Incendio

Chapter 36: Lavender Baby Lotion

*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.