. "She has an unfair advantage and I don't take losing well."
"Quite." He sniffed and then all but ignored Sarah. "Ms Granger, a word."
"You're not my professor anymore," Hermione said, jutting out her chin. "I don't answer to you."
"Indeed," Snape replied with a haughty incline of his brow. "But I would like a word all the same." He gestured to the corridor behind him. Hermione sighed, whisking all the pillows back into order and then jumped off to follow him. She slumped against the wall and crossed her arms as she stared at him. He closed the door with a soft click.
"Ms Granger—"
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Hermione said through clenched teeth. "You die after serving two masters only to go on and serve another crooked, evil, manipulative—"
"He isn't a Dark Lord, Granger," Snape said, coolly.
His impassive tone did nothing to calm her down and only stoked the fire inside her quite viciously. "He kidnaps babies."
"Who are wished away by their caregivers."
"And if someone had wished you away as an infant—"
"I'd dare say, I would have been better off for it."
He had her there. She closed her mouth and folded her arms as she looked anywhere but at his face.
"Will you help us to go home?" she asked sullenly.
"I can't," he said, softly. "But why are you so desperate to return there anyway?" He swallowed thickly. "Did the Dark Lord win? Are you still battling for your lives?"
Hermione canted her head and unfolded her arms. "You don't know? Oh, of course, you don't know. You are meant to be dead. Honestly, Hermione."
Snape merely raised a brow as she chastised herself.
"He is dead," Hermione answered. "An hour or so after you…er…died."
"And Potter?"
"Survived."
The usual implacable mask slipped to reveal his surprise. "How?"
"How did he survive? He chose to," Hermione answered vaguely. "We all thought he was dead but he wasn't and then he went on to marry Ginny Weasley and have three children." She wouldn't be mentioning the second child's name. "Harry went to his death very bravely. He killed Voldemort."
"And the snake?"
"Neville Longbottom actually," Hermione said, raising a brow in challenge.
"Surprising," he said, blandly.
"Not really. He is braver and smarter than you ever gave him credit for."
"And my memories?" He scratched his cheek, drawing attention to how pale he had suddenly gone. It was no surprise he ignored Hermione's defence of Neville.
"Harry used them to clear your name," she explained, ignoring the pang of guilt. "You have been exonerated. I have a copy of your pardon in my flat."
"Why have you got a copy?" he asked, tilting his head.
"You have no next of kin," Hermione explained. "Kingsley gave us each something to look after in case the Ministry was ever taken again or if someone broke in to try and besmirch your name. I have a copy of your pardon, Harry has a copy of your Order of Merlin and Ron…Ronald has a copy of your Will. King has all your court documents."
"People are trying to besmirch my name?"
Hermione nodded. "Angry supporters of the Death Eaters, and sympathisers. And then a few who still want to believe you are…were…are a Death Eater who killed Dumbledore in cold blood."
"Ah." He rubbed his left arm and then sighed deeply. "I guess I couldn't win universal popularity even in my death."
"Your pointless death."
"It wasn't pointless," Snape replied sharply. "It made the Dark Lord believe he had control of the Elder Wand and saved both Potter and Draco from becoming his immediate targets." He scowled, then gave her a sharp look. "Did Draco survive?"
"Yep," Hermione answered. "His entire family did…well, except for his aunt."
"Bellatrix?" He gave a grim smile when she nodded. "Good. After what she did to—" He slammed his mouth shut and shook his head. "A goblin will come and fetch you both for dinner at 5 pm. You will find dresses in your wardrobes." With that, he spun on his heel and made to leave.
"Wait, I answered your questions," she said. "Why aren't you dead?"
Snape slowed to a stop but didn't face her. "Another time, Ms Granger. For now, just make sure you and your companion are ready for dinner."
Hermione and Sarah were not in any hurry to dress. They lazed about on Hermione's bed, plucking grapes off the platter that had been sent up and then seeing how far they could throw them. Sarah had rather more upper arm strength than Hermione so she was winning.
"If we eat anything, we stay here?" Hermione queried.
"I ate a peach and returned home but I am pretty sure it was responsible for making me fae-touched." Sarah flung a grape into the air and watched it hit the chandelier and drop dramatically to the floor. She didn't particularly fancy becoming fae-touched.
"Lady Sarah and Mistress Hermione, you are still not dressed," came a squeaky voice. Hermione and Sarah both stared at the goblin that was furiously picking up all the scattered grapes around Hermione's bedroom. Hermione paused at the mention of Sarah being a Lady while she was a mere Mistress.
