october, 1913

    Everyone seems to think he should be devastated and scared out of his wits, because it is expulsion they’re talking about. Leta says in this tone of hers which makes her sound like a very annoyed hippogriff, “Have you gone mad?” (The most important difference is, none of mother’s hippogriffs question Newt’s life choices.) Newt assures Leta he hasn’t, actually. He is very well aware of the consequences, and the implications, and the complications to his life. But he is yet to see a magical creature that would be interested in his certificate of graduation, so all things considered, he isn’t doing himself any harm. Somehow, it doesn’t seem to convince Leta. Newt thinks she is rather upset with him now. He doesn’t understand how it works. People are complicated.
    Leta isn’t the only one who is alarmed by the possible expulsion. Newt is relatively sure by now they must’ve notified his mother, and his mother—as usual—has notified his brother, and while Newt loves his brother dearly, oh Merlin, please, don’t let Theseus lecture him on his future life and the importance of good grades and, most importantly, not breaking the law.
    Because the reason for all of this is, as they put it, “The illegal possession of a magical beast causing endangerment of human life and violation of animal welfare laws 101/304.”
    When they tell him that, Newt just asks, “Is he alright? What are you going to do to him? His name is Paterson, by the way, and he likes belly rubs. Make sure not to feed him too much, he knows no restraint and will eat everything you offer him.”
    A tall man from the Ministry, his face impossibly tired, cuts him off with, “Mister Scamander, are you aware of the seriousness of your situation?”
    (“Have you gone mad?” rings through Newt’s head.)
    “Why, yes, I am. Can you answer my question now?”
    The tall man looks at the committee of professors questioningly, as if Newt said something he wasn’t supposed to. Last time Newt checked, it was a perfectly fine question. After all, it’s a jarvey, and he’s alive, and if Newt pretends to be his owner, wouldn’t a responsible pet owner ask such questions? Wouldn’t Leta like to know what happens with her pet? He knows she would. He just hopes the Ministry doesn’t have some kind of an animal prison for misbehaving jarveys.
    “Let’s go, Newt,” says professor Dumbledore and leads him away from the room. Once the door closes behind him, he says, “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out. I won’t let them expel you if I can. Now, I imagine, it would be a good time for you to go and talk to your brother. He’s waiting for you in the Great Hall. Don’t get lost.”
    “Thank you, professor,” says Newt, heavily considering getting lost.
    He doesn’t.
    In ten minutes, he is standing on the threshold of the Great Hall trying to at least pretend he is interested in his own fate more than he is in the fate of Paterson. It’s Saturday and there are no lessons, but the Great Hall is almost empty, it being a surprisingly pleasant autumn day outside. Those who aren’t roaming Hogwarts grounds or having a quidditch practice are in the Study Hall. Newt is pretty sure that’s where he could find Leta—and hide from Theseus—but it’s too late for that now. Looks like he’s been spotted.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

