8 July 1979 - Evening || Ignite the Night || The Safe House || Augustus, Fabian, & Hestia
The scene exploded around Fabian with a sudden rush of sound. Piercing shrieks and the noise of impacting spells vied for dominance over the night, and the air hung heavy with the tang of blood and the bitter bite of smoke. For a moment it was all he could do to remain standing as the full force of the carnage around him assaulted his every sense.
It was all too much; how could he do anything to help when he was so completely overwhelmed by the devastation around him?
Drawing in a deep breath, Fabian took a moment to ground himself. Focus, Prewett. You can’t fix everything. Pick somewhere to start, anywhere, and work from there.
The nearest segment of the safe house was burning merrily to a crisp. He knew from his time guarding the witnesses that that had been the room where the Gregson family was iving. The Gregsons, with their three beautiful children and the mother who worked for Control of Magical Creatures.
He didn’t know if the family had managed to escape, or if they were still trapped inside, but it was as good a place as any to start.
A segment of wall had collapsed, and Fabian made his way towards it, mercifully unmolested as he crossed the blackened earth.
He should have realised what it meant that nobody was around to stop him before he entered the room, but still what he saw stopped him in his tracks.
They must have died before the fire had broken out; they were still in place, the five of them, as they had been at the moment of their deaths. Eleven-year-old Thalia, who had been so excited to start Hogwarts that September, huddled in the corner, eight-year-old Anthony, cowering behind his father, and even – oh Merlin – baby Lilac, still cradled in her mothers arms, the orange flames licking over them slowly reducing all of them to ash and bone.
For a moment, Fabian thought he was going to be sick. The smell of burnt flesh wafted over him, completely overpowering all other sense, and for many moments he could not look away.
Another deep breath (this time through his mouth, to avoid that awful, awful smell) and Fabian was in control again. He had to get a hold of himself; he couldn’t allow this to stop him from doing what he had to do.
There were others who needed saving.
As he pushed aside the door and made his way into the main room of the safe house, Fabian caught sight of another figure, moving this time. He drew out his wand, prepared for an attack, but quickly recognized her as one of his own.
“Hestia!” he called out, running towards her. It was with great effort that he resisted the urge to pull her into a frantic, relieved hug. “Oh, thank Merlin you’re all right.”
With a rush, Fabian realised that the poor girl had only just joined the Order. If he was having trouble handling everything that was going on, he could only imagine how much this was affecting her. She, who had never had to witness such awful things as this. She, who had only wanted to help.
He looked around. They had no time, but he needed to know what was going on.
“What the hell happened, Hestia?”
