By Your Side | A Fantastic Beasts (Theseus Scamander) Story

💫chapter 2💫

Helena's POV
As I put the newborn Occamy into the nest with the rest of the Occamies, a thump rumbled through the case, causing some supplies to fall off shelves. I groaned and went to pick them up.
"Oi, be careful up there, Newt!"

Newt's POV
A tall woman came walking down the alley after the muggle disappeared. I dropped my hand to my side and walked over to my case, picking it up. I, then, walked down the alley, trying to seem as normal as possible. We glanced at each other, but as I looked away, I felt her grab my arm and apparate us into a corner in another alleyway. She pushed me against the wall and looked around to see if anyone saw us.
"Who are you?" She asked, taking her hand off my shoulder.
"I'm sorry-"
"Who are you?" She repeated with a more serious tone.
"Newt Scamander. And you are?"
"What's that thing in your case?" She questioned, ignoring my previous one.
"That's my Niffler." I answered. She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. I took a closer look at her and realized she had mustard on her lip.
"Say, you've got something on your-" I reached my hand out to point at it, but she flinched away from me, glaring at me. I dropped my hand immediately.
"Why in the name of Deliverance Dane did you let that thing loose?"
"I didn't mean to. He's incorrigible, you see. Anything shiny, he's all over-"
"You could not have chosen a worse time to let that creature loose. We're in the middle of a situation here!" She explained. She took a moment to catch her breath and fumble through her pocket. She was quite beautiful, although I didn't know much else about her.
"I'm taking you in." She stated.
"I'm so-, taking me in where?" I stuttered, laughing a bit. She found what she was looking for and opened it, revealing her identification card. Her name was Porpentina Goldstein.
"Magical Congress of the United States of America." She answered.
"So you work for MACUSA. What are you, some kind of investigator?" I asked. She hesitantly nodded. I sighed, this was not good.
"At least tell me you took care of the No-Maj." She sighed, putting away her identification card.
"The what?" I questioned, confused.
"The No-Maj. No magic. The non-wizard!" She clarified, growing impatient. I blinked, realizing what she meant.
"Oh, sorry. We call them muggles." I explained.
"You wiped his memory, right? The No-Maj with the case?" She questioned, her eyes bugging out of her head.
"Um..."
"That's a Section 3-A, Mr. Scamander. I'm taking you in." She concluded, apparating us to a big, white building. As she dragged me along, I protested, saying, "Sorry, but I do have things to do, actually."
"Well, you'll have to rearrange 'em." She scoffed.
"What are you doing in New York anyway? And where's that lady you were traveling with earlier?" She investigated.
"I came to buy a birthday present. A-and she has nothing to do with this." I lied, trying to leave Helena out of trouble.
"Oh, please, I saw her chasing after that creature too. After I take you in, I'm looking for her." She declared, then went on to ask, "And couldn't you have bought a birthday present in London?"
"No, there's only one breeder of Appaloosa Puffskeins in the world and he lives in New York, so no." I continued lying, hoping she'd believe me and leave Helena alone. She stepped away from me for a moment to talk to a guard. He opened the door for her and she grabbed my arm, pulling me inside.
"By the way, we don't allow the breeding of magical creatures in New York. We closed that guy down a year ago." She said, seeing straight through my lies. I sighed, looking away from her and up at the several stories of the MACUSA building. It was magnificent. She brought me over to an elevator.
"Hey, Goldstein." A house elf greeted her.
"Hey, Red." She greeted back, far less enthusiastic. We stepped onto the elevator.
"Major Investigation Department." She told the elf.
"I thought you was-"
"Major Investigation Department. I got a Section 3-A." She repeated. The elf tapped the floor and the elevator sent us there. Porpentina then took me down a few hallways till we reached the room she desired to go in.
"This could mean exposure. This could mean war." Someone said as we walked in the room. It seemed we interrupted an important meeting. Their conversation stopped after they heard our footsteps.
"I made your position here quite clear, Ms. Goldstein." A woman with tan skin and white hair walked closer to us. Another man followed, he had black hair, except for some strands at the bottom which were gray.
"Yes, Madam President, but I-"
"You're no longer an auror." The President interrupted Porpentina, who had grown very timid, contrasting from how she acted outside this room.
"No, Madam President, but there's been a minor-"
"Goldstein. This office is currently concerned with very major incidents. Get out." She demanded.
"Yes, ma'am." Porpentina rushed out, quickly turning on her heel and dragging me out of the room. We, then, took another elevator down to the wand permit office, I'm guessing where she worked now.
"So, you got your wand permit? All foreigners have to have them in New York." She informed me, picking up a few files off her desk.
"I-I made a postal application weeks ago." I told her. She searched till she found the application, then grabbed a quill to fill the rest of the application out.
"And you were just in Equatorial Guinea?" She asked, looking over the application.
"I've just completed a year in the fields. I'm writing a book about magical creatures." I explained, a smile growing on my face.
"Like an extermination guide?" She asked. My smile dropped and I shook my head.
"No, a guide to help people understand why we should be protecting these creatures instead of killing them." I clarified. She looked down at the application again, tapping her quill on some writing on the paper.
"Equatorial Guinea with Helena Cresswell. Is this that lady? The one at the bank?" She questioned. I blinked a few times before stuttering out, "I-uh-um."
"I'll take that as a yes." She said. I hid my case behind me, I guess in a way that made me feel like I was protecting her. She was in there, after all, and it would be a really bad time for her to pop out.
"Goldstein? Where is she?" A man called out, speeding towards us. Porpentina dropped the application in her hands and hid under her desk. Once the man got to us, he quickly spotted her.
"Goldstein?" She peeked her head out from under the desk, then slowly stood up.
"Did you just butt in on the investigative team again?" He asked, although his tone clearly showed he knew the answer already. She didn't answer at first, prompting him to ask, "Where have you been?"
"What?" She replied, trying to act dumb.
"Where'd she pick you up?" The small man asked, directing his attention to me.
"Me?" I asked, looking at him, then looking at Porpentina. She shook her head, signaling me not to say anything.
"Have you been tracking them Second Salemers again? The man continued with his questions.
"Of course not, sir." She lied. Before the small man could continue, the black and gray haired man from before walked in.
"Afternoon, Mr. Graves, sir." The small man greeted.
"Afternoon, Abernathy." Mr. Graves returned.
"Mr. Graves, sir, this is Mr. Scamander. He has a crazy creature in that case and it got out and caused mayhem in a bank." Porpentina explained, rushing over to Mr. Graves. The man thought for a moment, before saying, "Let's see the little guy." Porpentina gave him a small smile before looking at me. I looked back and forth between the two, not moving an inch. Why would I? If I opened the case and showed them Niffler, they could take it away from me. Or Helena could pop up and she could get wrapped up in all of this as well. Porpentina grew impatient and took the case from me, placing it on a table. She opened it while I stood back and watched, nervous. They all looked at the inside, confused. I walked over, expecting to see the creatures or maybe Helena, but all that was in the case were pastries. My eyes widened, realizing I had the wrong case all along.