Incendio

Samantha had only Apparated a few times, but she'd really gotten the hang of it. It made her quite sick the first time she tried it alone, but today as she sat inside a small cafe in Piddlehinton, she didn't feel like vomiting anymore. Kingsley had informed her that there had been a good amount of Death Eater activity in Piddlehinton and he had a contact he believed would be helpful.

The cafe was small and muggles sidled in and out, not paying much attention to the little teenager writing on a notepad. This contact had chosen this cafe in the middle of the daytime, which was an uncomfortable choice for Samantha who'd already been awake for seventeen hours. The contact was running slightly behind and Samantha who had already edited most of the piece she planned to return to Lee, was exhausted.

She looked up from her work to see a young man in line for coffee. She sort of recognized him, but couldn't put her finger on where she'd seen him. He turned to see her and gave a mimicking look, as if he was also trying to gauge if they knew each other. Before Samantha could give it more thought he wordlessly mouthed, "Fyre?"

It was obvious he knew her. He must be her contact.

She wordlessly replied with a nod.

She wondered if she should be concerned, she breathed a slight sigh of relief when he sat down. She just hadn't ever remembered seeing him outside of Hogwarts or out of a Quidditch uniform. He also looked a great deal older, it had been four years after all. She whispered, "Oliver Wood?"

He nodded, but smiled a little. "Unfortunately. Are you my contact?"

"Yeah." She nodded before waving her wand under the table and non verbally using Muffliato.

"I didn't realize you were the other voice on Potterwatch. I of course recognized, River, but Rebel I couldn't quite place. Then I remembered I hadn't heard your voice since you still sounded a bit like a squeaky mouse."

Samantha laughed, her voice hadn't dropped till the end of her third year. She'd sounded like she was filled with helium up until then. "Yeah, I never thought I'd be thankful for puberty, but here we are."

Oliver laughed a little but there was fear behind his eyes.

"Kingsley said you had some information for me." Samantha mentioned casually.

He nodded. "I thought it was best to meet here, the Death Eaters who frequent this area normally sleep during the day, and the Ministry official in charge of this town spends more time in the pub than the cafe."

Samantha chuckled a little before clicking her pen and writing notes, "Who's the Ministry Official?"

"Constantine Brenna." Oliver revealed and Samantha involuntarily rolled her eyes. She believed Constantine was her uncle, she wasn't actually sure.

"Do you know him?" Oliver asked having gauged her reaction.

"Not personally, but I know of him." Samantha grimaced. "Is he or his family much trouble?"

Oliver laughed leaning back into his chair, "Course he is. He was trouble before all of this began. Liked putting restrictions on Quidditch practices because he hated our team."

"Puddlemere United is your team correct?" Samantha put the pieces together, she assumed he was a Quidditch player for the team. Oliver nodded and Samantha continued, "Why did he hate the team?"

"Our captain is, well was, muggle born." Oliver took a deep breathe and Samantha watched his hands shake as he picked up his coffee.

"Was?" Samantha asked pulling a flask from her jumper's front pocket and offering it to Wood.

He accepted it and took a large drink.

"He and a bunch of Ministry officials raided our manager's home last week. Benjy Williams, our Captain and seeker, was hiding there and someone tipped Brenna off. They took Benjy to the Ministry for questioning. Then they took Philbert Deverill, our manager, away as well for hiding him."

"The whole team was interviewed and questioned about our blood status. They kept saying things like, 'Once we have this muggle born situation worked out, we hope to have you all up and playing again.' Like that's the reason the whole UK season was canceled." Oliver's shaking continued but he handed her the flask back.

"They want you all playing again?" Samantha asked tilting her head slightly.

Oliver nodded, "They insisted we begin practices again. Brenna and his wife now bring their kids to watch the practices. He acts like nothing is wrong, like they didn't just cart Benjy and Phil away to Askaban. They're apparently sending us replacements, but I'm terrified at who that might be."

Samantha's throat tightened as she watched Oliver's eyes dart around the room.

"It can't be known that your contact is me, of course." Oliver insisted hurriedly.

Samantha looked Oliver in the eyes, "Of course."

They finished their meeting and Samantha headed back to the warehouse. Fred was in the kitchen and greeted her first as she came in. He was using magic to stir something and was chopping something else. He had a "kiss the cook" apron on. Samantha was happy to arrive to something humorous after the twenty-four hours she'd had. Whatever he was making smelled of cumin and rosemary and it was enticing.

"Oh, good!" He exclaimed as she entered and put her cloak on a hook beside her. "Glad to have you back Sam."

"Good to be back." Samantha smiled and sat down at the table to remove her trainers. "Where's Lee and George."

"They went out for supplies. Lee's done nothing but tinker for hours, wouldn't sleep either. George thought it was best to get him out. I said I'd wait for you to return." Fred laughed and rolled his eyes. "I told Lee it was all a plot to steal his girl. Good payback for all of the years he put the moves on Angelina."

