Chapter Fifteen

Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the wait, as usual. This isn't as edited as I'd have liked, but I did promise (over on Wattpad actually) that I'd update on Sunday. And here it is! Speaking of Wattpad, I update there before , and keep people posted on when to expect updates. So if you'd like to know, head on over there. My username is Esmeralda Snarkle. :) Enjoy xx

Leo was looking at her with an angry expression on his face. Sarah shrank back.

"I just wanted to talk to Lord Slytherin," she mumbled. There was a short pause, before she asked. "Did you follow me?"

"No!" Leo said. "I wanted to speak to my uncle. Eavesdropping is not honourable Sarah! Private conversations are private. You're not to breathe a word of what you heard."

"They want us in return for Matteus," she said.

"What did I just tell you?" Leo said, his voice rising, before he realized where he was and lowered it slightly. "You're not to tell anyone what you just heard. It's a matter of school security and my uncle and the others are perfectly equipped to deal with it. Do you understand?" He took Sarah's elbows and shook her gently.

Sarah nodded at him, shrugging off his hands, and trying to get past him.

"What did you want Lord Slytherin for?" he asked, blocking her.

"Nothing, it's not important now," she said, managing to edge past him. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked stiffly away. As soon as she turned the corner, she increased her pace.

It was time to tell Harry the truth. This development wouldn't be kept from them for long, she was sure. It was a miracle Harry hadn't found out from the others, and she certainly didn't want it to happen now, before she had the chance to tell him.

To her relief, as soon as the Fat Lady swung open to reveal the Gryffindor common room, she could see Harry sitting by the fire in conversation with Alistor.

"Can I borrow you for a moment?" she asked, tugging his sleeve.

"Can it wait a minute Sar, I was just telling…" his voice trailed away as he saw her serious expression. "Okay, yeah. You don't mind?" he asked Alistor.

The younger boy shook his head, eyeing them curiously.

"Thanks," Sarah said, shooting him a quick grimace of a smile as she and Harry made their way out of the common room

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, as soon as they were alone in the hallway.

Sarah took a deep breath…and told him. She watched the minute, fast changing expressions on his face with half interest, half apprehension.

"What do you mean you can't come back?" he asked in a low voice.

"The spell won't let me," Sarah said.

Harry opened, then closed his mouth. He ran a hand roughly through his hair. "Have you known since the beginning?" he asked.

Sarah nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he said. "Bloody hell!" He was shouting now, and Sarah tried to shush him, alarmed. "Did you think you would just send me back, let me find out for myself?"

"No! I was going to tell you as soon as I got here, but then you were so happy, and everything was going so well," Sarah tried to explain weakly. "And then…"

"And what?" he demanded.

"The Valkyries have Matteus. They want us in return for him," Sarah said.

"What have we got to do with them?" Harry asked, his tone incredulous, before going back to angry. "Is that why you're telling me this now, so I don't find out from the founders?"

Sarah flushed. "Yes-I just wanted you to hear it from me, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Harry snorted, brushing past her.

"Where are you going?" Sarah asked.

"To speak to Slytherin," Harry said shortly.

"You can't do that!" Sarah cried. She grabbed his arm. "Please, don't."

He shook her off. "Don't you tell me what to do, go back to your secrets."

Sarah watched him go with tears in her eyes. Leo was going to kill her. They were probably all going to kill her.

It did not take long for him to find her. She had gone back to the common room and sat down in Harry's vacated seat across from Alistor. The latter had opened his mouth to inquire after Harry, and then, upon seeing Sarah's expression, seemed to have thought the better of it.

She would have much preferred to go back to her room and speak with Methuselya. Sarah felt like she was going to burst from the anxiety, sadness and fear. But he now spent all his time with Slytherin, and wandering about the grounds, slithering into their room late at night and sleeping well after Sarah had to be up.

Sarah watched impassively as her rook decimated Alistor's queen. She tensed every time the portrait door swung open. It was an hour though, before Leo climbed through it.

She didn't dare look in his direction as she felt his approach but could not ignore it any longer when he gripped her shoulder and said through gritted teeth: "We need to talk."

Alistor was once again left to his own devices, but given the anger on Leo's face, he was glad not to be involved at all.

