Saving F.

Chapter 3

When Farida was done with her coffee, she and Newt stood up, readying themselves to leave. Farida walked over to Marco, and put her hand in her pocket, bringing out some coins and counting them carefully. Newt had a feeling that this was all she had with her. He wanted to pay, though he didn't have much money himself, but he wasn't sure how Farida would react to that. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel embarrassed or offended.

Luckily, Newt saw Marco shake his head when Farida tried to hand him the money. Farida, however, kept on insisting as Marco continued to refuse to take anything from her. Finally, Farida gave up, and that earned her a kind smile from Marco as he waved goodbye at her and Newt.

It was completely dark when they got out, save for the faint light from the few gas lamps flickering in the alleyway. The weather of early November had a cool breeze to it, which didn't bother Newt as much as it seemed to bother Farida. Her body became noticeably tense as if suspended in an incomplete shiver the moment the air had hit her face.

"Is it fine if you apparate?" She stretched out her arm to Newt. When she saw the small grimace of his face, she added, "First time is always the worst, but after that your body starts to get used to it."

Newt was still reluctant to the idea of undergoing the unpleasant experience of wandless apparition again, but he had no other choice to make. He caught the sleeve of Farida's linen coat, making sure to avoid the the slightest contact with the skin of her hand, then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The tornado swallowed Newt again. The world around him twisted and twirled, a dense cloud of dizziness blindfolding his brain until he was back on a solid ground. He gasped for breath, his eyes open at last to see nothing but an array of blurry figures. He blinked twice, and his eyes began to adjust to their new surroundings by bringing them into focus. He was standing in front of a small building, dizzy and thankful that he kept his stomach empty as the nausea was even worse.

"I disagree," Newt said weakly. "Second time is definitely the worst."

"That's strange," Farida remarked. "But you won't have to do it again if we find you a place to stay. Now come on."

Newt shambled after her into the inn, where a clean-shaven young wizard sat behind a desk. He gave them a broad smile, though the way he glanced at Farida's clothes contradicted his welcoming demeanor. Farida ignored it, or perhaps she didn't notice it at all, but at least Newt did and it filled him with an upsurge of disgust.

Farida rested her arms upon the desk and said something to the wizard, then she indicated Newt with a gesture of her head. Newt didn't understand a word, but he assumed that she must have asked if there was a vacant room. The wizard shook his head, giving Newt in advance the gist of the spoken answer that followed: no, there was not.

"I'm sorry." Farida turned to Newt. "He says that all the rooms are full. But don't worry, I know other places, so let's go and check them out."

Not worrying became easier said than done as the time wore on without a glimpse of hope that Newt would find a bed to sleep in. All the places that Farida knew turned out to be fully booked, so they extended their search to include any hotel or inn that encountered them, but still with no luck. Newt thought that looking for Atlantis would have been an easier task.

The only positive thing was that their quest didn't require any Apparition as lodgings seemed to take up a specific district with only a few places outside that territory but not too far from it. Farida explained that the Egyptian Ministry of Magic deemed it easier to conceal the areas occupied by wizards if they weren't scattered and far-between.

"Conceal them from the Muggles?" Newt asked.

"I don't know what that means," said Farida, "but they want to conceal us from El Tanyeen — the Others — that's what we call the non-wizards."