Obliviate | JSE

Epilogue: One Week Later

Seán's POV
Life was back to normal but a part of me didn't want it to be. Although running from a group planning to kill Y/N instead of wiping her memory clean was difficult- and painful at times- I wanted a life where I didn't have to carry this burden of a secret anymore. Husband and wife shouldn't have secrets, right? But The Minister was right, it's better this way.

I still think about Mark sometimes. We hardly knew him yet he was willing to sacrifice his life for us; a couple on the run from criminals. He was brave and heroic and I owe him my life. I attended his funeral alone the other day. A beautiful service filled with his family and friends from America. It didn't feel right without Y/N though. She was his friend too but she just doesn't remember...

I stand in my office, looking out of the full length window and seeing the clueless Muggles below as they hurry to work, home, wherever they were going. They can't see me, but I can see them. To them, the ministry is just a closed down bank in London. Y/N floats into my mind again as I realise that she is one them, clueless, unaware... forbidden.

I glance over at Newt's desk. Empty. I still haven't forgiven him for what he did. My one and only best friend turned against me and Y/N. That's something you don't just forget, even if he was under the Imperious curse. As though on cue, my reverie is interrupted by the creaking of my office door slowly opening. There stood Newt.

I looked at him briefly before turning away again and focusing my attention back to the world outside of the window. I placed one arm above my head on the window's frame and the other hand in my trousers pocket. I rested my forehead on my arm as I continued to people-watch. My brain was too all over the place to work.

"Morning." Newt says hesitantly. I don't reply or even look at him. "Seán, listen, I... I wouldn't do that to you. You have to believe me. I can't remember any of those outrageous, betraying things people claim I did." He explained but I still say nothing. "I'm going to America. New York specifically." I looked up slightly but didn't turn around. "There's a few things I have to take care of but before I go, I want to give you this." Newt stands beside me and holds the familiar gold and ruby necklace I gave to Y/N, the one Newt's Niffler took away from her.

"What did you do? Curse it?" I say bitterly, not accepting it at once

"Of course not. Seán, when are you going to be able to trust me again? You know me better than that." Newt replied, his tone of voice laced with hurt. I looked at him again and reluctantly took the necklace from his open palm and inspected it. "The Niffler damaged the beacon beyond repair. I'm afraid it's just and ordinary necklace now." There was an awkward silence between us before Newt spoke again. "I don't know what to say to you, Seán. I guess I'll see you on my return and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

I was silent for a while, trying to find something to say. I heard shuffling of footsteps and finally, I opened my mouth to speak. "To be under the Imperious curse, you have to have been in contact with the wizard who inflicted the curse beforehand." I say in a monotone and turn around to face him. He stopped walking towards the door and also turned around. "That time you left in the middle of the night wasn't the first time you met with them, was it?"

Newt's facial expression dropped and was evident with guilt. "It- It's not how it looks, I promise. They tried to get me to expose your location but I declined. I walked away-"

"Not fast enough." I interrupted. "It's amazing what a little bit of bluffing can do."

"What?" He looked at me with a confused expression.

"Anyone can inflict the curse, Newt, you don't have to have contact beforehand, the curse is spontaneous. I didn't know that you had secretly met with them behind our backs. Your panic has just given yourself away." Newt went silent and it was at that moment when I realised forgiving him would take more time than I realised. He betrayed me, my wife and Mark. I can't just let that slide. "Safe trip, Newt." I finish the conversation and I turn back towards the window. I hear shuffling before the creaky door gently closes.

I glance at the ruby and gold necklace in my clenched fist and feel my eyes prickle with warmth. I felt like such an idiot for getting upset over this but Newt was like a brother I never had. He had hurt me. I wanted to forgive him but it wasn't as simple as that.
———
I return home that evening to be greeted by Y/N. She plants a kiss on my cheek and we sit down for dinner- just like normal.

"Here." I remember the necklace in my trouser pocket and hand it to her.

"Oh, yes! I wondered where that had gone." She gasps and puts the necklace on. "Where did you find it?"

"Nowhere special." I reply bluntly. "What did you do today?"

"Nothing much, went down to the grocery market, had a walk. You know, boring stuff." She shrugs as she twirls a fork of spaghetti.

"Is that Mug-I mean- shop owner still trying to ask you out?" I ask, hoping she wouldn't pick up on my small mistake.

"Unfortunately." She rolls her eyes. "Can't you just come with me and set him straight?"

I chuckle. "Maybe. What could I do though?"

"Oh, I don't know. If only there was a way of erasing his knowledge of me, you know?" I felt a tight knot form in my chest. Something about her tone made me feel uneasy. "Maybe..." she hesitates as she thinks. She leans in closer, raises an eyebrow and whispers, "Maybe you could use Obliviate on him..."