fall into me | t. scamander

the new girl

A/N: welcome to my new Fantastic Beasts story! This is going to be a light, cute one so hope you'll like this and take in the good vibes! Thanks for reading and for stopping by :) 

——

Mei Ng was not going to have a horrible day.

Not her first day. No.

She had planned this to the letter and thus had thought of any kind of reasons or liabilities that might deter her from having a perfect first day at Hogwarts. This was a chance for her to start anew and she was not going to blow this off and make a fool out of herself.

So imagine her horror when a cat popped out of nowhere during the welcoming ceremony only to steal her one and only memento from home — a jewelry piece that Mei preferred looping around her bag strap instead of wear it around her neck. Mei had no other choice then, than run after it like her life was on the line.

In a way, it was. Her mother was totally going to disown her of she didn't bring it back home for the summer.

Which is why she found herself in such a prickly situation.

"Running in the hallways is prohibited, as is missing the welcoming ceremony," The prefect stood before her, practically towering over her small frame as she curled her arms over her stomach and looked anywhere but at him. The hallway was too dark to make out this stranger's features and yet, she was certain he was somewhat good-looking even with his back to the light.

Not that it mattered because she was about to receive detention.

"Like I said, a cat stole my necklace and I'm trying to get it back," Mei tried to argue, "it's not like I willingly want to run around." 

"Those are the rules."

"It's the first day," Mei tried not to roll her eyes, "do you really have to be an ass on the first day at school?" 

"Wow, what's with the language? That's enough for two detentions."

"Wha—I just said—" exasperated and wanting to go back to searching for that damn cat as soon as possible, Mei threw her hands in the air, "oh you know what, fine. Just give me detention or whatever. My first day's screwed anyway."

The prefect chuckled, "I'm joking, relax. I wasn't really going to give you detention," he turned his head towards the direction in which she was headed as Mei grumbled a few incoherent words under her breath, "where did you say it went? The cat?"

Together, they walked down the corridor flanked by an open courtyard alighted with fireflies, looked into empty classrooms and even in the toilets, but the cat was nowhere to be found at this hour. It made Mei's stomach twist in more ways than one; it had been the last memento from her mother before she'd had to leave her home country. Losing it just made her feel even smaller, even more insignificant. 

"What does it look like? Your necklace?" The prefect asked suddenly, breaking the tense silence. Mei looked up at him just as they turned down a corridor and light finally bathed his features. She blinked. He was handsome, with those chiseled features and eyes that reminded her of a storm at sea, auburn hair tumbling over his forehead and the kind of smile that was mischievous yet charming at the same time.

It was enough to send red alarm signals firing all over Mei's brain.

"It's got a wolf pendant, with an emerald gemstone. I got it from my Okaa-san—my mother— before I moved here," the thought of her mother made her chest ache, "I really can't lose it."

If he as curious about why, he didn't ask. Instead, he allowed his wand to set off a few light sources as he muttered "lumos" under his breath. But the castle was gigantic and Mei hadn't realized it would be near impossible to cover all grounds in such a limited amount of time.

The clock sounded for curfew after a while and as a horde of students came rushing through, the prefect grabbed onto her wrist before tugging her into one of the stray classes, away from all the commotion.

"We might want to hide in here for a while," he said, eyes darting right and left as if checking for teachers.

Mei gently tugged herself out of his reach, "why are you doing this? I mean, you're a prefect. Aren't you supposed to be doing your job right now?"

"I am technically, already doing my job," he sent her a grin and she was again, flabbergasted at how beautiful this man truly was, "can't have a lady crying in the hallway on the first day back."

"Really, it's fine. I'll try to find it some other time," Mei said, "I think it's a little late anyway. The cat's long gone."

In the end, they had no other choice than to go back to their dormitories which, upon hearing that she was a Slytherin, made the prefect laugh even harder. 

"What's so funny?!" She couldn't help but burst out at his sudden bout of enjoyment. It seemed almost as though he was making fun of her bad luck, if Slytherins were something she could call that. 

According to this auburn-haired, pretty boy prefect, Slytherins were known to be smart, tenacious and cunning, always ready to get what they wanted, no matter what the price. Mei then proceeded to tell him that maybe these were all stereotypes and— could she really trust a prefect who was somehow staying away from his assigned prefect duties and helping a total stranger? 

"I bet you're just jealous because our logo is cooler than yours," Mei huffed, glancing at his mustard yellow cloak. She caught a glimpse of what looked to be some kind of beaver and her lips curved upwards into a smile, "yeah, definitely jealous." 

"I'll have you know, the badger represents hard work and dedication," the young man raised a brow. 

"Oh how cute and boring." 

"Hey—a little respect. I'm your prefect after all."

"We're the same age aren't we? Doesn't that put us on the same level?" 

Turned out that no, he was one year younger than she was, which made this situation even funnier. Surprising, considering that his stature and the way he held himself made him seem older than he really was. 

"Well, here we are," he gestured when they finally came face to face with what looked like a dungeon entrance. Mei blinked at the darkened walls and tried not to make her fear show itself on her face. A tough act, considering that this was the first day and this was what she was being presented as her humble abode for the next few months. 

Something squeezed in her stomach and a knot twisted it painfully. She bit down onto her lower lip, and the young man seemed to read straight into her hesitation. 

"Hey," he murmured softly, "you'll be fine. It gets better." 

"Thanks," she mumbled, "I'll keep that in mind." 

He bid her goodbye and just before he turned away was the moment she realized she'd never asked him for his name. 

He grinned then, crooked and in a way that made his eyes crinkle up into crescents.

"Theseus Scamander."