#readerxtheseus scamander

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Author and Auror (9/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: MOre drama, more nonsense. @thorne93​ has finished posting her half of the collaboration but i very obviously haven’t, so we’ll see what happens lmao. Until then, go nuts.

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings: General angst

Part 8

There’s a crowd of aurors in Rosaline’s room when she wakes and it takes nearly ten minutes to convince them their services aren’t needed. An interrogator from the DMLE stomps his way in and shoulders past Newt and I to plop down at the table Rosaline’s been sat at. Much like at my flat, Rosaline refuses to answer a single question, the same stony expression firmly in place throughout the process. The interrogator gives up after only half an hour and I take his place once everyone has left.

“Why do you refuse to give us any information? What could he possibly mean to you?” I snort and lean back in the chair when she doesn’t answer. “The longer you refuse to tell us anything, the longer you’ll be held here. If Grindelwald were in your position, he would not hesitate to give you up.”

“Don’t speak as if you know him,” she says, the fight gone from her tone.

“What else can I do? You’ve refused to speak to us outside of taunts for nearly two days.”

“What exactly is it you want from me?” she snaps. “You took me from the love of my life. I’ve told you I won’t give you his locations or his plans. You’re just doing this to hurt me, like you’ve always done.”

“Hurt… hurt you?” My stomach drops. “Rosaline, when have I hurt you?”

“When haven’t you? You and your family weren’t exactly welcoming…” she mutters.

“We’ve never done anything to intentionally hurt you. My parents have been nothing but kind to you. You’re practically my sister.”

“Well you’re nothing to me. So, unless you’ve something else to question me about…” She gestures to the door.

I sigh and scrape the chair back from the table and turn to leave. “Someone should be in shortly with your evening meal. I expect you’ll eat it, otherwise nutrients potions will be forced down your throat.”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Instead of saying anything further, I excuse myself from the room. I run into Newt on my way back to the lift.

“She doesn’t seem to be in the mood for a chat,” I warn.

He nods and looks at the door longingly. “You believe she’s bewitched?”

“Yes. I’ve contacted Albus. He should be here over the weekend. Hopefully he’ll be able to tell us something more.” I smile sadly at him. “You’re still going to go in there, aren’t you?”

“I have to,” he says. “Maybe I’m just torturing myself, but I-I have to speak with her.”

I nod and squeeze his shoulder. “Remember that you can leave if it becomes too much for either of you.”

He nods and heads for the door.

Newt slumps down in a chair beside me, just outside Theseus’ office.

“She said she didn’t love me,” he whispers.

I blink and shake my head, trying to dislodge the sleep that’s threatening to drag me under. “Hmm?”

“She said that I’m just a… a zookeeper?” I see his shoulders sag and his bottom lip quivers and I’m immediately wide awake. “She told me that I could never hold her interest or any place in her heart and then said that I could “never be half the man he is.”

“She what?” I shoot up from my chair and Newt makes to grab my hand but I pull it away before he can. “Is that exactly what she told you?”

He stares at me with wide eyes and nods slowly.

“I’m going down there.”

“Nora, wait!” Newt follows after me. “Don't-”

“Don't what? Try to understand what's going on here? Let her know it's wretched to treat people like shit, even if she is bewitched?” I turn on my heel and head back down the hall when he doesn’t say anything. “Tell Theseus, tell any auror you want, no one is getting between me and her.”

Newt doesn’t protest, but hurries after me regardless. He’s silent all the way down to the Department of Mysteries and takes a seat outside of the room where Rosaline is being held. He nods when I place my hand on the doorknob. I open the door and slam it behind me, startling Rosaline in the process.

“Are you serious?!” I demand.

“Serious about what?” she asks.

“Why did you lie to Newt about loving him? After I watched you pine after him for years, you just throw him away?”

She squints. “I didn’t lie. I never loved Newt Scamander. How could I?”

“That is complete shite!”

“Is this because Theseus won’t spare you a second glance?” She shakes her head. “Get over it, Nora. Anyone who wanted Leta Lestrange is trash and you shouldn’t concern yourself with him.”

I grit my teeth and round the table. I grab the back of her shirt collar and haul her up from the seat she’s in. With my hands on her collar, I slam her against the wall.

“You selfish, selfish child! You can't even see you've been bewitched! Grindelwald hasn't come for you. His little minions haven't come for you. No one is tearing through the streets of London looking for any trace of your magic. He didn't care about you. He cares about your power. That's it. There was no end where you ruled alongside him. You’d have been thrown onto the rubbish heap with the other poor souls he's used up along the way."

“At least he cared enough to consider me. Can you say the same for Theseus? Or are you to be his rebound? Simply serving as a replacement for a dead woman.”

I release her and step back, pressing one shaking hand to my forehead. “You can’t be my cousin. Whatever he did to you, whatever he turned you into… you’ve grown cold. Heartless. My cousin-my sister, would never be this cruel.”

“The sister you knew was weak!” she shouts. “I’ve outgrown being Little Miss Perfect.”

“So you’d rather be a murderer?”

“I never murdered anyone,” she said, her voice low. “I simply came into my own.”

All the fight I have left leaves me and my shoulders sag. I leave and the door slams shut behind me. Newt rises from his chair and opens his mouth to ask a question, but I shake my head and wave him off.

“Nora?” I jerk my head up when I hear Theseus’ voice.

I look at Newt questioningly. “There was shouting. I was worried, so I called Theseus.”

I nod and shuffle up the hall to meet him halfway. I press my forehead to his chest and mumble, “I can’t keep doing this”

“What happened?”

“Rosaline told Newt that she’s never been and never could be in love with him and made him sad.”

“You hate it when Newt is sad.”

“He looks like a kicked crup when he’s sad. Of course I hate it.”

“What happened after that?” he presses, gently combing flyaway hairs back into my plait.

“I confronted her and she got in my head again. Whenever I bring up Grindelwald she throws it back in my face, as if I’ve got some kind of vendetta against her due to my feelings for you.”

“But you don’t. You know that and I know that.”

“Yes. That doesn’t change the fact that I completely lost my temper.” I look up at him and he tilts his head to the side.

“To be fair,” Newt says. “She was saying some pretty nasty things.”

“Like what?” Theseus asks.

“She called her your rebound a-and Leta’s replacement.”

Theseus’ hands still at the back of my neck. My hands go to his waist.

“Theseus, no. It's not worth it,” I murmur. “None of this is about us. This isn't about Leta, or any of our relationships. Rosaline is grasping at straws, trying to tear us apart from the inside.”

“Dumbledore can't get here soon enough,” he mutters.

I nod and stroke his side. “Let’s get some tea, yeah? Calm ourselves down a bit.”

“I don't think any of us should go in there until Dumbledore arrives,” Theseus says. “She's too dangerous to be around like this.”

Newt and I agree and Theseus leads us back to the lift. We don’t return for five days.

“Albus, thank you so much for coming.”

“Of course, Eleanore. I only wish I could have gotten away sooner.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I gesture to the lift and Dumbledore follows after me. “Newt and Theseus have already gone down to her room.”

“The Ministry allowed her a room?” I nod and he raises his eyebrows. “Given the circumstances, I’m surprised they didn’t insist on putting her in a cell.”

“At this point it feels as if the head of the DMLE is waiting to see if she’ll step out of line so he can throw her in a cell.”

“How do you mean?”

I shake my head. “More aurors have been wandering down to the department of mysteries, none of them were assigned to the case. Some of the people who end up near Rosaline’s room aren’t even people we’ve seen before.”

“Unspeakables?”

“No, definitely not. They’ve given the entire corridor a wide berth since we were granted permission to bring Rosaline in. No one outside of the department head and the team Theseus put together should know she’s even here.” I select the floor number and lean on the hand rail. “I worry that if we can’t bring her out of this soon she may be shipped off to Azkaban, simply because the DMLE head is a little too antsy.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to help Rosaline avoid such a fate.”

“I appreciate that.”

“How is Newt holding up?” he asks.

“He spoke with her once after bringing her here and it didn’t go very well. Left him a little shaken up. We’ve stayed well clear of her for the better part of the week.”

“And you?”

“I’ll be a little more sane once we’ve figured out what’s wrong with my cousin.”

“That bad?”

“She’s used Leta’s passing against Theseus and I on several occasions. It’s taken its toll on our relationship, but we’ve been able to learn from it and communicate better.”

“You and Theseus?” he asks, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile.

I feel my cheeks flush and roll my eyes, folding my arms across my chest. “Don’t make a fuss about it.”

“Oh, but now I must.” He laughs. “How long?”

“I don’t know… maybe two months? Maybe a little more?” He raises his eyebrows. “Don’t look at me like that, there was never any real discussion of when it happened, it just did.”

He raises his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Don’t tease us, Albus, you’re nearly ten years older. Please be the adult,” I beg as we step out of the lift.

He laughs and squeezes my arm. “I’ll make no promises.”

I sharply turn my head when Theseus clears his throat. Dumbledore chokes back a laugh and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I reach out to Theseus, and he wraps an arm around my shoulders and steers me down the hallway with Dumbledore on his other side.

“How is she today?” I ask.

“Dawes said she’s about the same as yesterday. Hasn’t moved much, but she’s eating, so that’s an improvement.”

“Alright,” I take a deep breath and steele my nerves. “Shall we go in, Professor?”

Dumbledore nods and I open the door. Rosaline looks up momentarily before dragging her eyes back down to the table.

“Rosaline, you’ve got a new visitor today,” I say softly.

“What idiot have you decided to bring with you today?” she spits.

I step into the room and open the door wider. Albus enters with a serene smile on his face.

“Dumbledore?” she gasps. “What-what are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to see you,” he says. “How are you?”

“I would be fine if someone would simply give me my wand and allow me to leave. Seeing as I haven’t committed a crime, I have no idea why I’m still trapped here.”

I roll my eyes and close the door. Albus takes this as an invitation to take a seat across from Rosaline.

“You’re here because it’s the Ministry’s belief that you aren’t quite yourself.”

“The Ministry, or the people who chose to treat me as a second class citizen all my life?” she questions, pinning me with a piercing glare.

“Everyone, really,” he corrects. He tilts his head to the side. “Tell me, what do you remember from Paris?”

“What about Paris?”

“Do you remember anything about the Lestrange mausoleum?” I ask, taking the seat next to Dumbledore. “Maybe the blue flames?”

Her brows pull together. “Of course I remember.”

“What happened?” I press, hoping for more information.

“Gellert was asking people to join him. When I got closer to the fire, he invited me in. He told me he would give me salvation. That he would protect me and value me as I should be treated.”

“You don’t remember that you went into the fire? That he didn’t invite you?”

“I remember stepping in but his hand was outstretched. He told me we would make the world a better place together, with me at his side. How could I refuse that?”

I glance at Albus and he raises his eyebrows. I shrug and shake my head minutely.

“Is there anything you remember before Paris?” I ask.

“I remember how you kept me in your shadow. How Newt never let me live up to my potential. How your parents always treated me like dirt.”

“Rosaline, none of that’s true.”

“Of course you’d see it that way,” she says.

Dumbledore discreetly taps my elbow twice and pushes his chair back from the table. I copy his actions and he leads us back out into the hall.

“So?” Theseus asks as soon as the door is closed.

“I believe Nora is correct,” Dumbledore says. “The inconsistencies in her memory are more than enough to assume that some sort of magic has been performed on her.”

“Is there anything that can be done to help her?” I ask.

“Immediately? Nothing major, but if you can somehow instil the desire to break free of the enchantments, then the job of undoing whatever’s been placed on her will be easier.”

Everyone turns to me and my brows pull together. “What? You want me to go back in there, alone?! The last time I I slammed her up against the wall and yelled in her face. Theseus,” I turn to him. “Please see some reason! You can’t honestly think this is a good idea.”

He takes my hand in his, running his thumb over my knuckles. “It’s a terrible idea, but there really isn’t anything else we can do.”

“I don’t like this,” I announce.

“I know,” he says. “Just try to stay in your seat this time, yeah?”

I snort and turn for the door. “Spoken like someone who’s never been in the room alone with her like this.”

“You want me to try it?”

“Oh, absolutely not.” I reach for the doorknob. “I’ll do it alone.”

I return to Rosaline’s room.

“Where’s Dumbledore?” she demands, clearly disappointed to see me.

“He’s taking care of something,” I lie. “He’ll be back.”

“How long do you plan on keeping me here?”

“As long as is necessary.”

She groans and shoves her chair back from the table before she begins to pace. “I'm not your dog, Eleanore. You can't push me around or tell me what to do anymore. You've treated me like a child far too long.”

“Perhaps recently, but I’ve only treated you as your behavior demanded. And it would do you well to know that I’m not the one who holds your leash. Take a look at that ring on your finger. It wasn’t me who collared you.”

Hatred flares in her eyes. “Don’t. He has nothing to do with this.”

“He has everything to do with this, Rosaline. He killed innocent aurors. He’s the reason Leta is dead. How can someone preaching peace and prosperity do that to his own people?” The volume of my voice grows steadily louder. “How many died by his wand while he kept you as his own?”

“He’s just trying to build a better world for us,” she says, tears forming in her eyes. “You don’t understand. No one here does.”

“Then help us. From where I stand, all I can see is death and destruction.”

“That isn’t what he wants. He just…”

“Just what?”

“He wants freedom from the muggles. I don’t think he meant to hurt those people.”

“That’s not how the statute works, Rosaline. He’s filled you and his followers heads with lies of power and promised something that he cannot deliver. People are dead because of him. He has to pay for what he’s done. Please. Help us.”

She chokes back a sob and turns her face away. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know why, I just can’t.”

“This is hopeless. You’re never going to give him up, are you?” She doesn’t answer as tears roll down her cheeks. I shake my head and sigh as I push my chair back from the table. “If you’re not going to help us, then I’m wasting my time.”

“Nora, no, please don’t leave me,” she begs, following me as the door swings open. “Nora! No!”

The door closes behind me and I clamp my hand over my mouth to muffle my erratic breathing. I reach out to Theseus and he pulls me to his chest as tears spill down my cheeks. I squeeze my eyes shut and press my forehead to Theseus’ chest, willing myself to stop crying. Rosaline begins to pound on the door and I can hear her cries on the other side. Theseus rubs my back with one hand and combs through my hair with the other.

Dumbledore places a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve done her a great service, Nora,” he says softly. “We’ll be able to begin the process of understanding the extent of the enchantment tomorrow.”

“Then you’ll go alone. I’m not going back in there until we have an idea of what’s happened to her,” I say firmly. “We can’t keep hurting ourselves like this, not to mention Rosaline. We have no idea what’s happened to her and she’s been locked up for a week.”

“Of course,” his hand falls from my shoulder. “I’ll work as quickly as possible.”

Dumbledore places a small phial on Theseus’ desk and waits for us to comment. Inside a silvery strand of memory wriggles around.

“What did you do?” I ask.

“I proved that you were right, Ms. Vaughan,” he answers. “This is Rosaline’s first memory after being taken. It’s quite fuzzy. Greatly tampered with, and not because of anything Rosaline did.”

“So she’s innocent?” My heart begins to race, but I force myself to stay seated.

Dumbledore smiles. “Quite.”

“That’s great,” Newt says.

“What do we do next?” I ask, leaning forward slightly. “We can give her the news, but what past that? Do we find curse breakers?”

Theseus nods. “If we were to do so, it’d be best to screen them properly. Assure that none of this makes it into the Prophet.”

“Of course,” Dumbledore says. “I have a few friends I may be able to call in. The rest is up to you, really. I’m sure Nora would like to be a part of bringing her cousin back to herself.”

I press my lips together and meet Theseus’ eyes. “I would, actually.”

Theseus nods. “Of course. And you will.” He looks around at the people gathered in his office. “We should deliver the news.”

I shake my head, trying to gather my thoughts. “Right, of course.”

I head for the door and everyone follows after me. The ride down to Rosaline’s room is silent. No one speaks until we’re seated around the table.

“What’s going on?” Rosaline asks.

“We have something we need to tell you,” I say.

“What could it possibly be?”

“Rosaline,” Dumbledore began, huffing out a breath, “you’ve been cursed.”

Her eyebrow twitches up. “Cursed?”

“It appears Grindelwald put you under a series of complex curses.” Dumbledore explains. “He toyed with memories, he put you under the Imperius curse, along with other loyalty spells and charms. The love you feel for him, the loyalty, it’s all a farce.”

“I…” She trails off, her brow furrowing. Confliction clouds her features. “So, what now? Am I imprisoned?”

“Absolutely not. We’re going to work to get the curses out of you. So long as you don’t fight us, it should be relatively easy and painless. We have to be careful not to destroy your mind in the process. I’d like to give you your memories back.”

