𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 & 𝐌𝐄𝐍 ━ newt scamander [ ON HOLD ]

1│A NEW YORK MINUTE

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❛ ᴏғ ᴍᴏɴsᴛᴇʀs & ᴍᴇɴ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ ɴᴇᴡ ʏᴏʀᴋ ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇ ꒱


❝ WELCOME TO NEW YORK ❞

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13 years later. . .

Lyra's knee bounced anxiously as she sat on the boat as it approached the dock. They'd been travelling for the past few days and now that they'd finally arrived at their destination, all she wanted to do was be free. Sitting still for hours was not her strong suit as her old desk job in the Ministry could attest to.

As the skyline of New York came ever closer, she felt a warm, gentle pressure on her leg that caused her to glance at the man next to her. Her movements stilled and she gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry."

Newt shook his head, knowing that she couldn't help the habit. "Do you want to go have the first look?" he asked instead as he nodded to the side of the boat.

Her expression became grateful and she took the suggestion immediately. Lyra stood and stretched appreciatively, relieved to stand after so many hours in the same position. She found an unoccupied spot not too far away from her original seat and placed her hands on the cool metal railing. Like London, New York was gray and unappealing at first glance with an uneven horizon made up of thousands of buildings. She could even smell the faint stench of the city from so far away but it was slightly covered up by the salt of the sea below.

Out of all the places she'd travelled with Newt, cities had to be her least favorite. People outnumbered the magical creatures and the press of crowds was something she could do without. While she was by no means on Newt's level of people-avoidance, Lyra wasn't afraid to admit that she liked her space.

The humid breeze drifted past her and lifted up some of the flyaway strands of her hair as it carried the murmur of a familiar voice. "Dougal, you settle down now, please. . . it won't be long."

The brunette turned to see that the curly-haired man had lifted his briefcase into his lap and was now resting his arms upon it. She smiled slightly; the latch must be having issues again. As he finished reassuring the restless creature inside— who, in all fairness, reminded him a lot of Lyra— he placed his chin on his hands. His gaze flicked up to meet the Asian woman's dark eyes as a smile flickered across his face reassuringly. They were almost there.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

"Next!" the Customs Officer called out.

Newt and Lyra stepped up to the table and handed him their papers which prompted him to ask: "British, huh?"

"Yes."

"First trip to New York?"

"Yes."

"Anything edible in there?"

"No."

"Livestock?"

There was a pause as the faulty latch opened again, causing Newt to quickly close it as he mumbled, "must get that fixed. . . ah, no."

The Officer must have caught the pair's rather shifty demeanor as he reached out for the case. "Let me take a look."

Lyra exchanged a glance with the curly-haired man before he lifted it up onto the table. Subtly, he flipped a hidden lever that switched the briefcase from magical to non-magical. When the other man opened it, all that it appeared to hold were normal travelling items. He nodded in approval. "Welcome to New York."

"Thank you," Newt said quickly. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"Out of the way, folks!"

"This great city sparkles with the jewels of man's invention!"

Lyra hastily pulled Newt out of the way of the car that was trundling down the road. The curly-haired man stared up at the buildings around them, completely oblivious to the dangers that lay in the street.

"Movie theaters, automobiles, the wireless, electric lights all dazzle and bewitch us!"

A few passers-by jostled against her and the brunette did her best to keep herself from falling against her best friend. Her grip tightened on his arm as they approached a nearby crowd and she tried to get his attention before it was too late to avoid them. "Newt! Newt!"

He barely paid her any heed and, instead, bumped into one of the audience members as they were swallowed by the throng of people. Finally his awareness came back to their surroundings. "So sorry."

Lyra sent the woman an apologetic smile and eyed the sandwich in her hand rather enviously; Newt had woken her up early that morning and they'd skipped breakfast. She tried to put the food out of her mind as she hurried to keep up with him. The woman on the soapbox continued her speech: "but where there is light there is shadow, friend. Something is stalking our city, wreaking destruction and then disappearing without a trace. Listen to me. We have to fight! Join us, the Second Salemers, in our fight!"

A short, stout man pushed past them roughly, causing the brunette to let out an "oomph!" as he did so. As karma would have it, he tripped over Newt's case in the next second. He whipped around. "Watch it!"

"So sorry— my case."

"You watch it," the brunette snapped at the same time. "Running over people isn't going to get you there any faster."

The man paused, seemingly about to reply, but Newt leaned forward to hiss in her ear: "Ly, not—now."

It was too late, though, and their interaction had caught the attention of the public speaker. "You!" she called out to them. "What drew you to our meeting today?"

"Oh. . . we were just passing."

"Are you a seeker? A seeker after truth?"

"I'm sorry," Lyra told her in a tone that wasn't very sorry at all. "We're not in the market for your solicitation today!"

"It is not mindless mumbo-jumbo that we are spewing, friend! Hear my words, heed my warning and laugh if you dare. Witches live among us!" 

A sharp, high-pitched tinny note quavered through the air in the midst of her speech. The brunette's focus shifted from her bigoted words to where the noise originated and her eyes landed on a singular, round coin that was flipping through the air.

The woman continued: "we have to fight together . . ."

A sound similar to that of a jacket being unzipped followed shortly after and a sudden, alarming series of events formed in Lyra's head which was all started by one word: Niffler.

"What do you say to that, friend?"

"I'll be your friend as long as I don't have to borrow that hideous dress," the brunette countered before she grabbed the sleeve of Newt's coat. "Excuse us."

It was probably already too late to keep the creature from doing a lot of harm but they could, at least, try to minimize the damage. Newt didn't bother to ask about the urgency her tone had taken on and instead took in the scene before him as she plowed through the crowd. His gaze caught the Niffler that was trying to make a quick getaway at the top of the bank steps and his stomach dropped at the thought of what it could do to a city like New York.

They pounded up the wide steps to try and catch the animal and this time they were both oblivious to the sandwich-eating woman who trailed behind them. 

A/n: wooo first chapter! It's a little on the short side but I didn't want to get into the bank scene since then it would have waaay too many words. Like all my books (literally, all of them) this is going to be a slow burn but with some very. . . interesting things happening soon :) 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story!