Catastrophe || n.s

v. good-bye

Penelope sat against the wall of a prison cell, her head leaning on the bars behind her. Newt sat beside her, his blue eyes glued on his hands and his expression solemn. She had attempted to comfort him, though nothing seemed to work. Eventually, Penelope had given up with a long sigh, wrapping her arm around Newt's as one last attempt to comfort him.

A thick silence had fallen over the cell. Jacob Kawolski sat on the single bench in the cell, his eyes glued to the floor. Tina Goldstein stood beside him, suffering the same consequences because she, too, was involved. She was looking at Newt with a guilty expression- one that Penelope couldn't help but scoff at.

"I'm sorry about your creatures, Mr. Scamander," she whispered awkwardly, though her apology was only followed by silence. "I truly am."

"It's your damn fault they were taken away in the first place," Penelope spat at the woman angrily. "You just had to turn him in for your own self pleasure, so you could maybe get your job back. But look where you are now, Goldstein."

Tina only looked at the young woman with a blank expression, and Penelope felt a stab of satisfaction. Her and Tina didn't exactly have the greatest backstory, as the woman used to bully her for being a squib when they were younger, even though she was a half-blood herself.

"Penny," Newt's voice startled the woman, though she turned to look at the blonde man as he spoke. "Just forget it, it's over with."

"Can someone tell me what this Obscusial, Obscurus thing is, please?" Jacob asked awkwardly from his spot on the bench, looking between the three.

Tina looked at him for moment, as if she were thinking of the right thing to say. "There hasn't been one for centuries."

"Actually, I met one in Sudan three months ago," Newt said quietly, still staring at his fingers. "There used to be more of them, but they still exist. It was before wizards went underground... when we were still being hunted by muggles, young wizards and witches would sometimes try to suppress their magic in order to avoid persecution. Most of the time they weren't able to control their powers, so they would develop what was called an Obscurus."

Kawolski looked at him with wide eyes, as if he wasn't completely following along with what he was saying. Though Newt didn't notice, as he was still staring at his hands.

"It's an unstable and uncontrollable dark force that busts out and attacks," Penelope explained to him. Beside her, Newt nodded slowly, and she squeezed his arm gently. "And then it vanishes."

Newt buried his head into his hands, shaking it as if he were trying to suppress his emotions. Penelope didn't have to ask to know that the Obscurus he met in Sudan had scarred him.

"Obscurials can't survive long, can they?" Tina asked him slowly, her voice quavering slightly.

Newt hesitated a moment before lifting his head once more. "There's no documents of cases of Obscurials living past the age of ten," he explained quietly. "The one I met in Africa was eight when..." he swallowed thickly, closing his eyes tightly for a moment before continuing. "She was eight when she died."

"Wait, so what are you telling me here?" Jacob asked suddenly, his voice laced with disbelief. "That Senator Shawl was killed by a- by a kid?"

Newt didn't say anything, although he looked up at Kowalski and nodded slowly. He then turned towards Penelope, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small leather book.

"You're a muggle, Penny," he murmured slowly and looked into her eyes, Penelope could see the sadness in the blue depths. "They're going to let you and Mr. Kawolski go. They may not obliviate you since you're a squib so... I want you to take this." He handed her the book, though Penelope hesitated a moment before taking it.

She turned the small book around in her hands, wondering what it contained in its pages. "What is it?"

"It's a book of all my findings in three years of research," Newt explained to her, gazing at the book as if it held the meaning to life. "I don't know what they're going to do with me, but you're the only person I trust with that information. The way you handle your animals convinced me of that. You can keep filling it out if you please, or you can keep it and perhaps publish it as it is."

"Thank you, Newt," Penelope murmured, feeling herself grow emotional at the thought of loosing her new friend. "It means so much that you trust me with this."

She was surprised when Newt reached his hands up and cupped her face, a small, crooked smile on his face as he looked at her. "You're a fascinating woman, Penny. I've learned that about you within the mere hours of knowing you." He leaned up and kissed her forehead lightly, his thumb rubbing her cheek as he did so. Penelope closed her eyes at his touch, feeling a few tears escape as she did so.

It was then she began to hear the metal clanking of keys and the sound of boots on the concrete floor. Suddenly, Newt and Tina were lifted into the air and thrown onto the ground in front of the cell door, their hands tied behind their backs with handcuffs. Panicked, Penelope quickly stood up and ran over to Newt, wrapped her arms around him in a long embrace. She was forced to back away when a couple of guards began to unlock the door, and she couldn't bear to look as they dragged Newt and Tina out of the cell.

Though Penelope forced herself to look as the guards began to lead the pair out of the prison, in order to get one last look at her friend. Her body shook with a sob as Newt looked back at her and Jacob, a small smile spread across his face.

"It was good to meet your acquaintance, Mr. Kowalski. I hope you get your bakery," he called back, nodding his head once before looking over at Penelope. "And you, Penny. You're a wonderful woman."

~

Now it was Penelope who sat in the corner of the cell, her eyes glued to the ground beside her. She could feel Jacob's eyes on her, though she didn't dare look up. She wouldn't know what to say to him.

"So what now?" Jacob's voice broke the silence, though Penelope didn't answer right away.

Suddenly, Penelope felt a sudden surge of confident as she remember her loyal friend back at her house. Pyra the Phoenix had many abilities that Penelope had yet to try out, and she knew that her pet would be great help in the situation. She wasn't going to let Newt go that easily, nor Tina, no matter how much she despised the woman. No, she was going to get them back, with the help of a few friends.

She looked up at Jacob, a smirk forming on her face as she spoke. "We're going to get our friends back."

~

[ thank you so much for 100 reads! I know that it's obviously not a lot, but considering that I started this story only days ago, I think it's pretty good :) what do you think of the story so far? Do you like it, should I continue writing it? Let me know in the comments please :) ]