She nods slowly. “Whatever you think is best,” she says. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t fighting us more,” Theseus remarks.

“Either you’re wrong and this is a waste of our time, or you’re right and I won’t be cursed any longer.” She shrugs. “It’s all the same to me.”

I nod absentmindedly and Dumbledore pushes his chair back from the table. He excuses himself, closely followed by Theseus and I. When Newt hangs back, I place one hand on his arm, silently asking if he’s alright. He covers my hand with his and nods. I squeeze his arm and leave the room. Theseus pulls me close when the door closes behind me and he doesn’t ask where Newt is.

“I should stop by the store,” I say. “Check on the kids and do some inventory.”

“Do you want me to come with?” Theseus asks.

I shake my head. “James and Tessa are still a little wary of aurors, even if it is just you.” I lean up and kiss him. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”

He smiles and nods once. “Of course. I’ll come by after I’m done here.”

“Great,” I murmur, gently squeezing his hand.

He stoops down and kisses me softly. “See you soon, Love.”

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

#theseus scamanderxreader #readerxtheseus scamander #theseus scamander x reader #reader x theseus scamander #theseus scamander #newt scamander

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Author and Auror (1/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Alrighty, this is a fic that’s been in the works for nearly two years now, since Crimes of Grindelwald came out. This is the first chapter in my half of the collaborative story that I’ve written with @thorne93​. I will not be adding anyone from my tag list to this story, but if you’d like to be tagged, just let me know!

Start here for Rosaline’s story!

Pairing: Theseus ScammanderxOFC

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: None

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

The door opens and the bell tinkles, welcoming in a new customer. I hear them wander through the shelves before pausing halfway through. I look to find the familiar combination of mousey brown hair and a sharp three-piece suit. My smile comes easily.

“Theseus,” I say.

He smiles. “Hello, Nora. Newt said you weren’t assisting him today.”

“He’s got Rosaline to help him now. Only needs me when there’s something especially big that needs socializing these days.”

“I see.” He raises his eyebrows and slips one hand into his pocket. “Never did understand why she left the ministry. She was moving up through the ranks pretty quickly, as I remember.”

“Mm, you say that every time.” I lean forward on the counter, my chin propped up on one hand. “Maybe she didn’t want you to have too much competition.”

He laughs and finally approaches the front desk. “No, that can’t be it. Otherwise, you would have stayed to help.”

“Oh, I think you overestimate me, Mr. Scamander. I was never cut out for ministry work. Too much running here and there and being bossed around. Books have always been my calling.”

“Speaking of…” He trails off and fishes a slip of parchment out of the breast pocket of his suit coat. “I was wondering if you carried any of these. Leta hasn’t been able to find them in Diagon Alley. Newt suggested we try your place.”

I take the parchment from him and plaster on a smile. “I’ll see what I can do for you.”

Theseus leans on the counter top as I move to the back to flip through my stock records.

“Newt says you haven’t been in for months.”

“As I said before, he’s got an assistant now. No need for me to bother him.”

“He also says you’ve been dating.”

“So what if I have been?” I ask coolly. I move out from behind the register to sift through the bookshelves. “I can’t wait around and hope that a spouse will drop into my lap.”

“I understand that, Nora. It just never seemed to be something you were interested in before now.”

I slam a heavy book down onto the counter.

“Merlin, Theseus, we are not in school anymore! I can do as I please. If that means saying yes when a bloke from down the street invites me out for dinner, who am I to say no?”

“Nora, that’s not what I meant, I just-I don’t know…” He trails off and looks at me helplessly.

I sigh and shake my head. I slip my wand from my sleeve and summon the other books from their shelves. They stack themselves perfectly one on top of the other.

“That’ll be forty-five Galleons.” I write up a receipt and lift the cover of the book at the top of the stack to place it inside. “Are you in need of a bag?”

“No.” He digs around in his pocket for the money. “No, I… No, I’ll be fine without it.”

I nod and hold out my hand for his coins. I sort the money into the till and push the books closer to him. I don’t look up. He shrinks the books and slips them into his jacket pocket and says goodbye. I wave to him and wait till the door closes to drag my eyes away from the register. I drop down onto my stool, head in hands.

“That the hell is wrong with you?! He hasn’t done anything to you! Not anything on purpose, at least…” I shake my head. “Why did I snap at him?”

The store kneazle wanders over and sits beside my feet. He looks up at me and yowls to get my attention. I reach down and scratch him behind the ears. He pushes against my leg and purrs loudly. I laugh and bend down to pick him up. He curls up in my lap and I comb my fingers through his long fur.

“I’m fine,” I tell myself. “Things are fine. I’ll run the shop and work on my novel. I’ll be just fine.”

“Theseus came by the shop the other day.”

“I’m sorry, Nora,” Newt says. His voice crackles through the floo. “Had I known, I would have warned you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Newt. It’s not your job to protect me. He did, however, mention that you told him I’ve been dating.”

He frowns. “Was I not supposed to tell him that?”

“No, it’s fine that you did. I suppose I just wasn’t expecting you to.” I shake my head. “I don’t even know why he brought it up, honestly.”

“Maybe he’s trying to figure out whether or not you’ll be bringing a date to the wedding.”

I roll my eyes. “They haven’t even set a date yet. And who knows! Leta might not let Theseus invite me.”

“Is that really something you want to worry about right now?”

“I genuinely have no clue.” I let myself fall back against the carpet. “I don’t even know what I’ll say if he asks me what was wrong with me today.”

“I can’t see you anymore, Nora.”

I raise one hand and wave it around. “I’m on the floor.”

“Sounds uncomfortable.”

“Oh, believe me, it is,” I say, opening and closing my hand like a mouth. I can hear Newt laugh so I continue the game. “Is this helping the situation? Is this making things better?”

He laughs harder. “It is, actually, I-” He stops in the middle of his sentence and I sit up, thinking the connection’s been lost. His face is still in the fireplace.

“Newt? What’s wrong?”

“There’s someone here,” he says. “I’m going to find out who.”

“Be careful!” I call out. He nods once and pulls his head from the floo.

I don’t hear from Newt for hours and I take to pacing around my flat. I’m worried about him. He’s a brilliant wizard and can protect himself, but still. I’m starting to think about contacting Theseus when there’s a knock at the door. I immediately fling the door open and Newt is standing there, creature case in hand, a plump man standing just behind him.

“Who’s this?” I ask.

“Nora, this is Jacob Kowalski,” Newt says, stepping to the side and gesturing between the two of us. “Jacob, this is Nora.”

“Nice t’meetcha.”

I stare at Jacob for a moment before turning to Newt. “A muggle?”

“In New York, they’d call me a no-mag,” Jacob says. He almost sounds proud of himself.

“That’s great. Get inside.” I wave them through the doorway and look up and down the street before closing the door. “Why did you bring a muggle to my home, Newt?”

“We have to get to Paris and I need your help.”

“Why?”

Jacob answers. “See, my girl Queenie and I got into a fight and she ran off to go find her sister Tina in Paris.”

“Tina, huh?” Newt blushes.

“You know about her?” Jacob asks.

“Yes, I know about her. Newt’s been quite taken with her since coming back from his trip to the states. But why are you here?”

“Queenie enchanted him,” Newt says.

“She wants to get married real bad, but we can’t back home. It’s dangerous for the two of us to be together and she figured we’d be able to get married here,” Jacob explains. “Thing is, when Newt took the spell off me or whatever, I figured out what happened and Queenie ran off and I thought somethin’ I shouldn't have and she got even madder and then she just, poof! Vanished!”

I look to Newt for an explanation. “She’s a very powerful legilimens.”

“Oh,” I nod. “So why do you need me to get to Paris?”

“I’m still banned from Travelling, so we’ll have to go illegally. I’ve asked your cousin to come along as well.”

I deadpan. “She’s in the case, isn’t she.”

“She is.”

“Fantastic. When do we leave?”

Newt blinks, taken aback. “You’ll actually come?”

“You and I both know I need to get out of England for a while. I have a couple of employees I trust to run the shop while I’m gone.”

“And if Theseus shows up?”

I shrug. “Then he shows up.” I look between Newt and Jacob. “You can stay here tonight. We should leave as early as possible tomorrow morning.”

Jacob reaches out and vigorously shakes my hand. “Thank you so much!”

I nod and smile and lead them towards the dining room. I reheat leftovers from a couple of nights before and serve it to Newt, Jacob, and my cousin, Rosaline. Rosaline speaks calmly with Jacob and I’m able to pull Newt away from the table for a moment.

“This isn’t just about getting Tina and Queenie back,” I say. “Is this Dumbledore?”

He nods hesitantly. “Credence is in Paris and looking for his family. Grindelwald wants to use Credence for his own gain, and there are those who would rather he be dead than anything else.”

“And you need to help him.” Newt shrugs and bobs his head from side to side, signaling a “yes”. I sigh and fold my arms over my chest. “I’m going to write James and Tessa, let them know they’ll have to take over the shop for a while.”

“My brother may try to stop us.”

“Believe me, Newt. If I couldn’t handle your brother, I’d be much worse for wear by now.” I jerk my chin toward the dining room. “Get back in there. Keep them company. I have beds to make and letters to write.”

“If anyone stops by looking for me, don’t tell them where I’ve gone.”

“How can we? You haven’t told us where you’re going or why you’re leaving!” James cries.

“That’s the point. If someone tries to use veritaserum on you, then it won’t work.”

“Why would anyone want to use veritaserum on us? Are you in some sort of trouble?” Tessa asks.

I shake my head. “No, but I worry that someone from the Ministry might feel differently. If that happens, I don’t want to drag you two down with me.”

James frowns and Tessa throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly. I sigh and hug her back. There’s a tapping on the window. Rosaline is rapping one knuckle against the glass on the door and I wave her off. She shakes her head and turns back to Jacob and Newt.

“I have to go. I’ve got a portkey to catch.” Tessa nods against my shoulder and I reach out and muss James’ hair. “I’ll write when it’s safe, okay?”

James nods. “Okay. Please be careful.”

“We will be, don’t worry too much.”

I leave them to tend the shop and head out to meet Newt, Jacob, and Rosaline.

“They’re an emotional bunch, aren’t they,” Rosaline says.

I shrug. “They’ve been working for me since they were sixteen. They’re allowed to be emotional.”

“Did you at least get the money?”

“Of course I got the money.” I glance around and grab Rosaline’s hand. “Come on, we should go.”

Newt grabs Jacob’s hand and reaches out for mine. As soon as our hands touch we apparate to the cliffs we were told to meet our contact. Jacob stumbles when we arrive and Newt and I each grab one of his arms to keep him from toppling over. When we’re sure he’s steady, Newt places his case on the ground and opens it for Rosaline and I to climb in. Rosaline goes first and before I follow I hand Newt an extra twenty Galleons.

“What’s this?” he asks.

“Whoever it is we’re meeting will probably raise their price.” Newt raises his eyebrows. “It’s just a precaution.”

“Thank you, Nora,” he says.

I smile and nod to him and step into the case. I allow myself to slide down the ladder into Newt’s workshop. Rosaline is tidying things up and I move past her to lay in the grass in the grove just outside. Faeries dance through the trees above my head and I silently watch their movements with my hands pillowed beneath my head.

“Newt said Theseus stopped by yesterday.”

“Does everyone know about this?” I ask.

“He didn't tell Jacob.”

“Oh, well thank Merlin he didn't tell Jacob.”

“I just want to know if you're alright.”

“I'm fine. Genuinely, there's nothing wrong. He just overstepped, is all.”

“Overstepped?”

“Started asking about me dating.” I snort. “As if it’s any of his business.”

“Since when has he shown any interest in your love life?”

“That's what I'd like to know!” I cry. “Up until Newt told him I started dating, there was nothing! Newt thinks he was trying to figure out whether or not I’d be bringing someone to his wedding.”

“You’ve never talked about it this much.”

“I’ll be honest, I’ve never been this frustrated.” I sit up and lean back on my elbows. “I’m sorry about snapping at you last time. I know you were only trying to help.”

“Nothing to apologize for, cousin, I know I went a little too far.” She sits beside me and picks at the grass. “You were right. I haven’t told Newt how I feel. Every time I think about it, I remember Tina. If I keep putting it off, how can I expect you to confess to a man who’s engaged?”

I snort. “Our lives each present their own unique challenges. We’ll deal with the consequences as they arise, yeah?”

Rosaline opens her mouth to answer, but a firm rapping coming from the workshop pulls her attention away.

“That’ll be Newt,” she says.

I shove myself to my feet and brush off the seat of my trousers before offering Rosaline and hand up. I haul her up and we head back up through the case. Jacob offers me his hand and pulls me from the case. Newt grabs Rosaline’s hand and helps her out before stooping down and closing up his case. He leads us down the street and begins looking for any trace of Tina. He mutters a spell and a fine golden dust settles on the street. Rosaline and I step to the side and I pull Jacob out of the way when he tries to get a closer look. Newt releases his niffler and they set to work sorting out what happened the night before. When he pauses to lick the ground, Rosaline shakes her head and I rub my temples. Jacob just watches, completely transfixed.

“He wasn’t this weird in New York,” he says.

“You truly haven’t seen Newt in his element then, Mr. Kowalski,” I watch the niffler roll around in the gold as Newt holds his wand to his ear, searching through the noise from last night. “He’s brilliant, but he certainly is an odd man.”

“He’s a genius,” Rosaline says.

I laugh and gently shove her. She catches herself on the frame of a nearby window and comes back to glare at me halfheartedly. Jacob shoots me a knowing look and I just shrug and shake my head.

“You find anything, Newt?” I call.

He grabs the niffler and tucks it under his arm before plucking a feather out of the air. “She met a man,” he announces. “Also a zouwu got loose.”

“It has to be halfway across Paris by now!”

He grins. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Newt, we have to find it,” Rosaline says.

“I figure we’ll find it wherever we might find the man to whom this feather belongs.”

Rosaline shakes her head and I have to press my fist to my mouth to keep from saying anything. Jacob sighs and straightens the collar of his suit coat.

“Fine, but we’re gonna need to stop for something to eat.”

“I agree with Jacob,” I say. “We need food that wasn’t meant to feed baby nifflers.”

Newt laughs. “What, not good enough for you, is it?”

“Funnily enough, it isn’t!”

Everyone laughs and the sound attracts the attention of several passers by. I press my lips together to suppress another giggle.

“We’ve been sitting here for hours, Newt,” Jacob says, his voice edging into a whine.

“We’ve been here for half an hour,” Newt shoots back. He leans forward and rests his chin on his folded arms.

“Are you sure this guy is here?”

“Feather says so,” I mumble out. “Newt’s tracking magic doesn’t often steer us wrong.”

Newt lifts the glass bowl and the feather floats through the air, slotting itself into the ribbon a hat on a man passing by. Newt jumps to his feet and hurries after him, quickly followed by Jacob. Rosaline and I hang back a ways, careful to stay out of the man’s line of sight. I grip Rosaline’s arm as we watch Newt whisper something to the man who nods and mutters back.

“Can you see what they’re saying?” Rosaline asks.

I shake my head. “No, their mouths are half blocked and they’re talking too fast.” I scowl. “Dammit, Newt, this would have been a wonderful time for you to remember I read lips.”

Rosaline moves to stand up and I tighten my grip on her arm, pulling her back down into her seat.

“What?”

“Wait till they walk away. We’ll follow them from there.” I look at her, head tilted to the side. “I thought you were supposed to be the hit witch.”

“It’s been a few years, alright? Fallen out of practice and all that.”

“Mhm, sure.”

Rosaline smacks my arm and points to the place where Jacob and Newt had been standing just a moment before. We shove our chairs back from the table and immediately start off in the direction Rosaline saw them go. We follow them to what looks to be an entrance to the sewers. Once the man who had been leading them there steps inside the door, we creep up and position ourselves out of sight on either side of the doorway. When we see a flash of light Rosaline races in and I duck through the door after her. She’s got the man stunned on the floor, one foot on his chest. Newt’s wand lays several feet away along with one that I don’t recognize. I stoop down to pick both up and nearly topple over when someone shouts my name. I manage to catch myself before I fall. When I look over my shoulder, Jacob, Newt, and a woman I don't recognize peer through the bars of an iron gate.

“Locked in?” Newt nods and I point my wand at the lock. “Alohamora.”

The latch pings open and Jacob shoves the gate away from him and shuffles out. He throws his arms around me in a huge hug, throwing me off balance.

“Whoa there, Kowalski,” I warn.

“Right, sorry.” He peels himself away and reaches out to straighten my tie. I laugh and he grins.

Rosaline still has her wand trained on the man on the floor. The woman with Newt steps forward.