    His brother does the thing. Of course, he does the thing, Newt reminds himself, because it’s Theseus, and Theseus either has no idea how uncomfortable his hugging habits are for Newt or chooses to ignore it. Newt suspects it’s the latter which only makes the matter worse. However, he is probably in no position to argue about hugging at the moment, so he just stays perfectly still, like a trapped animal, and waits it out. Sooner or later Theseus is going to release him.
    Sooner or later.
    It’s not that Newt dislikes hugs, or dislikes Theseus, or dislikes Theseus’ hugs in particular. It’s just the way they make him feel. It’s something he can never put in words. He remembers himself not particularly fond of hugs in childhood too, but not like this. He breathes in, breathes out. Theseus smells like autumn. Earthly, like the leaves on the trees around Hogwarts.
    Newt blinks, coming back to the reality of mom and expulsion, and being lucky. Well. Not really. Is it considered luck that he can finally stop worrying about all the books and whatnot and concentrate on the important things?
    “They say it’s temporary for now. Two weeks off school while they are deciding what to do with me. Professor Dumbledore looked like he was going to fight them if they decided to expel me permanently. That’s why they asked mom—or you—to come, so you can collect me and, you know. Take me away for those two weeks. But it’s not all that important. Do you know what they will do to Paterson? Paterson is the jarvey. Do you think they’ll lock him up or something? He’ll get depressed if they do, jarveys aren’t supposed to live in a cage. Quite frankly, no animal is supposed to, but that’s beside the point. Paterson didn’t do anything bad, if they only listened to me, I would tell them that he was provoked and that that stupid chap from Gryffindor posed more danger to Paterson than Paterson did to him.”
    Newt draws in a long breath and stops talking. He was supposed to pretend he was worried about the expulsion! But he isn’t, he so, so isn’t, and he can’t not be worried about the jarvey, because unlike himself, Paterson doesn’t have the luxury of professor Dumbledore as his ally. And then, of course, there is Leta, and Leta is upset with him too—but still, the jarvey is his main concern at the moment. Leta isn’t going to be taken away by no man from the Ministry, that Newt has made sure of. Theseus doesn’t need to know that, though. Nobody does.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

    Newt can’t make out if Theseus sounds upset about him not worrying about the expulsion. His mind is busy contemplating breaking Paterson out—which would be a violation of whatever numbered law they have for such occasions. Newt isn’t going to do it, though. The ‘seriousness of his situation’ isn’t completely lost on him, if only in regards to what his parents are going to say. At least Theseus is trying to be understanding and helpful—and stops hugging him. Thankfully.
    (Newt isn’t completely sure what makes him more uncomfortable, when his brother starts hugging him or stops hugging him.)
    Newt glances at Theseus for the first time since the beginning of their conversation. He looks genuinely sad, and for a moment Newt entertains the idea of maybe going back to that room with professors and the Man from the Ministry. If Theseus talked to them in this sad and serious tone, maybe they could do something, because Theseus is an auror, and he’s older, and they would listen to him—but no, of course, they wouldn’t. Theseus explains it himself. It’s a lost cause.
    “Thanks.” Newt looks away, feeling utterly defeated, and sighs. “Is mom mad?”
    He wiggles away from underneath his brother’s palm on his shoulder, but keeps walking next to Theseus, looking down. They still need to pop into the Hufflepuff living quarters so he can collect his things. They’re packed already. It feels like everyone in that room has already decided his fate and now they’re just dragging out the time needed to make it official. For what purpose, Newt has no idea.
    The only truly sad thing about being away from Hogwarts—well, no, actually, two truly sad things. First, he is going to miss all the Care of Magical Creatures lessons. Second, he will be away from Leta. And she is going to keep being upset with him. If they expel him permanently instead of suspending for a month or two, then, quite possibly, Leta is going to keep being upset with him forever. The thought of it pains Newt surprisingly much.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

    Of course, mom is mad. She doesn’t usually scream at him for whatever trouble he gets in with his creatures, but that was before he got himself suspended and potentially expelled. Theseus thinks she’ll get over it before they get back home but Newt imagines a completely different picture. So. He isn’t going to see Leta for a while. He isn’t going to attend school. He probably isn’t going to leave the house for some time until parents calm down about the whole affair. Newt just hopes it isn’t going to take, like, a year. He’d go mad being locked up at the house for a year.
    Theseus sounds alarmingly optimistic which only proves Newt’s deductions. He’s going to be grounded. Certainly. Newt keeps looking down and only now realizes in what mess he got himself. But it’s okay, it’s okay. At least Leta is safe from all of this turmoil. He’ll write her a letter. Even if he’s grounded, he should be allowed letters, right? Right? Newt glances at Theseus. Maybe he can recruit him to get a letter out if the need arises.
    “I hope she doesn’t ground me for the rest of my life. Not sure I am worried about the pie,” Newt finally says and stops in front of the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. “I was rather hoping to do some proper on-site research and keep studying beasts, and— I know they think it’s not a paying job, it’s just a hobby. But it isn’t, you’ll see. It’s not just a hobby, it’s science. It’s important.”
    Newt looks at Theseus stubbornly as if expecting him to immediately object to such nonsense being said out loud. Their parents usually do.
    “It’s a job. It is,” he repeats before turning to the barrels and tapping, in perfect rhythm, the password to enter the common room. “I’ll be quick,” says Newt before rushing in, evidently trying to avoid getting any answer to his little job speech from his brother.
    It takes Newt ten minutes to make sure he packed everything and to drag his luggage out to the corridor. Stopping next to Theseus, he shuffles his feet awkwardly, clearly unsure about something. But the barrels behind his back have already closed the common room entrance, and there is no point in asking someone to relay a good-bye message to Leta, and there wasn’t anyone Newt could trust with the task back in the common room anyway. He sighs and looks at Theseus, still troubled by his thoughts about Leta but resolute in his decision to deal with all of it in a letter.
    “How are we getting home? A portkey?”
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

