Prompt Post #1

[fantasticbeasts_kinkmeme]

 ROUND 1

FUCK IT WE'LL FIGURE OUT SPECIFICS LATER

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Fill: Ab Irato (16/16)

[(Anonymous)]

Newt spent a lot of time with the children, teaching Modesty to care for creatures and helping Credence to remain in his human form. Percival could see the strength he was using to stay calm, to not let any of the children see the pain he was in. It was exhausting him.

Away from the children, Newt was worried, but he fought to hide it. Percival did what he could to give Newt some time to think. The niffler and Pickett were both loyal to him, and Spot the unicorn trailed after Modesty. It seemed to reassure the younger man to know that Modesty wasn't alone.

As the trial loomed, Newt seemed more anxious than ever. He would glance around the rooms, always careful to sit with his back against a wall so that he couldn't be crept up upon. It was behaviour Percival had seen before with his aurors after they'd been through bad cases.

Percival opened the door to the Goldstein residence one evening to be met by Modesty. The little girl's hair was braided with flowers, and Spot was standing by her side.
"Hello Mister Graves."
"Hello Modesty!" He crouched slightly to greet her. "Your hair looks very nice."

"Queenie helped me." Modesty told him honestly, then frowned. "I think Newt needs to sleep, but he seems scared. Could you give him a hug? I've tried to hug him but... I think you're better at it."
Percival enfolded the little girl in his arms, and nodded.
"I'll try, but you give good hugs. How's your brother?"
"He's helping Queenie cook dinner." Modesty answered.

"Modesty, could you come and help?" Queenie called out from the kitchen in response to Percival's mental plea to be allowed some time to talk to Newt. The girl skipped off, and Percival walked through to the bedroom, knocking before allowing himself in.

Newt was sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the wall, petting the niffler with one hand. His eyes looked dead, and it reminded Percival of when they first met.
"Newt?" Percival called out, keeping his voice gentle. "Newt, can you look at me?"

It took a few moments for Newt to focus, but slowly he did. He smiled slightly when he saw Percival.
"Hello." Newt replied politely.
"I got you a present." Percival informed him, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a leather journal. The pages were thin, and he had wrapped a strand of leather around it.

"A book?"
"Well, you've done well with correcting my books." Percival teased. "But you should be keeping your own records. You're a genius. You said he destroyed your files. I think you are able to make more. Prove me right."

Newt smiled softly, and unbound the notebook, laughing as he opened it. On the first page there was a doodle of a niffler, and beneath it was written 'Niffler. Steals watches. Makes a good replacement hot water bottle.'
"Thought I'd give you a head start."
"Thank you." Newt traced the doodle with a fingertip. "I appreciate it."

"I know it's not what you lost. But I believe in you. And what you know could make a difference to creatures, and to wizardkind."
The smile Newt gave him was genuine, and Percival couldn't help smiling back.

***

Percival watched as Newt took the stand. The thin British man looked utterly terrified, glancing around the room until he saw where Tina and Queenie were standing. Credence and Modesty were elsewhere in case they needed to testify later, being looked after by Theseus. Theseus wasn't happy that he couldn't accompany his brother, but looking after the children meant that he at least had a reason for not being present.

Newt cleared his throat, squirming at the eyes of the court upon him, Pickett climbing up onto his hair. Pickett looked over at where Grimsditch waited next to his attorney, and stuck his little green tongue out. Percival smiled at that, not bothering to try and hide his amusement.

One of Grimsditch's lawyers walked forwards, staring at Newt.
"So. Scamander, I understand that you were thrown out of school."
"I was." Newt answered. "I worked on. Studied creatures. Traveled."
"You were a failure who got thrown out of school for threatening other students." The lawyer repeated. "Simply answer yes or no."
"Yes." Newt stood still.

Grimsditch smirked at him from where he stood.
"During your time in Hogwarts, your closest friend was a member of the Le Strange family, a group known for dark wizardry and black magic? Again, yes or no will suffice."
"Yes." Newt answered, looking down. Newt was nervous. He looked frightened. That fear was obvious, and it made him look weak. It made him look like he was lying, and that was a concern.

"Let me give you another explanation Mister Scamander." The lawyer walked forwards. "You travelled for a little while, until you were running short on money. When you claim this happened, in Russia, you were almost at the end of the funding Augustus Worme gave you. You found my client, and you recognised the family name. He offered you a role helping with his unicorn pet. You seduced him."

Newt paled, his eyes widening. He shook his head.
"I'm not finished yet." The lawyer answered. "You seduced my client, used your knowledge of creatures to organise a trading ring beneath his nose. You kidnapped the children that will testify later. You brainwashed them, and cast yourself as a victim so that you could frame him. And in doing so you worked with some of my client's friends. To make him look bad. To try and ruin his reputation and shatter the family name."

"No!" Newt cried out, glancing towards the judges. Percival met Newt's eyes, and tried to reassure him.
"What can you say in your defense Mister Scamander. Because I have plenty of people willing to testify that you should be the one in the defendant’s seat. The fact you've been seducing the Director of the aurors since then says enough about your character."