“Don’t hurt him,” she says. “We need him.”

“You mean you need him,” Rosaline snaps. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Rosaline, this is Tina,” Newt says.

I watch as her eye twitches and I reach out and place one hand on her arm. Her back stiffens, but she removes her foot from the stunned man’s chest. A deep roar shakes the room and I immediately look to Newt.

“Looks like your little friend has shown up,” I say. “Shall we catch it now, or should we wait till it’s gone on a violent rampage and destroyed half the city?”

“Perhaps it is time.”

Rosaline follows Newt back up to the street and I watch as Jacob and Tina struggle to drag the man on the floor to the stairs. I sigh and cast a weak levicorpus and float him up to the street with Tina and Jacob following along behind me. I leave Tina and Jacob to take care of our mystery man while I run off to help Newt and Rosaline with the zouwu. Rosaline and I leave Newt to take care of and subdue the creature while we keep bystanders out of the line of attack. We push the cars that skitter across the street away and cast a widespread protego charm over the crowd. I hear a jingle and look over my shoulder to find that Newt has entranced the zouwu with a toy. Newt wiggles the toy again, the bell tinkles, and he slowly lowers the toy to his case. The zouwu follows the toy with it’s entire body and dives after it into the case when Newt drops it.

“Newt,” Tina calls. “We need to leave!”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I say.

A card emerges from Newt’s coat pocket and I grab his arm and hustle back to the rest of the group. We each grab hold of one another and Newt reaches out for the card.

“Wait!” Tina says. “Where is this taking us?”

“Is this really the time to be asking this?” I hiss. “We’ve just captured a zouwu the size of a small house, and you’re worried about an address that was given to him by Dumbledore?”

“I-I...”

“Newt, get us out of here!”

He doesn’t leave her any time to respond and we disappear with a loud pop.

-----------

Part 2

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

#theseus scamanderxreader #readerxtheseus scamander #theseus scamander x reader #reader x theseus scamander #theseus scamander #newt scamander

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Author and Auror (8/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Alright, so @thorne93​ has already finished posting her half of this collaboration, but we’ll get there eventually.... hopefully lmao. This chapter will be Particularly Dramatic. Again, I am not tagging any of my regular tag list for this fic, so if you’d like to be tagged, please let me know. Anyway, have at it!

Previously, with Rosaline...

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: Dueling, injuries

Part 7

“Eleanore Vaughan,” Albus Dumbledore’s voice floats from the open beak of the shimmering phoenix sat on my desk. “I’ve just received word that Rosaline has passed through the Hogwarts wards and is headed towards my classroom. I am not aware of any business she would have with me, but I might suggest that you make haste in getting here.”

The Patronus disperses and I shove my chair back from the desk and hurry to Theseus’ office. I slam the door open, startling Theseus and Newt away from their work.

“Rosaline is at Hogwarts,” I announce.

“What?” Newt asks.

“Albus’ Patronus filled me in,” I explain, turning on my heel and walking back out into the hallway. Theseus and Newt follow me out. “Rosaline is headed for him, but he doesn’t know why. All he said is that we should get there fast.”

“Could Grindelwald have sent her?”

“Who knows,” I frown and poke my head into several different offices startling three different pairs of Aurors. “Where the fuck is Tina?!”

“She’s in the canteen,” Dawes answers, poking his head out into the hallway. “I’ll get her for you.”

“Great, tell her to meet us one floor down at the broom check out,” I stop dead in my tracks and turn to Theseus. “I’m so sorry, I swear I’m not trying to take over.”

He grabs me by the shoulders and turns me around. “No time for that,” he says, steering me down the hall to the lift. “We’ve got places to be and you obviously have more of a plan than I do.”

I nod once. The three of us bundle into the lift and, before the floor is selected, I yell, “DAWES.”

“Yeah?” he calls back.

“You’re coming with. Grab Jeanette on your way down, we’ll need the extra hands.”

He nods and the attendant selects the floor down. Theseus signs out six of the fastest brooms they’ve got and we meet up with Dawes, Jeanette, and Tina. We each grab an arm and steer them to the apparation points.

“Where are we going?” Dawes asks.

“Hogwarts gates,” I answer. “I’ll side along with Tina.”

“Well be flying up to the castle,” Theseus explains. “Make for the Defense classroom, be prepared for the worst.”

With brooms in hand and everyone filled in, Tina and I link arms and apparate. Each person appears with a crack. The gates slowly swing open of their own accord as we mount our brooms and we shoot into the sky one after the other. Trees blur together beneath us and quickly give way to a massive expanse of browning grass. The Quidditch pitch rises up in the distance and soon the castle is looming over us. I angle my broom towards the east towers and keep as tight to the walls as I can manage. I pull up on the broomstick and my feet ghost along the bricks of the astronomy tower. I dismount as soon as I’ve flown past the staircase to the astronomy classroom and toss the broom to the side in favor of sprinting for the stairs to Dumbledore’s classroom. Everyone else is close on my heels as I throw open the half closed doors.

“Nora?”

Rosaline’s voice reaches my ears and my head snaps to her. Grindelwald has a bruising hold on her arm and I immediately draw my wand, anger flaring up inside me. Grindelwald smirks and I throw a stinging jinx at him, just to get him to let her go. Rosaline deflects it and my eyes go wide.

“Rosaline,” I say, doing my best to keep my voice level. “We don’t want to hurt you. Come with us. Please.”

“No,” she says, chin lifted in defiance. “I’ll stay right where I am.”

“I don’t know what he’s done to you, but the Rosaline I know would never be with a man like him. Would never choose evil over her own family.”

“Evil?!” she cries, taking one step closer to Grindelwald. “As if you’d have any idea of the good we’ve been doing!”

Grindelwald caresses Rosaline’s cheek and she seems to lean into his touch. “You see, Ms. Vaughan, Rosaline chooses us. It seems to me that you should respect that choice, yes?”

My hand tightens around my wand and I throw a knockback jinx at him. Rosaline immediately steps in front of him and blocks the spell. Her face pinches into an expression of pure rage and she casts a stinging jinx, directed at me. I back up and fire off a spell without thinking and it slices a skull that was hanging on the wall in half when Rosaline dodges it. I step back to rejoin the ranks of aurors I had rushed away from. Grindelwald pulls Rosaline’s hair away from her face and presses his lips to her ear, whispering something I can’t make out. When he pulls away, Rosaline nods and her shoulders set firmly. She disarms Dawes and Jeanette, sending their wands flying. They go scrambling after them, leaving the rest of us to deal with Rosaline and two of Grindelwalds henchmen. While Grindelwalds men advance on us, Rosaline continues firing off spells, sending Tina flying into the wall behind her. As she falls to the floor in a heap, Theseus cries out in pain and clutches at his chest. Newt steps up beside me and, together, we disarm and bind Grindelwalds two men.

“What’s wrong, Mr. Scamander?” Grindelwald taunts. “You revealed me in New York, but you haven’t the courage to attack the woman whose heart you broke?”

Newt opens his mouth to say something, but closes it again in favor of lifting his wand a little higher. He moves slightly closer to me and I bump his shoulder with mine to reassure him.

“I spared you last time, but you won’t be so fortunate now.” Grindelwald steps out from behind Rosaline and draws his wand “Crucio!”

Newt crumples beside me, crying out and whimpering in pain. I drop down beside him, hands hovering over his body as he convulses, completely unsure of what to do.

“Stop this!” I cry. “You bastard, stop!”

“That is enough, Grindelwald!” Dumbledore roars. He shoots across the room and roughly shoves Grindelwald, breaking the curse. “Killing innocent men, you’re a traitor to your kind!”

I help Newt to his feet and grasp his face between my hands and look him over quickly before moving on to check on Tina and Theseus. Tina holds her non-dominant arm close to her chest and I carefully pull it away from her body to check it over. She winces.

“Can you move it?” She shakes her head and I gently press the tip of my wand to her forearm. “Ferula.”

A faint click indicates that her bones are back in the proper place and her arm is wrapped tightly in a bandage with a simple sling around her neck. Tina waves me off when I try to do more and points to Theseus. He’s managed to prop himself up and is trying to catch his breath.

“I’m fine,” he insists when I drop down beside him and turn his face from side to side and move on to check his ribs for any damage.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

He nods. “She just threw me back a ways. Nothing but my pride is hurt.”

I nod jerkily and haul him to his feet. Dawes and Jeanette have managed to circle back around and Jeanette helps Tina up. Grindelwalds men have managed to recover and advance on us.

“You two take care of those idiots,” Dawes and Jeanette nod. “Theseus, Newt, and Tina, you advance on Rosaline, I’ll grab her from behind.”

We break apart and head off to our own assignments. Dumbledore and Grindelwald clash in the center of the classroom and I have to shield myself from stray spells. Grindelwald’s men go down easily and Rosaline is distracted with dueling Newt, Theseus, and Tina all at once. She doesn’t notice me creeping up.

“Expelliarmus,” I hiss. Her wand flies across the room and Tina manages to catch it before it hits the floor.

“Wha-?” She whips around and her eyes go wide.

“Confundus,” I point my wand directly at her and cast. She presses a hand to her forehead as if suddenly dizzy and begins to fall to the floor. “Arresto Momentum!”

I manage to slow her enough that she doesn’t hurt herself when she makes contact with the hardwood.

“Go!” Dumbledore yells, having momentarily pushed Grindelwald back. “Get to my office!”

I cast a quick mobilicorpus and lift Rosaline from the floor. She rouses long enough to realize what’s happening. Tina casts fumos and follows quickly behind Theseus, who leads the way up the stairs. Grindelwald swipes at Rosaline as we pass, but misses as the smoke reaches his eyes and clogs his mouth. As soon as the door is closed, I lock it behind us and release Rosaline. She immediately makes for the door and Theseus and Newt grab both her arms.

“Let me go!” she cries. She thrashes about, clawing and kicking at both Newt and Theseus when she realizes she no longer has her wand. “Gellert!” she screams. “Gellert!”

The dueling continues on the other side of the door, but Grindelwald has taken more of an interest in spelling the door open. Theseus tasks Dawes and Jeanette with barricading the door and standing guard.

“Unhand me!” Rosaline demands.

I grit my teeth and whip around to face her, my wand pointed directly at her chest. “Immobulus.” And then her feet. “Locomotor Mortis.”

“Where are we supposed to go from here?” Tina asks.

I close my eyes and rub my temples. Albus wouldn’t have sent us in here unless there were a way out. My eyes snap open and I immediately begin searching the room.

“What is it?” Theseus.

“There!” I snatch up the flower pot on Dumbledore’s desk. The swirling fern fronds are artfully placed to conceal something much more useful to us than soil. “Floo powder!”

“His fireplace is connected to the floo network?” Dawes says, watching me pull each frond from the flower pot.

Newt shrugs. “He’s not exactly one for rules, is he?”

I roll my eyes and summon my frozen cousin to me. “We’ll go to my flat, understood? 

“Grindelwald will expect us to go to the Ministry,” Theseus explains. “He may come looking for us and cannot be allowed to reclaim this woman.”

Everyone nods and I step into the fireplace with a handful of floo powder. “The Cursed Stacks!” I declare, and throw down the powder. We disappear in a swirl of green flames.

I step from the fireplace and wipe my shoes on the mat on the hearth. Rosaline stumbles out behind me, having broken free of each binding spell and rounds on me.

“Give me my wand,” she growls.

I snort. “No. I wouldn’t give it to you, even if I had it. Clearly, I can’t trust you yet.”

She runs at me and I stun her before casting mobilicorpus one more time, just as Theseus and Newt come through the floo. Theseus sighs and Newt gazes sadly at Rosaline’s floating form. Tina, Dawes, and Jeanette come through one after the other. I scold them when they start tracking soot into my library.

Dawes pales and immediately goes back to wipe his shoes on the mat. “Sorry, miss.”

“Thanks,” I mutter, clearing away the footprints with a quick scourgify.

“Dawes, go back to the Ministry, let the head of the DMLE know we’ve found Rosaline Vaughan,” Theseus says. “Lawsonne, you’ll stay here.”

“How long, sir?” she asks.

“As long as necessary.”

Both aurors nod and Dawes disappears with a loud pop.

“What do we do now?” Theseus asks me.

I shake my head. “I’ll set her up in her room and then we’ll wait till she wakes up.”

“Are you worried about her trying to get away?” Tina asks.

“I’ll tether her to the bedpost. She won’t be able to leave the room.”

“I want my wand back,” Rosaline says firmly. She leans back in her chair and away from the table.

“No.”

“It’s my wand, I should have it.”

I snort. “Tell us where you’ve been, and you’ll have it back.”

She looks down her nose at Theseus and I. “As if.”

“Perhaps Credence, then,” Theseus presses.

“No,” she says.

“Fine, we’ll keep your wand safe for you till you feel like sharing.”

She folds her arms over her chest and glares at us as we push our chairs back from the table and excuse ourselves from the room. As soon as the door is closed, Theseus pulls me to the side.

“She doesn’t seem quite right,” he says. “She’s never been that combative before, has she?”

I shake my head. “Not since she was little and I wouldn’t let her use my wand.”

“Any idea what could be wrong?”

“I have no idea, but we’ve only just gotten her back. Maybe she’ll come back to us.”

He nods and takes my hand. “Maybe.”

Rosaline is still sitting in the same chair as she was when I left her. She glares up at me, her hair tilted to the side, as I slide a bowl of potato soup across the table. She slowly reaches out and pushes the bowl off the table. The soup splatters across the floor and I just barely manage to catch the bowl before it crashes against the hardwood. I sigh and spell away the mess before sitting down.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you do that since mother placed mashed peas in front of you when you were five,” I comment.

She sneers at me, but refuses to comment. “Haven’t brought Theseus with you this time, have you?” she says. “Didn’t want to be around you for long, did he?”

“Mm,” I hum. “Perhaps. Or maybe I’ve snuck in. I’m clever enough to do that, aren’t I?”

“Not quite clever enough to convince a man to date you though.”

“Ah, yes. You’re really just dragging me along behind the broomstick, aren’t you? Just going for the fatal blow.” I lean back in my chair, my arms thrown up in mock surrender. “Oh no! You’ve backed me into an emotional corner! I’m completely trapped! Fuck you.”

“No need to get angry with me, cousin,” she says, clearly pleased with herself.

“Is this really what you’ve been learning all this time you’ve been with Grindelwald?”

“Not everything.”

“Alright then, what’s his next move to be?”

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew.”

“Of course. Perhaps you’d tell me why you visited Dumbledore, then.”

“I wanted to see an old friend,” she says sweetly, her annoyance painfully clear. “It’s my turn to ask a question now, yes?” I roll my eyes and gesture for her to speak. “Why am I being held hostage? I’ve yet to commit a crime!”

“You’ve aided in the conquering and subjugation of the wizarding world and muggles,” I say simply. “I can’t allow you to leave.”

“Eleanore?” Theseus pokes his head into the room. “We need assistance with the wards.”

I nod and place the bowl in front of Rosaline again. I hit it with a sticking charm and fill it with water.

“Don’t cause any trouble while I’m gone.”

“I want my wand!” she yells.

“No!” I call back.

“Something is wrong with her,” I say softly. “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but my suspicions that she may have been bewitched are only getting stronger.”

Theseus nods. “Is there any way to prove that’s true?”

“Only time can tell, really, and if she were, then being away from whoever cast the spell could have adverse effects, the likes of which I cannot predict. But…” I trail off, biting at the end of my thumb.

“What?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think we can keep her here. As secure as my wards are, they’re nothing compared to those of the Ministry, especially down in the Department of Mysteries. As it stands, Grindelwald may very well be looking for Rosaline and he may be able to find my flat, or my parents house, or even my… my shop. Merlin, Theseus, I have to tell my parents to leave their home. I’ll have to close the shop!”

I begin pacing and Theseus chases after me. “Nora.” He tries to get a hand around my arm, but I manage to slip from his grasp. “Nora, please.”

I pace back and forth across the library, muttering about plans to move my parents. Plans for the shop. Plans to keep my employees safe. Theseus manages to get in front of my and grab hold of my arms, stopping me where I stand.

“Eleanore, love, please stop,” he says softly, careful in the way that he cups my face in his hands.

I freeze and rest my hands on his forearms. “You called me love,” I murmur.

“Yes,” he nods firmly. “I-I did. Intentionally and with complete confidence.”

I choke out a laugh and Theseus wipes a tear from my eye with his thumb. “Thank you for that.”

“Is it that funny?”

“No, I’m just really happy that you feel like we’re at a point in our relationship where you can call me love. Because, believe me, I’ve been wanting to for a while, but I didn’t want to overstep any bounds.”

