Credence has had a troubled childhood, and as a result of the abuse he suffers at the hand of his adoptive mother, he comes to crave affection from others. Any kind of affection. Aurelia knew him long ago. She was the only one to show any care for t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She had done it. After years of scraping any small amount of money together that she could spare, Aurelia had finally saved enough for a ticket out of New York. In her hand she held a single scrap of paper; rectangular and printed in black ink, the boldest of which reading 'One way'. She wasn't sure how Credence would handle the idea of an unknown country and environment, but it had to be better than where he was. Anything would be.
Today MACUSA was particularly busy with newly found leads on both Grindelwald and the Obscurial, but Aurelia's department had little to no work left. It was all up to the Auror's now. Eartha had been following a trail left from the last attack. She called every now and then but could barely find the time to meet up. At least this made it easier to focus on Credence.
The daylight, as per usual, had dwindled to a barely perceptible lightening of the approaching gloom. Each wall of concrete around her was identical to the next without an identifying marker of any kind. Standing in what could have been any part of the street, Aurelia glanced back down at the ticket. It didn't make up for her years of absence and she didn't expect it to. She just wanted the peace of mind that would only come by knowing he was safe.
Aurelia stuffed the ticket into her coat pocket, securing the button on top in fear it might be blown out by the cold night air, then hurried to the house on her left. Climbing to his window seemed much easier each time she did it, as if her body automatically knew where to step and where not to in order to reach him without a scratch. She was greeted first by her own reflection in the glass; hair messier than she remembered it being earlier that morning and make up slightly smeared from the sweat glistening on her face.
Once she looked beyond herself she could see Credence sitting on his bed. His head was down. It gave the impression that he was looking at something in his hands, but she could never tell with Credence. His head was rarely upright to begin with. Her knuckles tinged against the window, leaving a vibration running through them in the few moments it took Credence to glance over his shoulder. His eyes widened in a silent panic, and shivering more than usual, he tossed something under his bed.
Aurelia had no time to ponder what it could have been before he undid the hinge to let her in. As soon as she threw her legs over the sill and found the floor Credence had taken a few steps backward. He stood in silence, but there were a few small improvements. Or one. This time he looked at her for a few seconds before his stare dropped back to the floor. This was good enough for her. She wondered if, perhaps one day, he could do that when speaking to her. It was a miniature goal, but a seemingly achievable one. With Credence everything would have to be slow.
"I have something for you, Credence." She said, probably a little too suddenly. "Can I give it to you?"
The way Credence expressed his surprise was unlike any other person. Anyone else would brighten up at the idea of a gift. Their eyes would arch and their mouth would open only long enough to let in a gasp of shock before falling into a grateful grin; often accompanied by shrieks of excitement and words like 'you shouldn't have!'.
