Common Enemy || Theseus Scamander

13. Poor Timing

wc: 1151
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Three hours later, you had fourteen potential castles that might be the one. Mustache had just left to get coffee, throwing a snarky comment about not getting "too comfortable." Which was received poorly.

You sat there awkwardly for a moment before Theseus finally spoke up. "Sorry about him," he laughed nervously. "I think he just got a little excited from the events of the day."

You couldn't look him in the eye. You just tried to control your raging heartbeat. "It's alright," you managed. God. Was that the best you could do? You squirmed, any other words in the English language failed to come to mind.

You pretended to search the map before you spoke again, finally recalling the ability to articulate any kind of thoughts you had. Fear suddenly be damned. You did not want to think about thirty seconds from now when you would inevitably have to witness Theseus's reaction to the unstoppable word vomit about to escape your mouth. "Listen, Thes, I know you probably don't want to hear something like this right now, but I can't keep sitting here not saying what's on my mind," you began shakily, and you watched him freeze, slowly looking up at you, and you could tell he was desperately trying to control his emotions. You hated that, because he was ultimately successful with that endeavor and you now had no idea what he was about to say in return.

But the slight tremor in his hands holding some map or document betrayed him. You took this as a sign of encouragement. Sort of.

His neck became redder by the second and you heard a barely audible gulp. "Like what?" He croaked nervously. You took a sudden notice of the circle of an old coffee stain on the desk, unaware of his poorly hidden smile of excitement. You thought you heard hope in his voice, but you let your own rise. Just in case.

Argh! "Listen, I know there's something between you and me, and I know you know it too. Hell, I think everyone knows." You watched carefully for a reaction. His bashful smile grew. Bollocks. He was just too cute for his own good. You nervously wrung your hands as he stood up to walk over to you. The silence was maddening. "--And you don't have to say anything right now, I know it's–"

He stopped you in your tracks simply by the softening of his face, now suddenly full of emotion. His eyes said a million words as he reached out to you. You tried to translate just one of those words, but your mind was moving at light speed. What will he say? Did you just ruin everything? Oh God-- Taking your hands in his, Theseus pulled you to your feet. Your racing thoughts calmed after a moment, nervousness replaced with excitement. Though, that didn't stop your knees from being seconds from giving out. He stood inches from you now. You could feel the space, somehow feeling a lovely mixture of elation, disquiet, and slight hysteria (of your own making).

"Y/n," he said softly, glancing at your intertwined hands. "I thought it was just me." He laughed loudly, relief radiating from him as if he just heard the best news in his life. "Oh, I thought I was just imagining things."

You laughed too, suddenly overcome with giddiness. "I thought I was the one imagining things!"

He shook his head, a wide smile on your both of your faces. "Certainly not, y/n," he breathed, as the intensity grew by the millisecond. You saw his eyes flick down to your lips, just barely. But he did. You don't know how you got this close. His lips were mere inches from yours now. There's hardly any space left between your bodies.

"So what are your thoughts about kissing me right now?" He whispered boldly. Heart = Stopped.

He looked you in the eyes, looking for any sign of hesitation, but found none, and you saw the same confidence in his eyes. You nodded eagerly, and he leaned in, your lips barely brushing together and your heart literally beating faster than the worlds fastest race horse, when the door burst open again.

Theseus's eyes closed in exasperation before you regretfully pulled apart to find Mustache smirking, holding three coffees in his hands with both eyebrows sky high as if he had just received the juiciest bit of hot gossip. It was safe to assume that this was not to remain confidential. But you hardly cared. And it seemed Theseus felt the same way.

"Evening, children," he said, too casually, eyeing you knowingly.

Theseus groaned. "You have got to get better at knocking, mate."

You blushed, hardy believing you just did that with Theseus. Well, almost. Did it even count as a kiss? You wanted to say yes. That was-- Lord have mercy. You couldn't wait to get him alone again.

He backed away from you, your hands slowly slipping apart until they fell away and he turned to walk back to his place behind the desk. When both men were looking elsewhere, you swooned and got back to work.

In that time, you narrowed the search to seven castles (between shared glances with Theseus).

An hour later, you stood with the other aurors around a portkey, waiting.

"Alright, listen up!" Theseus boomed over the voices around you. They immediately quieted. "Grindelwald could be at any of these castles, and it's imperative that we catch them by surprise. No one can know, or we won't stand a chance. Ladies and gentleman, this very well may be the biggest night of our lives, so please, don't fuck it up." The small crowd laughed around him.

An auror checked her watch in the corner. "It's time!" She yelled.

"Good luck, everyone. And remember- Use the minimal amount of force required, for the love of God," He finished, and the small group grabbed hold of an old steering wheel in the middle of the room, and they were instantly transported to a thick forest in southern Austria.

Nothing in the first castle. Or the second or third. Your nerves were on fire, you couldn't stand still longer than three seconds, and your hands shook until you resolved to shove them in your pockets until further notice.

Technically, you weren't allowed to even be there, but you knew enough about dueling to be an auror anyway. And there was no way you were letting your fellow witches and wizards go in without you.

Finally, you apparated to the fifth castle after finding nothing extraordinary at the fourth one. This one was an enormous white castle with towering pillars and towers stretching far up into the sky between many towering mountains. It was far grander than the others, you noticed. And the name, you heard someone say, was Nuremgaurd.

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