"Yes, we are." Sarah gestured at her still rain-damp clothing. They perhaps should have at least found something casual but dry. Hermione could have used a drying charm, but it had quite slipped her mind.
"No, no, no," the goblin insisted, shoving the grapes into its pockets and then opening the wardrobe. "Pick an outfit and make it quick. The King waits for you."
Hermione nibbled her thumb as the goblin tried to push Sarah back to her room. She felt a tremor of guilt surge through her that the goblin was acting similarly to a house elf. Sarah gave her a helpless look but allowed herself to be pushed through to her room.
Hermione glanced at the rather ostentatious dresses and picked out a rather plain cream dress with long sleeves and matching slippers. She remembered her promise to herself to be polite and respectful because her pride was less important than her need to get home. She couldn't ensure Sarah took the same approach, but at the very least she was going to try and not be rude. Though that arrogant fae-prick probably deserved her scorn.
She went back through to the communal lounge to wait for Sarah.
"Are you paid?" she asked the goblin who was still gathering grapes and furiously shoving them in its pockets.
"Paid, Mistress?"
Merlin, but the elf didn't even know the concept of being paid. Hermione gritted her teeth, about to curse that son of a bitch seven ways to Sunday when it nodded.
"We are paid," they replied. "Paid in gold and accommodation and food." The goblin beamed. "We're not like the fairy kingdom where they keep slaves. Kingy pays us for our work."
Hermione nodded, relieved. "And do you have a union?"
Sarah emerged then wearing an eerily similar dress. "Are you inquiring about worker rights, Hermione?"
"Well…yes."
Sarah smiled. "Never change. Do they have rights? I didn't stop to ask them last time I ran through."
The goblin glanced at Sarah and bowed low. "Lady Sarah, you look stunning."
Hermione frowned at her lack of a similar reception.
"We look like twins," Sarah gushed, swishing her skirt side to side as she skipped up to Hermione. "Twins from the 1700s."
"I am so uncomfortable," Hermione moaned, missing her jeans as damp as they were. "Let's get this over with. Let's charm them so they give us a formal audience and we can return home."
"For a second there, I thought you were going to suggest we charm the pants off them," Sarah laughed. "No thanks!"
Hermione gave her friend a sceptical look before opening the door to the hallway where another goblin—this one dressed in silver—bowed low and gestured to them to follow. Hermione didn't pay much attention to her surroundings as she practised polite nothings in her head. She wouldn't go as far as charming the pants off, but whatever it takes, she would throw her all into getting home.
That promise to herself lasted all of a minute when they arrived at a gilded dining room and were met by Snape in all his austere glory.
"Please be seated, but when the King enters, you will rise for him."
Hermione felt her prized independence being stripped away from her and she gave into the temptation to glare at Snape, who merely glared mildly back at her.
Sarah rolled her eyes and sat heavily down in a seat as far away from the stately chair that almost looked like a throne. Hermione sat down more elegantly beside her staring at the numerous forks.
"How are we going to get away with not eating?" Hermione asked, her stomach rumbling as the scent of the food wafted over to them. She was thinking about the fish in pesto sauce Sarah had promised her. "I suppose I could use my wand to magic it away if we just pretend we are—"
"The food won't harm you, Ms Granger," Severus cut in, having silently moved behind her to sit in the opposite seat. "Nor will it keep you here."
"What about me?" Sarah asked, tracing the delicate etching on one of her numerous knives.
"What about you?" he asked coldly.
"Wow, you don't like me much, do you?" Sarah asked with a soft laugh.
"He doesn't like anyone," Hermione muttered for her friend's benefit. Except Lily; she was pretty sure he liked her, or the idea of her. Hermione strongly suspected he idealised her rather than truly having a deep connection with her. She believed he mistook her kindness and gregarious personality to mean more than it did. She didn't blame him; being lonely and treated cruelly would make any amount of kindness seem like a balm to the soul.
"Not necessarily true, Granger," Severus returned with a frown. "I am not as misanthropic as I led you to believe."
"Your attitude towards us since we got here begs to differ," Sarah said with a small scoffing sound. "You tried to throw us in a dungeon."
"I was just doing my job."
"And what exactly is your job?" Hermione asked, through narrowed eyes.
"He is my healer and brewer," came a voice from the main doorway. Hermione stiffened and then watched as Snape stood and urged her to do the same. She found herself rising to her feet slowly trying to keep the scowl from showing through. "And he is also my companion."
Hermione's eyebrows shot through the roof. This King Jareth oozed sexuality that could have taken any direction so it wasn't surprising that he bedded men and women, but Snape was a shock. She had never thought about his sexuality before of course, but he loved Lily—though romantic attraction did not denote sexual attraction. Of course, Hermione didn't judge Snape but she was still surprised and she felt a blush creep across her cheeks at the idea that he ever had sex.
