[Author's note] So happy to be back in J.K. Rowling's wizarding world :")

I plan to write tons of stories for the Fantastic Beasts era. I'm also open for requests, so if any of you have something that you'd like to see (whether it be based on a scene or something you'd like to see in Fantastic Beasts), I shall do my best to write it! ^_^

Read My Mind

"Keep hold of that, honey."

"No, no, no, no, no."

Jacob grabbed onto her wrist, and Queenie stopped in her tracks. She shut her eyes, trying not to let her emotions take over.

Below them was chaos. Screams, crashes, darkness. She saw buildings being torn apart and cars being flung through the air. On the roof of the tall building that she and Jacob now stood on, the people running below looked like ants.

Ants running away from their doom.

"I can't take you," she said. "Please let go of me, Jacob."

"Hey, hey..."

She opened her eyes, turning around to look at him.

Jacob continued, "You're the one that said I was one of youse. Right?"

"It's too dangerous."

Their eyes were connected. Jacob looked at her in a way that nobody has ever looked at her before.

And in less than a second, a million thoughts flashed in her head.

It wasn't her thoughts. It was Jacob's.

She saw a war zone. The air was filled with gunshots and the screaming of men. Blood was everywhere. Soldiers were running, carrying guns in their arms, lifting them once in a while to shoot.

As the images kept going, Queenie reached out and caressed Jacob's cheek with her hand. He was trembling underneath her fingers.

Queenie knew that she shouldn't. But she kept going. She focused on her Leglimency. She went deeper into Jacob's mind.

She saw men getting shot, falling, and dying. The horrible marathon of violence carried on until finally it stopped to a single scene.

In the memory, she saw Jacob wearing a soldier's uniform. His face was grimy with dirt and the helmet on his head was scathed all over. He was bent over an American soldier, who lay on the ground bleeding. Blood poured out of the soldier's chest, right next to the heart. Their surroundings were in chaos as the battle was still raging.

"I'll save you," Jacob was saying, his voice cracking and his fingers shaking. He was fumbling into his medic kit, pulling out bandages and morphine. "I'm going to save you, so don't worry—"

"Kowalski..." the soldier wheezed. "Go... Save yourself..."

"Damnit, I'm here to save you! Don't you dare die on me—"

"Go, Kowalski..."

"No no no—Please—"

"Go..."

"Please, no—"

But the soldier's eyelids fluttered and then was still. His body stopped moving.

Jacob stared at the dead soldier, whose eyes stared at the sky above them, empty.

"No no no..." Jacob was shaking his head, tears pouring down his face. "No no, please...please..."

The screaming and gunfire continued around him.

More scenes followed. More men died in Jacob's arms. Some begged him to save them. Some just cried as the life drained from their bodies. Blood covered Jacob's hands.

And then it all stopped.

The battleground disappeared, replaced with a kitchen. Outside, it was snowing. Queenie saw a small, plump boy crouching in front of an oven.

It was Jacob as a child. He couldn't have been more than 10 years old.

"Grandma, grandma, look!" he squealed. His eyes were bright and he began to jump up and down. "Look look!"

An old women entered the room. Her face bore a striking resemblance to Jacob.

"What is it, my boy?" the women asked, her voice warm.

Jacob pointed at the oven. "I'm baking bread, just for you!" He smiled a huge toothy smile. He grabbed a pair of mitts and shoved them onto his hands. Then he opened the oven and carefully pulled out a metal tray. On the tray were three pieces of steaming, golden bread. "I put raisins in them and made sure the outside is nice and crunchy!"

His grandma smiled. "Oh my goodness," she chuckled. "Thank you, Jacob." She crouched down to Jacob's height and carefully took one of the bread in her hands.

"Careful, grandma, it's hot!" Jacob exclaimed, his voice high and cracking.

"It's all right, dear." She patted her grandchild on the head, ruffling his hair. Then she took a bite out of the bread and closed her eyes.

Jacob looked nervous, studying her reaction.

"Is it good, grandma?"

"It tastes..." Then the old women opened her eyes. The biggest and proudest of smiles spread across her face. "...absolutely magical!"

Jacob giggled happily. "Yay!"

"I'm betting that you can open your own bakery one day, Jacob." She took another huge bite. "No one...And I mean no one—." She poked her grandchild's nose playfully. "—can bake bread as good as you."

His cheeks red with pride and his face beaming, the little boy nodded.

The scene changed again.

It was a hospital room. An adult Jacob was sitting in front of a bed.

There there was his grandma, underneath the bedsheets, unmoving. Her face was still uncovered, and her lips were slightly curled in a soft smile, as if she spent the last seconds of her life in peace. Her eyes were closed.

Jacob was sobbing. And he continued sobbing even after the nurses came and took the body away.

Then everything went black.

All Queenie could hear now was Jacob's voice.

Don't leave me.

Please.

I don't want to be alone.

Please.

Stay with me.

I beg of you.

Please...

Please...

"Please tell me you're not reading my mind." This time it was Jacob's voice coming out of his mouth, not from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and she heard the pain in her own voice. "I can't help it."

Jacob nodded, and tore his eyes away from her. He stared the the ground. Then his shoulders started to shake. Queenie could see that he was fighting back tears.

"I didn't want you to see this side of me," he choked. "I'm sorry. When you started to go, I became so afraid. You saw how terrifying that Obscur-thing is. What if something bad happens to you? What if I never see you again? I..." He paused, then braved himself to finish. "...I don't want to lose another person I care about. I...I..." Another pause. "I don't want to lose you." And then he closed his mouth, not daring to look at her.

