Catastrophe || n.s

xvii. the offer of a lifetime

Later that evening, as Newt Scamander sat on the couch in his tiny hotel room in the middle of New York, he stared at the necklace that Penelope had given him.

Before he left her earlier, he had asked her to accompany him to the shipping docks the following morning. He didn't want her last memory of him being him crying like a baby into her hair just because she gave him a simple present. No, that wasn't the Newt he wanted her to remember.

Newt latched the necklace around his neck, his hand resting on the dragon pendent for a moment before he brought it done to his side once more. As he reached for the little black box in which he had received the necklace, he noticed something. It seemed like a small piece of paper, tucked into the back of the box as if it was meant to be hidden, but seen at the same time.

His eyebrows furrowed, Newt pulled the paper from the box, realizing that it was a much bigger piece, although it was folded up so that it could fit inside the box. He quickly unfolded the paper, his fingers shaking as he did so. Once unfolded, Newt saw on the piece of paper was a note, written in Penelope Finch's fancy handwriting.

Dear Newt,

I hope you're not standing in front of me while you're reading this, because that would be pretty embarrassing. But if you are, well, sucks for me I guess. You're probably wondering why I wrote you this note when I could've easily said this to your face. I get it, it would be more meaningful that way, but I wanted you to have this to bring back to England with you. Maybe some day you would want to remember me for some odd reason, and you could read this note while wearing the necklace.
Anyways, back to the point. I wanted to say thank you, Newt. Thank you for introducing me to parts of the wizarding world that I had no idea existed, for giving me the opportunity to figure out who I really am, for making me look at the creatures in your suitcase as something so much more. Thank you for giving me a friendship that I never thought I would have. I appreciate all that you have done for me, and I hope that you'll remember me the same way I remember you: a life changer.
I'm going to miss you, Newt Scamander, and your crazy beasts.

Love, always,
Penelope Finch

Newt hadn't realized the tears cascading down his cheeks until he had finished reading the letter, and he quickly wiped them away with a scoff.

"Merlin's beard," he murmured to himself as he folded up the note and stuck it into the pocket on his breast. Pickett the Bowtruckle sat on the man's shoulder, staring at him with tiny, though wide eyes, as if asking him what was wrong. "I'm pathetic." Though he wasn't exactly complaining.

As he read the note written to him, he realized something. He liked Penelope Finch- and not just as a friend, either.

The feelings he felt towards the girl whom he had accidently ran into on the street only days before, he hadn't felt those since his days back in Hogwarts. He hadn't felt this way since Leta Lestrange; because of that, they were feelings he had hoped to never feel again.

For years, Newt had only had the beasts inside his suitcase. They were his only friends, the only things that he felt could really understand him. But then he met Penelope Finch, and the feelings he had sworn to himself that he'd never feel again appeared once more.

Cursing to himself, Newt suddenly leaped up from the old couch, Pickett almost flying from his shoulder as he grabbed his dark blue trench coat and ran out the door.

~

[ PENELOPE ]

Penelope sat in her living room that evening, enjoying a cup of hot tea as she read a book lazily. Pyra was perched on the back of the couch behind her, occasionally pulling at her hair in attempt to gain her attention. Felix the Griffin was currently asleep in the extra bedroom that served as his indoor habitat, as it was currently pouring rain outside of her house.

A sudden bang of thunder sounded from outside, rattling the windows of the house and causing Penelope to jump, almost spilling the tea in her lap. Followed shortly after the thunder was a knock on her front door, sounding frantic. Penelope knew no one would visit her in the middle of a storm like this, unless it was a complete emergency, so she leaped from the her couch and sprang across the living room in seconds.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Newt standing there for the second time that day. His usual blonde, curly hair was soaked and stuck to his forehead; Pickett the Bowtruckle peeped out from his breast pocket, the tiny creature shivering against the cold. Without saying a word, Penelope immediately stepped aside, allowing the soaked man and his beast to enter her home.

Once she closed the door, the roaring sound of rain and wind immediately diminishing, she turned to look at Newt, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing here? Is something the matt-"

Though Newt immediately cut her off, seeming frantic as he spoke. "I don't want to leave America, Penny. I don't want to leave you, for Merlin's sake," he mumbled, looking her straight in the eyes with every word he said. "I want you to come to England with me. I know this is wrong of me to do, to ask you to leave the place where you were born and raised, but I need to. I'm going to continuing working on my book, but I don't want to do it without you by my side." He blinked several times as a few drops of rain fell from his soaked hair and into his eyes.

Penelope was silent for a moment, unable to believe what she was hearing. Of course she wanted to help Newt, it had been on her mind for a while now, though she couldn't imagine leaving New York, the place where we had lived all her life. She pursed her lips, staring at Newt intensely as she swallowed. "Newt, I-"

"I'll take care of you, Penny," Newt interrupted her, stepping towards her and grabbing her hands in his. "I'll make sure your fed and cared for the way you deserve to be; your pets, too. They can come with us, and they can live in my suitcase. No harm will come to them, nor you- I'll cut off my hand before I let any harm come to you, Penny."

Penelope tore her gaze from his, looking to the ground as she forced herself not to just tell him yes; she had to think about this, and rationally. "I don't know, Newt..." she murmured, and quickly continued when she saw the hurt on his face. "I want to, I do. I just don't know if I can..."

She thought of her mother, the woman whom she hadn't visited as much as she wished to. She had been distant since her father died a year before, and she couldn't imagine how her poor old mother would feel if she moved all the way to England, especially when her daughter barely visited her when she lived just down the street.

"I know it's sudden and quite rash," Newt said to her, his light blue eyes pleading. "Merlin's beard, I know. I read your note, the one you stuck in the necklace box, and it opened my eyes; it really did. I don't want to do this without you by my side the entire way."

The pure desperation in the British man's voice was enough to send her over the edge. Traveling around the world while caring for magical beasts wasn't something that she had dreamed of since she was a kid, but now, it was what she wanted. She wasn't going to lie to herself- she really, really wanted it.

"Okay, Newt," she said after a moment of silent, looking up at Newt to see him staring at her with hopeful eyes. "I'll come with you."