Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Poppy Scamander

Goodbye, Jacob

Subway, 6:30 AM

Newt set his case down and opened it. Poppy felt her heart skip a beat, but Newt held out his wand and waved it over the opening. Then, he put his fingers at the sides of his mouth and whistled loudly. It took a moment, but suddenly Frank the thunderbird burst out of the case. Everyone took a step back, Queenie and Jacob (who'd made they're way to the subway station the long way) grabbed at each others hands, Tina took a step forward next to Newt. Poppy laughed a little. She was a fifth wheel.

Newt looked up at the bird "I intended to wait until we got to Arizona. But it seems you're our only hope, Frank."

Frank leaned in and nuzzled Newt with his beak & head, as if he were hugging him. Newt straightened his posture and withdrew a flask from his pocket and showed to the great bird. Frank tilted his head, as if understanding.

"You know what you have to do." Newt told the bird.

And he chucked the flask into the air. Frank flew after it, catching the flask in his beak. He soared out of the subway and over the crowds of no-maj's in the streets. The clouds got extraordinarily dark and a blue flash spread out across them for a moment. Then, the rain started coming down. A few Aurors cast a spell on their hats and walked out in the rain to start repairing the destruction in the city. Poppy was feeling a little better and was limping around on her own without using Tina's shoulder as a crutch.

Tina wrapped her arms around her sister. Poppy watched this whole scene and realized something. She didn't like-like Queenie anymore. Maybe it was just after all the times watching how much Queenie and Jacob flowed as a couple, but she thought maybe she "felt" that way was because she thought she had to love somebody in that kind of way.

But, Queenie was a sister; not a lover. Queenie looked over at Poppy and approached her. She hugged Poppy tightly and whispered in her ear.

"You're like a sister to me, too." she stated, just for Poppy to hear. Poppy hugged Queenie back "But, you still need to talk to Newt."

Poppy smiled slightly and nodded.

"Is that no-maj still here?" the president asked.

Queenie rushed in front of Jacob, but Picquery saw.

"Obliviate him. There can be no exceptions." they all took a step of distraught forward, which seemed to make the president uncomfortable "I'll let you say goodbye."

~~~

They stood at the top of stairs under the awning. Jacob was about to take a step forward as if he were going to go out in the rain. Queenie reached out for him, which made him turn.

"Hey. I was never even supposed to be here. I was never supposed to know-" his voice was cracking "-any of this." he sniffed a little "Everyone knows Newt only kept me around, because-" he stopped. He didn't know "Hey. Newt? Why did you keep me around?"

Newt looked up "Because I like you. Because you're-" Newt hesitated a moment "-my friend. And I'll never forget how you helped me, Jacob."

"Oh." Jacob said.

"I'll go with you. We'll go somewhere. Anywhere." the two of them laughed together, shaky through tears, "See. I ain't ever gonna find no one like you."

Jacob pointed behind him, "There's loads like me."

Queenie shook her head, "No. No. There's only one like you."

Jacob took a deep breath and said, "I gotta go."

He turned around, wiping his eyes.

"Jacob?" Newt suddenly said, climbing the stairs a little.

He looked back "It's okay." he sighed a little, "It's just like waking up, right?"

He wiped his eyes and nodded. Then, he took a step back into the rain. Looking up at the sky, he closed his eyes and magic washed over him. His face calmed as he forgot everything that happened over the weekend. Queenie held up her wand and formed an umbrella over her head. She walked out to Jacob, wiped his lips, and pressed a kiss to them.

Then, she backed away. Poppy couldn't believe it. Jacob and Queenie didn't deserve this. They deserved to be together. Right?

Queenie back into the cover of the subway and disapparated. So did Newt, Tina, and Poppy. They landed on the landing of Tina and Queenie's flat. Queenie was already through the door when they appeared. Queenie locked herself away in their room and didn't emerge for a while. Newt set his case on the floor and disappeared into that. Tina sat down at the table and told Poppy she wanted to be alone.

She hadn't talked much to Jacob, but Tina was torn about what just happened. Poppy climbed down into the case. Jacob may not be there, but Poppy had one more thing she wanted to talk to Newt about.

She found her baby brother sitting beside Frank's empty habitat, his head hung. She approached him and rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey." she said to him.

Newt wiped his eyes, "Hey, Poppy."

Poppy took a deep breath and prepared Newt to just walk away, "So, remember when Tina and I were sitting on the step having a deep conversation?"

Newt looked at Poppy, "Yeah. Why? What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, the conversation was about you. More specifically, our past." Poppy waited for Newt to question, but he didn't. He just waited for more context, "When I was sixteen, I got into some trouble. My father didn't like that and disowned me. He erased the memories of my mother and brothers."

Newt smiled, "That's what I thought you going to say."

"Listen, it sounds crazy- wait, what?"

Newt turned beet-root, "I figured out that you had to be someone from my past the first time to called me by my full name. But, during our fight with Gra- Grindelwald, somehow memories were knocked loose and-"

Poppy gasped, "You remember me?!"

Newt smiled awkwardly, nodding "Yes. I do, Pop."

She hugged her brother tightly; happy he could look at her as more than a stranger. She didn't care if her parents or Theseus didn't remember. Newt did and that was enough for her.