Chapter Text
Mister Scamander, it is an honour to finally be able to talk to you properly
Please, forgive me libeling.
You're safe with me now.
Newt woke up with a start, gasping for air. He felt tears rushing to his eyes as he continued to heave for air. Wha... what happened? One moment he was facing off with Grindelwald, the next he was... here. The magizoologist rubbed his eyes to get rid of the tears, and slowly, wherever he was came into focus. 'Wherever' turned out to be a lavish bedroom, with large windows and beautiful furniture. There was a writing desk near one of the windows with a bookshelf filled to the brim with novels next to it, a big wardrobe and a dresser with an antique lamp on it next to him. There was also a big ornate door that was directly opposite of the bed he slept in.
Newt rubbed his eyes a bit more, his head still spinning. What on earth happened when he duelled with Grindelwald. He replayed their duel in his foggy mind, trying to remember what spells they fired at each other.
He paused. His case! Where was his case? What happened to his creatures? His breathing quickened as he looked over the room again. His case wasn't there.
There was a squeaking sound from the door and Newt's head snapped up. HIs head spinning, he immediately fell back on the bed and threw the blanket on him and closed his eyes just before the door opened. The redhead tried to even out his breathing as he heard the door shut softly and heels clicking towards the bed until he felt the bed dip. He felt his heart skip a beat when he felt a hand card through his hair.
"I know you're awake, darling, there's use pretending." A familiar voice purred out. Newt shot up again and nearly hit Grindelwald in the nose. The dark lord managed to dodge in time and let out an amused chuckle. "Calm down, ,em>liebling."
"Y-you... what- where am I? What did you do to my creatures?" He inched away from Grindelwald, but his green eyes were filled with anger and protectiveness for his creatures. They were like children to him, and he swore he wouldn't hesitate to fight the dark lord with his bare hands if the man did anything to his creatures.
"Your creatures are safe, Newton. I made sure of it." The man reassured him. He reached a hand out as an effort to calm the redhead down, but Newt only flinched and scooted even farther away from Grindelwald. There was a touch of sadness that disappeared as fast as it appeared in his mismatched eyes that Newt wasn't even sure if it was there. The German retracted his hand and placed it in his lap.
"I understand that you are upset with me, but-" "Just give me back my case, please. I need to make sure my creatures are safe." Newt's tone left no room for argument, which was a bit surprising to himself since he was never one to use such a tone.
Grindelwald complied and the enchanted case appeared in his hand. The magizoologist immediately snatched it out of his hands and held it protectively to his chest. "Get out, please. I want my privacy." He held his gaze, unwilling to submit to Grindelwald's one. Finally, the German sighed and got up. He smoothed down his jacket and walked to the door. Before he left, he looked back at Newt one last time before leaving, shutting the door softly behind him.
Once he was sure that the German was gone, Newt hurriedly opened his case and climbed down the ladder. Inside, the creatures could feel their caretaker's distress and a chorus of howls and growls rang out. Newt smiled in relief. Everyone really was okay. He went to check each creature in their respective habitat, making sure that they weren't stressed and filling up their food. From the Bowtruckle tree, Pickett immediately latched onto the redhead as soon as he was in sight. Newt laughed and stroked the little creature, glad to have his companion back. With Pickett on his shoulder, Newt continued to make his rounds, and was at last satisfied after an hour or two later.
There was a soft knock from the outside of his case and all the creatures looked up simultaneously. "Newton, it's time for dinner, will you come out please?" It was Grindelwald again. The magizoologist chewed his lip and weighed his options. On one hand, he absolutely did not want to have lunch with a notorious and extremely wanted dark lord; on the other hand, if he didn't want to eat with him, he might hurt him or his creatures. Taking a deep breath, he said goodbye to his creatures and with Pickett perched on his shoulder, the magizoologist climbed up the ladder and reentered the bedroom.
Grindelwald was crouched in front of his case, and when he saw Newt's head pop out of the case, he offered him a small smile. Before he could offer his hand to help Newt get out, the magizoologist had already heaved himself up and shut his case. Grindelwald's smile fell slightly and dropped his hand.
"It's time for dinner, liebling." Newton nodded and brushed off any dust on him. Pickett chittered on his shoulder and huddled closer to his ear. The redhead whispered something that the dark lord couldn't catch. He tapped his fingers against his thigh and waited patiently for Newt to finish talking to the bowtruckle.
When he was done, Grindelwald gestured for the redhead to follow him out the bedroom. Newt put himself in a safe distance from the dark lord as he led them through winding hallways with vases of flowers and the occasional oil painting of a countryside or a beautiful landscape. Finally, they entered what seemed like a dining room. A glittering chandelier hung from the ceiling and above a long dining table with plates of delicious food on it. There were plush chairs on the sides of the table, and one each at the heads of the table. Mouthwatering smells wafted to his nose, and Newt heard his stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. The magizoologist turned his head with a blush that could rival his hair while Grindelwald chuckled.
"Come and sit down, Newton." He pulled out a chair and gestured for Newt to sit down. The redhead sucked his lips and he felt his stomach curl in nervousness before deciding to ignore the insistent screaming of his head to decline the man's offer and took a seat. Grindelwald pushed his chair in and took his own seat across from him. A jug of water with lemon slices towards him and poured him a glass. Newt nodded a thanks to the German before taking a cautious sip. Putting the glass down, he looked at the food in front of him. Shepherd's pie, beef stew, Toad in a Hole... they all looked so amazing and quite frankly Newt didn't really care if it was probably poisoned, he just wanted to eat something.
"Have some food, Newton, you must be hungry after not eating for a whole day." Grindelwald already had some mashed potatoes and a bit of Sunday roast on his plate, so Newt decided that if Grindelwald was eating the food, he might as well take some, too, and then proceeded to get some Shepherd's pie and roast vegetables. He grabbed a fork and stabbed a piece of pie and blew on it before popping it in his mouth. The moment the pie touch his tongue, he felt his tastebuds explode. This might have been the best thing he ever tasted.
Grindelwald looked at him with a strange look before looking down and eating his own food. "I must admit, I'm quite fond of British cuisine, if I weren't so busy I would eat in England all the time."
"You mean if you weren't busy killing innocents and gaining more followers," Newt snarked bitterly, crossing his arms and glaring at the German, who stopped mid chew and put down his utensils down. He swallowed and clasped his hands on the table.
"Newton, what I do is good, I'm trying to make this world a better place for wizards and witches." He was trying to reason with Newt, who was getting more and more frustrated and angry at the man.
"What you're doing is enslaving muggles, and trying to take over the world." Newt hissed, green eyes narrowing. He didn't know what the dark lord was feeling or thinking at the moment, but the magizoologist's patience was definitely felt his patience wearing thin.
"Newton listen-" Newt stood up abruptly and Pickett let out a high-ptiched screech as a warning.
"I'm afraid that I lost my appetite," he seethed, "my apologies." He stormed out of the dining room and into the hall. Newt appreciated the fact that Grindelwald didn't try to follow back to the bedroom. He immediately locked the door and sat in front of his case with his face in his hands. Slowly, his body started to shake and tears wetted his hands. Pickett let out a worried little chirp and nudged his face against Newt's cheek.
The redhead looked at the bow truckle and offered his friend a shaky smile. "At least I have you and the others," he rasped out and stroked his finger on the creature's head, who chittered. "Yes, I know that I need to take a bath, but I need to take make my rounds first, I'll take bath after that, promise."
When the magizoologist did finish checking on his creatures and taking a nice hot bath, he fell back on the soft bed and stared at the ceiling. A small tear slipped from his green eyes before he succumbed to sleep.