Scabior's eyes shot open to see a fiery sky above him, and the sun peaking over the horizon. His heart was beating through his chest, and he broke out in a cold sweat like he had been sprinting in a marathon. He could barely catch his breath and the harder he tried to pace his breathing the harder it became to breathe. When he was finally calm his eye turned to the trees shaking lightly in the wind and the birds singing soft sweet songs despite the cold weather. He closed his eyes and slid his dirty hands down his face. He absolutely hated the serenity of the scene. It wasn't appropriate with his lingering migraine and the image of two muggle borns mangled bodies scattered on the fallen leaves. It didn't bother him, as much as it should've. In fact he felt nothing towards them, but he felt worried for her. Being a snatcher had its advantages. He had knowledge that most wish they could obtain. He knew who was next on his list, and every new fresh piece of parchment with names scribbled in cursive letters was checked.

It had been six or twelve months since he started, but he never knew. It could've been a week for all he could care. Everyday seemed to blend into one eventful one. He smirked at the thought of her being able to slide through the Ministry's thorough system without being checked off once.

He turned his head and his heart nearly jumped to see the werewolf snoring besides him. He couldn't understand why Greyback sent him into a fit of heart palpitations, but then the answer came to him. It was because of the nightmares.

Every night it was the same dream. He was running behind them, staring at their backs as they ran for their lives, but he wasn't trying to snatch them as much as he was trying to warn them. He extended his hand to turn them around, but it was as if he was punching through water. He wasn't fast enough no matter how hard he pushed himself, then before he could see their faces or at least scream at them to stop he would see a flash of green, and he would wake up.

He sat up his lean body from the bed of leaves and dusted the clinging leaves off of his jacket and tangled hair. He reached into his jacket pocket and swiped a bottle of fire whiskey, pulled off the cork and swallowed a gulp full before putting it back in his pocket. He picked himself up and dusted himself off once again, and took out a cigarette from his pants pocket and lit it. He looked not too far from the camp and saw the back of the fellow snatcher guarding the camp. At first it seemed as if he was still awake and alert, but when Scabior took a closer look at the young man he noticed the snatcher's body leaned on against a tree, his head down into his chest and thin line of drool fell from his lips and dribbled down into his coat. His wand laid loosely in his dirtied hands, still giving the appearance he was alert. 'Damn you Wolfie.' He thought, smirking and quietly tip toed toward him, trying his best not to wake him.

Scabior knelt close to his face and blew into his ear. The snoring snatcher waved his hand at the air and grunted, but soon fell back into his slumber. Scabior stood up and pointed his wand at the snatcher's coat. A bright orange light flew from the tip of his wand and landed on the Wolfie's coat. The small flame started to grow, but the snatcher didn't stir. "Wolfie?" Scabior sang softly in his ear.

"Hmm?" he asked, sniffing the air and wiping his nose on his dirty hands.

"WOLFIE!" Scabior yelled at the top of his lungs. Wolfie's eyes shot open and to Scabior's. "YER COAT IS ON FIRE, MATE! RUN!"

He rolled around in the leaves frantically, until the flame had died, leaving nothing, but a black mark and the smell of burning fur. Scabior kicked him hard in the bottom sending Wolfie off of his knees and fell flat on his face. The noise had waken Greyback and the other snatchers up from their slumber.

He glanced behind his back and smirked at them, as they rubbed their heavy eyes and muttered under their breaths. "Mornin' gents." He said. "Wake yer sleepy arses up. It's time to keep movin'."

Wolfie red in the face from embarrassment and still shaken from his early morning scare, tried to avoid Scabior's eyes. Noticing this Scabior swayed over to Wolfie and stared at him till their eyes met. "Oi, Wolfie. Did ya 'ave a nice nap?"

The snatcher hesitated on his next move and stared at the leaves beneath his feet. He slowly nodded, then shook his head, then nodded and finally shrugged his shoulders. "Ya? Well you'll get much worse than a li'le singe on yer arse if ya fall asleep 'gain. Ya understand?"

"Yeah." Wolfie responded.

"Good." Scabior replied, shoving his hands in his pockets and making his way forward through the woods. "Come on ya lazy bums. Let's go." He said, walking forward through the trees, listening to the leaves crunch under his boot. He glanced behind him to see his fellow snatchers following along without compliant.

After several minutes of walking aimlessly he decided to check the names he was supposed to have looked at the night before. He opened the piece of parchment carefully, taking a deep breath and holding it. When he was mentally prepared he went down the list.

Adams, Maureen & Henry
Alavardo, Lawrence
Baker, Riley & Hannah
Bennett, Joshua
Bush, Buck & Kimberly
Butler, Rolf & Mary
Lane, Christine & Orlando
Murphy, Miriam
Miller, Gregory
Meyer, Virginia
Nash, Marcus & Alberta
Norris, Verna
Roberts, McKenzie
Ross, Rodger
Wilkes, Ashley
Wilkerson, June & Thomas

He let out a sigh of relief, their names weren't there. He shoved a rebellious tangled strand from his face and memorized the list, carefully. Scabior rolled up the parchment and placed it back in his pocket. "Right, come along gents. Put some pep in ya step." He replied casually, following his intuition on the direction of the first name on the list.

It's just the first small chapter, the other ones will be much longer I swear. I probably won't be updating this as often because I have a Lucius and Narcissa fic to finish, but I will try to update as often as I can.

-Val