In one breath Newt went from pale to pink with embarrassment.
"So, what do you say in response to my explanation of the facts?" The lawyer waited, and Newt took a few deep breaths.
"You can veritaserum me." Newt said. "Or have a legilimens look at my thoughts. You can find out the truth that way..." He shuddered. "But keep the children out of it."

There was a brief debate between the legal teams, until one of them brought out a small vial of the truth-serum. Newt drank it quickly.

The next two hours were some of the most painful of Percival's life - and that wasn't something which he said easily. It was hard to hear all of what Newt had gone through repeated again, with no sensitivity from the questions. At the end, when he was finally allowed to step down from the stand, he was visibly shaking.

Yet Percival could see that the witches and wizards of the jury had been swayed. Grimsditch was not going to escape a sentence - even if his family name saved him from the death chamber, he was going to be sentenced to a long time in prison. His sister would be investigated.

Newt barely made it out of the court, but Percival was waiting for him. He wrapped his arms gently around Newt's shoulders, as Queenie ran in tearfully.
"You did so well." Percival promised. "Let's get you back home. Your brother is waiting for you."

Newt nodded.
"I think... that in a way it helped. Some memories that I had forgotten returned to me."
"Good." Percival answered, squeezing his hand. "You were brave today. And your family will be waiting for you." He walked Newt home, taking care of the children so that Theseus and Newt could reunite.

Queenie arrived, tearful and shaking, but she managed to smile at Modesty and Credence.
"We should go out and get some cake." She told them. "We can bring some home for Newt."
The children nodded. Percvial walked with them to a cafe, allowing them to buy whatever they wanted.

***

The trial dragged on, but after that first day it was clear that Percival had sealed Grimsditch's fate. There was no gratitude there though, only relief that he was not going to hurt another person. He was too angry at what had happened to Newt and to the children to celebrate the man's fall. He couldn't stop himself wondering if there was something that he could have done earlier.

Queenie attended the trial every day, and as it began to close she took Percival aside.
"There was nothing you could do."

He nodded, but said nothing more.

The sentence, when it came, was life imprisonment.

He made his way home, approaching Newt and the children where they were sat on the couch, reading together.
"Hello. He can’t hurt anyone ever again." He told them. The look on Newt's face was one of absolute relief.

***

Newt and the other two remained with the Goldstein sisters. It was clear that they were recovering with the two of them, and neither Percival nor Theseus wanted to tear the five of them apart. They were a family together.

Percival visited most evenings, in awe of how Newt seemed to be growing in confidence every day. Theseus seemed to be getting on rather well with Tina. Percival was happy for his friend and his auror. Newt would often spend time with him, showing him the notes that he had made, the progress he was making through the journal. Percival had heard so much from him that he suspected he would do rather well if he found himself alone with a creature.

Two weeks after the trial was finished, Percival got a message from the aurors in Texas, letting him know that they had found some kind of creatures. Director Graves. We found a cellar containing four of these creatures. They are violent and seem to be angry with us, snarling. Spells have no effect on them. They have tentacles on their faces. We've worked out that they eat meat, but we cannot get them to allow us close. The message had luckily contained a sketched image of the beasts - something large, with tentacles on the face and the stubs of horns which had been cut off.

He brought the note to Newt. Newt's eyes lit up brightly, a faint smile resting on his lips.
"Graphorns." He murmured. "I can calm them. Please. Let me see them?"
"I'll arrange for a portkey." Percival managed to organise it for within a couple of hours.

He held Newt's hand as the two of them grasped the journal. The air spun around them, and after a few moments everything calmed. Percival found himself faced with a dozen rather nervous looking aurors.
"Where are they?" Newt asked.

"Just down those stairs." Auror Fraye answered. "Though they're quite fierce, one of us should go first-"
"I'll be fine." Newt answered, making his way down into the cellar. Percival trailed behind, a little apprehensive. He half expected Newt to see the creatures and panic. Instead Newt walked forwards, his hands raised.
"Hello..." Newt said softly. "You're still all alive, you poor things... this is such a tiny room, it's horrible..." He patted each of the beasts, their tendrils running across his face and arms. He cooed at them, affection obvious. "You found them..." He looked up at Auror Fraye, who was lingering nervously at the top of the stairs. "You saved them. And now they are... these are the last ones left. If you hadn't..."
"You did well." Percival praised Newt, then paused. "How do we get them out of there?"
"With great difficulty, a ramp or an extension charm." Newt answered.

Percival smirked a little at that.
"Alright." He turned to the aurors. "Let's get these creatures out of here. And Newt?"
"Yes?" Newt looked up. His fear had faded now. He wasn't the terrified man that Rufus Grimsditch had hurt. He was the man that Theseus adored, the genius who loved creatures and would fight to protect them.
"Would you like a job?"

Newt looked up at him.
"At least while you finish the book. We need a creature consultant."
"Then yes." Newt smiled, arms full as he cuddled the smallest graphorn. "Now, do you think Queenie will like these?"

Re: Fill: Ab Irato (16/16)

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, this is such a wonderful fic!