"Not like that," Snape said, reading her expression for what it was.
"No, alas, he prefers the company of women," the Goblin King sat down on his throne and it was then she realised Sarah was still sitting down with her arms crossed. Fuck.
As she sat down, following Snape's lead she elbowed her friend discreetly. Sarah merely shrugged. She glanced up to see the King studying her as he waved his hand over the table, magically lifting all the lids from the dishes to reveal the delicious-looking food on the inside.
"Usually, the goblins will serve us, but today I will allow you to select your own preferences," he said, with what Hermione imagined was benevolence.
Hermione didn't pay much attention to the food, selecting some meat and vegetables without really ascertaining what she was about to eat.
Sarah was still crossing her arms, but she cleared her throat and addressed Hermione. "So remember how we watched the video clip for Annie Lennox's Walking on Broken Glass last week and you hadn't decided whether you preferred John Malkovich or Hugh Laurie's characters? Have you decided yet?"
Hermione paused what she was doing and stared at her friend slightly askance. What was she doing? The air of casualness made Hermione think Sarah was trying to appear blasé about the whole thing. Perhaps even distract herself from the situation they were in. But an Annie Lennox video? She surmised that nothing would exclude an immortal being more than trivial mortal pop culture.
Hermione poured gravy over her meat, frowning as the brown liquid covered her plate. "I think I am going to have to disagree with Annie's choice," Hermione replied, placing the gravy boat back down on the table. "Hugh was a bit of a dolt and John clearly oozed more intelligence and elegance, but at least Hugh was loyal, unlike John. And I think, though I admire intelligence, it shouldn't come at the sacrifice of faithfulness."
"But we know nothing of John's intelligence aside from how he presented himself," Sarah objected. "In contrast to Hugh who was behaving rather foolishly, John did seem intelligent, but how intelligent could have really been for leaving Annie in the first place?"
Hermione had been living as a Muggle in Sarah's presence, so these debates had been par for the course. She found them amusing but maybe not appropriate for the table of a king, but maybe that was her intention. The two men were quietly eating their dinner while watching them.
"Should Heathcliff have let Cathy into his window or not?" Hermione parried.
"Well, she was cold."
Hermione snorted. "And she'd come home."
"No, fuck them both," Sarah said, twirling an empty fork in the air. "An unhealthy relationship."
"And Annie and John weren't?" Hermione asked, finding her groove. "Annie was possessive and angry. You could see it in her expressions."
"Fair," Sarah agreed, placing her fork down and picking up the next one to twirl around without a single morsel of food. Hermione had found that though she had given herself food, she was yet to touch it. Sarah clicked her tongue. "Is there life on Mars?"
Hermione tutted. "Too simplistic. It is accurate that lawmen beat up the wrong guys, so I would suggest the rest of the song would be correct based on that one premise, so yes, there is life on Mars."
"Really? Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow?" Snape asked, engaging with a rather sceptical look on his face. Sarah's mouth drew into a thin line for having their game interrupted.
"A cash cow, sure." Hermione shrugged one shoulder. "That was always my interpretation of that line."
"An interesting discussion," the King finally said. "One that I am sure would be more polite to have another time."
"Sorry," Sarah said with fake sincerity. "Did we stop being all about you?"
"I wouldn't try my patience, Lady Sarah."
"I would send us home, Goblin King," Sarah said in clipped tones.
Hermione noticed Snape briefly close his eyes before continuing with his meal.
"I will happily add an extra meal every time you displease me, to prove you are ready for an audience with me, Lady Sarah." The King smirked at her before taking a slow bite from his fork.
Hermione groaned and in her distraction found herself prodding food onto the end of her fork and moving it towards her mouth.
"What are you doing?" Sarah hissed as she slapped the offending utensil out of her hand. It went skittering across the floor and Hermione kept her eyes on it as she felt the tension rise in the room.
"You prefer to starve your friend?" the King asked ponderously. "I imagined that was the route you were planning on taking, but dragging your friend to her death too, seems a trifle cruel even for you, Sarah."
Hermione tore her eyes away from her fork and raised them to Snape who was watching her with interest, instead of Sarah whom she assumed he'd be focussed on. She could feel Sarah simmering with rage beside her and wondered if she would erupt.
"I am not sending her to her death," Sarah said with forced calm. "I am saving her from a life of being fae-touched."
"Ms Granger is magic," Snape explained quietly. "It won't affect her in the way it would any other non-magical mortal."
Sarah raised a brow at his explanation. "Oh, but it will affect me so I still need to be vigilant."
