"Reginold Lestrange cowardly beaten by five muggles... The complete story on page 5".
Surprised not to receive any letters from Leta during Christmas break and worried about her absence at hogwarts, Newt walked in the great hall to the Slytherin table.
"Hum... 'Scuse me, have you seen Leta lately?
"Leta? She must be at St. Mungo's I guess." Stubby Bletchley replied.
"S... St. Mungo's?" Newt mumbled, suddenly terrified by the mere mention of the Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"You don't know? Orla, give him the Daily Prophet. "
Newt, trembling hands and dark eyes, catched the newspaper, and after reading the flashy title, he hurried to turn the pages to read the gloomy article. On a whole page, a journalist in a somewhat outdated style described the tragic event in its smallest detail. On December 20, just a few days after the begin of holidays, Reginold, Leta's younger brother, had gone for a walk in the neighboring village of the Family Manor. There, he had crossed the path of a group of young and drunk muggles. And then a fight started between the frail wizard of barely 14 years and the five solid peasants of North Yorkshire. There followed the sickening narrative of broken teeth and bones, bleeding and head trauma, the result of a cowardly outburst of useless violence. Hardly recovering his breath, Newt kept on reading. Reginold had spent several hours between life and death. He was no longer in a life-threatening condition now but the young teenager would keep, it was certain, significant long-term implications, including blindness, partial paralysis and large scars on his entire bruised body. The article ended by this terrible sentence: "An incident of a racist nature beyond the shadow of a doubt, a sad tale of racial tensions still raging in the Muggle world..."
"Merlin's beard..."
Newt closed his wet eyes, A tight feeling in his throat. He put it back the Daily Prophet on the table. Feeling far away from the hustle and bustle around him, the young man was thinking about Reginold who have never done any harm to anyone but still ended up, heavily wounded on a hospital bed. He also thought about Leta. How did she feels by now? How frightened she must have been during those long hours when she had believed her little brother was lost forever... How much she must had felt alone through these past days... And her 18th birthday which was, like a blow of cruel fate, on December 25. Thinking that he hadn't been there for Leta... That was that which crushed the young man the most : Knowing that he hadn't been there when Leta needed him the most.
As he turned suddenly to go to the owlery, Newt saw the his girlfriend's slender silhouette at the entrance of the great hall. Biting his lips, He rushed over to the large entry door.
The young woman's caramel skin had turned pale and looked tired, her eyes were swollen and her cheeks were emaciated. Reaching her, Newt took Leta in his arms, without troubling himself, for once, with curious glances surrounding them.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry..." He whispered softly in her ear.
Leta didn't say anything and tighten their embrace. She snuggled into Newt's arms as to avoid collapsing. The young woman inhaled the smell of her lover, a mixture of delicate musk and raw leather, a smell she knew so well. She missed him so much. Newt put his lips on her forehead, and suddenly, too conscious of the crowd around them, he took Leta's hand with gentleness and went out. The path taken by Newt didn't surprise the young woman, actually she knew exactly where he was leading her. On seventh floor of the castle, the couple, still quiet, walked through a few corridors before stopping in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. The Room of Requirement opened on a large colored blanket fort. The floor was covered with thick mattresses on which were scattered many covers with different textures and several pillows, dozens of small candles floated in the air. Newt sat down and hugged Leta who curled up into a fetal position on his knees.
"I learned what happened just now... How's your brother?" He asked after a few moments of deep silence.
"He's still in the hospital... He... " The young woman's voice cracked. "It... It hurts so bad to see him like that..." Newt pressed her body more firmly in his arms.
"I... I told him not to go for a walk there... He... he didn't think..." Leta sobbed, unable to finish her sentence.
"You can cry, don't worry, I'm here..." The young man whispered, knowing well that he was offering her the possibility, for the first time in days, to leave her sorrow drift away with confidence.
The couple remained a long moment without moving, the silence only interrupted by Leta's sobs and Newt's rough breath. When the young woman calmed down a bit, Newt pulled back a little, encircled her face with his hands and placed a slight kiss on the corner of her salty lips then pressed his forehead against her.
"I read the article... It was because of his skin's colour..." He whispered in a breath. At these words, Newt saw a veil of hatred covering Leta's dark retinas.
"I do not want to talk about it now." She answered, lowering her eyes.
"You know, there's...
-Newt." She interrupted, locking her serious gaze in the bright eyes of the young man.
He would have wanted to tell her that all men weren't like those five ignorants, that not all muggles were dangerous fools. He would have wanted to tell her not to lose hope, that the world wasn't as cruel as it seemed.
"Kiss Me..."
The young man kissed Leta's lips softly, then he lay down and the young woman put her head against his heart. The couple remained embraced for nearly an hour, without worrying about what could happen outside or about the torments that awaited them...