He smiles and presses his forehead to mine. “Never. You could never. But you are getting very wound up over this. Your parents have already been contacted and have been moved to a safehouse. I can send Dawes to the shop and make sure James and Tessa make it home alright.”

“Really?”

“Of course. There’s a real risk that they could be targeted. However, we haven’t seen any evidence that Grindelwald is doing anything to find Rosaline.”

“Sounds like something we should keep quiet for now.” He nods. “Where’s Newt? How has he been handling all of this?”

“He went home to take care of his creatures and check on Jacob and Bunty. He should be back tomorrow morning.”

“Is there anything we can do about Rosaline between then and now? Anyone we could contact about moving her to the Ministry?”

“There’s one person who may be able to help us.”

“Alright. We’ll work through the night if we have to.”

“We’ve got permission to move her into a cell in the Department of Mysteries,” Theseus announces when he sits down at breakfast.

“Really?” I say.

“We’ll be able to move her there around five this evening.” Theseus takes a slice of toast from the rack and butters it.

“Alright.”

“Is everything alright?” he asks.

“She refuses to eat anything. Either pushes it off the table or lets it sit till it’s cold, warm, or just disgusting altogether.” I place my tea on the table. “Could this be due to the bewitching?”

“It’s not quite my area of expertise, but it might. Maybe you should contact Dumbledore and get his opinion.”

I nod and push back from the table. “I’ll owl him. Perhaps he might take a look at her once we’ve gotten her settled.”

“Ah! The Head Auror is back,” Rosaline says when Theseus enters the room. I follow after him and she ignores me.

“You’re being moved,” Theseus says, folding his arms across his chest.

“Oh, am I?”

“You’re under investigation. As soon as the room is prepared, we’ll transport you to the Ministry,” Theseus explains.

She scoffs. “You’d have me locked up, would you, cousin?” she questions, finally lifting her eyes to meet mine.

I shake my head. “You’ve left me no choice.”

“Is this punishment? Are you seeking a surrogate for your own pain? The fact that you’ll never have Theseus, yet I’ve found true love eats you alive, doesn’t it? That’s why you’re doing this. You have nothing on which to hold me, you refuse me my wand and the respect I deserve, and now you’re confining me to the Ministry?”

Theseus and I glance at each other and Rosaline catches it. Something flares in her eyes.

“Speaking of lovers, how is Leta, Theseus?” Rosaline asks.

Theseus steps forward, his mouth open, and I stop him with one hand on his chest. His face steadily grows more and more red with his anger.

“You know damn well how she is,” he hisses.

“Oh, Theseus,” Rosaline cackles gleefully. “You always were a halfwit. No wonder they were begging me to replace you.”

With a flick of my wand, I cast a wordless silencio, and all sounds from Rosaline cease. Theseus sighs and his shoulders sag. I place a cup of water down on the table in front of her.

“Drink.” She purses her lips and I point my wand at her. “It’s the water or a hex, I’m certain I know which you would prefer.”

She glares at me and snatches the glass from the table and slugs it back and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. She slams the glass down and folds her arms. I watch with mild disinterest as the sleeping draught begins to take effect. Her eyelids grow heavier and heavier until her head lolls back and her mouth hangs open.

“That should hold her till we can get her to the Ministry,” I say.

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that,” Theseus murmurs.

“You had every right to.”

He shakes his head. “What did she mean when she said you’d “never have me”?”

I press my lips together and take his hand in mine. “This isn’t a conversation to have here.”

I lead him into my bedroom and sit him on the bed. I stand in front of him and he looks at me expectantly. I take a deep breath and begin pacing.

“Again with the pacing?”

I nod. “I can’t explain myself and look you in the eye.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve cared for you longer than you have for me.”

“Wh-how long?”

“Years.”

“Years?”

“Yes. Years. That’s why I pushed you away when you started seeing Leta and why I tried to stay even further out of your way after you proposed. I didn’t want to hang around or torture myself because, as I’m sure you’ve figured out, I’m a great fan of self preservation. I threw myself into the shop and studying so that I didn’t have to accidentally get in your way.” He opens his mouth to speak but I stop and face him, arms folded. “I was happy for you and Leta, I promise. I never wanted to pursue you or anything. I never did, and Rosaline was convinced that I should for a very long time. But I could see how happy she made you. I mourned with you after… after Paris. I didn’t expect this-” I gesture between the two of us. “-to ever happen. Ever. And I understand if you don’t feel comfortable continuing on because I know it’s all very strange for this to come up after months of carrying on not knowing.”

“Nora,” he interrupts. “I’m not going to leave you.”

“I… what?”

“I’m. Not. Going. To. Leave. You,” he repeats, pushing himself up from the bed and taking my hands in his. “You really think something like this could turn me off you?”

I shrug. “I should have told you,” I say weakly.

“Why?”

“I don’t know… you deserved to know? It’s not as if I was the kindest to you while you were with Leta, and then-”

“You didn’t do anything,” he insists.

“Then with Paris and what Rosaline just said, it makes me think that maybe I should have just let things stay as they were.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you not happy being with me?” he asks.

“I’m happier than I’ve been in nearly ten years.”

“Then everything is fine. You aren’t Leta. You aren’t supposed to be. You yourself said the first night you invited me out that you didn’t want to be her replacement. You’re not. You are Eleanore Vaughan. You are a world class dueler, one hair shy of a curse breaker, and an excellent shop owner. Not to mention wicked smart.” He brings one of my hands up to his chest and places it over his heart. “This is yours. Not because I was lonely. Not because you talked me into it. But because I want you, because you’re the only you there will ever be.”

“Theseus…”

“I meant it when I said I didn’t think you wanted me to be interested in spending time with you. I never wanted to push you for anything when we were younger. Then Leta and I grew close. She and I loved each other. Circumstances change, though, and we’re allowed to want and-and to love and care about other people.” He shakes his head and pulls me into a hug. “Rosaline knows exactly how to get to you. She’s not in her right mind. We’ll get her to the Ministry, Dumbledore will look her over, and we’ll figure out how to help her.”

I nod and he pulls back.

“I wouldn’t let you go for all the gold in the world,” he says.

“Even if I’ve murdered someone?”

“Even then. May have to destroy any evidence first, but I’d never leave you.”

I snort and cover my face with my hands. “I’m sorry, Theseus. I’m just… I don’t think I quite feel I deserve you yet.”

“Give it time,” he smiles down at me and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’m not going anywhere without you. Especially because your cousin is unconscious in the other room and we’ve got to have her at the Ministry in half an hour.”

“Shit, right. I’ll gather up everything we’ll need.” I rush out of the bedroom and skid to a stop in the hallway before turning on my heel and racing back into the room.

I cup his face and pull him into a kiss. He wraps his arms around my middle and kisses me back.

“What was that for?” he asks, out of breath.

“Because you’re you and I never thank you for that,” I say. “Thank you, love. For everything. I couldn’t do any of this without you.”

He laughs. “You just said you needed to put everything we needed together. We can thank each other later.” But he doesn’t let me go and leans in for another kiss instead.

I peck him on the lips and pull back. “You’ll have to let me go so I can.”

He sighs and releases me. I shuffle back out into the hallway.

“Hurry! We’ve only got twenty five minutes, now.”

------------

Part 9

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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Author and Auror (7/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Okay, this chapter is particularly Dramatic and we’ll learn a little more about Nora than we have in other chapters. She’s a little more assertive than she’s been in previous chapters, which was kind of fun to play around with. Again, I am quite a bit behind where @thorne93​ is in our collaboration, but I’ll catch up eventually. Until then, please enjoy lmao

Previously, with Rosaline....

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Canon typical violence, dueling, minor injury

part 6

Twelve aurors sit around the table with Theseus at the head. Tina sits to his right with me on his left and Newt next to me. The aurors grow restless after fifteen minutes of silence and Theseus finally decides to start the meeting.

“As you all very well know, we’ve had a break in the Rosaline Vaughan case,” he says. “Seeing as she’s paired with one of the most feared wizards in the world, we should be wary of what this could mean for the wizarding leadership in England.”

“And just what does that mean?” a blond auror asks.

“I’m sure you all remember Ms. Vaughan’s campaign for minister several years back, Dawes. While I myself have not been fully privy to her dealings between then and now, I’m certain that her cousin is more than capable of explaining.” He gestures for me to speak.

“Rosaline was at the top of her class at Hogwarts. She worked her way through the ministry ranks in a few short years and began campaigning for Minister. She’s powerful and wicked smart. Grindelwald, as you very well know, is also powerful, and extremely dangerous. Now he’s coupled himself with Rosaline. I don’t know what he’s planning to do with her, but she’s still very influential in many ministry circles and has maintained just about every contact from when she was running for minister. If he can use that to his advantage, all hope for us could be lost.”

“And what makes you think she’d do any of that?”

I snort. “Who in their right mind would get engaged to Grindelwald? She’s probably bewitched, or something.”

“You’ve got no way to prove that. What if she just wanted more power for herself?” Dawes asks, looking much too smug for my liking.

“Are you mad?!” I hiss, my anger getting the better of me.

“Rosaline wasn’t power hungry,” Newt interjects. “She stepped away from her campaign, didn’t she? She was a hair's breadth away from being one of the most powerful people in wizarding London, and she walked away. Why would anyone looking for power take a job as an assistant to a magizoologist? The closest they’d ever get to power is a dragon, and they’re not exactly the type to help anyone with anything.”

Dawes goes silent, scowling at both Newt and I.

“What’s wrong, Dawes?” I ask. “ You look as if someone stuffed a wedge of lemon in your mouth.”

He snorts. “It’s just that I’ve got to wonder exactly why a shop attendant and a zookeeper are being brought onto a case as important as this.”

I shove my chair back from the table, wand already in hand. Theseus places a hand on my shoulder, silently telling me to stand down.

“Are you questioning my judgement?” he asks, his eyes narrowing.

“No, sir, I just-”

“You don’t seem to understand these two as well as I do,” Theseus says. “Eleanore Vaughan was the best dueler in her graduating year. Newton Scamander, my brother, has more experience tracking and detaining living beings than anyone in this room.” Dawes says nothing. “Do you need a demonstration?”

I watch as he tries to sink down into his chair.

“I’d pay to see that,” the witch sitting next to Tina says.

Murmurs of agreement ripple through the Aurors in the room and I look to Theseus with satisfaction. Newt has one hand covering his mouth to hide his smile and I see Tina choke back a laugh.

“Do you think you’re up for a duel, Dawes?” I ask. “It’s been nearly fifteen years since I was in school. A lot can change.” Theseus snorts and I smack his arm.

I can see Dawes eye twitch. “Only if you want to,” he says indignantly.

“Then it’s settled!” I push myself up from my chair and gesture to the doorway. “Shall we take this outside?”

“Fine,” he grumbles.

It’s a quick walk down to the training rooms. There are still groups of young aurors working out and duelling one another when we walk in. All activity ceases as soon as Theseus walks through the doors. Every single trainee stands at attention until Theseus says otherwise. He tells them to line up against the walls and put up shield charms to protect them from any stray spells, jinxes, or hexes.

“Sorry, sir, but who exactly’s gonna be duelin’?” one trainee asks.

“Auror Dawes has so kindly volunteered himself to duel Ms. Vaughan today,” Theseus explains. “I expect you’ll understand what you’re meant to learn once the duel is over.”

Murmurs ripple through the congregated aurors and trainees. I block them out as I get into position at one end of the gym. Dawes takes his time getting into position, stripping his jacket and shirt off as he goes, leaving him in a white singlet and his slacks. I raise my eyebrows and look to Theseus who just shrugs and walks over.

“He’s trying to intimidate you, I think,” he says.

“Hm,” I hum and tuck my wand back into my pocket and work open the top button of my blouse. “Suppose I’ll have to do the same, yeah?”

Theseus blushes but laughs all the same when I’m down to my crimson silk camisole. He takes my vest and top from me and backs off to the sidelines to referee. There are several whistles from the trainees as I pull my hair back into a loose bun and ready my wand.

“Come on, Dawes. You may be under the employ of the Ministry, but I haven't the time to stand around all day and wait for you to finish with your little stretches.”

Dawes looks up and his face goes beet red when he takes in my appearance. “Aren’t you a little indecent?”

“Same could be said of you with that gut you’re working on there. I should expect an experienced dueler to appreciate a full range of motion. Now,” I lift my wand. “Shall we blither on like idiots, or duel?”

I can practically hear him grind his teeth from where I stand and I have to forcibly keep a smirk from my face. We bow to one another and ready our wands. Dawes is the first to act, throwing a loud and aggressive incarcerous at me with little thought. I cast a quick protego and the spell fizzles out before it even reaches me. In retaliation, I cast a stinging jinx and a full body bind one after the other. Dawes is only able to protect against the first jinx and his hit with the body bind immediately after. He struggles against the spell and growls angrily. I tilt my head to the side and wait for him to break free of the spell.

“Nora…” Theseus warns.

I wave him off and turn back just in time to see Dawes free himself and advance on me, sending a cutting curse my way. I dodge it and glare at him.

“You tried to cut me?!” I hiss.

“We never set rules, remember?” He seems much too pleased with himself

“Diffindo,” I hiss. I flick my wand at him and a small cut slices vertically up his bicep.

He cries out and grabs at his injured arm. He tries to fire off another spell but I shield myself from it before casting silencio coupled with a flipendo. He manages to right himself and stumbles to his feet, hands immediately flying to his mouth. He tries to say something and nothing comes out. I cast locomotor mortis and his legs snap together. Next comes a full body bind, and a quick depulso sends him flying across the room. He slides to a stop against the wall. I crouch down beside him and tilt his chin up with the tip of my wand.

“Don’t ever fucking question me again. Do you understand me?” He nods frantically and I point my wand at his mouth. “Finite incantatem.”

I walk away from him and he calls after me.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

I shake my head. “No you’re not.”

Theseus snorts and hands my blouse back. I spell the wrinkles from it and shrug into it, swiftly doing up the buttons and tucking it into my slacks. I leave my vest unbuttoned and turn to address the onlookers.

“So. What have we learned today?” I ask.

“That you should be a fucking auror, that’s what,” one young man says. The room erupts into laughter.

“Aside from that,” Theseus says.

“Overconfidence is useless,” a mousy girl says. “And underestimating our opponents can be deadly, if not, in the very least, bad for our health.”

“Exactly. Now, as you were.” Theseus pulls one of his aurors to the side as we’re headed for the door. “Get him to a healer. If they ask what happened, just tell them he was a prick and got what was coming to him.”

They nod and hurry over to help Dawes to his feet and usher him out the door as soon as he’s steady enough.

“I genuinely didn’t mean to cut him that deep,” I mutter as they stumble past. “Think I may have gone a little overboard there at the end.”

Theseus shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it. I meant what I said. He got what was coming to him. After all this time out of school, you’re still a brilliant dueler.”

“Aw, you’re just saying that.”

He shakes his head and slings one arm over my shoulders, pulling me into his side. “I would never, and will never say anything to you that I don’t mean.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I need to ask you something.”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Newt has been avoiding Tina, hasn't he? And whenever Rosaline is mentioned he goes quiet,” I lift my eyebrows and he presses his lips together. “Quieter than usual, anyways. I was told he wouldn't stop talking about Tina after he came back from the state's, but something has changed since Paris.”

“I can't answer a question you haven't asked, Theseus.”

“Has he got feelings for Rosaline?”

I nod slowly. Theseus sighs. “I haven't known very long. He told me when we were in Norway.”

“Why didn't he say anything sooner?”

I glance around and pull him into his office when I'm sure the coast is clear. “You know how your brother is. He's not exactly the most socially adept, he'll admit that freely enough, and when Rosaline started working with him she'd said something about not wanting anyone to break her heart.”

He scowls. “Surely that couldn't have been true after all these years.”

“Perhaps, but he took it to heart and did his best to move on. But Rosaline confessed that she loved him in Paris and then, well… everything went pear shaped. Newt is still processing things, and certain things have been pushed aside while he does that.”

“His relationship with Tina.” I nod and he scrubs a hand over his face. “Alright then… do you think it's wise to have her on this case given the circumstances?”

“She's a damn good auror. It'd be a shame to waste her skills, especially given the fact that her sister joined Grindelwald.”

“Of course. Then we've got our team then, don't we?”

-------------

Part 8

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

#theseus scamanderxreader #readerxtheseus scamander #theseus scamander x reader #reader x theseus scamander #theseus scamander #newt scamander

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Author and Auror (5/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Back again with another installment in my collaborative work with @thorne93​. For anyone who’s keeping up with both fics, please note that I am severely behind of where Thorne is with her half, but I’ll catch up eventuaTime for a date? Question mark? Who know’s what it is (I do, I know what it is, because I wrote it.) Regardless, time for almost drunk adventures with Theseus and Nora, please enjoy!