    Theseus casts his spell before Newt even gets to do anything, and it’s a bit frustrating. He could’ve taken care of his own luggage himself! He’s not a kid! Sometimes he thinks Theseus sees him as too young or too light-headed, incapable of taking care of himself, thus always getting in trouble. It’s not true. Newt is extremely capable. Well. In anything that doesn’t require talking to people and being social. Being social is definitely not his forte.
    Even this little speech of his, although supportive, feels somehow condescending, or maybe Newt is in that mood when everything feels like something hostile. Perhaps, it shows in his face, because Theseus abruptly stops talking and apologizes. Newt frowns, looking at his brother, and says nothing. He frowns even more when Theseus asks him to understand mom. Newt understands mom. Mom doesn’t seem to understand Newt—that’s the source of all problems!
    Of course, Newt doesn’t exactly keep calm. He forgets about the pie because mom emphasizes just how much she is disappointed in him, and how could he, and why can’t he just be serious about his future, and what are they going to do if he gets expelled?
    Newt looks at her sullenly and says, “It’s not like I wanted it to happen!”
    (That doesn’t impress mom. Of course, it doesn’t.)
    “But I had to protect—” Newt stops himself and feels his cheeks getting hot.
    “What, the beast? Newt, dear, please understand, it’s your life on the line. You can’t go on protecting every little creature you find. You have to start growing up and setting yourself realistic goals, thinking ahead, you know, like Thes—”
    “Like Theseus!” this time Newt’s cheeks feel hot because he’s angry, not because he thinks about Leta. “Well, I’m sorry I’m not Theseus! I am me!”
    He feels like there are gazillion different things he could’ve added to that but instead, he just rushes out of the living room, his face hot, and his eyes stinging from what might be tears of rage. Merlin, he is sick and tired of these comparisons. He is also grounded and can’t really leave the house, so he just goes to his usual safe space in the attic. He has found swallow’s nest here once and ever since then it was his favorite place in the entire house.
    The nest is empty now, and Newt just sits next to it, with his eyes closed, his fingers in his hair, pulling at it relentlessly.
    Understand mom.
    Yeah, right.
    Sorry, brother.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