"How dare you? After I explicitly told you not to speak a word of that conversation to anyone?" they were barely outside before Leo began his tirade. "How can one person be so – so – so stupid!"

Sarah flinched. "It was only Harry. I had to tell him before he found out for himself."

"Found-? How in Merlin's name would he find out!"

"Not about the Valkyries, about me. About not being able to leave." She was crying again, and tried to swat away the tears with an angry wipe. "But the Valkryrie thing just slipped out – and I don't know." She sighed miserably.

"Let's take a walk," Leo suggested gently. He offered her his arm, and she stared at it, before tentatively grasping it with both of hers. "There is much I have to tell you."

"What do you mean?" Sarah felt herself being pulled closer to him, comforted by the warmth emanating from his body.

"Harry barged in to talk to Slytherin. They, of course, had no idea how he knew, and well, I told my uncle it was me." Leo looked a little sheepish as Sarah gaped at him.

"Why would you do that for me?" she asked softly.

He shrugged. "You're my protégé, and my responsibility." He sighed. "I am making a mess of it all though, aren't I?"

"That's me, not you," Sarah said firmly, squeezing his arm. "I make a mess wherever I go."

"You can help me fix it," Leo said. "All I ask of you is your loyalty."

Sarah stopped walking immediately as suspicion filled her. His words rung familiar to those uttered by the Dark Lord and his followers. She realized now that Leo was much shrewder and cunning than he appeared.

"What do you mean?" she asked sharply. "Be honest with me, I'm tired of playing games."

Leo contemplated this for a moment. "I would, but you've disobeyed me once already when I asked for secrecy. How can I trust you to keep this to yourself?"

"I can't undo my actions, but this time, I do promise you I will. I can't say yes without knowing what I'm getting into."

"Your word isn't good enough Sarah," Leo said. "I'm not fool enough to trust you again just yet. Not unless you make the Unbreakable Vow."

"What?" she hissed. "Are you trying to rope me into this?"

"No, I only ask that you vow to keep the information I give you to yourself, nothing else," Leo said so earnestly Sarah felt herself relaxing slightly.

She mulled it over for a minute, before nodding. Leo shot her a smile.

"Good, we can do it now, if that's alright with you," he said, steering her towards an emptier part of the castle, which she recognized as the Charms corridor from her time.

Leo pulled out his wand and opened the third door down, and, when they entered the dark room, pulled back the curtains with a flick. The late afternoon sun shone through as Sarah took in her surroundings.

She had been expecting a classroom, but this was obviously someone's sleeping quarters. It was tidy, or as tidy as anyone could make it using magic. The maroon drapes around the bed and the small red and gold lion embossed upon the scarlet cloak that was tossed carelessly across the chair confirmed Sarah's belief that this was Leo's room.

"I hope it's not too messy," Leo said, watching her. "I usually don't bring ladies in here."

"Again, I'm not a lady," she said. "And it's tidier than I expected for a boy, well tidier than Harry's anyway."

"Ah," Leo said, fiddling about to get the window open.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"You and Harry. He's taken you into his bed, I assume?" Leo asked nonchalantly.

Sarah flushed deeply. "No, he's just a friend."

Leo, perhaps sensing his question had been too personal, changed the subject with a small shrug. "Come, let's begin," he said, shoving aside the parchment scattered on the round wooden table in the centre of the room.

Sarah sat down primly on the edge of the chair he drew for her, and had to quickly catch herself as he unexpectedly pushed the chair closer to the table. Leo sat down quickly next to her, grasped her hand, and raised his wand, before pausing. His eyes questioned her again, and it was only when she nodded that Leo waved the wand and spoke again.

"Do you, Sarah Selwyn, swear to keep the contents of this conversation to yourself, and not reveal it in any form, spoken or written, by which another party could gain access to this information?"

"Yes," Sarah said, watching in fascination as a streak of white light intertwined their hands.

"You will not tell Harry?"

"No."

"Lord Slytherin?"

"No."

"Or Lord Gryffindor?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow. What information would Leo be keeping from his uncle?

"No," she said finally. She squinted as the light brightened blindingly, before fading.

Sarah and Leo were left blinking, with only the thin, intricate lines on their hands showing their agreement.