Fantastic Beasts Stories

Newt & Hugo: When Did You Know?

Hugo fingered the ring in his pocket, sitting at a small table in his father's case. He was finally going to pop the question to his girlfriend, and nerves were beginning to set in.

“Dad... When did you know that Mum was the one?” he asked softly, taking out the ring in its small box.

Newt looked over to his son and cleaned off his hands. “Well, I think I knew... I think I knew when I had to say goodbye to her for the first time.”

Does Leta Lestrange like to read?

Who?

The girl whose picture you carry.

I don’t really know what Leta likes these days. ‘Cause people change.

Yes.

I've changed. I think. Maybe a little.

And then his thoughts turn to her bright smile...

How — how would you like it if I gave you your copy in person?

I'd like that. Very much.

"I asked her if she would like it if I came back to New York to deliver the first edition of my book in person. I remember her answer as if it were yesterday..."

Hugo gave a small grin at that and looked up from the ring to his father. “And of course she said yes.” A moment passed as Newt replayed the moment in his mind. “What happened when you went back?”

The magizoologist sighed, cleaned up his work, and sat down next to his son. “Well... I didn’t.”

“What?”

“The Ministry put a travel ban on me. I couldn’t leave the country legally. It put quite the damper on our relationship. But it’s not as if we had no contact — we wrote to each other quite often. But then this magazine article was published about an old friend of mine and I at the book launch of the first edition of my book. That almost ended our relationship for good.”

Hugo lapsed into a stunned silence. How had he never heard this story before?

“What happened then? Something must’ve happened, you had to have reconciled! I’m here!”

Newt laughed and ruffled his son’s hair as he used to when they were both many years younger.

“I actually found out almost nine months after we said goodbye that she was on a mission in Paris. So, naturally, I picked up and chased after her. She’d never admit it, but it was quite romantic — City of Love, and all.”

He took a breath and continued. Hugo knew he was in for a long story now.

“Your Uncle Jacob had come to visit me before I left with Aunt Queenie, but she left early to find your Mum as well. So Jacob and I, after figuring out Tina was in Paris, took a portkey — which was illegal, given that I had my travel ban and that Jacob is a muggle — straight there.”

“You know, that sounds like something you would do, Dad. Just go running off without thinking it through.”

Newt grinned and continued his story.

“I had the niffler track where your mother had been, and God bless him, he found your mother’s footsteps, which I’d revealed along with hundreds of others in gold. I recall that I said to your Uncle Jacob, ‘Her feet are quite narrow, have you noticed?’ I was quite taken with your mother at this point.”

Hugo had to admit that his parents were probably the cutest couple he'd ever seen. Valentine’s day card exchanges were always a delight to watch. (They rarely fought, too. Instead, his father would end up on the couch. The sight of her husband and son sleeping together in the morning would always cheer his mother up and cause her to forgive Newt.)

“...we followed Kama to these sewers, and that’s where I met up with your mum. She was happy to see me — well, for a second. And then she was decidedly unhappy to see me. Seems I had buggered up her investigation. To this day I still don’t understand what I did but with your Mum, it could be any number of things.”

Hugo laughed with his father and shifted in his seat. “Was there anything actually romantic that happened? Or was it just you trying and failing to find the right moments to woo Mum?”

“Hey!” Newt said in fake offense. “I never failed at wooing your mum! In fact, I only tried once, and it was a huge success! I told her that she had eyes like fire in dark water, which I’d only ever seen in salamanders, although she finished off with the salamanders part. But it was such a beautiful moment...”

His son checked his watch as he faded back into his memories, and Hugo shifted in his chair before standing up.

“Well, Dad, it’s time. I have to go. Biggest moment of my life. But this is the one — the one I’m going to marry and possibly have kids with. At least I’m not chasing her across Europe — that always makes it much harder.”

Hugo grinned and hugged his dad tightly for a few moments, taking Newt off-guard, before exiting the case.

“Good luck, Hugie. Go get her,” the magizoologist murmured with a small smile.

*

Based on a prompt from @ears-awake-eyes-opened on Tumblr.