Case Stories | Fantastic Beasts Oneshots

Recovering (Newtina)

*contains COG spoilers*

London was particularly sunny in September, yet there was a dark cloud looming over a house that its occupants could not ignore.

The aftermath of Grindelwald's rally had left the gang devastated. Newt could feel the guilt and loss radiate out of each of them. Despite the fact that he had felt defeated by the outcome of the rally, he was the first to recover and get back up on his feet. Not because he had fully gotten over it, but someone needed to take charge and make sure all of them didn't sink into a bottomless hole of coldness and darkness. Since it was his home they were all residing in, save for Theseus who had gone back to his own, Newt felt the responsibility to take up the role of being there for everyone, or seeing as he wasn't the best at this sort of thing, at the very least ensure they were still alive and physically well. With a heavy heart but a goal in mind, Newt tried to fulfil his duty.

His creatures played a part in helping him cope as caring for them took his mind off the loss he had experienced. And it was his creatures that helped him coax Nagini out of a dark corner in his menagerie and into the light.

For a week, the Maledictus had taken to hiding in a very good spot that Newt couldn't find for two whole days. When he did, he tried to invite her upstairs for meals, but there was almost always no response. In the end, Newt decided to leave food for her to ensure she didn't go hungry.

The creature that brought her out was the runespoor. The magizoologist was attempting to put on a cone for the right head of the runespoor as it kept biting the other two, but it was proving to be difficult as that head kept lashing out at Newt. Nagini noticed the commotion and, knowing the tongue of the snake, hissed for him to stop. Taking the cone out of Newt's hand, she approached the snake and gently placed it on him, being as calm as possible. From that day on, Newt let Nagini help him feed the runespoor, and that seemed to lift her spirits enough for her to come up for meals and sleep in a proper place, next to the runespoor.

Jacob was, in a way, easier to care for than Nagini. For one, Newt didn't have to look in dark corners to find him. Two, Newt knew where Jacob usually was. He would either be aimlessly walking around London, back in time for dinner, or watching Newt feed his creatures with Bunty, who Newt told not to visit so often now due to the given circumstances. But one of the few visits that Bunty made was the key to cheering Jacob up.

She had brought pastries made by her grandmother to Newt's house one day, and Jacob had taken an interest in them. Newt saw it as a good sign and suggested that Bunty offer Jacob the recipe to try. Bunty agreed, and Jacob was preoccupied with baking for the rest of the week, giving Newt a sense of relief knowing that one of his best friends was feeling better doing what he loved.

The best part was that Jacob had accidentally mistaken crushed Mooncalf pellets for chocolate chips. While none of the humans took a liking to it, the cookies became a favourite among the Mooncalves and that gave Jacob the new goal of creating pastries for Newt's creatures. Seeing his muggle friend smile while feeding the mooncalves his newly invented treats made Newt smile as well.

Theseus was harder to deal with. Newt had tried to invite him over to his house for meals with the motive of caring for him at his convenience, but Theseus had simply refused. Knowing his brother, Theseus would rather lock himself away from everyone else in his home until he would rot away like a zombie, but Newt wouldn't allow that. Both of them had lost someone, and Newt couldn't afford to lose anyone else.

He travelled to Theseus' apartment everyday via the Floo network, making sure he had his supply of food and water. Even in his own home, Newt hardly saw Theseus for he had cast several charms on his room door to keep his little brother out, but Newt was having none of it. He tried to break the charms, making progress each day, until finally the door unlocked. The smell that hit Newt was so bad, he thought his brother had truly started to decay. He almost let the tears welling up in his eyes spill if it wasn't for Theseus shifting in his bed to see who had broken through his charms.