Incendio

*Trigger Warning, This Chapter Contains Graphic Material.*

Samantha picked her feet up as she trampled through the muddy slush that should have been snow. She'd collected several pretty decent stories in the last few hours and she had two more to investigate before she had to head to the warehouse to rest. Not that she really wanted to go back to the warehouse, but sleep felt like a welcome friend.

Things with Lee had not become easier, they were still barely speaking to each other. Samantha had internally forgiven him for not telling her about Jack, but decided not to vocalize it because he hadn't actually apologized. He seemed to still be perpetually grumbling about one thing or the other. It reminded her of when the twins left school, his grumbling had eventually subsided then, so it should now as well.

What she had said to the twins was true, dating was the last thing on her mind. If dating wasn't the furthest thing from her mind, she wouldn't have broken up with Lee in the first place. If dating had been more prevalent in her decisions, even after she broke up with Lee, she was sure she would have actually told Neville how she felt. She had not joined this operation with any intention of dating anyone. She had joined with the intention of helping in the war effort. She had decided to prove this by spending the month working almost non-stop. It had become slightly more dangerous.

The Snatchers, who would go out and find undesirables and bring them to the Ministry, had become more ruthless in their methods. Samantha had witnessed a whole set of muggle-borns being caught and carted away by them. Terrible torturous curses were used and the muggle-borns were practically on the brink of death. Samantha had wanted to help them, save them even, but she was only one witch. She knew too much to get herself captured, it would put everyone she knew in danger.

She'd seen dementors terrorizing small muggle children on playgrounds. Their parents and the muggle media would attribute the children's fits to 'fainting spells from an excess of sugary sweets'. Samantha was able to help them best she could, sending her small Patronus to do it's best. It had been almost funny, watching the tiny hedgehog dart around the playground. The children noticed it and one baby had begun laughing. She was grateful the parents had been so worried for their children that they hadn't noticed it.

The lower level Death Eaters were constantly moving around the country. She'd found a pattern, the group she'd been following preferred remote country houses. They stayed for four days tops, then left. She was currently making her way back to one of these abandoned country houses. It was a small stone house with a chimney and a few unlit Christmas lights that were haphazardly strewn across the gutters.

She knew it was best not to just knock on the door in case there was still anyone camped out inside. She covered her steps with the Mufflito spell and kept her camouflage cloak on as she slowly approached the house. Her heart was beating out of her chest, as it always had when she came close to homes like this. She worried she would be caught, but whatever information she could find was vastly more important.

"Homenum revelio" She murmured through a crack in the window, and it did nothing. She was alone. She went to the door and unlocked it magically. She wiped her feet when she entered in case any of the muggles who actually lived there were coming back. Everything seemed rather clean and orderly, nothing out of place. It was cold, no heat emanated from the vents or fireplace. She could see her breathe circle above her head. An empty playpen sat in a corner with a few baby toys strewn about the floor.

This set of Death Eaters rarely left anything trashed so as to cover their tracks. It made it hard to find clues on where they were going next, but they weren't perfect.

She walked softly into one of the back rooms, it was a nursery with yellow wallpaper. The light from the window cast shadows across the little toys on the floor. She nearly stepped on a little Noah's ark with stuffed animals falling out.

She looked up to notice a baby was laying in the crib. She was confused, her spell must not have worked, it hadn't pointed out this baby to her. She walked closer, quietly so as to not waken it. She wondered if it was a baby doll and if it wasn't, she'd need to find the baby's parents. She'd wondered why the parents had left it in such a cold house. It could have been sleeping, but Samantha gasped when she noticed the baby's chest was not moving. She touched the baby's forehead lightly. It was like touching a freezer. The tears from her eyes flowed and she quickly wiped them away. They'd killed this little soul.

Samantha left the baby's room and walked down the hallway. Inside the last room, a couple lay in their bed. They were holding each other, also as if asleep. The woman had soft blonde curls that framed a freckled face, she couldn't have been much older than Samantha. The man's arm covered his face, but he looked young as well. They had pictures beside their bed of their baby in ruffled little outfits and looking rather unhappy.

The woman was clutching a Steven King novel to her chest, she must have fallen asleep with it in her arms.

She checked their pulses and realized they were in the same state as their baby. It felt wrong to leave the baby alone, without their mother. Samantha returned to the nursery and swaddled the little one in a small balloon covered blanket. She carried it softly into the parent's room. It still smelled like lavender baby lotion, similar to the kind her mother had used on her. The Death Eaters must have placed some kind of spell upon the corpses to keep them from decomposing. She slid the book out of the mother's arms and replaced it with her child.

They were so out of the way, did anyone know they were dead? She searched the house for a phone. She could at least alert the muggle authorities, so their families and friends could know they were gone. She quickly found a phone. She disguised her voice and called the authorities. She left before anyone could arrive and know it was her who called.