Samantha chuckled along, Lee had publicly commented on his deep affection for Angelina at every Quidditch game, mostly to enrage Fred. "Serves him right. I'd have to be his girl though for your plan to work."

"How dare you keep spoiling my vengeful plans Fyre!" Fred cried feigning anger.

"How is Angelina, hear from her much?" Samantha asked as plates began flying across the room and the table was set.

"I hear from her a little." Fred admitted looking down at the celery he was chopping, "Not much anymore. Said she wants to focus on her Quidditch Career."

Samantha took a deep gulp. "Apparently so does the Ministry."

"What?" Fred asked turning back to her.

Samantha handed him her draft of Wood's statement.

"They want Quidditch to return?" Fred looked confused as his eyes darted across the paper, "But they are weeding out the muggle-borns and replacing them with their own players?"

Samantha leaned on her elbows and closed her eyes for a minute. Her eyes felt hot and sunken in."It's ridiculous."

She heard the flip of paper. "You also found four different locations that the Ministry's snatchers are basing their operations out of."

"Yep. Supposed anyway. I got witness statements but I didn't get close enough to find out the hard way." Samantha admitted, now laying her head down.

"Hey, you'd better stay awake till Lee and George get back at least. They should be back before dinner is ready, so why don't you go grab a shower?" He asked with a motherly tone.

Samantha peeled her head off the table and put her head onto her palm. "Should I be calling you Mummy Fred now?"

Fred laughed before making his voice incredibly high pitched, "Yes, now off before I tell your father."

Samantha chuckled a little under her breath before heading to clean up. She had barely left her room before she was greeted by Lee outside her door. He made her jump so high she almost knocked Artie off of her shoulder.

"You are back!" He said excitedly, "I mean I knew you would be, you are brilliant."

Samantha chuckled uncomfortably and followed him down the stairs. "Yeah, I'm back. Does Fred have dinner ready?"

"Yeah, can you believe that wanker can cook?" Lee asked with a chuckle. "Must've picked it up from Mrs. Weasley, she's an amazing culinary artist."

They all sat down, almost like an odd little family.

"I'm thinking tomorrow evening for the next show." Lee insisted stuffing food into his mouth. "Kingsley is coming around then, he's got some stuff to report too. He wants to do a segment on how the muggle world is effected by everything."

"That's absolutely fantastic!" Samantha said before taking a large bite. She was very hungry and whatever it was Fred had put on her plate tasted amazing. "So's this!"

"It's Cheese and Mincemeat Pudding, mum's old recipe." Fred revealed with an impish smirk.

"You found a lot Sam." Lee said eating and looking over her notepad.

"Yeah, I'll type something better and more concise after I get some sleep." Samantha insisted while taking a big drink of Butterbeer. "I'm hoping to be back out again soon, couple days and I'll see what else I can find out."

"Great job Sam. Keep it up! Just don't come home with any really horrible news, like Umbridge is the new Minister of Magic or that any of our siblings have turned into Death Eaters." George joked and Samantha felt her throat close. Fred punched him square in the stomach making George choke slightly.

"Sorry Sam," George's normally jovial face switched to a more solemn one as he spoke, "I forgot."

Samantha crossed her arms and suddenly felt as if her appetite had left her. "It's ok." She lied. She knew it was meant to be in jest, but it did hurt. She worried the whole day before if someone she found would be her brother.

She asked a question across the table, "Wait, how did you know about my brother?" Samantha hadn't told anyone except Lee about her brother.She turned to Lee who's eyes were wide and confused.

He stared back at her but continued eating.

"Did you tell them about Jack?" Samantha asked feeling rather betrayed.

"No, we saw him when the Death Eaters raided the wedding." Fred admitted while pushing his half eaten plate away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Samantha asked wondering if she wanted the answer.

"I asked them not to tell you." Lee admitted hurriedly.

"Why?" Samantha asked in confusion.

"I didn't want you to hurt more than you already are."

"You are joking right?" Samantha asked leaning back. "He's my brother I deserve to know."

"Well, now you know." Lee said before continuing his dinner, as if nothing at all had happened.

Samantha gritted her teeth and noticed that Fred and George exchanged an awkward look between each other.

"Did he hurt anyone?" Samantha asked before chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"No." George answered, "He didn't participate in the interrogations, he was more like a guard."

"Did he have the dark mark?" Samantha asked almost in spite now.

"No." Fred answered this time. "But he had long sleeves on, so we couldn't tell."

"Is there any reason for me not to be told?" She asked. "Did he do something so horrible that it isn't necessary I know it was confirmed he was there?"

Both twins shook their heads, looking at her like she had grown horns.

Lee looked frustrated, he hadn't eaten anymore of his dinner.

A silence fell at the table and Samantha stood, taking her plate with another helping over to her typewriter to quickly finish her report.