Previously, with Rosaline…

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: None

Part 4

“We’ve reached a deal with the American Ministry to allow us to take on Ms. Goldstein as a liaison.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!”

“She’ll be housed by the Ministry from now on, so your parents will be freed up a bit.”

“Does this mean the Aurors are able to begin working on the Grindelwald case? Actually looking for Rosaline instead of badgering Newt and I for information?”

“Thankfully, yes.” Theseus sighs and combs a hand through his hair. “We’ve made enough progress that the department head finally took the issue seriously.”

“Well it’s not as if he’s been a particularly huge fan of anything that Dumbledore gets himself tangled up in. I’m not surprised he’d put off this investigation for as long as possible.”

Theseus snorts. “He’s a stubborn man.”

“Mmm, that he is.” I watch as he scratches a few notes into the margin of the file he’s working on. “You should come to pub night.”

“You want me to do what?”

“Come on, Theseus, it’s our monthly pub night. Come with us!”

“I’m not drinking with James and Tessa,” he says. “They’re practically children!”

“I never said you had to drink with them. They invite their friends and they have a nice time on their own.” I lean on his desk. “You’ve been working really hard. You deserve a break.”

“I don’t know…”

“Fine,” I sigh loudly. “This is a thinly veiled attempt to ask you to get a drink with me. You caught me.”

I watch as a smile slowly shapes his lips and he finally looks away from his work. “Ms. Vaughan, are you flirting with me?”

I smile and tilt my head to the side. “Guess you’ll have to come to pub night and find out.”

“Aw, come on!”

I push off his desk and head for the door. “Ten tonight, Theseus,” I call over my shoulder. “Don’t be late.”

“What pub?” he calls back.

“The one three doors down from my store. Don’t. Be. Late.”

“You actually invited the Head Auror out for a drink?!” James asks. “Who are you?”

“Your boss.”

He nods. “Very true.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.”

“You think he’ll actually show?”

I shrug. “He might. If he doesn’t I’ll head home early. No harm done.”

Samuel knocks twice on the bar in front of me. “Looks like you’ll have to stick around a while yet.”

I look up at the bartender, confused. “What?”

He gestures to the door. “Your boy just walked in.”

Theseus stands just to the side of the doorway, next to the coat rack, scanning the late Friday night crowd. I lift one hand and wave to him and when his eyes settle on me, he smiles and his shoulders relax. He carefully picks his way through the throng of people and meets me at the bar.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show.”

He shrugs. “I was held up at the office.” He tilts his head to the side. “You changed.”

“Oh, yeah,” I kick at a loose nail sticking out of the floor and the flowy leg of my dark maroon slacks swishes. “I was working on that book I’ve been writing and knocked over the ink pot. Couldn’t really go out with a huge ink splotch on my trousers, could I?”

“You look nice,” he says. My face heats. “It’s a good color on you.”

“Glad you think so.” I gesture to the bartender. “What’s your poison?”

James snorts beside me and I shove him away. He muffles his laughter and wanders off in search of Tessa and their friends. Theseus smiles and orders firewhiskey. We take our drinks to an open booth and Theseus sinks into the soft leather of the bench seat.

“You know, I haven’t been out like this in probably five years.”

“You were in a relationship.”

“Yeah, but I still could have gone out for pub night.”

“With your subordinates?”

“You do it!”

“Tessa and James aren’t my subordinates. They’re my employees. It’s different.”

“How?”

“They’re basically family. How many of your Aurors could you say that about? Sure, you’ve got each other’s backs, but are they truly your family?”

He scowls. “Bloody Ravenclaw.”

“That’s not an answer, Theseus.”

“You always want answers, don’t you?”

“I’m a poor mix of Ravenclaw and Head Auror’s best friend. It’s in my nature.” I watch as he sips his drink. “You don’t have to actually answer.”

“No, it’s fine.” He shakes his head. “I never thought of it like that before.”

“You don’t have to. I overstepped.” I chew at the inside of my cheek. “I’m projecting. It’s not fair to you, especially after the month you’ve had.”

“You’ve been holding everyone together since Paris,” he says softly. “I’m surprised you’ve fared this well.”

“Someone has to take care of you idiots,” I mumble and fold my arms on the table.

Theseus reaches across and grabs one of my hands and squeezes gently. “Maybe you should take your own advice then, hm?”

“And what advice is that?”

“Let someone else take care of you for a change, Nora.”

I laugh. “Yeah, maybe.” I rest my chin on my forearm. “You think we could start over? Just have a few drinks and talk about work? Forget about everything else that’s happening for a bit?”

He nods. “Sounds doable.”

I grin. “Fantastic.”

“I don’t remember you being such a lightweight,” I laugh as Theseus slings an arm around my shoulders.

“I wasn’t!” he insists. “I just have-haven’t had much to drink recently.” “Sounds like you should have watched what you were drinking instead.”

He hums. “Yeah, maybe. You still seeing that bloke from down the street?”

“Robert?” I shake my head. “No, I proved to be too much of a challenge for him halfway through dinner and he excused himself.” “Halfway?” I nod and he whistles. “Weak. Men are weak.”

“You’re a man, Theseus.”

“Was I saying I’m exempt?”

I laugh. “He wasn’t as nice as I hoped he’d be. It’s fine.”

“You deserve someone so much better than that tosser.”

“I appreciate that.”

He pulls me firmly against his side when he stumbles slightly and I do my best to right him.

“I didn’t mean to drink so much.”

“Then why did you?”

Theseus laughs and leans heavily on my shoulder. “I don’t know. Liquid courage? Being around you makes me nervous sometimes.”

“Wait, what?” My arm around his middle tightens and he chuckles to himself, pressing one fist to his mouth. “Why on earth would you be nervous around me?”

“Dunno.” He shrugs and I lurch forward under his weight. “Where are we going?”

“Back to mine. You’re too drunk to apparate. You can spend the night.”

“I don’t want to impose,” he slurs out.

“Theseus, you’re completely pissed, and I’m tipsy. There’s no way I’d be able to safely get you back to your place myself.”

“Alright.” He nods in quick jerky motions. “Why are you so nice to me?”

“Because you’re my friend and I care a great deal about you.”

He falls silent and allows me to walk him back to my home. Halfway there it begins to rain. Theseus casts an umbrella charm that only half works and we’re nearly soaked by the time we’re twenty feet from my stoop.

Theseus seems to have sobered up some and has stopped leaning on me and instead leans on a lamppost. He tilts his head towards the sky and let’s the rain slick his hair back. I shove my hands in my pockets and watch.

“I remember the last time you got caught in the rain,” I murmur. “Something changed that night. Between us, at least.”

He sighs and nods. “The last person who had treated me like that had been either Leta or Newt.”

“Like what?”

“Like you cared.” He finally opens his eyes and holds out a hand to me. “You… I’m not sure. You’ve always been here. And I’ve been too daft to understand what that meant. My head still gets a little fuzzy when I think about it too long.”

He pulls me closer when I take his hand. “We’ll get sick if we stay out here much longer. We should go inside.”

He tilts his head to the side. “May I kiss you, Nora?”

“You want to?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“And is this something you’ve thought about outside of being drunk?” He frowns. “I only ask because I don’t want to… to get my hopes up and then have you waking up in the morning and changing your mind.”

“What? Why would I change my mind?”

“You watched your fiance die, Theseus. I don’t want to be her replacement. I don’t think I could handle it. And how am I supposed to be sure that you’re ready to move on?”

“Merlin, Nora.” He places a hand on either side of my face. “You could never replace anyone. You are so bloody special. Shit, I swear you’re the only one who’s made me feel anything in two months.”

“You never curse,” I squeak.

“Is that all you got from that?!” His head falls back against the lamppost with a soft thud.

“I don’t-fuck, Theseus, I don’t know!” I pull his hands away from my face and wrap my arms around myself. “It’s freezing out here and we’re both soaked. Can we please go inside and talk about this when we’re sober?”

He stares at me for a moment before he nods and pushes off the post. He reaches out and takes my hand. I’m surprised by it’s warmth and unintentionally hold on tighter. Once we’re inside, Theseus heads to the guest room and I watch as he closes the door behind him. I pull a towel from the linen closet and close myself in my room.

As soon as the door is closed, I strip down and towel off as best I can. I wrap my hair up in the towel and dress in flannel pajamas. I sit on my bed and pull open the drawer of my bedside table. A phial of sobering potion sits nestled between pepper up, wide eye, and my emergency wiggenweld. I pluck the sobering potion from among it’s friends and place it in my pocket. I wring as much water from my hair as I can and comb through it before sliding my feet into a pair of slippers and heading downstairs. I start a fire in the hearth and move on to make a pot of tea.

Theseus enters the kitchen as I’m pouring a dose of sobering potion into each tea cup. I hand one to Theseus and sit down at the table. I drink my tea quickly and rest my head against the edge of the table. I wait till Theseus has set his teacup down to look up again. He sits across the table, regarding me calmly.

“I think that got a little out of hand,” I say softly.

“So me telling you how I feel is out of hand?”

I shake my head. “That’s not what I mean at all.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I care about you so much, Theseus. But the last thing I expected you to do tonight was ask to kiss me. Hell, I never expected you’d ever want anything more than a hug from me.”

“I figured you’d prefer that I ask to kiss you rather than just doing it.”

“I don’t understand why you’d want to in the first place.”

“Because you’re you,” he says. “You’re the one who took me in and made sure I took care of myself. Or even left the house, for that matter. You’re the one who made me go back to work and realize that I have people who care about me. All of the time that I have spent with you since we came back from Paris…” he shakes his head. “You are the first person I think of when I wake up in the morning. Somehow, I think it’s the same for you.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and nod. “It is.”

“Then what was that out in the street?”

I swallow thickly. “I don’t kiss drunk men.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Is that it?”

My shoulders sag. “You scare the shit out of me and you have since day one. If all you wanted from me was one night, there’s no way I would go through with it. I don’t want… You’re my best friend-”

“Newt is your best friend.”

“You’re one of my best friends. If our relationship changes, I don’t want it to be because of a mistake.”

“If I wanted a mistake, I wouldn’t have spent the night with you.” He reaches across the table and takes my hand. “Eleanore, you are much more important to me than a one night stand.”

“So… two nights, then?”

“Three, actually. Maybe four, but then I’d have to cut all ties. Can’t let feelings get involved, now can we?”

I laugh. “Obviously not.”

I watch as he slowly gets up from the table. My smile slips away as he pulls me to my feet and dips his head so he can look me in the eyes.

“I never, ever want to hurt you, Nora. Never. I just want to be near you. And if you feel for me as I do for you, I’m going to keep asking to kiss you till you let me.”

“Promise?”

He nods. “I promise.”

“Thank you.”

He smiles and pulls me into a tight hug. I press my nose to his chest and hug him back. He kisses to the top of my head.

“Am I still allowed to stay the night?”

“Of course.” I feel a hum rumble through his chest and I hug him tighter.

Theseus catches me as I leave my room the next day. He smiles warmly and leans on the guest room door frame. He’s already dressed in his suit from the night before.

“Good morning,” he says.

I scrub my hands over my face and try to smooth down my hair. I breathe deeply before responding.

“How do you look like that after drinking like you did last night?” I shake my head. “It’s like you’re not human.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“You look like a normal, operational, handsome person. I just look like rubbish in the mornings.”

He frowns. “I don’t think you’ve got that quite right. I feel rather lucky to be able to see you before you’ve fully woken up.”

I scowl at him. “Don’t lie to me, Theseus.”

He moves across the hallway and leans on my bedroom doorway. “Is there any way I can prove to you I’m not lying to you?”

“No.”

He laughs and pulls me into a hug. “I’ll have to work on that. I’ve been called into work. There’s new information about our case.”

I frown. “Alright. I’ll be at Newts tonight, if you need me.”

“I’ll try to visit if I can get away.”

“Be careful.”

He smiles. “You know I will.”

I press a quick kiss to his cheek before he slips his jacket on. He glides down the stairs and pauses at the door to wave to me. The door closes and I sigh before going back into my room to get ready for the day.

----------

Part 6

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

#theseus scamanderxreader #readerxtheseus scamander #theseus scamander x reader #reader x theseus scamander #theseus scamander #newt scamander

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Author and Auror (4/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Back at it again with another chapter in my collaboration with @thorne93​. This is a little shorter than the past chapters, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in the relationship growth with Nora, Newt, and Theseus. Anyway, please enjoy!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Previously, with Rosaline…

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: None

Part 3

“Theseus, we need to talk.”

“Of course,” he brushes his hands off on his trousers and walks up to the counter, leaning on his elbows. “What is it?”

“You know I like working with you, right?”

“I would hope so.”

“Okay, well…” I sigh. “I think you should go back to work at the Ministry.”

“What?”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way! I’m not trying to chase you out! But I don’t think it’s healthy for you to keep running away from your responsibilities.” He doesn’t answer and I feel my heart begin to pound. “It’s been weeks, Theseus. You’re my friend, and I care about you, but I can’t watch you seclude yourself like this any longer.”

“I’m doing fine!”

“No! You’re not! You’ve been avoiding the places you would have seen Leta before, and it’s wearing on you, and your brother, and it’s wearing on me because I don’t know how I’m supposed to help you. I understand wanting to bury your feelings, but you can’t, Theseus. And I can’t keep hiding you from the Aurors showing up on my doorstep. You need to go back because those idiots you’re in charge of are scared of the threat that Grindelwald poses to our community, and you’re the only one who can keep the order.”

He lets out a shaky breath and I immediately rush around the counter to pull him into a hug. He wraps his arms around me and shakes his head.

“You’re right,” he says.

“You’re damn right, I am.”

He laughs. “Do you suppose I’ll actually have a job when I go back?”

“Considering I told them to sod off and let you grieve, I think you might, yeah.” I hug him tighter before pulling back and reaching up to wipe away a tear that rolled down his cheek. “I’m not saying that going back to work means you have to forget her. But going back will help you learn to live without her.”

He nods. “What would I do without you?”

“Sit alone in the dark, probably.” He laughs and pulls me to his chest again. “Maybe you would have gotten lost in the moors or walked off a cliff, I don’t know. Aurors aren’t the brightest bunch.”

“You’re terrible.”

“And yet, you keep me around anyway.”

The door slams open and I jump away from Theseus.

“Nora!” Newt jogs through the stacks and pauses when he sees Theseus and I. “Did I interrupt something?”

I sigh as Theseus steps away from me and moves to inspect the books that had been returned earlier. “No, not at all. Did you need something?”

“Has Theseus been working with you?” Newt asks. “Aurors have been showing up on my doorstep, and he’s been hiding here the whole time?”

I snap my fingers twice to refocus him. “Let’s not worry about that right now. What’s wrong, Newt?”

“Right! I believe I’ve found a companion for the kelpie!”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes!” He grins. “It’s been hiding in the middle of a lake in Norway. Scared the life out of a couple of fishermen four days ago.”

“Newt, that’s wonderful!”

“I was hoping you might come with me to collect it,” he says softly.

“I thought you had Bunty working for you full time now, though.”

“I do, but… the kelpie I’ve got now doesn’t exactly like her. As I remember, it took to you quite easily.”

I smile. “So you need me because I’m the kelpie whisperer, eh?”

He laughs. “Not solely, but yes.”

I glance back at Theseus and he nods. “You should go. Tessa and James can call on me if they need help.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course. Nothing will fall to pieces if you’re gone for a few days.” He smiles. “Go have an adventure.”

“I’ll go, but only if you promise you’ll go into work while I’m gone.”

He laughs and crosses his heart. “I promise. Suit and everything.”

I grin and turn back to Newt.

“So, Norway, huh?”

“It seems like you and Theseus have gotten closer,” Newt comments.

“Yeah, I think we have.” I smile and look out across the lake. “I don’t know… after everything that’s happened, I’m just glad I still have you two.”

“I think both of us would be lost without you,” he says. “Especially Theseus.”

I snort. “He would, honestly. I think he mostly feels helpless, though. ‘S probably why he’s been avoiding work for nearly a month. Hasn’t really been back to his own flat either.”

Newt nods. “Has he been staying with you?”

“Yes. Tina is staying with my parents till we can figure out a better solution so my guest room has been open for him to use.”

“At least someone’s looking after him.”

“Mmm, yeah. But who’s looking after you?”

Newt shrugs. “Bunty helps distract me a little.”

“Is that what I asked you?”

He lays back in the grass. “No.”

“Okay then.” We sit in silence, waiting for our sources to show. “You are allowed to talk to me, you know. Processing the tough stuff on your own has never been your strong suit.”