    Sometimes Newt wishes he could turn invisible or mimic his surroundings like some kind of a chameleon but alas. He can do nothing of the sort, and there is no way to escape Theseus now. Newt is pretty sure if he asks his brother to leave, it would hurt him, and Merlin sees, Newt doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He still feels stubborn and spiteful and frustrated with mom, and Theseus, and the man from the Ministry, and everyone else. He allows himself to be encompassed by this feeling for a while before realizing he is also kind of encompassed in his brother’s arms—well, one arm. It immediately makes him feel uncomfortable.
    (Newt likes this hug, it’s soft and short, and it grounds him in here and now.)
    Newt takes the cup but sets it on the floor in between his legs instead of drinking and continues to be concentrated on what appears to be an attempt to pull out all of his messy hair. When Theseus not only brings him hot chocolate—Newt’s second favorite thing after beasts—and clearly tries to comfort him but also starts talking, Newt feels bitter. His brother is being too perfect in all regards—in his job, in his views, in his words, in his actions, in everything. Sometimes Newt wants to just confront him and ask if he ever gets tired of being this impossible good person. If it’s even an effort for him.
    Newt grudgingly lifts his eyes and looks at his brother. Theseus doesn’t hug him anymore.
    (It’s easier to breathe now that he stopped. Newt didn’t even pay attention to the way he hitched his breathing until Theseus let him go.)
    “I know you’re trying to help,” Newt says quietly. Then looks away. “But you’re like a dragon, and I’m like a little salamander, and it’s impossible for me to match you.”
    He sighs, moves the untouched cup away and draws his knees to his chest to put his arms on top of them, and his chin on top of his arms. Any other day he would’ve emptied that cup already but not today. Today so far has been one wreck of a day, and even hot chocolate can’t make it better. Newt stares mindlessly in front of himself, wishing simultaneously for Theseus to just drop the conversation and go, and for Theseus to stay and keep talking to him, or maybe at him if he doesn’t feel like answering.
    (Maybe even hugging him. Hugs are generally uncomfortable but sometimes they’re alright. They are definitely alright in the attic. Newt doesn’t know why, this is just something he observed.)
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

.....Newt barely feels the touch before Theseus changes his mind and his hand moves away from Newt’s hair to some other place. This is how Newt suddenly learns that Theseus thinks he’s better than him. Which is absolute and utter nonsense, just as Theseus claiming he’s not a dragon. Because he is, he so, so is. In every sense. Newt can bet if Theseus ever decides to become an Animagus he’s going to turn into a proper dragon.
.....(Newt loves dragons. He loves them.)
.....Newt doesn’t say any of it. Instead, he suddenly says, “Leta doesn’t think so. She thinks it was stupid of me to do that for her, to claim it was my jarvey and be punished instead of her.”
.....For a split second there is silence.
.....Realizing what he just said, Newt turns to Theseus, his eyes wide and alarmed, his face going white—making his freckles stand out even more. Words escape Newt, he can’t find a single thing to say. If Theseus decides to take this little secret of his back to Hogwarts or even downstairs then all was for naught. Finally, after what feels like an eternity but probably isn’t even half a minute, Newt remembers the four most important words in the entire universe.
.....These words are, “Please don’t tell anyone.”
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

.....Newt is properly afraid up until the moment Theseus says that he can’t possibly be mad, and Newt slowly exhales, releasing the breath he didn’t even realize he held all this time. He has no idea what Theseus means by saying it’s so typical of him. Is it? Newt looks warily and guiltily at his brother but he just charms the cup with hot chocolate and smiles kindly. Newt can’t help but quirk his lips in a quick smile of disbelief.
.....Luckily, it’s impossible to talk and drink hot chocolate at the same time so he busies himself with the cup.
.....“Thank you—for everything,” is the only thing Newt says and very carefully avoids looking at Theseus.
.....He thought a person like Theseus would do the right thing—which, in the eyes of a servant of the law, would be to tell someone that Newt got wrongly accused of something he didn’t do, all because he feels—he feels—Newt grips his cup tighter. He doesn’t know what exactly he feels towards Leta. Something. Something big and exhilarating and warm. Something he can’t contain within the boundaries of his body but also has no idea how to release.
.....Hot chocolate, not surprisingly, makes Newt feel better. So does the presence of Theseus next to him.
.....“I’m fine,” Newt finally says, turning his head to his brother to steal one short glance at his face before training his eyes forwards again. “You don’t, you know. Have to stay up here with me.” He takes another sip of hot chocolate and awkwardly shrugs his shoulders. “Are you going to go back to London?”
.....Newt hopes Theseus will get distracted talking about his work or London, or something, and will not ask him about Leta.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

