It was late enough into the New York December evening that the only light coming from outside was from the street lamps scattered along the sidewalks. But inside the third floor apartment where three siblings went about their quiet evening, the electric lights flooded the space with warmth.

Eighteen year old Winnie Shae was helping her older brother with the preparation of dinner. Well, she was supposed to be helping. Instead, she was sitting on the floor with a four year old boy, watching him giggle with glee as she produced a spray of glittering sparks from the end of her wand.

"Winnie," an older boy called from where he stood in front of the stove, the irritation in his voice clear as day. "You know what day it is. Wand away and come help me." She groaned and rolled her eyes, tucking her wand into her pocket.

"I think it's time to disband 'No Magic Days', Theo," she complained. It was a tradition that her parents had started before any of them were born; twice a month, they would go a full day without using any kind of magic, with the exception of work and emergencies. This included, most relevantly to Winnie in the moment, cooking, which became a chore when no magic was allowed.

"And then what happens when we're in a situation where we can't use magic?" Theo countered, still stirring the pot that was sitting on the stovetop. "We'll be completely lost and have no idea how to function. No Magic Days help us learn how to blend in with No-Maj's, incase we ever need to."

"You're quoting dad again," Winnie mumbled, resigning herself to the fact that she wasn't going to change her older brother's mind.

"That's because he's right," Theo said, unbothered by her comment. It would never upset him to be compared to either of his parents, and the same went for both of his siblings, though Winnie would never admit it.

Their mother and father had been living in England for the past two years as American ambassadors for the British Ministry of Magic. It was an amazing opportunity for two people who had been working for MACUSA practically their whole lives. But because they wanted Winnie to be able to finish her last year at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and wanted their youngest son, Laurence, to go when he came of age, they allowed them to remain in the place they grew up while they moved to take their jobs. So, the three siblings stayed in America-Boston, to be precise-until Winnie graduated from Ilvermorny and Theo got an entry level position at MACUSA, moving the little family to New York City.

"You know I'm no good at cooking," Winnie tried to argue again, willing to do anything to get out of it. She picked up her midnight colored cat, London, who was rubbing against her ankles. "I'll burn everything and then we'll have nothing to eat and Laurie will go to bed hungry and that will make you the worst big brother ever." Theo looked at his sister incredulously, before shaking his head in exhaustion.

"Win, you have to start helping out more around the house," he said, almost pleading. "If you refuse to get an internship at MACUSA, which has been offered to you multiple times, that's one thing, but-"

"I'm not just refusing because I'm lazy," Winnie interrupted, insulted. "You know I want to wait until next year when I'm old enough to get the healer apprenticeship." It had always been her dream to be some kind of doctor for the wizarding community, but her closest opportunity was this apprenticeship with a healer in the area, which she wasn't old enough to take yet.

"Fine," he allowed. "Don't help me cook. But at least clean up around here; there's

clutter everywhere." Winnie smiled and instinctively reached to her pocket. "Without magic, Win," he reminded, which earned a groan of annoyance. Still, she knew her brother couldn't take care of both his younger siblings on his own; she was supposed to be helping.

She put the cat down and started picking up some of Laurie's toys, which he had left scattered around the floor in front of the couch earlier in the day. But before she could make much of a difference in the room, there was a thunderous commotion from outside. Her first reaction was to scoop Laurie, who was still sitting on the ground entertaining himself, into her arms. She then rushed over to the window, just in time to see an enormous black haze rushing along a few streets away.

"Theo…" she called worriedly, unable to take her eyes off of the mass. "What is that?" She waited for an answer, but before one came there was a beeping coming from the bracelet around Theo's wrist. As a trainee auror, it was something he wore at all times that would tell him if he was needed somewhere by one of the other aurors. It was rare for it to beep outside of the daylight hours he worked; it only ever happened in emergencies.

"I need to go," he said quickly, already moving to put on his coat and hat. Winnie's mind began to race with possibilities of what could be going on. One thought in particular caught her attention.

"Is it the obscurial?" she asked, a mixture of fear and excitement in her voice. With her older brother training to be an auror, she often found herself with information few other people had. Which meant she was well aware of the obscurial that had been wreaking havoc in the city the past few weeks. In her head, she had become obsessed with the thought of it, studying everything she could find about obscurials throughout history. Along with her healing research, she wondered if, given the opportunity, she would be able to cure it.

"Watch Laurie," Theo instructed, ignoring her question as he rushed towards the door. "Lock the doors and don't leave for anything." And with that, he was gone out the door.

Winnie waited a few seconds, until she was sure he had disapparated to wherever he needed to be, before carrying Laurie to his bed in the room he shared with Theo.

"Okay, Laurie, it's time for bed," she told him.

"No it's not," he argued, looking up at her in confusion. "It's too early."

"Sorry," she said, leaning down to kiss his forehead before waving her wand carefully over his head. Within seconds, the little boy's eyelids drooped and his head fell onto his pillow, completely asleep.

Winnie ran back out to throw on her coat and lock the door. "Watch him for me," she said to London, who was sitting on the sofa, unaware of the excitement. And with that, she disapparated out of the apartment.

Deep within the subway station, a boy, who was almost too old to be called that, sat against the wall, shaking and sobbing in fear. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but it couldn't have been long. He was watching in terror as two men, Perceval Graves and a man in a blue jacket who claimed to have met someone like him before, were dueling. Their wands were extended out from their bodies, sparks flying from the ends of them. If the situation had been different, he thought he might have enjoyed the wondrous sight.

With each swish of the men's wands, the winner of the duel became less clear, both men falling back and advancing about equally. And in honesty, Credence didn't know who he wanted to win; Graves had been his hero for weeks, but had recently betrayed him in a way he couldn't ever forgive. Meanwhile he had never met the other man before, but he had already gained a bit of his trust.

With each passing second, he could feel the force-this obscurus Graves had told him about-growing in him. He didn't know how much longer he could keep it from overtaking him again, causing another wave of destruction. He considered running away, seeing that the two other men were too distracted to notice. But just before he was about to slip away, he heard someone make a noise from a few feet away. He turned his head quickly to see a girl around his age crouching in the darkness, her figure lost in the shadows away from where the others would be able to see. She had large, piercing blue eyes and curly reddish brown hair cut short, just shy of being a boyish length.

As their eyes met, she smiled kindly, a warmth emanating from her in a way that reminded him of his little sister, Modesty. The thought of her, and seeing her in the reflection of this girl, managed to calm him down just slightly and provided enough distraction to keep him from losing control.

"Hello, there," she said, just loudly enough for him to hear. "Don't be frightened, I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Winnie, and I'm here to help you." That word-'help'-was enough to make him flinch back. How many times had he heard it from the mouths of people who only ended up hurting him in the end?

Noticing him recoil, the girl tried again. "Please, you don't have to be afraid, really. I know what you are. I know you have magic, and what's happening to you. I can help you." This caught his attention; she knew that he was this monster, and yet she still wanted to help him? That couldn't be right.

"I'm a healer," she continued. "If you come with me, I can help you." Even at the idea of there being a cure for whatever storm was raging inside of him was enough to push him upwards onto his feet. He looked over and saw the two other men still fighting, their attention away from him. Credence stumbled over the train tracks to get to the girl. She reached out her hand to him, but he hesitated to touch her.

"Come on, we don't have much time. We have to hurry," she pleaded, stretching her hand out further.

Slowly and reluctantly, he took her hand. The second they touched, they disapparated out of the station.