"I'm not leaving you."

With those four words, Jacob looked back up. Queenie smiled. "I'm not leaving you," she repeated. "I won't leave you. I'm staying right here."

Jacob attempted to answer, but the words were mixed up in his mouth. Queenie laughed and without any warning, she leaned forward and hugged him tightly.

"I'm staying right here."

Her words brushed gently against his ear.

And he hugged her back.

After what felt like minutes, they released their embrace. They both sat down on the rooftop of that tall building, watching the disaster unfolding below them. Above them, the vast night sky was even darker than usual. Newt's suitcase lay on Queenie's lap.

"This is insane," Jacob said, shaking his head. The sound of screaming and crashes and gunshots and all sorts of disastrous noises filled the air. "This is completely insane."

"Teenie and Newt will fix this," Queenie said. "I know it. I believe her. And him." The truth was, she was worried. Tina was strong but the Obscurus was stronger.

Then she felt Jacob's hand in her's. He gave her hand a squeeze.

"They'll be all right." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Newt is one hell of a guy. The creatures he kept in his case..." He shook his head in disbelief. "He's stronger than he looks, being able to control and tame all of those creatures."

Queenie smiled softly. "Yeah."

More screaming below them.

"Your grandma seemed like such a nice woman."

Jacob was staring at the chaos but turned to look at her. Her eyes were on him. He nodded. "She was. She also loved to bake." His eyes became warm as the memories filled his head. "She introduced me to baking. And soon it became more of a hobby for me. I loved it. Seeing the smiles on people's faces after they took a bite out of my bread... It's just amazing." He chuckled. "I'd want to be a baker until the day I die, I think. It's my dream, actually. Well that was before I met you guys. Now I think I want to be a wizard as well."

Now it was Queenie's turn to squeeze his hand. "You're amazing just as you." She rested her head on his shoulder. "You better bake some bread for me after all of this."

"I will."

"Promise."

"I promise."

I'll gladly bake for you till the day I die.

Queenie laughed.

Jacob groaned. "Please tell me you didn't just read my mind."

"Like I said, I can't help it."

Jacob covered his face with his free hand, embarrassed.

They were silent for about a minute—Queenie with her eyes closed and smiling; Jacob with his face turning redder by the minute.

Finally Jacob opened his mouth again to speak.

"I don't want to forget."

Still laying her head on Jacob's shoulder, Queenie looked up at him. "Forget what?"

Jacob let out a sigh and gestured to the disastrous landscape in front of him. "This...All of this. Magic. How could I ever forget about it? Being Obliviated will probably be the worst thing that'll ever happen to me."

Queenie was silent. Jacob kept going.

"It'll mean I forget about everything magic-related, right? This night, the fantastic beasts in Newt's case, Newt himself, MACUSA, Tina, and... you..."

"I won't let you forget," Queenie said firmly.

Jacob tore his eyes away from the chaos and turned to look at Queenie. Her big bright eyes were staring right at him.

"I won't ever let you forget," she continued. "Whatever happens."

Jacob smiled.

"I'll hide you behind my back whenever wizards or witches come near. You'll be safe. You won't ever forget about me. I promise."

Jacob's smile grew, but then it melted. "But what if...What if I somehow get Obliviated?"

"Then I'll come running to you and jog those memories back in your head." Queenie laughed gently. "Maybe a kiss will bring all those memories back!"

Jacob blushed profusely. "What-what is this, some kind of fairy tail? Like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty?"

"Oh, I heard about those No-Maj stories!" Queenie clapped her hands giddily. "But I'm more familiar with stories like Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump."

"Babbity who-itty and her what?"

Queenie giggled. "Oh, there's so many things for me to tell you about!"

So they talked about many things. About places they'd like to go to in the world, about how they were doing the day before they met, and all sorts of things. Jacob asked her about the wizarding life, and Queenie asked him about the No-Maj life. Their hands were intertwined the whole time.

They talked until they saw flashes in the distance, and afterwards Queenie saw a magical barrier being cast. The lights rose in the air until it formed a large glowing dome.

"Whoa," Jacob said. "What's that?"

"It's to keep people from going in," Queenie said. "And to keep them from going out. It takes a number of wizards to form that."

Jacob shook his head in disbelief. "There's no way that won't attract a lot of people... I mean, non-magical people."

Queenie nodded. "There's no doubt that a mass of No-Maj is crowding around that area as we speak."

"No one will be able to forget this."

Queenie nodded again. "How could someone Obliviate an entire city?"

Then they spent the next few minutes in silence, staring at the world unfolding below them. They stayed in that silence until a huge mass of darkness launched into the sky, then roared back to the ground with immense speed and power. There was a loud noise like an explosion, and both Queenie and Jacob knew that it was time to go.

"The Obscur-thing," Jacob said.

"Yeah," Queenie said. She thought of Newt and Tina. And Jacob was thinking of them too.

There was a split second of silence.

Then Queenie and Jacob said, at the same time, "We gotta go to them."

And they did, hand in hand.

end

[Author's note again]

Comments really brighten up my day so please do tell me what you think of the story! :)

I'm planning to write something for Newt/Tina and a story focusing on Grindelwald and his relationship with Dumbledore and Credence. Stay tuned :)

Again, I'm open for requests so feel free to suggest anything Fantastic Beasts related! ^_^