He laughs. “I appreciate that. I just… everything happened so fast between the French ministry and the mausoleum, I’m not sure where to even begin processing.”

“What’s the thing that you’re stalling on the most?”

I watch him squeeze his eyes shut and his nose scrunches up. “Rosaline told me that she loved me,” he says softly.

“I know.”

“Did… did she actually mean that?”

I nod slowly. “She did.”

“Really?”

“Yes. She really, really meant it, Newt. Merlin…” I pick at the grass between my legs. “She wanted to tell you sooner, but you came back from the states, and you had just met Tina and you were just so excited to talk about her. She didn’t tell you because she wanted you to be happy, and she thought you’d have that happiness with Tina.”

“How long?”

I shrug. “Three, maybe four years?”

Newt covers his face with his hands and sighs. “Circe, I’m an idiot.”

“Why?”

“Because I… care about her in the same way she cares for me.”

“Oh, Newt, how long?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know… maybe three years? We were working one day and I just realized how I felt when I looked over and she was chastising the niffler.” I can see him smile between his hands. “She was so angry with him and she was shaking her finger and her brows were pulled together and her nose was all scrunched up.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell her?”

“It’s quite stupid, really.”

“Newt,” I say, an edge of warning to my voice.

He sighs heavily. “When we first started working together she said something about not letting people outside of her family in. That she didn’t want someone close enough to her heart that they could break it.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Nearly six years.”

“Merlin, Newt! And you didn’t think her mind might change between then and now?”

“I think you and I both know change isn’t exactly what Rosaline does.”

I laugh. “It seems that you’re the one thing that inspires her to change, though. I told her you were looking for a full time assistant, and that just cemented her plans to leave ministry work for good.”

“You’re lying.”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

“Four years back, when you told me you didn’t have a Cornish pixie in the box you handed me, and there was a Cornish pixie in it!”

“Pranks don’t count, dear.”

“Fine. Then you’ve never lied to me.”

“Bloody right I haven’t.” I place a hand on his arm. “It’s fine, you know. The way you feel about her.”

“But she was so hurt when I didn’t respond when we were in Flamel’s home. How could I not say anything?”

“Because you need a little longer to process that sort of information. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. And it’s not as if you’ve only got one opportunity in life to tell someone how you feel.”

“Is that why you haven’t told Theseus how you feel?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No, that’s not it.”

“Am I allowed to ask why?”

I sigh. “Yes, Newt, you are.”

“Why haven’t you told him?”

“I haven’t told him because I’m scared, and not because he won’t feel the same, but because I’m terrified of what could happen if he does. I don’t really like uncertainty. I like to have a plan, and Theseus does too. I don’t think we fit into each other’s plans in that way.”

“I don’t know…”

I lay back in the grass. “There’s just too much up in the air. Trying to add Theseus to that right now… It’d just complicate everything. We’re trying to find Rosaline, Theseus just lost Leta. Anything more than working through that would be too much.”

“Maybe.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“Perhaps-”

“Newt, I’ve already gone round in circles with Rosaline about this. I’m certainly not going to do it with you too.”

Newt opens his mouth to say something, but he’s caught off by a splash and a chorus of yells and screams.

“I’ll be that’s our kelpie,” he says.

We haul ourselves to our feet and head to the edge of the water.

---------

Part 5

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

#theseus scamanderxreader #readerxtheseus scamander #theseus scamander x reader #reader x theseus scamander #theseus scamander #newt scamander

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Author and Auror (2/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Alright, here we are with chapter two, more exciting stuff happening and a little more angst and all kinds of nonsense. As soon as this chapter is through, we’re out of canon material and it’s entirely from my brain meats, with help from @thorne93 ​.  Again, I literally haven’t seen Crimes of Grindelwald since it was in theaters, so this will not be fully accurate. Anyway, have fun!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Previously, with Rosaline…

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count:  3.8k

Warnings: Fire, kidnapping, angst

Part 1

We appear in a cramped living room and immediately fall away from one another. Jacob and Tina situate the now unconscious man on the chair and ottoman. He begins to convulse and Newt looks over him with renewed interest. He instructs Jacob to grab a pair of tweezers, declaring a sort of parasite has found a host in our newest hostage. Newt pulls it from his eye and hands the tweezers off to Jacob. I take them from him and search for a jar in which to put the parasite. With the man settled, Rosaline and Newt drop down into Newt’s suitcase to take care of the zouwu. I poke at the wards around the home and am surprised to find them to be significantly stronger than expected.

I lean against the wall and cast a Tempus charm before waving it away and taking in the substantial number of jars lining two floor to ceiling shelving units.

“How do you know Newt?” Tina asks.

Jacob looks between the two of us and presses his lips together. “I’m gonna go look around. See if there’s some food or something.”

I nod. “Be careful. We don’t know who’s home this is.”

“Yeah, sure,” he answers, already halfway up the stairs. “What other trouble could I get myself into?”

I laugh and turn back to Tina. “I went to Hogwarts with his brother and then worked with him at the ministry for a while before opening my bookstore. I ran into Newt while I was on holiday one year and he needed help with an aged porlock. Poor thing could barely walk and it absolutely hated Newt. I was wearing a sweater my mother knitted me with a horse on it, and porlocks love horses, so it calmed down enough for Newt to handle it. I worked with him on and off for a couple years after that.”

“And your sister-”

“Cousin. Rosaline.”

She nods once. “Cousin. How does she know him?”

“They graduated together. She’s been his assistant for nearly six years now.”

I watch as her hands bunch up the legs of her trousers. I tilt my head to the side, but she doesn’t seem to notice. She clears her throat. “Why did you leave the ministry?”

“Because being my own boss was much more appealing than being someone’s secretary.” I lift my chin and loosen my tie. “Newt tells me you’re an auror.”

Her brow furrows. “Did he just tell everyone he knows about me?”

“His circle of friends is very small,” I say. “News travels fast.”

“How much do you know about me, then?” she asks.

I shrug. “Enough.”

The case swings open and Newt climbs out and offers Rosaline a hand. They talk in hushed tones, their heads pushed together. Newt says something and Rosaline shrugs and offers a counterpoint. Newt shakes his head, his lips pursing. I watch Tina eye them and press my lips together. A loud thud startles Rosaline into pulling away from Newt and I narrow my eyes as Tina’s shoulders visibly relax.

“What was that?” Rosaline asks.

“Jacob probably got into something.” I meet Tina’s eyes. “Tina. We should go check on him.”

She nods slowly and pulls herself away from the couch. She heads up and I follow along behind. Rosaline shoots me a questioning look and I look very pointedly at Newt and make a shooing motion. She swallows and nods. I give her a thumbs up and hustle to catch up with Tina.

I find Jacob on the floor, caught in a net. Tina crouches beside him, wand out.

“What the hell happened?” I ask.

“I saw this ball thing on the desk. I swear it looked like a regular ball of string, but then I touched it and now I can’t feel my legs.”

“Didn’t I tell you to be careful?”

“To be perfectly fair to you, I probably wasn’t listening very closely.”

“Circe, it’s like wrangling crups,” I mutter.

“I got no clue what that means, but I’m gonna agree with you.”

I laugh and search for the loose thread that should unravel the trap. It’s right at the back of Jacob’s neck. I pull on the short section and the entire net comes apart. I snap my wrist and the string shivers before rolling back up into a ball.

“How’d you know what to look for?” Tina asks.

“It’s just a string trap. Dumbledore taught me how to make them when I was in my sixth year at Hogwarts.” I look over the ball of string, noting how frayed it appears to be, before setting it back on the desk. “But something tells me whoever taught him lives here.”

“We should go back downstairs,” Tina says.

I nod and gesture for them to follow me, but not before telling Jacob not to touch anything else. I lead the way down and freeze when I hear Rosaline talking to Newt. Her voice waivers and my hand tightens on the railing.

“-I’ve seen your heart break before and I couldn’t do anything about it, even though desperately I wanted to. If you felt the same towards me, I’d think you would’ve said something before now. I don’t want to be a last resort. Just thought you should know how I feel.”

Jacob takes an extra step down and the stairs creak. Rosaline jerks her head up and I press my lips together and dip my head when she meets my eye. I shove my hands in my pockets and saunter the rest of the way down the stairs. Tina follows behind, her shoulders rigid, and Jacob carefully picks his way down the rest of the staircase. Once on the ground floor, a long silence stretches out between the group. It’s broken when Jacob coughs. My eyes flick to him and he pulls at this shirt collar.

“We should go to the Ministry,” Newt blurts out.

“I’ll go with you!” Tina and Rosaline say in unison.

Newt looks between me and the two of them and I shake my head.

“How about I divvy up the groups?” I suggest.

“Wha-” Tina starts, but I cut her off.

“Newt, Tina, and I will go to the Ministry. Rosaline and Jacob, you’ll stay here with the man from earlier.”

“What?! Why am I staying behind?” Rosaline is outraged.

I sigh softly. “Because you’re our best line of defense until the master of the house returns. Three of us is worth one of you.”

She tips her chin up and sets her jaw. “Can’t argue with you there.”

I deadpan. “Really?”

“Alright,” she snorts. “I’ll stay here.”

“Fantastic, thank you.”

Tina, Newt, and I gather together and apparate away from the living room. We land outside of the entrance to the French Ministry. The cage to the elevator closes around us and Newt pulls a phial from his breast pocket. He drops in a strand of hair and I bite the inside of my cheek.

“Polyjuice?” Tina questions.

“Just enough to get me inside,” he explains. “Sorry ahead of time, Nora.”

I shake my head and refuse to look at him as he tips the contents of the vial into his mouth. “It’s fine. Just don’t be surprised if I can’t make eye contact with you.”

“That’s fair.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tina asks.

“We’re getting into the Ministry, no questions asked. Anything else isn’t important,” I say.

We step off the elevator and I immediately grab Newt’s arm. He’s a good two inches taller now. Tina quickly falls in line beside us and we make our way to the archives as calmly and quickly as we possibly can.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Tina hisses.

“Theseus Scamander,” I answer.

“What?”

“You remember me saying my relationship with my brother is complicated?” Newt asks. Tina nods. “Well…”

I glance to my right and my blood runs cold. My hand tightens around Newt’s arm and I freeze where I stand. “Newt.” I hiss.

“What?”

“You two need to start walking.” I push him away from me and do the same to Tina. “Now.”

“I don’t understand,” he says. He’s shrunk again and his hair is going back to its original color and texture. I jerk my head to the right and his eyes follow. “Oh.”

Theseus stands a ways away, speaking closely with Leta. Alarms sound throughout the atrium and Newt scrambles away from me, dragging Tina along with him. The noise draws Theseus’ attention away from his fiance and, with all his looking around, his eyes land on me. He whispers something to Leta and glances around before striding over to me. I shove my hands into my pockets and my right hand closes around my wand, instantly calming the hammering of my heart.

“What are you doing here?” he hisses when he’s close enough to not raise his voice.

I shrug. “I heard there was a circus in town. When I got there, it was gone. I thought I might take a look at the Ministry archives while I was still here. I heard they’ve got a two hundred year old transfiguration text stored away somewhere.”

“Cut the nonsense, Nora.” He scowls at me, and I raise my eyebrows at him in surprise. “I should have known you would follow Newt here. You’ve always had a soft spot for him.”

“Ugh, please, Theseus,” I shake my head. “I thought you trusted me more than that!”

“Are you kidding me? I don’t have time for this.” He shakes his head and takes a step back. He moves like he’s going to go around me and I pull my wand from my pocket and point it at his chest. “What, are you going to stop me?”

“Depulso,” I flick my wand and he falls onto his back and slides across the marble floor. “Locomotor mortis.”

His legs snap together and his eyes go wide when I turn to run.

“I really am sorry, Theseus!” I call.

“GET BACK HERE!” he roars.

Instead, I turn on my heel and race off in the direction I sent Newt and Tina. I weave through slow moving, elderly ministry workers and my shoes fight to find purchase on the smooth flooring when I go around corners. When I see the woman tasked with looking after the genealogy records standing in front of the doors, I slowly creep back out of the room and search for a way over the top of the vault walls. There’s just the wrought iron ivy that climbs the walls around the circular room that leads up to the next floor.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a deep breath and make a break for the opposite side of the room. As soon as I have my hands in the Ivy above my head, I wedge my foot into a space and begin hauling myself up the wall. It’s not far to the top, but even then I have to scrabble to find a grip on the floor as my fingers begin to slip as soon as they touch the marble. When I can bring my other hand up to the railing of the next floor, I pull myself up and swing one leg over and drop to the marble as quietly as I can manage.

Leta Lestrange stands to my left, fully facing the archives. She hasn’t noticed me yet and I hold my breath, hoping to keep quiet for just a short while longer.

“Lestrange,” she murmurs.

Below, the shelves of family trees begin to shift, rising through the air, smoothly weaving through one another. The specific shelves holding the Lestrange documents come forward. Newt and Tina cling to the shelves for dear life and I can feel my eyes grow wide. Newt sees me and presses a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I squint at him and shuffle closer to Leta.

“Hello, Newt,” Leta says.

“Hello, Leta,” Newt’s voice holds his usual timidness.

I stand up and brush my hands off on my pants and join the group. Newt climbs around the shelves and helps Tina over the railing before holding a hand out for Pickett to climb onto.

“Where’s your cousin, Vaughan?” Leta asks. “Doesn’t she follow Newt everywhere?”

I shrug. “We switch weeks sometimes.”

“Well, you came all this way for nothing,” Leta says, holding out a slip of paper to me. “My records are gone.”

I scan the text and hand it back to her, shaking my head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Grindelwald took my family tree,” she sighs.

A great hiss pulls us away from the conversation. The woman from downstairs slinks towards us flanked by several charcoal colored matagot.

“What are those?!” Tina asks.

“They’re matagot,” Newt explains. “They won’t hurt us unless-”

There’s another hiss and Leta sends a stunner at the one closest to us. It splits into two and the rest of the pack launch themselves at us. I cast depulso, and push them back for a moment, allowing Newt time to release his newly befriended zouwu. It escapes from his case with a mighty roar and swipes at the matagot. They cling to its fur and tail, but it still allows us to climb onto its back.

“Where are we supposed to be going?” Newt asks.

“The Lestrange mausoleum,” Leta answers.

The zouwu skitters to a stop with the matagot still clinging to it’s fur. We slide down from it’s back and the zouwu shakes it’s entire body, dislodging the matagot. As soon as they hit the grass, they turn to house cats and scatter into the graveyard. Leta and I stand off to the side while Newt calms his new friend. I watch with a smile on my face as the Zouwu rubs up against him and he laughs and scratches it’s chin. Tina distracts it from Newt with the bell toy and manages to get the zouwu back into the case without any fuss.

We trudge through the rows of mausoleums to the looming structure of the Lestrange’s. I file in through the door behind Tina and Leta leads the way to the main chamber. When we arrive, there’s already two other people there. I recognize the young man as Credence from the sketches that Newt made after coming back from the states. The young woman beside him shivers from the cold that radiates from the solid marble from which the mausoleum is carved. Listening in on their conversation feels very much like an intrusion.

The man from the sewer appears from the mouth of the doorway, taking us all by surprise. I learn that his name is Yusuf. Leta’s half brother by way of her mother. His wand is pointed straight at Credence. He believes him to be Leta’s half brother by way of her father. I watch with horror as she sinks to her knees and opens her family tree. As she explains what happened to her real brother. As the flower that represents her chokes out the branch that supports her long dead baby brother, I feel tears prick at the corners of my eyes and I turn away, shaking my head. A doorway opens up at the other end of the room. I pull the others attention to it.

“We should go through,” I say. “Grindelwald is bound to be on the other side.”

“Are you mad?!” Leta hisses.

“No more than you,” I answer. “We came here to get in his way, didn’t we? It’s not as if we can do it from here.”

No one protests.

The hallway opens up into a large amphitheater. Hundreds of witches and wizards are gathered together. I catch sight of Rosaline and immediately split off from the others to get to her. I can hear Newt calling after me, but I ignore him in favor of getting closer to Rosaline. Someone grabs hold of my arm and drags me into one of the rows of people. I try to pry their hands away, but their grip tightens instead.

“It’s starting soon!” the young woman gripping my arm exclaims.

“What is?”

“Grindelwald himself will be addressing us!” she says, excitement dripping from every pore. “We are truly lucky to be witness to such a historic occasion.”

She only releases me when I take a seat beside her. I glance around the amphitheater, trying to find any familiar faces. Rosaline is still stuck between a pair of witches who lean forward in their seats. Two rows below her stands Jacob with a blonde woman, whom I assume to be Queenie, glued to his arm. Newt and Leta are nowhere to be found. Tina, who had been walking down one row over from me is completely gone from my sight.

