Once Upon A Time (Prequel of The Savior Fables)

Chapter Three

Did we say the Dursleys would be handled this chapter? Oops - we lied. XD Tina makes a stop in Britain, Theseus is a saint for dealing with everything in his situation, and Newt and Queenie are sent messages from their older siblings.

Also known as, what exactly have our four wizarding heroes gone through since the Global Wizarding War?

***

The moment her door closed behind her, Tina let out her breath slowly, pressing her forehead to the wood. "Merlin, give me strength," she whispered.

She had been given many reasons to hate Albus Dumbledore in her life. Prior to now, her biggest reason was the witch hunt against her little sister who, desperate to be with Jacob, decided to join Grindelwald's acolytes. Queenie had turned her back on the dark wizard eventually, but the time she spent with him was enough for Dumbledore to call for her head . . . and he had expected Newt and Theseus to lure her in. Tina couldn't help a smile from spreading across her face, remembering the fake smile Newt had plastered on his face before leaving Hogwarts. She had known without a doubt that there was no chance Newt would hand Queenie over to the older wizard.

That had spiraled into a hunt not just for Queenie, but also the magizoologist with the kindest heart she had ever seen when he had not just alerted the Legilimens to the price on her head, but helped her escape every Auror that came for her. Tina and Theseus could only helplessly watch as Aurors scoured the globe for the two, always keeping an eagle eye on Kowalski's bakery, waiting for any sign the No-Maj was in danger. But if Jacob knew anything (and Tina doubted he did, kept in the dark for the very reason), he never told the Aurors anything, and as the years trickled by, fewer Aurors were sent on the chase until all that remained were whispers of Newt and Queenie being unwelcome in Magical Britain.

It was never good when Dumbledore showed an exaggerated amount of interest in someone. Grindelwald became the first Dark Lord, only extreme circumstances involving creatures would interest Newt in returning to Britain, Voldemort rose to power as the second Dark Lord . . . and now Harry had been placed with abusive relatives.

Thank Merlin for Emma Swan.

She pushed off the door and approached her fireplace, using her wand to check the time. She felt a flicker of relief as she counted how many hours London was ahead of her, then closed her eyes. Queenie's joyous expression the first time they had reunited after the Global Wizarding World flashed in her mind, and she took a deep breath. "Expecto Patronum," she whispered. Silver smoke billowed from her wand, twisting in midair until her thunderbird flew in front of her, his intelligent eyes looking down at her. "We need to talk in person, as soon as you can," she spoke clearly. "It could be a long conversation. For Theseus Scamander."

The Patronus bowed his head, then flew out the window. Tina watched her Patronus fly from New York, taking a deep breath. All she had to do was wait for a reply.

And she had it in record time. The fastest she'd ever gotten a reply from Theseus was forty-five minutes, and that was when Theseus wasn't working. Within thirty-seven minutes (Tina was not keeping track, no, of course not), Theseus's niffler bounded into the room, landing on the top of her couch and looking at her. "Arrive at mine by 9 in the morning," Theseus's voice sounded tired. "My office will be the safest place to talk about what I think this will be about."

Tina nodded, and the niffler nodded back before dissolving into silver smoke. She sighed, taking another look at the time. She was glad she had come home as early as she had, since that meant she had to be at Theseus's at 4:00 EST. That meant she had enough time for one stop before she got as good a night's rest as she could.