.....By the sound of it, Theseus is trying to console him but Newt doesn’t exactly feel worried about his future. He’d love to study fantastic creatures more but he can just as easily do it at home, right? Moreover, creatures don’t care about diplomas of academic education, they only ever care if you treat them right, with dignity, and respect, and kindness. It’s not something you can learn at school. Newt follows his big brother with his eyes all the way to the door.
.....”Thanks, Thes,” Newt says almost inaudibly.
.....He spends another couple of hours here until he feels a bit cold and definitely forgotten. Mom doesn’t come to talk to (or at) him, although at some point Newt hears someone’s steps, but that person never comes all the way up. Maybe Theseus told her something that made her leave him alone. Newt doesn’t have a way to know so he stays in the attic all the way until the evening. He comes downstairs once the smell of dinner reaches him, and he suddenly feels too hungry to keep sulking alone.
.....Mom eyes him carefully all the way through the dinner as if he’s some kind of a fantastic creature himself. She talks about the way it’s going to be around the house while Newt is here. The rules are pretty much the same as they were in the summer, only this time Newt has to find time to not only help her with their animals but also study.
.....“You have to keep up with your peers if you would like to be level with them once you come back to your studies,” mom says in her special you-don’t-get-to-choose voice, and Newt just nods sullenly.
.....He kind of hoped it would be more of an extended vacation with animals and whatnot, but it looks like mom is dead set on homeschooling him if she has to. There is very little he can do about it, and also he just prefers not to have another quarrel right now. He’s tired and hungry, and he can’t live in the attic forever, and he doesn’t quite feel like escaping home yet although the thought has crossed his mind at some point.
.....“Theseus will help you study when he’s around, is that right, dear?” mom says, and Newt lifts his face up from his plate and looks at Theseus.
.....His look is both curious, and startled, and somewhat shy. Newt isn’t exactly the best wizard out there, even granted he’s still just a school student. Theseus, on the other hand, always seemed to be extremely skilled. How else would he get his job as an auror? Newt can’t decide if the prospect makes him excited or terrified, but it definitely makes him feel something.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

⠀⠀For a brief second Newt is sure Theseus looks just as surprised as he is, but then the second passes and the vision fades. Theseus looks, well, like Theseus always does. All high cheekbones, and vivid eyes, and curling hair—very Theseus-y.
⠀⠀Newt blinks, suddenly distinctly aware that he was asked a question. Possibly it was Theseus who asked it, given it sounded more like his voice than mom’s. Newt blinks again and puts his fork down, smiles awkwardly—Merlin, he should’ve paid more attention to his brother’s words than his face, what is the matter with him—and looks uncertainly between his mom and Thes.
⠀⠀Finally, Newt arrives at the best possible answer he can find, which is, “I’m fine with whatever works for you?” It sounds like a question, so Newt pulls himself together and straightens up in his seat. “I mean, I don’t exactly have a schedule anymore, and you’re busy with work, so it would make more sense for me to adjust to your schedule rather than for you to sacrifice yours.”
⠀⠀“Now-now, dear, let’s hope you’ll be back at Hogwarts in no time,” mom says, but Newt just keeps staring at Theseus’ face.
⠀⠀As if there is something particularly fascinating there. This is odd, and he is being weird, and he should probably stop before he makes everyone uncomfortable. Yet Newt doesn’t stop looking. Theseus’ face is fascinating in its own—Theseus-y—way.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

