Newt Scamander Preferences

'Cause When My Back Is Turned, My Bruises Shine'

A/N; The sing to listen to whilst teading this chapter is Many of Horror by Biffy Clyro. :) 

Day slowly turned into early evening, dinner was served as usual and Newt was absent from The Great Hall, as usual.

You ate as much as you could stomach, knowing that you had a lengthy wait ahead of you. Curfew began at eleven but who knew when Newt would emerge from his hiding place to seek out Professor Slughorn.

You watched as your peers around you conversed and interracted. He was missing out on this, you thought, and no one deserves that. He should have been here, chatting and enjoying himself.

Staring at your plate, which was precariously piled with an array of your favourite foods, you imagined the somewhat eccentric male eating alone- wherever he was- hearing the din of The Great Hall from afar, wondering what everyone was gossiping about but unable to find out for himself.

You then imagined him in the library late at night, in the secluded area you had not so long ago discovered him in, huddled by himself and reading one of those awful care for magical creatures textbooks, finding a few hours of peace there before he had to attend a lesson or walk the halls of the school, unsure whether he would have to endure the harsh onslaught of your smart mouth or mockery from the bullies.

What a depressing thought.

Early evening eventually faded and soon it was time for you to begin your stakeout. You had earlier discovered an alcove near Slughorn's office that, you could hide in and still have a perfect view of the corridor and room.

You had had to wait for all of the Slytherin students to return to their dorms in the dungeons but thankfully, that hadn't taken very long.

Now you were cosily tucked away in your hiding place. All you needed now was for Newt to make an appearance.

Minutes turned into hours, time ticked on by and still there was no sighting of the auburn-haired fellow. Several reasons for the lack of his prescence ran through your mind but you had to persevere on with your plan because there was still a chance that he would turn up.

Soon a clock in Slughorn's office struck one, the sound resonating down the corridor and still Newt was nowhere to be seen. Sat on the floor, back against the alcove's wall, you shifted your position slightly, as you stiff muscles pleaded in agony to be stretched. You were understandably exhausted, wishing that you could just crawl away to your nice, warm bed but no, you continued to wait.

Eyelids became heavier and breathing more even and within moments you were asleep, curled up in a foetus position, in your hiding spot.

Oblivious to the hours that slipped passed, you ultimately found yourself being awoken by someone. Jolting awake, you feared that it was a teacher. Oh the trouble you would be in if it was. In a blind panic, you scrambled to your feet, hastily attempting to smarten your uniform.

"There's no need to look good on my account." a familar voice quietly mocked you.

You suddenly stopped your fussing, movements paused as realisation washed over you, hitting you like a non-magical brick wall, forcing you to focus on the person stood before you. That voice could only belong to one person...

...Newt.

Your facial features moulded into a mask of relief. Never in your life had you been so happy to see the tall male.

"What are you doing here, (y/l/n)?" he asked as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

"I..." there was so much you wanted to say. After everything you had learnt over the past weeks, surely 'I'm sorry' should have been the first thing your lips uttered and it would have been, had it not been for the horrific state of Newt's face.

Your apology caught in your throat as you gasped and hands reached up, tenderly touching the sparse parts of the undamaged skin. "W-What happened?" you asked, fearful of the answer.

He ducked his head, trying to hide his appearance from you but gently cupped his face in your hands, forcing him to look at you. "Infernum stupri, Scamander, what did they do to you?!"

A/N: Infernum stupri I think roughly translates into 'f*cking hell' in Latin. 

You watched his eyes darkened, as anger swelled beneath the surface, ready to be freed on the nearest person, you. With an almost animalistic snarl, Newt pulled away from your grip and backed far away from you. "Why do you care? I thought this was all a part of your triumph." he leant forward and through gritted teeth hissed: "How good is that victory feeling now, (y/l/n)?"

Okay, so he still hated you, that enough was clear and you could hardly blame him for feeling so but you were trying to make amends. At least if he gave you a chance, you could attempt to just that. "This isn't about winning, it was never a competition-"

He laughed harshly, keeping his vouce down, as not to alert anyone to your presences. "For you, maybe not but then, the betting odds were always in your favour, weren't they?"

You felt your own anger rising but you had to quickly remind yourself that he was hurting, both emotionally and physically. "I didn't know if the bets until recently." you whispered. "Look," you cleared your throat. "I know everything. I know what those Gryffindors have been doing to you and I'm so sorry, I had no idea. I would have done something sooner if I'd known. I didn't realise how serious it all was. I wanted to talk to you about it sooner but you weren't anywhere to be found. Newt," he flinched at the sound of you using his first name, you never used his first name. "I can't apologise enough. I don't want to be enemies anymore. I'm not saying that we have to be friends but...but no more arguing. What you said to me in the library, I haven't been able to get it off my mind. Your words are literally imprinted on my brain. Then you vanished and all I kept doing was imagining all of these terribly sad scenarios in my mind, thinking about how you were alone because of some morons from my house. I just want you to know, I want to help you. We need to stop these assbutts but I couldn't do anything without your permission, which is why I waited for you tonight. I knew that you were still handing in work and-"

You were fully prepared to carry on with your babbling but your were soon interrupted by Newt's arms pulling you into a comforting embrace, his face nuzzling at your neck.

You instantly relaxed, feeling your hunched shoulders slumping forward, as you snaked your arms around his waist, holding him close to you. Who'd have ever thought that you'd oneday be wrapping your arms around Newt's waist, rather than his throat. "You infuriating, annoying, wonderful (your gender)." he murmured, a chuckle reverberating through his broad chest.

"Not annoying." you quipped back.

"Do you always have to have a witty reply?"

You recalled him uttering those very words not so long ago, only this time there was no malice in his tone, only humour. "Of course," you rolled your (colour) eyes, even though Newt couldn't see your sarcastic gesture. "you'd think me ill otherwise."

He pulled away slightly to look down at you, never had you seen him gaze at you in such a happy manner, usually it was in vexation.

"Quite right." he smiled, though he subconsciously bit his lip. You suddenly felt very hot under the collar. "Have you really been that worried about me?"

You simply nodded in response, face aflame.

"Who'd have thought it, (y/n) (y/l/n) was worried about me." you thought that he was mocking you but you could find no humour in his eyes, only genuine amazement.

"You know...we still need to do something about those Gryffindors."

His facial features became more somber. Just like you had done, he merely nodded.

"I want to help you, will you let me?"

With your question, his smile returned. "Of course, I'd think you ill otherwise."