Burned Into Glory

Gone

Queenie hummed as she shampooed her hair. She used the small bucket to rinse her hair with bath water and rubbed oil into her curls, and then she heard a voice from the doorway.

"Queenie."

She gasped and sat up, splashing the water a little as Grindelwald came striding into the bathroom fully dressed. He was holding his skull-hookah, and Queenie frowned. He pulled up the pipe to his mouth, rolled his eyes back, and inhaled deeply. Then he blew out the smoke in the bathroom, and Queenie watched as his prophecy played out.

Queenie sat at a round table in a dark office. At the table were Tina, Newt, Theseus Scamander, and Jacob.

"Where is Credence now?" asked Tina, and Queenie said seriously,

"You're too late. When you captured me, you missed your chance to get both of them, and they're gone now."

"Gone. Gone where?" Tina demanded, but Queenie shook her head and promised,

"He'll be back for me."

"Sweetheart," said Jacob, sounding heartbroken, "He's trickin' you. He's playin' you like a fiddle. Can't you see?"

"I can see better than you can, Jacob," Queenie said, folding her hands on the table before her. "Go ahead and throw me into Azkaban. See how long it lasts."

The vision dissolved, and Queenie's heart raced. She gulped. She pulled herself out of the bath, and Grindelwald handed her a towel. She wrapped it around herself, and she murmured,

"You need me to put myself in a position where the Aurors' attention is all on me. To be a diversion. So Credence will come to you and come back here."

"Then I will rescue you. I promise it." Grindelwald gripped his skull tightly. "I love you. You know it is true; I will never abandon you."

Queenie felt fear go through her at the idea of winding up in Azkaban Prison, but she shut her eyes and promised him,

"I'd burn a thousand times for you. I'm yours. I'll serve you forever."

"I will never abandon you," he said again, and Queenie nodded, her breath shaking between her teeth as she whispered,

"I'll get dressed."

Queenie stood in the middle of Diagon Alley, proud as she pleased, wearing an elegant black wool coat over her dark green gown. It was Christmas Eve; most of the shops were closed. Everyone had already finished their shopping. The street was quiet and still. Queenie's black t-straps clacked on the cobblestones as she walked down the road and came to an ice cream parlour called Florean Fortescue's. It was closed, but she sat at a table outside and just stared at the few passers-by. A young mother with her toddler clutching her hand. An elderly wizard hobbling along. And then, out of nowhere... him. Theseus Scamander.

He froze, ten metres away, staring at Queenie, and she knew then that Grindelwald's prophecy was true, that it would come to pass. She shut her eyes and sighed and whispered,

"Through flame for you."

"Queenie Goldstein, do not move." Theseus aimed his wand at her and approached, and Queenie held her hands up in surrender.

Ten minutes later, she was being guided through the Ministry of Magic by ten Aurors, and there was a great murmur about her as people talked about the American who defected to Grindelwald being spotted in Diagon Alley. Ten minutes after that, she was in a dark office, and there was a round table, and then the prophecy was coming true. Queenie sat at the round table with Theseus in silence for fifteen minutes until Tina walked into the room accompanied by Newt Scamander, trailed by Jacob Kowalski. Everyone sat, and Tina was the first to speak.