The address starts and I quickly find myself focused on what’s being said. When Grindelwald begins showing the assembly his visions, I cover my face with my hands and shake my head. A ringing starts in my ears and when it goes away I pull my hands from my face when Grindelwald calls aurors down from the edge of the amphitheater. I catch sight of Theseus leading a group down one row and my hand immediately goes to my hip, searching for my wand. Other groups of aurors file through the crowd. A flash goes off across the room and a young woman falls limp. All hell breaks loose as Grindelwald creates a circle of blue fire and his followers lash out at the numbers of aurors before apparating away. The women who had blocked me in disappear and I bolt for Rosaline. She’s fighting off three wizards, each coming at her from a different side, and loosing. She barely manages to dodge a hex when I’m close enough to counter. I knock two back and send a slicing jinx at the one who’s left standing. He screeches and disapparates. As Rosaline prepares to go after the two wizards I’d managed to knock down, a witch hurls a particularly nasty jinx at us and we barely manage to throw up a protego before it hits. The witch grabs the two felled wizards and apparates away.

“FUCK,” I yell over the roar of the battle. “You alright?”

Rosaline nods. “Thanks for the save.”

“Good. We have to find Newt. Did you see where Jacob disappeared to?”

“I think Queenie dragged him off a ways. I’ll see if I can find them. You get to Newt and Theseus.”

I nod once and grab her face to press a quick kiss to her forehead and push her away. “Be careful, you hear me?”

She snorts. “What do you take me for? I’ll be fine.”

I grit my teeth and force myself to keep quiet.

We part ways and I head in the direction of the row I last saw Theseus in. He and Newt are trying to fight their way through the fire and making absolutely no headway. I race over and slide to a stop beside them to add my protego to theirs. One of Grindelwald’s followers skips through the fire ring to stand beside him and a wizard tries to do the same after hesitating only a second. He immediately begins to burn up and disappears altogether. My eyes go wide and I just barely manage to cast another protection charm before a tendril of fire manages to singe my trousers.

In the distance I can hear raised voices, arguing over something I can’t quite place.

“Where’s Leta?” I call to Theseus and Newt.

Newt points to the other side of Theseus. I can barely see her through the heat and the way Theseus’ suit jacket flaps in the air currents. I shoot glances over at the argument that’s taking place just a short ways away. Rosaline stands to the side of Jacob and Queenie. Queenie steps away from Jacob and walks through the fire. Grindelwald greets her with open arms and the grip I have on my wand tightens as I put as much energy into protection charms as I can possibly manage. Tendrils of fire go after the small number of aurors left and I see Credence walking towards the middle of the amphitheater. The young woman he was with grips his arm and pleads with him not to go. He looks pained as he pulls free of her grasp and walks through the fire. Grindelwald is pleased but turns his attention elsewhere when Theseus yells “NO” at someone. I tear my eyes away from Credence to see Leta walking towards the ring of fire. Grindelwald makes a remark that I can’t hear and Leta responds before stepping into the fire.

She turns back to Theseus and Newt and says, “I love you.”

She and Grindelwald raise their wands to one another, but Leta burns up in the fire with a gut-wrenching scream that lingers even after she’s gone. There’s no time to react because Grindelwald has set his sights on someone else.

“Ah, Ms. Vaughan,” he says, a sinister smile creeping across his face. “So kind of you to join the fun! I see you’ve survived the fire.”

Rosaline steps through the fire and my heart drops.

“We both have our secrets, Grindelwald.”

“Oh, trust me, my dear, I know.”

His hand flashes out and grabs her wrist, quickly pulling her against his chest. One arm wraps around her waist and he presses the fingers of his free hand to her forehead. Rosaline falls limp and he moves his mouth close to her ear.

Anger bubbles in my gut and I feel the air crackle around me. Magic courses down my arms and into the palms of my hands. I let loose a blood curdling scream and bring my hands together, releasing a massive burst of magic into the amphitheater. It doesn’t do anything to the fire and I can feel hot tears streak down my face as Grindelwald disappears with Rosaline. Newt wraps his arms around Theseus and I, and apparates outside the mausoleum.

A frail looking, white haired man greets us and gives us instructions for an incantation to stop the fire inside the mausoleum from spreading and destroying Paris. When he’s sure we understand his directions he tells us to form a circle around the mausoleum. I am on the side opposite Newt and Theseus with an auror on either side of me. I wipe away my still flowing tears and recite the spell and stab the tip of my wand into the soft soil under my feet. A great wall of light forms, stopping the movement of three dragons formed by the blue fire from spreading any further into the city. When the fire has dispersed, the spell flickers and fades away. I look out over the ruined graveyard, my chest heaving with the exertion from the spells. The realization of how many people we’ve lost washes over me and I clamp a hand over my mouth and fall to my knees. I kneel there, quietly sobbing and trying to reign in my emotions before someone finds me.

--------

Part 3

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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Author and Auror (3/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Chapter three, lads, we’ve arrived! Finally a little more one on one interaction with Nora and Theseus. Again, this is a story in collaboration with @thorne93​, and I will link the last chapter she posted! As a reminder, I’m not tagging anyone unless explicitly asked to do so, If you’d like to be tagged, shoot me a message and I’ll be happy to do so.

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Previously, with Rosaline...

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings: Angst, fighting/arguing

Part 2

“I’m telling you, I don’t know where she is!” I cry. “She walked into the flames, Grindelwald grabbed her, put his hand on her forehead and she just crumpled.”

“Well, what happened after that?”

“They disapparated.”

“And after that?”

“Newton Scamander apparated Theseus and I out of the mausoleum.”

“That can’t be the end of it.”

I slam my fists down on the table and stand abruptly, sending my chair skittering across the floor. “How many times do I have to tell you?! IT WAS.”

A hand on my shoulder gently pulls me away from the table. “Sir,” Theseus says, his voice strong and even. “I think that’s enough.”

The head of magical law enforcement stands across from me, looking between Theseus and I. He straightens his posture and clasps his hands behind his back. “Very well. You may go.”

“Thank you,” I say. I don’t let myself relax.

“We’ll be contacting you if we have any further questions.”

“I’ll be sure to slam the door in your Auror’s faces,” I hiss.

I snatch my jacket from the hook near the door and shove my arms through the sleeves as I walk out the door. I storm down the hall and manage to get into an empty elevator, only to have Theseus stick his hand between the grate and the doorway. He slips in beside me and I lean on the wall and scowl, arms folded. He leans on the handrail next to me with his hands in his pockets.

“I’m sorry, Nora.”

“Did you know they were going to attack me like that?” I demand.

He shakes his head. “No. I was only told they wanted to ask you a couple of questions. I wouldn’t have asked you to come if I knew.”

“I appreciate that,” I grumble.

“How have you been doing?” he asks softly.

I look down at my shoes. “Fine. I’ve been working a lot. Helping Newt when I’m not at the shop. Been trying to distract him from Tina when I can.”

“I thought he liked Tina.”

I shrug. “Things got all muddled after Paris. She was staying with Newt for a while, but I’m lending her my guest room for now. She plans on going home to pack up some things. She’ll catch a portkey back and look for a more permanent place to stay.”

“That’s very generous of you.”

“Glad you think so.” The elevator reaches the first floor and I thank the operator and exit quickly. Theseus follows after me. “Don’t you have a meeting or something to go to? You’ve never followed me out before.”

“I’m Head Auror. If I can’t skive off work every once in a while, what’s the point?”

I choke out a laugh. “Must be nice.” I bite the inside of my cheek. “Tessa is opening shop today. Would you want to come by mine for a quick cuppa?”

He smiles. “I’d like that.”

“I’m home!” I call into the flat when Theseus and I walk through the door.

My cat Juno trots into the entryway and meows at us. She immediately places her paws on Theseus’ pant leg and mews at him, demanding to be pet. Theseus chuckles and stoops down to stroke her head and scratch her ears.

“Nora?” Tina calls from upstairs.

“Yes?” I answer, taking off my jacket and scarf and hanging them on the coat rack.

“You said you had a small library, right?” she asks, hurrying down the stairs. She pauses halfway down when she sees Theseus. “Head Auror Scamander.”

He nods to her. “Ms. Goldstein.”

“The library is the door to the right of my bedroom,” I answer her question. “What were you looking for?”

She shakes her head. “I wanted to do some research. Fiendfyre and what that skull Grindelwald had might have been.”

“I know that I have information on fiendfyre, but I don’t think you’ll find anything about the skull. You’re welcome to look, though.”

“Thank you,” she says. She glances between Theseus and I before bolting back up the stairs.

“Be careful! Some of those texts are very old!” I call after her.

“She seems jumpy,” Theseus comments.

“She’s been like that ever since we got back.” I gesture to the kitchen. “Tea?”

He releases a heavy breath and his shoulders sag minutely. “Yes please.”

We move about the kitchen in general silence while the water boils. Theseus grabs the tin of tea sachets from the cupboard he knows they’ve always been in and I gather mismatched tea cups and saucers. Theseus sits at the table and I take a seat on the counter across the kitchen from him.

Theseus taps his spoon on the rim of his teacup and bites at his bottom lip.

“Something on your mind?” I ask. I half don’t want to know the answer.

“I feel like we haven’t properly spoken to one another in years,” he says.

“That’s because we haven’t, Theseus. You’re Head Auror and I own a bookshop. Our paths hardly have cause to cross.” I set my tea to the side and reposition myself so that my legs are folded under me. “After you got engaged we saw each other even less.”

“Are you blaming me for our loss of contact?”

“Absolutely not!” I realize I’m wringing my hands together and immediately reach for my tea. “I think… what I’m trying to say is that it was my fault.”

“What?” He puts down the tea spoon and leans forward in his seat. “Why would you say that?”

“It’s silly…” I shake my head. “We were never very close to begin with, and I didn’t want to be in the way of your relationship with Leta. Especially with the way she and Rosaline got along.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I assure you, I am. Dead serious.”

His brow furrows. “You’re my friend. There’s no way you would have gotten in the way.”

I press my lips together and roll the teacup between my hands. “I don’t-I can’t exactly explain what I mean. I just… Look, okay, it’s like this, right? I didn’t… ugh.” I shake my head and press one hand to my forehead. “I don’t know. I distanced myself from you. And I’m sorry. You’re my friend and I shouldn’t have done that.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

“I know,” I groan and let my head fall back against the cupboards. “I was in Ravenclaw. I never said I was actually smart.”

Theseus laughs and a smile tugs at the corners of my mouth.

“Well,” he says. “I will be there when you feel like you can actually explain. If you want to.”

“And I promise I’ll be here if you need me.”

“I appreciate that.”

I lift my teacup to him and he does the same. We grin at each other and sip our tea.

Nearly a week later, two Aurors saunter into my bookstore about a week after Theseus and I had tea. They calmly ask the few customers that are in the store to leave and I send James and Tessa to the back to keep them out of sight of the Aurors. I stand behind the till, arms folded across my chest, and glare at them.

“What do you want?”

One of the Aurors is a young man I recognize from when Rosaline was in school and the other is someone I’ve seen with Theseus on several occasions. The older Auror speaks up first.

“We were wondering if you’ve seen Head Auror Scamander recently,” he says.

My brow furrows and I shake my head. “No, I haven’t. Not since last week, at least.”

The younger Auror mutters something to his partner and shakes his head. 

“Are you sure you haven’t heard from him?” the older Auror asks. “Not even an owl?”

“Look, is Theseus in trouble?”

His eyes narrow and he tilts his head to the side. “Should he be?”

“What? No! He just lost his fiance not even a month ago. Give the man some room to grieve.”

“And how would you know this?”

I roll my eyes. “I was there when it happened.” The young Auror looks shocked. “What? Has the news not circulated through the entire ministry yet? Thought the head of the department would have let this slip, what with the fit he pitched last week when he interrogated me.”

“Very well, Ms. Vaughan,” the older Auror says, signaling to his companion that it’s time to leave. “We’ll be in touch.”

“Don’t be!” I call after them.

As soon as they’re out the door, Tessa and James creep out from the back and immediately start asking questions.

“What do you mean you were there when it happened?” James demands. “You saw Leta Lestrange die?!”

“Yes.”

“So you were in Paris?” Tessa asks. “You were with Newt Scamander? Did you see Grindelwald? And Nicolas Flamel?”

“Whoa, slow down.”

“Sorry.” Tessa hangs her head.

I sigh quietly. “Yes, I was in Paris with Newt. I did see both Grindelwald and Flamel. And I want both of you to take the floo home from now on. Keep the wards around your houses or flats strong and don’t answer the door unless you’re expecting company.”

“Why?”

“Grindelwald is gathering followers.”

“But-”

“No. No buts. I know you two are good kids, but I’ve seen what this man can do. He’s a very charismatic wizard. If he could talk to you for even just a moment, he may be able to pull you to his side. I want you to stay safe. Do I make myself clear?” They nod. “Good. Now, let old Mrs. Callow back in, she's been waiting to buy that household transfiguration book for nearly a week and they kicked her out.”

James nods and hurries to the door to let customers back in.

“What if I don’t feel safe going home?” Tessa asks.

“Then you can stay with me.”

She tilts her head to the side. “I thought you said you had someone staying with you.”

“She’s been offered a room at my parents' home. My guest room is available if you need it. Just let me know, okay? I’m here for both of you when you need me.”

Demeter hoots from her perch near the window. I look up to see what’s going on when a flash of lightning fills the room. The wind picks up and the rain drives harder against the roof of the flat. I pull my blanket tighter around me and rest my cheek on the arm of the couch. The fire flares in the hearth when a particularly strong gust of wind rushes across the chimney. I quickly cast protego over the fire to keep it from escaping from the fireplace. The street lamps flicker and a few go out, prompting me to shrink even further into the couch cushions.

A knock at the door pulls my gaze away from the dimming streets and I look around the living room before I can bring myself to get up off the couch. The knock doesn’t come again. I stand at the door and stare at the knob, willing it to open on its own. It doesn’t.

I reach out and pull the door open. Leaning on the stoop railing, Theseus stares at his shoes, hands in his pockets. His hair is slicked down over his forehead by the rain and his suit is unbuttoned and completely soaked. Raindrops slide down his nose and drip from his eyelashes when he blinks. He hasn’t even noticed that the door is open.

“Theseus?” I try to keep my voice quiet.

He slowly tears his eyes away from the brick steps and meets mine. His shoulders shake and his brows pull together. I watch as his lips quiver and he pushes himself off the railing and moves towards me. Without thinking, I meet him halfway and open my arms to him. He wraps his arms around my shoulders, burying his face in the crook of my neck. I can feel his warm tears against my skin, and I hold him tighter.

“Theseus, you’re soaked,” I murmur.

“She’s gone,” he whispers. “S-she's gone and I couldn’t do anything to save her.”

I pull away and Theseus hangs his head. I reach up and push his hair away from his forehead and he finally looks at me. His face crumples and my heart breaks.

“Come on.” I gently take his hands in mine and guide him into the flat. “Let’s get you warmed up.”

He nods absentmindedly and follows me inside. I lead him up the stairs to the bathroom and help him out of his suit coat and vest. Just two weeks ago he would have batted my hands away, but now he just lets me work. I draw him a bath and tell him to get in. He only hesitates a moment before his fingers start working over the buttons of his shirt. I excuse myself and head down the hallway to the linen closet to get him a towel. I stop at the guest bedroom to grab a set of pajamas as well before heading back to the bathroom. Theseus looks up when I open the door and follows me with his eyes as I move through the room. I place the towel on the stool beside the bathtub and the pajamas on the toilet a little ways off. His wet clothes lie in a heap in front of the tub.

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

I shake my head and bundle up the damp mass, but leave his undergarments behind. “Take your time. I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready.”

He nods and sinks down into the tub so that his nose is just above the surface of the water. I close the door behind me and slide down the wall to sit on the floor. I wipe the beginnings of tears from my eyes and push myself up to my feet and head back downstairs. I string up the pieces of Theseus’ suit over the shielded fireplace to dry and dim the lamps slightly, softening the light in the room. I dry my blanket and curl up on the couch with the book I had been reading before.

With the heat of the fire, I feel myself starting to nod off just as I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I push myself up into sitting and find Theseus standing at the foot of the stairs. I rub at my tired eyes and wave him over to the couch. He sits beside me and stares into the fire, wringing his hands. He clasps his hands so tightly his knuckles start to turn white. I cover his hands with mine and gently coax them apart, rubbing my thumbs over his knuckles. With my legs folded underneath me, I sit turned fully towards him. Theseus doesn’t even look at me.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I say. His hands tighten in mine. “Don’t say anything. Just listen to me, okay? You were just doing your job. So was she. She walked into that fire to protect you and Newt.” I reach up and push his drying hair away from his forehead. “We may not have gotten along, but I know she cared about you. So much. She kept you alive so that you could continue fighting for the good of the Wizarding world.”