"You are already fae-touched, my dear," the King said in a patronising tone. "You ate my peach if you recall."
"I–we do not want to stay here so we will not be eating your food."
"I am certain Severus has already explained to you that the food would not keep you here.' He produced a crystal and twirled it around his wrist before handing it to Hermione in the form of a new fork. "Here you go, my dear."
Hermione took it graciously with a nod of thanks before glancing once more at Snape. He might have been presumed dead all these years, but he was her touchstone in this crazy place.
"I swear on Lily's grave, you are safe, Ms Granger," Snape said so softly she almost didn't hear him. She glanced at her food and tentatively placed a forkful into her mouth. It tasted delicious but not in any way addictive or entrapment.
"Hermione!" Sarah hissed.
"Snape is many things, Sarah, but he wouldn't lie on the memory of Lily," Hermione mumbled, before catching Snape's eye. His eyes shone with something ineffable before disappearing. He nodded and returned to his own meal.
"Who the fuck is Lily?" Sarah asked, tapping her fork against the table.
"Harry's mum," Hermione replied in a whisper.
"So is this man, Harry's da—"
"No," Snape and Hermione both answered at the same time.
Sarah snorted. "Well, excuse me," she said dryly. "They both have dark hair and a rather brooding air about them."
"Harry isn't brooding," Hermione replied, offended on her best friend's behalf.
"He is."
"He isn't," Hermione insisted. "He has had a troubled past, but he isn't brooding."
"He is," Sarah insisted again. "Y—"
"Is brooding something that appeals to you, Lady Sarah?" the King asked, suddenly.
Sarah ignored him. "Hermione, how could you betray me minutes after declaring you value loyalty?"
"Because I want to go home," Hermione replied, stabbing a parsnip. "And throwing my weight around like a disgruntled toddler or a chagrined teenager isn't going to help us achieve that."
"Listen to your friend, Sarah," the King said.
Sarah exhaled sharply. "You have no power over me!"
The King's eyes widened and then suddenly he keeled over sideways in his chair, landing heavily on the ground, twitching. Sarah gasped and rushed over to his side. Hermione glanced at Snape who continued to eat as if his master hadn't just collapsed. She was about to warn Sarah when suddenly the King was chuckling and Sarah was squealing. The King had pulled Sarah down to the ground with him and then rolled over her. She was wildly thrashing under him as he gently brushed her hair behind her ears.
"Hush, Sarah," he crooned. "Precious thing, why do you fight me so?"
"Because you are a b—"
Sarah's words were cut off as he placed his finger over her lips. "I don't believe you know me well enough to be aware of my parentage so perhaps keep that word to yourself until you know better."
"No, I don't know you well enough," Sarah said, exasperated and a bit breathless. "I don't know you at all. And what little I do know, well, it isn't flattering."
The King sighed and rolled off her. "Sarah, would it hurt to get to know me?"
"Why is it necessary? I will go home and never see you again."
Despite her cold words, the King helped her up to her feet. "You won, Sarah. You are the reigning Champion of the Labyrinth. Whether you like it or not, you are forever tied to this place."
"Forever?" Sarah asked aghast.
"Unfortunately, yes." He seemed to completely forget Hermione and Snape were still sitting in the room eating their dinner as he traced Sarah's lips with his thumb. "It is not what I wished for you—being tied to this place as I am—but the price of victory is steep. You may go back to your own world. You may thrive out there for many decades, but eventually, the Labyrinth is going to claim you. It claims everyone it touches in one way or another."
Hermione glanced at Severus who stared passively back at her. Had he been claimed somehow? Was she just as trapped now as Sarah?
"Toby?" Sarah asked, her voice wobbling.
"Yes," was all he said. Hermione had never heard Sarah cry but she turned to face her at this revelation to see her drop to her knees, sobbing. The King had a fleeting look of worry on his face before he knelt before her.
"I want to see him," Sarah said. "I want to see Toby."
"Of course you do," the King said, placing a hand tenderly on her cheek. "And you will."
"Now," Sarah ordered.
"If I knew you were paying us a visit, then I would have brought him straight to you," the King replied. At Sarah's angry and concerned expression, Jareth shook his head. "He's safe and happy but currently residing in a castle in the outer ring of my kingdom. I have sent word to have him brought here."
Sarah clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sob that rose up. Hermione could see her trembling.
"Are we dead?" Hermione asked Snape as Sarah started rocking.
"No," he said without looking up from his plate. "Nor is her brother. The Labyrinth claimed him moments before his death so he couldn't return."
Hermione's mouth went dry. "And we were taken moments from our deaths too?"
