A/N:

EDIT: OMG IM SO SORRY I FORGOT. Thanks to Elaine, Tsu, Viola and Wish for reading through!

Set during the scene/song "The Other Side" from The Greatest Showman, with a non-wizard Newt taking the place of Philip Carlyle. Quotes from the movie and song lyrics have been included or paraphrased.

Title taken from The Other Side performed by Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron, off the movie soundtrack of The Greatest Showman.

A Deal Worth Taking

Newt Scamander sat at the deserted bar, absently gazing into the depths of his empty glass.

He'd just lost yet another assistant to the lure of a better pay, and he didn't need to read the tabloids or the sales records to know that his flash fiction anthology wasn't doing well; the only reason people ever read his books now was because of his previous collaboration with another author, who had gone on to be more famous and prosperous than he could ever hope to be.

Newt sighed and raised his glass. "Another one, please," he told the bartender, who obliged. Newt leaned back and downed the entire cup in one go, gasping as the brandy scorched his throat with numbing ferocity.

A man slid into the seat at the other end of the bar. Newt knew who he was—the newspapers these days were nothing short of slathered in slander and scorn for him and his troupe of performers. He forced himself not to stare at the man's black top hat and green chintz scarf draped carelessly around his neck, the latter of which he knew was yet another attempt to stand out from the crowd. Seeing as they were alone in this place, though, that was rather unnecessary.

The man rose and came over to the seat beside him. Newt could smell a faint whiff of wood smoke and hay on him. It made him think of adventure and excitement, conjuring visions of flame and fortune in his mind.

"Mr. Scamander," greeted P. T. Barnum, tipping his hat at Newt and the bartender in turn.

Newt nodded back in acknowledgement, then tilted his glass, asking for a refill, but the bartender simply slid two fresh glasses of brandy across the counter.

"You know why I'm here," Barnum said without preamble, taking one of the glasses set out on the table.

Newt did. The ringmaster's show had not been doing well, to say the least, and it was only natural for him to go looking for new blood.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Barnum, but it won't happen," Newt said, taking a sip of his brandy. "As much as I would love to, picking up peanut shells from the crowd simply isn't what I do."

"Is that so?" There was no malice in Barnum's sarcasm, which came as a surprise to Newt. "No offence to you or your profession, Mr. Scamander, but what you're doing is kicking around in the same cage all day with no hope of going somewhere. What I'm doing is offering you a key, if you will."

Newt glanced at him, finishing his drink and getting another one. "None taken. But I don't need a key. I'm not in a cage."

Inside him, however, he could feel his heart screaming in his chest. Barnum was right—he was getting nowhere following in his author parents' footsteps. He'd always strived to do something different, exciting, something that would bring the masses to their feet in wonder and ecstasy. Barnum was offering him a ticket straight to the other side, where that was frighteningly and exhilaratingly possible.

But he knew his parents would never agree to it. They'd already given him the talk about their family's reputation, how he must uphold it as was becoming of their son. If he took this path, they would probably disown him, distancing themselves from him. Newt deflated at the thought of his father's disappointment and his mother's excruciating inability to staunch it.

"I'd be the talk of the town if I joined you," he argued feebly. "I'd be a clown. A disgrace."

Clearly, he wasn't the only one aware of how weak his protests were. Barnum's eyes were gleaming with a knowing look that made him feel strangely scrutinised.

"Yes, you would," he said. "But don't all wise men first acknowledge that they are fools? Life is nothing without a little risk and fun, after all."

Newt considered the man sitting before him, this man with his wild hair and tinkling laugh, who was both obviously ridiculing him as well as giving him a chance. His parents had discouraged him from taking up such professions, citing the uncertainty of where they might take him—but wasn't uncertainty part and parcel of everything in life?

He smiled. Evidently Barnum was rubbing off on him.

Barnum glanced at the row of glasses on the counter and began feeling in his pockets for a wallet. Newt doubted it would have held any money even if it had been there.

"I admit that it seems like a deal worth taking," he said. "But I'm afraid I must then ask what percentage of the show I will receive."

"That's fair," Barnum said offhandedly, giving up on his pockets and taking to searching the brim of his hat. "I propose seven percent."

"I say fifteen."

"Eight."

"Twelve, then?"

"Maybe nine," Barnum muttered, making a show of shaking out his scarf.

"Ten percent of the show, thank you very much," Newt said, and Barnum ceased shaking.

Newt pulled a note from his coat and placed it on the table. Barnum eyed him curiously, waiting for him to make his claim.

"Sir," Newt said, smiling broadly as he fingered his glass. "It looks like you have yourself a junior partner."

Barnum grinned and picked up his glass as well. "What I have," he answered, eyes twinkling, "is an overcompensated apprentice."

Newt beamed at him, and they clinked glasses, the flutter in his heart growing stronger. He knew he wasn't going to regret this.

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House: Ravenclaw

Year: 3

Category: Musicals

Prompt: The Greatest Showman

Word Count: 920