Cruel

Goodmorning, love.” Scabior whispered in her ear as Amelia stepped out onto her porch. Shivers involuntarily went down her back from the closeness of the male, and she was certain that he could feel it as he smirked at her. “Ready to go?” He eyed her outfit, which consisted of tight-fitting jeans, a low cut shirt with a jacket swung over and some boots, a weird look in his eyes.

Amelia rolled her eyes a bit, before walking down the steps onto the street. The morning rush was over, but there was still a large population of muggles walking about. The young woman looked upon them with disinterest, not exactly caring about them that morning.

“Come on,” Scabior said as he grabbed her shoulder and starting to drag her down the street. She quickly shoved him away so that she could regain control of her arm, but continued walking while ignoring his glare pointed at her. He led her to an old alleyway that smelled like cat piss, where Greyback and Oliver were waiting. There was another man with them as well. He looked a bit uncomfortable but he smelled of arrogance and pride. He must’ve been Arthur’s replacement, and Amelia couldn’t help but think, with a twinge of regret, that she liked the latter better. This man just oozed annoyance. The way his blonde hair swept in his face, and the way his brown eyes lingered on her a little too long, she didn’t think she’d like this man a lot.

“Amelia, Eric. Eric, Amelia. Now, let’s go before the sun hits noon.” Amelia only had the time to nod curtly at Eric before Scabior grabbed her hand, which was calloused and rough but still gentle, and then she was in the country. The young woman cringed, she wasn’t a big fan of apparating.

She could hear birds chirping and when she strained her eyes she could see what looked like a small village far away. A forest was near, sending pale shades over the group. They must’ve looked a bit odd if any passer-by looked, but that wasn’t even in their train of thoughts.

“Alright, so I’ve heard that there’s been some odd smoke coming from the forest these days, and also I’ve looked over the list and dug some stuff up that there are at least four mudbloods that have families in that village.”

“Wait, I thought you said we weren’t after specific fugitives?” Amelia spoke up earning a group look from all the men. From the corner of her eye she caught Eric’s eyes and shuddered before looking back at Scabior’s figure.

“I lied, darling. I do that sometimes. That’s something you shouldn’t forget.”

I don’t think I will. Amelia thought bitterly as she looked down. Her shoes were getting wet from the damp grass, and she glared at it. These were her new leather boots and they were being ruined.

“Alright, here’s how we’re going to proceed, Greyback, Arthur and Eric you’re going to go into the forest to search. Amelia and I are going to go snooping around the village. We’ll meet here in a couple of hours.”

Amelia recalled the three men grunting their responses, but she just stared at Scabior in astonishment. She knew exactly what he was thinking; she knew exactly that the two of them were going to be alone on purpose. The young woman wasn’t completely foolish; a fair share of boys had hit on her. Most of them had failed to get further then that, though.

“You ready, darlin’?” She heard Scabior ask, and realized that the three men were gone and the snatcher was staring at her with curiosity.

“Of course, let’s go.”

They walked in silence to the town both of them too stubborn to start a conversation. Water was sloshing in her boots, making her a bit irritated as they finally arrived to the village. It was bigger than she’d imagined, about fifty houses and a few shops. It was probably around 11 o’clock when they arrived, but that was only a guess.

“Come on, Amelia. I wan’ a go see a house.” He took hold of her hand, and started walking down some roads. Amelia knew she could release his hand, but she didn’t and they just strolled through the village. It was a very quaint place, extremely beautiful. Although, the young woman doubted that Scabior’s warm and big hands enveloping hers and sending tingles up her arm was probably a significant factor.

The sun was being moody that day, and it had hid itself once more so that it seemed like it was going to start raining again. Finally, they stopped in front of a small little cottage-like house. It had many flowers in the front lawn, and a swinging chair on the porch.

“What are we doing here?” she asked, but Scabior didn’t reply. Instead let go of her hand and walked up to the front door. He loudly banged on the door, not at all polite. Amelia couldn’t help but hold back a smirk, knowing that if he had just knocked politely it would’ve been way easier, but that he wanted the trouble.

“Open this door or I’m goin’ to blow up this door.” Amelia knew though, that he wasn’t going to wait. She was right, seconds later the door was off its hinges and Scabior stalked into the house. The young woman could feel the adrenaline of the chase already beginning to run through her veins, as she quickly went inside as well.

The house wasn’t big, the kitchen and living room combined in one room. A small hallway leading to the other rooms. Scabior was nowhere to be seen, but a crash coming from the room at the bottom of the hallway informed her just as well. Her boots squeaked as she walked on the wooden floor excitedly, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who was in the room with Scabior. It was just an old man, in a wheelchair and with lines covering his face. Behind him, she could glimpse the sight of an infant girl, probably 4 or 5. She was cowering behind the wheelchair, while Scabior was pacing in front of the old man who looked terrified.

“Where did they go!?” He screamed, losing patience and Amelia couldn’t help but flinch undetectably. She was almost certain that he didn’t know she was there yet, but she was the little girl looking at her. Her brown eyes boring into the woman’s, tears flowing down her face but she made no noise.

“I don’t know. My daughter and her husband left two days ago, and they never returned. My grandson is supposed to be at Hogwarts. I don’t know where they are, just please don’t hurt the little one.” The man’s voice was fragile and frail, making Amelia bite her lip.

She wasn’t one to show compassion with men or women a lot, but she knew she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t harm someone who had absolutely no defense. Every person she had captured or killed, they were all in the measure of protecting themselves. Therefore, she didn’t care and mocked them most of the time on their inability to stop her. This was completely different.

“Scabior, stop.” Amelia said, but apparently not loudly enough because he didn’t even seem to hear her. He was still going around the room, his wand in hand. She could see from the line on his forehead that he was becoming frustrated, and she also knew that that wasn’t a good sign.

“Scabior! Stop!” She yelled it this time, anger bubbling in her. He looked at her with surprise, although she didn’t know if it was because he didn’t know she was there or because he didn’t think she’d say anything. “You’re not going to harm a crippled old man and a child who doesn’t know anything! Let’s leave them, we’ll get another lead.” She was slowing advancing towards him as she said this softly, making her voice soothing. Her hand was hovering towards her pocket, just in case she’d have to pull it out in short notice.

The man didn’t say anything though, he just let her approach him. Once she got close enough, she squeezed his hand, making him look at her. Their eyes met, and she carefully tucked a strand of hair out of his face. “Let’s go, love.” She tugged him, and they made their way out of the house in silence. Amelia could hear the cries of the small child from the front door and she shook her head. Still squeezing his hand more tightly than necessary, she walked beside him while leading him towards a small diner.

Scabior was still silent, but she could feel his gaze lingering on her. Amelia refused to look back at him. She was too confused about what had just happened. She had no idea what her actions were going to lead to and she wasn’t quite intent on finding out at the moment.