Severus looked up and canted his head. "No. Something else brought you here this time."
"What?"
He didn't reply, turning his attention back to his meal. Hermione returned to watching Sarah wiping her nose on the back of her hand.
"It is not all that bad," the King said, in a tone that didn't convince anyone. "If you agree to be my Queen then you will be able to utilise the magic inside you."
Sarah ignored this. "Why me? Why did that blasted book come to me all those years ago?"
The King was carding his gloved fingers through her hair and sighing gently. "The Labyrinth knows who it wants to be its guardian."
"What about Hermione? Why is she being dragged into this?"
The King glanced at Snape and then turned back to Sarah. "I can only surmise."
"Surmise away then, because my friend doesn't deserve this fate and Toby certainly doesn't."
"My best guess is that your friend knew Severus in his former life," he explained. "Any more than that, I do not know. And as for Toby, you can not imagine that I have treated him cruelly. He would be my brother-in-law."
Sarah made a choking sound in the back of her throat. "I am not marrying you."
"Not this very second as I do not particularly want a soggy wife, but—"
"Send us home, Jareth."
Snape inhaled sharply at the use of the King's name but remained silent. Hermione concentrated on her food while listening to every single word that was being said.
"I will offer you a formal hearing, Precious," the King replied, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I can do no more."
"Why not?" she asked angrily. "Aren't you the King?"
"Yes—of the goblins, but not the entire Underground." He sighed dramatically as he pulled her to her feet. "That honour goes to my fathers."
"Fathers?" Sarah asked, sitting back in her chair. "Plural?"
He nodded. "I have two fathers."
"And your mother?"
"One of my fathers birthed me if that is your question."
"I see." Sarah spooned some mashed potato onto her plate and reluctantly nibbled at it. "And they're both the King of the Underground?"
"One of them in birthright and one of them in name only." The King returned to his chair. "And they make the rules overseeing things like Hearings. I'd happily break the rules for you, but I do not want to draw my fathers' attention to you."
The King then waxed lyrical about the political aspects that his fathers' had control over compared to his own power. As dinner wound up, dessert was brought out—some kind of trifle dish. After dinner, they were invited to join the two men in after-dinner drinks, but they both declined, claiming they needed sleep. Though it had been a lot earlier in the day when they had left London, they were both overwhelmed by everything. Especially Sarah who was about to see her dead brother alive.
"Jetlag," Sarah called it, but Hermione knew that she wanted to process everything away from the watchful eyes of the Goblin King. He had promised they would have their hearing the next day and hopefully, with good weather, Toby would arrive in the afternoon.
Back in their rooms, Sarah resumed her post at the window, looking over the Labyrinth. Despite it being night, it was still largely visible in the moonlight.
Hermione rummaged around in the dresser in her room until she found something suitable to sleep in.
"Do you feel funny after eating the food?" Sarah asked when Hermione popped her out into the lounge to announce her intention to bathe.
"No."
"Nothing feels like it is dancing?"
"No."
"That's good."
"And you?"
Sarah sighed and tucked her knees under her chin. "I feel more complete and the desire to wander is less. Ever since my family died I have felt lost. I feel oddly found. And Toby—" Sarah's breath hitched. "He didn't deserve to be taken so young but he's not dead, Hermione. I get to see him again."
Hermione smiled at her friend. She was…happy that Sarah was going to see her brother again, but worry niggled at the back of her mind on how that would impact her desire to leave.
"You don't think your King is using Toby as a means to keep you here?" Hermione asked warily. "It could be very easy to use him as leverage against you."
Sarah sighed and gazed out the window once again. "He could be. But my need to see my brother is stronger than my want to continue to spite Jareth."
Hermione gave a noncommittal grunt and made to move back to her bedroom to utilise the en suite.
"Your dark friend is very powerful," Sarah said as Hermione turned.
"He isn't my friend so much as just someone from my world," Hermione replied, without facing Sarah. "But yes, he is incredibly powerful. How do you know?"
"I can feel his magic as I have always been able to feel yours," she said simply. "Yours is just as strong but his is somewhat darker."
Hermione nodded. "That sounds about right."
"How many years ago did you say he died as he looks very young to be your teacher?"
"1998. He hasn't aged a day since then."
"So I expect Toby will still appear as a child to me," Sarah said, with sorrow in her voice. She rallied briefly. "It must seem strange to be the same age as your teacher."
Hermione shrugged. "It's not like I will be here long enough to be impacted by Snape."
"Hmm."
"Try and get some sleep, Sarah. We have that hearing tomorrow.".
Sarah waved her off and Hermione knew her mind was with her brother instead.