“I don’t know if I can do any of this without her. I can’t bring myself to go into work and I hate going home when I know she’s not going to be there.”

“Well I can’t do any of it for you.” I tip his chin up and he finally meets my eyes. “I’ll help you, though. As much as I possibly can. I promise.”

“I can’t ask that of you.”

“Darling, you showed up on my doorstep half drowned. You’re wearing your brother’s spare pajamas right now. If this isn't a cry for help, then I don’t know what to tell you.”

He cracks a smile, but it falters. “I’m so sorry, Nora. I shouldn’t have come.”

I snort in derision. “On the contrary, I think this is exactly where you need to be. All you’ve heard since we got back from Paris is condolences. “I’m sorry for your loss”, “It must be so hard for you”, “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now”, but you hate it because no one really knows how you feel. I was there, Theseus. I watched him take my cousin, my… my sister away from me. If anyone knows what you’re feeling, it’s me.”

“I-I know, Nora. I’m so sorry we didn’t do more.”

I choke back a laugh. “What didn’t we try? My magic went wild right before Newt got us out of there and even that could barely touch that fire.” I shake my head. “My point is that this isn't some kind of trauma from the war you can compartmentalize and file away to deal with later. You’ve done a lot of looking after people. Let someone else look after you. At least for a little while.” I can see his eyelids begin to droop, the heat of the fire finally settling into his body. “Come on. You’re probably tired.”

He nods and takes my hand when I offer it. I lead him upstairs and show him to the guest room. I let him know that Newt’s been looking for him.

“You practically disappeared after you and I had tea. He’s been really worried,” I explain.

“That’s… hard to imagine. Newt, worrying about me of all people.”

I smile. “You should know your brother better by now. Your relationship may be complicated, but he still cares about you.”

He pulls back the duvet and sits on the mattress. “I’ll be out of your hair in the morning, Nora, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve always been welcome here.” He smiles and I turn to leave, but he catches my hand. “Theseus?”

“Don’t destroy yourself because of this,” he murmurs. “We can find her.”

“Can we?” I sit on the bed beside him and he grips my hand.

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes. We’ll find her. Bring her home.”

“Thank you,” I breathe.

Theseus pulls me into a tight and sudden hug. It takes me a moment to react and hug him back. When my arms tighten around him, he sighs softly and his nose presses into my shoulder. I tuck my forehead to the crook of his neck and allow myself to relax. He rubs one hand up and down my back and pulls away all too soon.

“I’ve kept you up long enough,” he says softly.

I nod. “It’s fine. Goodnight, Theseus.”

He smiles. “Goodnight, Eleanore.”

“You could come into work with me, you know. If you wanted to.”

Theseus scowls at himself in the hall mirror and spells the wrinkles from his suit. He shakes his head.

“I’ve already gotten in your way enough.”

“What else do you have to do? Wander the countryside and avoid going into the Ministry?”

“Hah! You’re funny, Nora. How did this never come up in school?”

“I think it might be the fact that any time I suggested we spend any amount of time together, you blew me off for a game of Gobstones or something. Can’t really think of a time you were interested in me at all.”

“Didn’t think you wanted me to be, at the time.”

I snort. “Every girl wants older boys to be interested in them. It’s the basis of our self worth.”

He stops fussing with his hair and looks at me. “Is that true?”

“For some girls we went to Hogwarts with, yeah.”

“Let me rephrase that. Was it true for you?”

“No. It was not true for me.” He seems unconvinced. “Come on. Help me at the shop today. Practically everyone will be working or at Hogwarts. Thirty people will come in, at most.”

He bites his lip. “Fine,” he says. “I'll go with you.”

I clap my hands together. “Fantastic! I've got a new shipment of potions books arriving today. I could use your help putting them out.”

He laughs. “Of course. I should have known you'd only want me there for free manual labor.”

“I'm offended by the very notion, I hope you know!”

He reaches out to me and hesitates. I tilt my head to the side and he finally takes hold of my tie and straightens it. I smile and gesture to the door.

“Shall we go?”

He nods and offers me his arm. As soon as the door closes behind us he apparates us to my shop. It’s still early enough that the only people out are elderly witches and wizards waiting on their doorsteps for the morning issue of The Daily Prophet. David, the man who delivers my stock, waits for me outside the shop. Theseus’ hand goes to his wand and I place one hand on his chest.

“He’s just a delivery man,” I say softly. He nods and stuffs his hand in his pocket. “Morning, David!”

“G’morning, Ms. Vaughan!” David waves. “Got yer packages here. Bit heavier than last time.”

I laugh. “There were several customers who wanted more potions books stocked, so I figured I’d try and get one of everything and see how that went.”

David shakes his head. “Sounds like yeh should be runnin a library, not a bookstore.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for dropping everything off!”

“Have a lovely day.” He turns to Theseus and tips his hat. “Mr. Scamander, sir.”

Theseus nods to him and David climbs back onto his wagon and moves on to his next delivery. I grab a box from the stack and unlock the door. It swings open and the smell of ink, parchment, and old books washes over me. I sigh, feeling some of my stress melt away and cross the threshold. There’s a light tinkling that sounds deep in the shop, signifying that I’ve crossed through the wards. One singular honk of the alarm tells me that Theseus has crossed through too.

“What was that?” he asks.

“The wards. I haven’t adjusted them to recognize you yet. I’ll do that in a moment.”

“They’ve never done that before, eh?” He sets the boxes of books he’d heaped into his arms on the floor and dusts off his trousers.

“They’re time sensitive. I’ve keyed them to mine, Tessa’s, and James’ magical signatures so that when we’re opening or closing we can tell if there’s an intruder in the store. You’ve only been in during the middle of the day so there’s been no need to change them.”

“You think this will become a regular thing?”

I shrug. “Maybe, maybe not. But Newt has access, and I’ve strengthened the wards since Paris. I figure you’re one of the few people I actually trust, so I might as well add you to the list.”

Theseus stares at me and I raise my eyebrows. He coughs once and his eyes drop to the boxes of books on the floor. “Where do you want these?”

I shake my head and point to the shelves labelled “Potions”. “There should be some space over there. I’ll need to pull a few titles before you start shelving them. I want to put them on a display table near the door.”

He nods and begins hauling boxes over to the shelves. I cut into the boxes of regular stock and send them to their usual shelves with a flick of my wand. Anything that can’t go out finds a home in the back of the shop. Theseus and I cut into the boxes and I fill my arms with books with the flashiest covers to put them on the front tables.

With the new displays set up and all stock either put out or stored away, I put a kettle on in the back. Theseus leans on the front counter and I drag the stool out from behind the till and offer it to him. He takes a seat and I hop up onto the counter-top and fold my legs under myself.

“Why do you always do that?”

“Hmm?”

“You sit on counters. It’s like you’re part cat.”

I smile. “And if I am?”

He shrugs. “Guess I’ll have to live with it. Just, please, no hairballs strewn about.”

I laugh. “Very funny! Looks like you’ve finally found your sense of humor! Where’s it been hiding all these years?”

He rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling. The kettle begins to whistle and I immediately hop down from the counter and head back to fix us up some tea. The Floo roars to life as James steps through and heads to the front.

“Theseus is here to help with the new stock,” I tell him. “Don’t give him a hard time if he asks where something goes.”

“Wait, what?” James stops and turns back to look at me. “The Head Auror is doing menial labor for you?!”

“He’s taking a couple days off work and needed something to do. Who am I to turn down free work hours?”

James snorts. “You’re pure evil, woman. I hope you know that.”

“I don’t have to employ you,” I say, not even bothering to look up from the sachets of tea I'm preparing. “Remember that.”

“I definitely will. But you’re going to have to calm Tessa down when she sees there’s another Auror in our shop. Especially after the speech you gave last week.”

“I know, don’t worry about her right now. Worry about what’s happening up front.”

He shudders. “He’s probably shelving everything wrong.”

“Then send him back here instead. I trust you to take care of things.”

He snorts and weaves through the precarious stacks of books. “At least there’s that.”

I put the sachets in the teapot and pour in the boiling water, and leave that to steep. I look over book orders from the night before and begin writing up a list for the stock order later in the week. I can hear a muffled disagreement before something crashes to the floor. Someone shouts and sends someone shuffling to the back. I see Theseus drop down onto a stool out of the corner of my eye.

“What’d you do to get yourself sent back here?” I ask.

“James tried to take over and the books I had enchanted fell. He blamed me and sent me through.”

I snort and cover my mouth with one hand. Theseus lifts one eyebrow. “Oh come on. I can’t laugh? You, Head Auror Scamander, dropped a bunch of books because you got distracted! It’s funny!”

He rolls his eyes. “Have you always been this mean?”

“Yes, actually. My entire life. And you fell for it!”

He smiles. “You really believe you’ve fooled me?”

I shrug and turn my attention back to the orders. “I suppose we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?”

He laughs. “I guess.” The kettle whistles and Theseus pulls himself up from the stool. “Do you want me to fix you a cup?”

I nod and bite back a smile. “I’d appreciate it, thank you.”

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Part 4

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Author and Auror (6/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Hello, hello, we’re back again with another author and auror mess. Again, I am way behind where @thorne93​ is in the story, but I’ll catch up eventually. I’ll say now, that I have no idea how long this fic will be, but it’ll be at least twelve chapters, I think? We’ll have to see where things go after chapter eight. Anyway, please enjoy!

Previously, with Rosaline…

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: None

Part 5

In the few weeks following that night at the pub, more happens than I can feasibly remember. Tina’s work with the Aurors kicks off with a bang and I don’t see much of Theseus for a while. I take up assisting Newt again to fill the space between working at my shop and going back to an empty home.

Working with Newt is tedious, but it keeps me occupied when I would’ve been otherwise worrying about Rosaline. Even if I do wind up leaving sweaty and exhausted, I prefer it to the alternative. Besides, Newt is good company. My nights could be worse without him and the mooncalves to pass the time.

The front door slams open and Newt and I both look up from our projects. The sanctuary goes silent and I can hear Jacob off in the distance, whistling and humming. Newt looks at me and glances at the door, silently asking what the noise was. I shrug and close the niffler cage. I slip down from the stool and pull my wand from the waistband of my trousers and creep towards the stairs.

Just as I’m about to cast an incarcerous at the person stomping down the stairs, Theseus appears from around the corner. I blink several times and shake my head before putting away my wand. Theseus pauses three steps from the bottom, looking between Newt and I. He doesn’t say anything and I go back to cleaning the niffler enclosure.

“Is something wrong?” Theseus asks.

“We thought someone had broken in,” Newt says. “Turns out it was just you.”

“Nora…”

“I almost attacked you,” I say softly. I fight with one of the baby nifflers over a piece of shiny foil. I trade the foil for a bent knut and it happily waddles away, pushing the coin into its pouch. I turn around and look up at him. “You do realize that Grindelwald could very well have sent someone after us, right? How are we to know the difference between you bursting in and someone who wants to kill us?”

He nods. “I understand. I should have let you know I was coming. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Just floo ahead next time, yeah?”

“Of course.”

“You wouldn’t have come if you didn’t have news,” Newt gestures for Theseus to speak. “What did you find?”

“Have either of you read the Prophet today?” Newt and I shake our heads. Theseus pulls the paper from a pocket inside his jacket and hands it to Newt. “We’ve news about Rosaline.”

I watch as all the color drains from Newt’s face and I immediately hurry over to him. On the front page Rosaline sits on a couch, beaming up at Grindelwald. The title reads, “Grindelwald Engaged to Former Minister For Magic Candidate: Could This Be the Beginning of a New Era?” I skim over the article after pulling the paper from Newt’s loose grasp. There isn’t much to the article aside from comments on the size of the ring and a couple of quotes from Rosaline about how happy she is. Anger flares in my gut and I crumple up the paper and hurl it into the fire.

Newt reaches out and grabs a fistful of my shirtsleeve.

“She’s… she’s engaged to him,” he mumbles.

He allows me to pull him into a hug and he clutches at the back of my shirt. I gently comb my fingers through his hair. Theseus takes a seat beside him and places a hand on his shoulder.

“Is Tina aware of this?” I whisper. Theseus nods and I sigh.

“She can’t… why? Why would she be with him of all people?” Newt asks.

“I don’t know. But she’s alive. That’s more than we’ve known for nearly three months.” Newt pulls away and looks up at me. “Point is, she’s not dead, Newt. We’ll get her back. Leaving her there isn’t an option.”

I glance back at Theseus and he nods and reaches out to me. I take his hand and pull him into the hug. He wraps an arm around me and one around his brother.

Theseus and I sit on my couch in front of the fire. It’s nearly midnight. I’m reading through a new book I’m considering stocking at the shop and Theseus is reviewing case files and Tina’s notes from the huge debriefing meeting they had today. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, ruining the job he did of slicking it back this morning. I smile up at the sight and rest my head on his shoulder when he places his arm on the back of the couch behind my shoulders. I go back to the book, but I find it hard to concentrate when he places his arm around my shoulders and starts drawing lazy circles on my arm.

I set my book to the side and let myself focus on Theseus’ hand on my arm. I close my eyes and begin to nod off, but I can feel someone looking at me. I manage to pry my eyelids open and find Theseus gazing down at me. He smiles and leans forward slightly. My heartbeat quickens and I tilt my head up to meet him. His mouth opens and I cup his jaw, pressing my thumb to his lips.

“Don’t ask,” I whisper.

He chuckles and nods. I smile and thread my fingers into the hair at the back of his neck. Theseus closes the distance between us and his lips press gently to mine. He lets out a shaky sigh and his hand comes up to cup my face. He kisses me again, slotting our lips together as his other hand pulls me against him. I brace myself against his chest with my free hand and can feel the rapid beat of his heart. I gasp when I feel him slip his tongue into my mouth and push against mine. His hand finds its way into my hair and my hand fists in his shirt, shivers running through my body.

A soft hum rumbles through his chest and he breaks away. He trails kisses all over my face before pressing his forehead against mine. I let go of his shirt and press my fingers to my lips. The clock in the hallway sounds, calling out the time, and I jerk away from Theseus with a start. We look at each other with wide eyes and burst out laughing.

“That was…”

“Intense?” I offer.

He nods, a grin slowly shaping his mouth. “I was going to say amazing, but intense… yeah, that works too.”

I shake my head. “I can’t believe we did that.”

“Why?” He asks, slowly pulling me closer again.

I shrug and trace the outline of one of his shirt buttons. “It just feels surreal is all. We’ve known each other for such a long time but, I don’t know… it feels like things are moving quickly, right?” His brows pull together and he opens his mouth to protest. I press on hand to his chest and quickly speak up. “I’m not saying that’s bad! Merlin, no. I’ve just never really been spectacular with maintaining relationships. You are the last person I’d want to-to rush anything like this with.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ve never been in a long term relationship, Theseus. They’ve either left me because we didn’t want the same things or because I sabotaged things before we got anywhere.”

“Why?”

“Must we really psychoanalyze me this late at night?” He just stares at me and I sigh. “I’m not sure why I do it. I may just have wanted to test them, or maybe I wanted to hurt them on purpose. It didn’t matter because each time I’ve ended up alone. You’re the first person that I haven’t felt nervous with, and that means something to me. I feel like we… we just work, and I’d like this to last, at least for a little while.”

He nods and kisses me softly. “I understand.”

“Thank you.”

“I should probably be getting home. You’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

I squeeze his hand and he stops gathering up his files.

“Stay,” I whisper.

“You want me to?”

I nod and bite the inside of my cheek. “It’s a completely innocent request, honest. I just… I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

He smiles and kisses me softly. “If you want me to stay, I’ll gladly stay.”

He sets his files to the side, pulls me up from the couch and leads me up the stairs. We part ways at my room and he heads to the guest room to change. I watch the door close behind him before closing mine. I dress in my pajamas quickly and open the door a crack. With the lights turned off, I light the lamp on the bedside table and pull back the duvet and sit on the bed with my legs folded underneath me.

Theseus knocks on the door and asks, “Is it alright if I come in?”

“Yes,” I call back.

He slips into the room and closes the door behind him. He pads over to the bed and crawls in beside me. I lay down next to him and he pulls me back against his chest before drawing the covers up over us. With the heat radiating off of him, I feel myself begin to nod off immediately. I snuggle back into him and Theseus sighs softly. When his hand creeps under my top to splay across my stomach, I turn my head so that I can look at him out of the corner of my eye.

“Is this alright?” he murmurs.

I nod. “It’s perfect.”

He kisses the back of my neck, feather light, and I slip into sleep.

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Part 7

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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