His Beast - A Newt Scamander Love Story

Wings

Newt's POV

"Others?" Jeanne asked nervously.

"Ha," Jacob laughed. "I had the same reaction. C'mon," he said and helped Jeanne to her feet.

She stumbled forward into my outstretched arms, nearly taking me down with her.

"Whoa, whoa," I said, pulling her upright. "Off balance much?"

"Yes, actually," Jeanne answered quietly.

Tears began to silently fall down her face. I pulled her closer to me and ran my fingers through her tangled hair.

"Shh, shh," I chided. "It's okay."

Jacob began rubbing her shoulder soothingly.

"What happened, hmm?" I asked quietly. "You can tell me, Jeanne. I want to help you, we both do," I said, referring to Jacob.

"They took them," she said quietly.

"Who took what, Jeanne?" Jacob asked.

"The Second Salemer . . . S-she took m-my wings," Jeanne said through her sobs.

"Wings?" Jacob asked.

Then, I understood. Those protrusions on her back... Those were her wings... Those were her wings! That horrible woman!

"Jeanne," I started, pulling away to look into her wet eyes. "What did the Salemer do with your wings? Could I get them back in any way?"

She shook her head sadly. "S-she burned them . . . In front of me . . ."

I saw pity form in Jacob's eyes and I felt it in mine.

"Will they grow back?" I asked, pulling her into a hug again. I looked over her shoulder to see the bandages soaked red around the stubs of her wings again.

"I-I don't know. This has never happened before . . ." Jeanne said, her voice trailing off.

I kept holding her upright in a tight hug, swaying side to side gently.

Jacob came over and whispered an idea in my ear.
"Good thinking, Jacob," I mumbled to him. "Jeanne?"

"Hmm?" she mused quietly. Jeanne sniffed in; she was still crying.

"Why don't we measure your, uh, wings now, go to sleep in a bit, then in the morning see if there's been any progress, huh? Does that sound good?" I asked softly.

"Yeah," she said. Jeanne sniffled. "Yeah, okay. Go ahead."

I told Jacob to grab the towel Jeanne had been using as a pillow. I gently removed the bandages, revealing the small stubs on her back. Jacob handed her a towel to cover her front while looking away awkwardly. I grabbed a measuring tape.

"Six and a quarter centimeters," I said to myself. "Six and a quarter, six and a quarter." I grabbed a quill, ink, and a scrap of paper and scribbled it down. "Jacob, could you hand me a fresh roll of bandages?" I bound her back once again.

Once I had finished tending to Jeanne, I went over to Jacob. "Will you sit down?" I asked.

Jacob dropped down onto a crate labeled Mooncalf Pellets.

I moved forward to examine the bite on his neck. "Ah, that's definitely the Murtlap. You must be particularly susceptible. See, you're a Muggle. So our physiologies are subtly different." I busied myself at my workstation to create a poultice, then applied it to Jacob's neck.

"Ow . . ." mumbled Jacob.

I glanced over to Jeanne. She stared at me intently while I worked.

"Now, stay still," I said to Jacob. "Now that should stop the sweating." I handed Jacob some pills. "And one of those should sort the twitch."