Heart of Stone: HPHM Year 6

The Truth

It was after dinner by the time the three of them arrived back at the castle. Sarah heard Barnaby's stomach grumble as they walked up to the castle, and she grimaced at yet another inconvenience she'd put him through tonight.

They stopped in front of the grand staircase. Sarah and Alanza were headed up to Gryffindor tower, while Barnaby needed to go to the dungeons.

"Well," he said, "See you two tomorrow."

"Yeah," said Sarah. "Thanks again, B. Really."

He shrugged. "No problem. I'm glad everything worked out alright." But Sarah could see from his face that his Gran's words wounded him more deeply than he would admit.

He gave them a wave and continued his walk down the corridor. Sarah wanted to call after him, to let Alanza head up to bed and offer to take Barnaby to the kitchens for a snack. To make sure he was alright. But there was a matter she needed to attend to that couldn't wait.

Alanza seemed mostly recovered from her stunning experience, and was pulsing with energy once more.

"I can't believe we did that!" she said. "I've never done anything like that before. The only time I ever break rules is when I hold parties after curfew. And now look at me--a jewel thief!"

"We're not thieves," said Sarah sullenly. This was of course, false. The sapphire necklace in her pocket was stolen property. But she refused to accept Belladonna's accusations against them. The necklace may have ben hers, but she was a terrible person. Sarah preferred to think of the jewelry as a small payment for all the neglect and abuse she'd put her grandson through. If anyone was a criminal, a blood traitor, it was her.

"Come in here for a second," she said, stopping in the corridor to pull open a door to an unused classroom.

Alanza raised a curious eyebrow, but stepped inside. Sarah followed her and shut the door, then folded her arms.

"Why didn't you warn us about Mrs. Lee?"

Alanza frowned. "I did. Or, at least I tried. She stunned me, remember?"

"You were supposed to be watching the house. You were the lookout. She should've warned us before she found us in the garden."

Alanza lowered her head. "I know, I'm sorry. But I didn't see anything from the front. Barnaby told me to watch the parlor, but she must have been somewhere else. I only noticed something was up when I heard her in the garden."

"You didn't see any lights come on?"

"No, I swear!" Alanza frowned at her. "What, do you think I let her discover you?"

"All I know is it was your job to warn us, but she found us anyway."

Alanza shook her head. "Why would I do something like that?"

"I don't know," answered Sarah. "Maybe you're not as nice as you always pretend and wanted us to get caught for a laugh. Maybe you're a friend of R and you were hoping we'd get arrested or killed so I couldn't get into the vault."

Alanza chuckled. "Yeah, maybe." When Sarah only glared back, she added, "What, are you serious?"

Sarah shrugged. "Why did you suddenly take such an interest in what I'm doing with the vaults? You always wanted to stay out of it before. What, did somebody from R get in touch with you? What did they offer you--gold? Power? Or, maybe they just threatened you."

"Sarah, I swear, I just wanted to be helpful. I don't even really know what R is! You've been a good friend to me, and I wanted to repay the favor. It sounded fun."