𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔲𝔰

Seventeen

I found myself in front of the Macy's Department Store on Fifth Avenue. I let go of Jacob's arm and pulled my wand out, quickly morphing my fancy dress back into my coat and tights. I looked to my left and saw Newt, Tina, and Queenie there too.

"Ready?" I asked them. They nodded and we walked quietly towards the store, wands out.

I saw Newt glancing at me, "What's wrong?" I whispered to him.

"Nothing," He mumbled, "you just looked really pretty in that dress." I felt my face heat up and I couldn't help but grin. 

"Thank you. You looked very nice in your bow tie as well." I winked at him cheekily and ran across the street to the store, not giving Newt time to respond.

The five of us peered through the shop window to see a purse suspiciously slide off of one of the store's mannequins and float away. We looked at each other and ran to the front of the store.

"Alohomora." I whispered, and the doors clicked open. We rushed in and followed the floating purse as it trailed deeper into the store.

We hid behind some store decorations and watched the invisible creature. "Ok, demiguises are fundamentally peaceful," Newt explained, "but he can give a nasty nip if provoked."

The demiguise made himself visible and began to climb some shelves, seeming to look for something. 

"You two head that way," Newt said to Jacob and Queenie, "and try very hard not to be predictable." Jacob and Queenie just looked at each other, confused, before walking off.

Suddenly, a soft roar could be heard throughout the store. "Is that the demiguise?" Tina asked. 

"No. Definitely not." I shook my head. "But then what could it be?"

"I think it's the reason why the demiguise is here." Newt said vaguely before standing and following the creature. We watched as the demiguise ran up a stair case that led to an upper floor.

We were led to the attic. Newt, Tina and I were crouched behind some boxes while Jacob and Queenie were across the room from us. The demiguise sat in the middle of the room and began to pull objects out of the purse, which were just some candies, and examining them.

"What did you mean by don't be predictable?" Tina asked. I, too, wondered what Newt meant.

"Well, he can see the most likely immediate future." My eyes widened, I hadn't known about this, and I practically raised him. Newt must've noticed my surprise, "It took me a while to discover his capabilities, but it's truly fascinating."

We continued to watch Dougal lay out the contents of his purse in a line, as if he was offering them to something.

"He's babysitting." Newt realized.

"What did you say?" Tina asked.

"This is my fault, I thought I had them all, but I must've miscounted." My jaw dropped.

"Newt, don't tell me---" Newt quickly shushed me before setting his suitcase on the ground, opening it. I heard a low rumble above me and looked up the the ceiling.

"He's baby sitting that?" Asked Tina frantically.

From the shadows emerged a large, yellow beak, then the yellow eyes and the shimmering purple feathers. "Of all things." I sighed.

"Occamies are choranaptyxic. Meaning they grow to fill available space." Newt explained to a trembling Tina.

The occamy eyed Newt carefully as it lowered its head to the demiguise. Dougal popped a small candy into the occamy's beak and I chuckled a little.

Newt was careful to not make eye contact with the creature as he reached out to it. "Mummy's here." He soothed, trying to gain its trust.

Suddenly, I heard a small jingle and looked behind me. Tina had accidentally kicked a small ornament. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose as I heard the occamy start thrashing and squawking. Chaos ensued, the demiguise ran behind me and jumped onto Jacob's back. The occamy slithered about, its wing catching Newt and carrying him off. 

"Newt!" I cried, dodging the creature's tail. Shelves toppled over and we jumped around, avoiding getting squashed.

"We need an insect!" I heard Newt cry. 

"Huh?" Queenie questioned.

"A cockroach!" I yelled over the noise. "And a teapot!" I quickly remembered back to my fifth year of Hogwarts and felt myself begin to shift into a panther again. 

My eyesight was sharp, my movements were 10 times faster as I ran around, looking for any cockroaches and herding the occamy into one side of the attic. 

"What the--- THERE'S A GIANT CAT IN HERE HOW MANY MORE CREATURES ESCAPED YOUR CASE, NEWT?" Jacob screamed as I bounded past him.

"That's Eve! Please find me a cockroach and a teapot!" Newt answered as he clung onto the occamy's head. 

The four of us chased down any insect we saw, trying to step on them, snatch them up, but the occamy made things a bit harder. 

I found one scuttling by my feet and quickly jumped on it, catching it in my paws. I quickly scooped it into my mouth and tried to find a teapot when I felt the occamy's body shove me into the wall and trap me there. I scrunched my eyes shut as I felt my leg as bent into a bad angle and let my mouth hang open, panting for air. 

All was quiet. If the occamy moved any more, the attic would most likely collapse. I peered around, seeing Tina standing across the room with a teapot in her hand. I looked to my left and the occamy was eyeing me intently, particularly the cockroach that was in my mouth. 

"Roach in teapot..." Newt whispered, and I nodded. I quickly changed back into a human and spat the roach into my hand, wrenching myself from the wall, but my leg was still caught. I felt it pop and I screamed, toppling over.

The roach flew out of my hand and into the air. As I held my injured leg, I saw Tina jumping over the occamy's body, teapot outstretched. The occamy reared its head back to chase the insect. Tina caught it in the teapot and the occamy dived headfirst into it, shrinking so it'd fit. Newt jumped in, quickly shutting it so the occamy couldn't escape. Knowing that it was over, I let out a relieved laugh.

"Choranaptyxic." Newt said, panting. "They also shrink to fit the available space."

"We did it!" I laughed again from the floor. "Oh Merlin, I never thought I'd have to do this again." 

I heard everyone run over to me. "Are you alright?" Queenie asked, helping me sit up. 

"Yeah, I've been through worse." I groaned, thinking back to Graves. "I think it's dislocated though."

"Oh, I can help with that." Newt suddenly piped up, kneeling next to me. "You remember when I told you I fought in the war?" He asked, placing his hands on my bad leg. "Well, I picked up some stuff from a few injured Ironbellies I had the pleasure of meeting."

I heard a pop and a sharp second of pain. "BLOODY HELL!" I screamed, grabbing onto Newt's coat.

"Sorry, I just found it was better to do it without warning." Newt said, helping me stand. I found that I could sort of walk. "Oh, that was a lot easier than I thought it'd be." I said, wiggling my leg around.

"Thanks Newt." I grinned at him. He smiled back, "You're welcome, Eve."

"Now, let's get these creatures back in the case."