The Dragging Dawn [Book Three]

Chapter 10

"So let me get this straight," Percival said. "You somehow managed to obtain over a hundred dementors, put them all in one easily transportable location, and then proceeded to lose them?"

Percival had apparated with Newt and Tina back to their house after the meeting with President Stevens with the intent of questioning Newt further. Tina had gone up to bed as soon as they had gotten home, leaving the two men to discuss.

"I didn't lose them. They were stolen." Newt almost whimpered.

"Have you got any idea how bad this could be?" Percival was finding it hard to refrain from shouting at the man stood before him.

Newt nodded. "Yes. That's why I reported it to the President as soon as I found out."

Percival opened his mouth to continue questioning Newt when he thought he had heard a soft scratching sound. He paused for a second, tilting his head to one side in concentration.

He heard it again; more persistent this time. He glanced at Newt and saw the man frowning in confusion. He had heard it too.

"Where's it coming from?" He asked Newt softly.

"I think it's coming from the front door." Newt whispered.

The two of them turned in the direction of the door, crouching every so slightly and stepping cautiously and slowly, placing one foot in front of the other carefully, not wanting to make a sound. They pulled out their wands and held them out in front of them.

Taking a deep breath, Percival reached out a hand and grasped the door handle as the scratching sound continued persistently.

Percival yanked the door open quickly and both men gaped as they saw what had been making the sound.

"My niffler!" Newt cried before placing his wand inside his mouth so that he could pick up the small, furry creature and hold it close to his chest. He hurried back into the house, leaving Percival to watch him, astonished, before closing the door again and following the man into his living room.

"Was he in your suitcase, Newt?" Percival asked, leaning against the door frame while watching the other man sit down on his sofa, smiling widely as he watched his creature nestle down on his lap.

"Yes!" Newt cried in delight, taking the wand out of his mouth and placing it onto the coffee table in front of him. "I was so worried about you, little guy." He murmured to the niffler.

The niffler looked up into Newt's eyes and blinked before reaching a stubby paw into the pouch on his stomach and pulling something out of it. Newt, glancing down with all of his attention on his creature, held out his hand for the niffler to drop whatever it was holding into.

Percival heard Newt gasped again as he saw and realised what it was. "Pickett!" He cried in delight. "Look, Graves! It's my bowtruckle!"

Percival was beginning to grow impatient but plastered a fake smile on his face nonetheless, not wanting to take from his friend's good mood. "That's great and all Newt, but it would have been far better if the dementors had managed to get away from Modesty Barebone."

Something seemed to click in Newt's head at what Percival had said.

"What is it?" Percival asked, slightly nervous after seeing the change of expression on the other man's face.

"I was just thinking... These two were safely in my suitcase when I last saw it before it was taken so-"

"How are they here now?" Percival finished for him.

Newt turned back to look at Pickett, who had tucked himself into a pocket on Newt's coat near his shoulder, and began muttering to him in a low voice.

After a few minutes of heated discussion with the bowtruckle, Newt turned his head to look back at his friend. "He says that they managed to escape when Modesty first opened the case to look at what she had managed to steal. They had been smart enough to wait and see what would happen; as soon as they had realised that they were no longer with me, they made a run for it."

Percival thought for a second as all of that new information sunk in. "How long did it take them between being taken and finding their way back here?"

"No more than five hours."

"So can't have gone far." Percival muttered thoughtfully. His eyes glittered in realisation. "They could show us where she has gone."

Newt turned back and proceeded to have another muttered discussion with his bowtruckle. "He says that he may be able to. They got quite lost while trying to find their back. Which is understandable considering Pickett has only been outside of the suitcase when he's with me and the only time the niffler was out in New York by himself was 30 years ago. Pickett says they lost all sense of direction multiple times."

"Well it's worth a try isn't it?"

"Of course. If we can find Modesty as soon possible, we may be able to put a stop to her plans before they have even begun."

"I can't wait until we finally put an end to the New Salem Philanthropic Society."

"Neither can I. Hey you'd better get going. It's late. We'll need as much sleep as we can get if we're going to go and hunt down that woman."

Percival frowned, glancing at his watch. "Are we not going now?" He asked, confused.

"No, Graves." Newt said gently. "Tina will be wondering where I have gotten to, and I'm sure that Credence will be wondering the same thing about you."

"Yes. Of course." Percival said, snapping back to his senses, feeling slightly guilty as his mind cast back to how he left his husband so quickly. He turned on his heel, bidding his friend goodbye.

"Hey." Newt called to him. Percival turned back to face him, eyebrows raised.

"Yes?"

Newt grinned. "I like your scarf. Where did you get it?"

Percival grinned in response. "I'm sure that you know the answer to that already."

"I didn't know that Credence had been a Gryffindor."

"He regrets not following in your footsteps by being a Hufflepuff."

"He shouldn't be. He's an incredibly brave man, he deserves to belong to that house."

- - - - - - - - - -

I'm sorry that this is slightly late but it is new year's.

Happy new year guys! (I can officially say that Sherlock comes back today!)

Vote, comment, share, follow.

The normal speech. I'm gonna go drink caramel Bailey's.

Also, sorry if there have been any spelling or grammatical mistakes my new phone is really hard to type on.