artemis | newt scamander imagines

twelve: changed*

chapter twelve: "changed"
word count: 11,744
warnings: none
song: "changed" by catie turner

a/n: this is my first "special" imagine and
theseus is the love interest
(aka, a theseus special)!!

p.s. if no one told you today,
you are enough

This high school shit is getting old; I've had enough of being home

The evening wind carried late summer warmth and echoing laughter from the house, and it rustled against the tree leaves and brushed my cheeks. I kicked at the grass that taunted my feet, which dangled from my old childhood swing. The ropes pricked my palms, and I began to ache from the seat pushing into me.

So much for a celebration.

I glanced at the old country house, the familiar paneling and glass that I used to call home, even if it never really felt like one. The windows were bright, lighting up the yard and woods behind it with the setting sun. The silhouette of my younger cousin sent a shadow across to where I was, and she held my mother's hand.

Neither of them looked outside; no one knew I had left.

I toed a patch of dirt, swinging ever-so-slightly. The creak of the back-and-forth motion distracted me from my feelings. It made me feel less alone, like maybe someone was coming for me.

As if my hopes had manifested, the crunching of gravel signaled someone walking near the house, but it stopped before it reached the steps to the door. The sound continued before it was replaced with the soft smashing of grass.

I looked up as the sound approached me, a figure surrounded by the halo of light emitted from the house. Any other person may believe a stranger had entered into their moment, but I'd know those curls and that tall frame anywhere.

"I didn't think you'd be out here," Theseus said. "I thought you'd be inside."

I shrugged, "I was for a little bit. I needed some fresh air."

He glanced behind him at the house, before stretching his arms out and strolling over to the tree that held the swing. "Some fresh air sounds nice," he said, throwing me a crooked smile and sitting with his back against the trunk.

I hoped the soft smile I returned carried my gratitude to him; the way his eyes twinkled before he closed them and leaned his head back made me think that it did.

At this point in my life, I'd known Theseus longer than I hadn't known him. Our first encounter was as first-years at Hogwarts, and we were both out of place. His parents had held him back a year, and I was the first in my family—a muggle-born—to attend. He was older than everyone in our year, and I was plagued with a strong case of imposter syndrome. Neither of us were where we really should have been, or where we thought we should have been.

And perhaps that's why the Sorting Hat sent us both to Gryffindor. We both needed someone who felt as out of place as we did. We held onto that feeling, held onto each other as we experienced Hogwarts together.

Theseus managed to grow out of that feeling, something I still had not accomplished fully. There was a part of me that would always wonder if I truly deserved this, if I really was the one in my family meant to have these gifts.

When my younger cousin, Norah, received her Hogwarts letter, you'd think that my feelings would have disappeared. Instead, they grew stronger. I watched my whole family fawn over her, like I had been the trial run, the place-holder for the one who really mattered.