⠀⠀That night Newt paces around his room wondering what to make of all of this. Why did Theseus leave dinner so abruptly? Was it something he said? The prospect of teaching him? Him staring at his brother? Oh Merlin, it was him staring at his brother. Newt pulls at his hair in frustration. He was being weird, and he has to fix it now because he doesn’t like it when Thes is uncomfortable. Hopefully, him leaving so soon doesn’t mean they are not having their first lesson tomorrow. Newt plops down on his bed and sighs. Well, at least all this trouble was worth it. He should write Leta, apologize or something. He doesn’t really have anything to apologize for—he would’ve done it the same all over again—but Leta thinks he has to. And he likes her way too much to deny himself the pleasure of her company.
⠀⠀Newt falls asleep composing the letter in his mind. He will write her as many letters as it will take for her to soften up and forgive him. He wakes up a bit groggy, but it all quickly goes away when he remembers about the oncoming lesson. The only problem is, they didn’t exactly specify neither the time nor the nature of the lesson. Now, instead of composing the letter, Newt composes his apology to Thes in his mind. Something like, “sorry for staring at you, brother.” No, this will not do. Firstly, it’s lame, and secondly, admitting to staring at Thes makes Newt mildly uncomfortable. He even manages to blush brightly enough for their mom to ask what’s the matter and if he feels okay.
⠀⠀“I'm fine, mom, thanks,” Newt mumbles through his breakfast.
⠀⠀He finishes eating quickly and runs upstairs to find himself some book to get lost in. It will help him pass the time and not think about Thes’ face. Admittedly, his brother has a nice face. By extension, it makes Newt wonder if he has a nice face. If Thes looks at him and says to himself, in the privacy of his mind, something like, “oh, Newt has a nice face.” Newt snorts and keeps reading on dragons. One can never have too much information on dragons. They are even more fascinating than Theseus’ face, and that—that is an achievement of its own.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

⠀⠀Thes is making himself some tea, and Newt is just staring at the parchment in front of him. He’s been staring at it for a good half an hour now, and for whatever reason letters didn’t magically appear on its surface. He still needs to write them. But it would be so, so much easier if they just appeared! Straight out of his head and onto the parchment, eloquent and as graceful as a young hippogriff. Newt sighs and puts the quill down, turns his head to look at Thes. His brother is smiling, either finding his struggles with the letter to Leta amusing or just being in a good mood for no apparent reason. Newt heard, once you grow up and stop being a moody teenager it becomes easier to be happy more often. He doesn’t smile back but he perks up once Thes mentions their lesson.
⠀⠀“Why did you think I’d change my mind?” Newt blinks, perplexed. Then he understands and blushes suddenly. “If it’s about me staring at you yesterday, it’s not what you think. I didn’t mean to stare. I’m sorry. I’m just...” Newt feels like the blush just reached the center of his being, and now he is the blush. “Can we just..? I didn’t... change my mind.”
⠀⠀Of course he didn’t change his mind! Is Thes teasing him or something? Newt can’t possibly imagine Thes being insecure about the lessons—he’s the star of the family, and mom sounded so sure he could do it and all. So it must be teasing. A weird kind. The kind Newt doesn’t get—not that he ever gets teasing. Leta thinks he’s hopeless that way. And Leta’s right about him more often than he would like to admit.
⠀⠀“What do I need? What are we even studying today?” Newt makes himself say out of the depth of the blush so bright it could possibly be the new world record.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/18603.png"><br><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

⠀⠀Transfiguration sounds alright. Newt would’ve preferred Care of Magical Creatures, but Transfiguration will do, too. It’s one of those subjects Newt neither particularly enjoys nor really understands, and he strongly suspects that one is the result of the other. Maybe if Theseus explained it to him, he would actually do better. Newt pushes the parchment away, grateful that Theseus gracefully didn’t ask about it, and turns his full attention to his brother. He tries to listen more than to look, but soon he finds that Theseus has a very distracting face. Or maybe his concentration is lacking, Newt honestly can’t tell.
⠀⠀He knows he has to learn Conjuration for his Transfiguration NEWTs exams next year. As their professor has put it, “to transfigure air into whatever your heart’s desire”. Well, with the exception of the five things, those listed in that law Newt can’t remember the name of. Food, and the like. He sighs.
⠀⠀“It is,” he half-lies. Although the next question he asks is sincere, “Are you good at conjuring stuff? Do you do it often for work? I know I gotta learn it for my NEWTs, but I’m not quite, hm. Not good at it. Not for the exam level,” he finishes quietly, suddenly ashamed. Why is he even asking? Of course, Theseus is good at Conjuration, he’s Theseus. There isn’t a single thing he isn’t good at that Newt can think of.

