The Scars We Leave Behind

Chapter 3: The Dragon Ranch

Samantha did not enjoy her flight inside the winged carriages. You couldn't Apparate or take a Portkey all the way to America, it was too risky. You could accidentally end up in the ocean. Instead, she was taking a very popular and fast mode of travel. Large winged horses attached to a flying carriage. It could hold up to ten people, so it was more private than a boat, and she preferred that. They flew faster than most muggle airplanes and they had very few fatalities. However, storms often frightened the horses and although it was perfectly safe, Samantha had begun to feel queasy from the turbulence. Her conversation with Harry weighed on her mind, Kingsley had really gone out of his way to make this happen for her. Her regrets towards taking the position as Editor-in-Chief weren't as great, but she decided to save celebrations for when she actually found her brother.

When the seventeen hour flight finally ended, she was never happier to be able to Apparate again. She Apparated half a mile outside the Dragon Rehabilitation Ranch of America. It was between a large canyon made of red clay. It was certainly brighter than anything at home.

Samantha walked across the hot path and held her hat to her head as the wind whipped around her. She could hear the roar of dragons and wondered how many silencing charms it took to be able to keep things quiet. There were large domed cages, all the size and length of Quidditch fields around a little wooden shed in the center.

Samantha held tight to her bag, she hadn't forgotten her fear of dragons. She took deep breaths. It wasn't really the dragons she really feared anymore, it was what came from the depth of their bellies. The expansive scars on her neck and back almost twinged with a phantom pain. She remembered being set on fire while defending Hogwarts, she remembered the smell of her flesh and the crackle as her skin boiled.

She noticed a few dragons were trying to blow fire, but the fire never escaped the cages. The fire was extinguished before it could reach her. Her hands twitched slightly, but the onyx was doing a good job. She didn't begin her intense shakes.

She was almost to the little cabin, where she assumed she needed to go. A tiny little black dragon flew up to her. She recognized the little dragon as it circled her head. She laughed as it tried to blow fire, but it barely emitted a puff. It nudged it's little face against her cheek.

"Hey there, Duke!" She said to the little dragon as it sat on her shoulder. He was possibly the only dragon she would ever like. She'd met him when she was still a fourth year writing articles during the Triwizard Tournament. 

Sitting outside on a bench by the cabin was someone she remembered fairly well. He was still wearing the same brown fedora as when she had last seen him in at the battle of Hogwarts. He had a red beard and scars that resembled her back, on his arms. His beautiful blue eyes met her's and she had to remind herself he read minds. She found him attractive for sure, but she didn't want him to know that.

"Glad to know you still think my eyes are beautiful. I heard you from a mile away." He said leaning back on his bench and crossing his legs. She could feel little Duke's feet dance upon her shoulder.

Samantha crossed her arms and practically shouted through her mind for him to get out.

"Ow." He grimaced. "Point taken Fyre. I expected Kingsley would send Aurors, not the Editor-In-Chief of the Daily Prophet."

"Sorry to disappoint." She crossed her arms.

"I should have expected you'd come instead. Your damned idiot brother was with them after all." He rolled his eyes and bit his mouth.

"I'll be out of your hair, I just want to know what you know." She said before grabbing her hat to make sure it didn't fly away as the wind blew.

"Oh, I get fourteen dragon eggs stolen and my dragon mothers are traumatized by that damned bitch, but your runaway idiot brother gets top priority?" He asked before standing up and beginning to walk away from her into her shack.