Mistakes (Newt Scamander)

8. He's beautiful

I jumped into the case and for a brief moment, I was weightless. The world became a fantasy and my worries a distant nightmare until I landed at the bottom in a pair of muscular arms. Way more muscular than I thought they'd be. I opened my eyes that I had screwed shut for fear of not being caught. Not that my eyes being closed was going to help me when I reached the hard, wooden floor. Newt was looking down at me with a look of annoyance written across his freckled face.

"If you ever call me Newton again then..."

"Then what Newton?" I asked, playfully raising my eyebrow.

The look of playfulness was quickly wiped from my face as Newt slung me over his shirt with ease. I was now facing his back. I let out a of surprise before settling down and accepting it.

"Sit down." I hear Newt say.

I'm going to assume that he was talking to Jacob as I am not in the position to do anything. Newt takes a couple steps forward, his arm is still wrapped around my legs making sure that I won't slip. With every step he takes I can feel his back muscles flex. I never knew he was so muscular. I thought he was quite skinny but rather he's wiry. I guess he's always been like that. I remember when he knocked out Davey Dennis in third year.

"-the Murtlap. You must be particularly susceptible. See, you're a Muggle. So our physiologies are subtly different."

"Sorry to interrupt but Newt, do you remember when you knocked Davey Dennis out?"

I felt a sigh slip from Newt's mouth.

"Yes, Telissa, I do."

He then turned around and busied himself making a potion to apply to the wound.

"Two things. One, What are you going to put on my neck and two, What did Davey Dennis do to deserve that?" Jacob asked, curiosity and worry lacing his words.

"Well, he's making a potion to apply to the bite, now there is one potion and something else he could do. Now he could give you Murtlap essesence which is good for healing cuts and abrasions. However, it's more likely that he will give you poultice which will stop the sweating and then some beetle pills, misleading name as there's no beetles in them, to stop the twitch."

Newt had stopped what he was doing the minute I had said Murtlap and in one swift moment had me off his shoulder and pinned between him and the table in front of him. He looked me in the eyes and slowly leaned in closer.

"He's going to kiss me...He's going to kiss me.."

He stopped centimetres away from my face and looked even closer into my eyes.

"I've got my diagnosis" He said in a deep, gravelly voice. "You're a giant nerd."

"Screw you!" I said, with a laugh, pushing his chest before ducking under his arm and plopping myself down on the wooden table.

"So, believe it or not, at school I was pretty popular an-"

"Pretty popular?" Scoffed Newt. "She was the most popular girl in school. She had both witches and wizards wanting to date her. She had professors hanging on her every word. She could've had her pick of any guy in school but no she chooses that prick Davey Dennis!"

I stared at him in surprise before collecting myself and starting the story again.

"Davey Dennis was in the year above me. He was the Keeper on the Hufflepuff's team and incredibly attractive but that's not the point. He had a reputation for going with two girls at once but I, naïve and a little bit stupid, thought that he was different. As you probably guessed, he was not loyal and was going out with the Slytherin Chaser. She was a genuinely nice girl, Serena Patterson. But however when I found out I decided to confront him at breakfast in the Hall. So I did and for some reason I expected him to be ashamed of his actions like a decent human being would be. However, he laughed in my face and said that if I was a 'bit looser and gave him some action' then he wouldn't have did it. And without any words, Newt got up from the Hufflepuff table and punched him. Knocked the guy out. It was an amazing sight, he was a good bit taller than Newt and a certainly more muscular but just one punch and he was gone."

"I don't think I've ever been angrier."

I turned to look at Newt and saw him looking tense. His fists were clenched at his side and he had a fiery look in his eyes. He looked intimidating. It was rare to see him like that, usually he looked like a giant puppy. I noticed something else.

"OH MY GOD! PUT ON SOME CLOTHES! YOU'RE PRACTICALLY NAKED!"

"What are you talking about, Telissa?"

"You're not wearing your bowtie or your waistcoat and you've got your braces lowered!"

He rolled his eyes but his cheeks were dusted with pink. He turned around and grabbed a large meat cleaver and started hacking at a carcass that was hanging on a hook. He started disposing the meat into a large metal bucket. He then picked the bucket up and shoved it towards Jacob.

"Take it."

He plopped it in Jacob's hands and Jacob pulled a face of disgust. I let out a small giggle causing him to glare at me. I looked over at Newt to see if he noticed, only to find him squeezing a cocoon which was squirting some sort of bright liquid.

"Is that a Swooping Evil?" I asked him, stepping closer to get a better look.

"A what?" Jacob asked.

"Well this- the locals call 'Swooping Evil'- not the friendliest of all names. It's quite an agile fellow." Newt turned to me. "I've been studying him. And I'm pretty sure his venom could be quite useful if properly diluted. Just to remove bad memories, you know."

"It's an interesting thought and I guess with the right ingredients involved it could be used as such. We'd have to think about what we'd dilute it with and what the dosage would be but I'm-"

I was cut off by Jacob having a sneezing fit. I waited patiently for him to stop.

"Bless you."

He nodded in my direction before signalling that I could continue.

"I'll talk to you in more depth about it later."

Newt nodded before throwing the Swooping Evil towards Jacob. The Swooping Evil burst from it's cocoon. I can never quite get over how dazzling they are, they look almost Bat-like but are also colourful and spikey. Newt called it back after it howled in Jacob's face.

"Probably shouldn't let him loose in here, though" He said with a small smirk.

He then opened the door to the small shack and walked through before sticking his head back in.

"Come on"

Me and Jacob shared a look before I slowly stepped out. My eyes were greeted by every magi-zoologists dream. There, gently floating in the air, was a giant male Thunderbird.

"He's beautiful." I breathed.