She was shaking as she Apparated to the warehouse. She couldn't bring herself to reach her second destination. Thankfully the warehouse was empty when she arrived, Lee wasn't in his room and the twins had gone home for the week. She wanted to be alone.

She sat at her typewriter and wrote her report. She felt sick that this poor family would now be nothing more than a statistic, a casualty of war, and not what they really were. They were real people who lived lives that lended themselves to possibility.

Samantha finished her article and took a shower. She could still smell the lavender baby lotion, she began trying to scrub her body as if it could take off a layer of skin.

Samantha sat down at the kitchen table with a bottle of White Rat Whiskey she'd bought off of Aberforth. She'd mean to use it as antiseptic, but in the moment it seemed better for the original use.

She began combing her wet hair and braiding it into two tailed braids. The water from her hair soaked through her Hogwarts pajamas. Her hands were shaking so she had to keep restarting.

Lee came through the door, followed by her old Professor Lupin.

"Hey Beautiful." Lee nodded to her with a smile, she could tell he was feigning friendliness because of Lupin.

She waved a little to them both before returning to her hair, she'd forgotten tonight was to be Lupin's first Potterwatch broadcast. Smiling felt wrong.

Lee's eyes looked first to her, then to the bottle. She tried to minimize her shaking. "Sam?"

"My report is on my desk." She revealed quietly before finishing her first drink. "You can look over it, decide what you want for the show."

Lee cocked his head but walked over to the desk.

"Rough day?" Professor Lupin asked as she poured her second drink. He sat down across from her.

The image of that baby and the parents kept creeping into her mind. She wondered what the baby's name had been. She wondered if it was a boy or a girl, she hadn't seen anything distinguishable in the baby's room. What kind of a world even was this? Was her job even worth it, if it wasn't preventing this kind of horrible tragedy? She wasn't sure how to explain it all.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked, taking the bottle and pouring himself a drink.

"Of course Professor."

"Call me Remus, I believe you've earned that."

It would feel off, she couldn't imagine calling any of her previous professors by their first name. She was sure McGonagall would have a field day if she called her Minerva. She nodded all the same.

"Are you sleeping?" Professor Lupin asked. "I know exhaustion when I see it."

"Want the honest answer?" Samantha asked with a slight huff. She'd always trusted Professor Lupin.

"Of course."

She threw her drink back before she could answer, "Only when I'm on the brink of pure exhaustion."

"Not exactly the epitome of health." He scolded and she poured herself one more drink. Professor Lupin put his palm above her glass as she put the cork back into the bottle. "Don't down anymore. The end of a bottle doesn't make you forget, no matter how numb you feel."

"Speaking from experience Professor?" She asked softly looking at the way the wrinkles on his forehead furrowed against the long scar down his face.

"Not my own, and I told you to call me Remus."

She sipped her drink, "Of course Remus."

"Samantha." Lee called her name before sitting down beside her, "When did this happen?"

"Bout two hours ago."

She turned to look at him, his eyes were bloodshot and puffy. "Are you alright to do the show?"

"Of course."

Lupin looked between the two of them and leaned on his hands. "What has happened?"

Samantha explained everything to him.

"How old was the baby?"

The baby's face again reared into her mind. "I don't know, maybe six months, it wasn't big. Tonks is safe right?"

Lupin nodded. As a soon to be father, Samantha imagined it must have been disturbing for him, "Perfectly safe, with her mother."

The show took a somber tone and Samantha tried not to cry as she warned everyone to watch out for their muggle neighbors. "If you know anyone in the remote countryside, now is the time to swap homes. Invite them to stay, take them on extended holidays to the oceans. Just keep your muggle friends and neighbors safe." Lee rubbed her back as she spoke. She barely made it through without collapse.

She wished Tonks love as Lee walked Remus out. She considered Remus' advice and agreed she might need some sleep. She made her way to the stairs.

"Sam, before you go get sleep, can I talk to you?" Lee stopped her

"Everything alright?" Samantha asked stopping on the stairs.

"You've been working a lot. More than a lot." He mentioned grabbing one of his arms over his body. "I haven't appreciated your work, or you, enough the last few months. You've been putting your life and sanity on the line while I've been an ass over petty incidentals. I stay here, I do what I can to keep us safe and keep the equipment going, but you are the one who does all of the leg work."

It was the closest thing to an apology that Samantha thought Lee could muster.

"I care about you, and the last thing I want is to lose you in my life." He admitted stepping onto the stairs.

"Lee, you can't let how you feel about me effect our work." Samantha shrugged. "We're too good of a team for that."

He whispered but closed his eyes. "We're a damn good team. I'm going to do my best not to ruin that. You've been up front with me about everything this whole time, I can't expect more from you. You've always had better priorities than I have."

Samantha nodded. "I think my priority right now is sleep."

"You need it." He agreed, "Get some sleep."