[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<br><center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/71921.png"><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]

Newt doesn’t fight. He knows all the spells, and he can hold a wand, and he isn’t scared of fighting, he just doesn’t quite see the point of it. Why fight when you can talk? Or if you can’t talk then at least touch or make faces at each other, as he often does with his mom’s hippogriffs. Theseus has made fighting his job, and while Newt understands why evil wizards have to be fought, he has no desire to partake in the fighting. Best leave Thes to do it. He makes himself sound forgetful, but Newt is convinced his brother is only doing that to make him feel better.
As if, somehow, Theseus Scamander is just a mortal man, same as himself. With flaws and quirks and silly habits.
Newt cocks his head to the side but doesn’t ask how does a person forget their clothes. That would be crossing some borders Newt isn’t prepared to cross with his brother. Thankfully, Thes just moves on with his teaching, and Newt lets the thought slide. Doesn’t matter. It’s not like he expects a particularly useful answer. Not in terms of Transfiguration exam, anyway. He’s here to study that, not his brother. Never his brother.

Newt finishes the letter and finds it utterly stupid. He sends it anyway, and then looses himself in all the lessons with Theseus, and tending to hippogriffs, and doing other chores around the household. Mom makes a habit of reminding him how Hogwarts will be back in his life any moment now so he should be prepared to go right back to studies. This is disappointing—Newt still thinks he’s better off just starting his Magizoologist career without any diploma of education—but predictable.
Leta never writes back, and Newt convinces himself she is just busy studying. Apparently, he isn’t all that good at convincing himself because soon enough Theseus has to handle him when Newt isn’t concentrated enough to grip the wand in the right way or make the right moves with his wand. It is nice, though. Thes has nice hands—Newt makes a note of it but never mentions it to his brother.
Newt learns a great deal of things about his older brother that he never mentions. Theseus ruffles his hair when he’s slightly confused or nervous. When he talks, his voice rings in the air, and if you let your mind wander, it almost sounds like some odd bird song. He has a gentle touch, a knack for teaching, and amazing Transfiguration skills. Sometimes he can make Newt blush by standing too close or touching him too lightly, too gently.
He’s here to study Transfiguration, not his brother, but somehow Newt ends up studying both. He finds Transfiguration to be much simpler than Theseus.
(He’s glad he doesn’t have to pass the Theseus exam.)

Two weeks off school pass by quicker than Newt ever imagined, and then the letter comes. (Still not from Leta.) The headmaster is writing to inform that Newt has been suspended for an entire month, and then he is to come back to studies and continue as usual. Mom is not impressed. However, she softens when the second letter comes—this one is from professor Dumbledore. Now that his fate is decided Newt feels a bit better. Although it would be much easier if Leta wrote back.
“Do you think there is a badger living there, behind the hippogriffs stables? I went around and there are definitely some marks on the ground, but I wasn’t able to spot him or his burrow, maybe he‘s not so close to us as I think. Then I need to go scout further, maybe closer to the dark. Badgers aren’t magical, but in a way all animals are, and I am not entirely certain it is a badger, maybe it’s something else. I have to follow the tracks to be able to tell.”
They just finished their lesson with Theseus, and Newt has been going on about this supposed badger for good five minutes by now, standing in the backyard and looking off in the distance. He doesn’t even notice at what point his stupid head decides to blurt out, “Do you think she doesn’t answer my letter because she is very busy with lessons and all? She must be, right? Busy, I mean. She can’t possibly hate me for taking care of the jarvey. Right? You said you wouldn’t. So she shouldn’t too. I wish she just wrote me back.” Newt sighs.
[nick]Newt Scamander[/nick][status]i need to have a side?[/status][icon]https://i.postimg.cc/m28dJ5D9/ynewt.jpg[/icon][sign][/sign][LZ]<center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><br><img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/71921.png"><br><b>Newt Scamander</b>, 6th year Hufflepuff</center>[/LZ]