Story set in: mid/late October to early November in 1940

Phoenix – 22nd June 1931 – 9 (going on 10)
Linnet – 13th January 1933 - 7 (nearly 8)
Leo – 2nd March 1935 – 5 (going on 6)

(Miracle baby not born yet – Tina's still in her early-stages of pregnancy!)

Tobias "Toby" – 15th October 1929 – 11
Daisy – 7th April 1931 – 9 (going on 10)
Abel and Ruth (twins) – 20th November 1933 – 6/7
Elijah "Eli" – 28th January 1939 – 1 (nearly 2)

Rappaport's Law wasn't repealed until 1965.

Eli was such a beautiful baby – it made Queenie's heart swell with love when she looked at him: he had Jacob's dark hair, lovely thick hair at that, the same cherub cheeks, and the biggest blue eyes she'd ever seen. She wasn't the only one who thought this – people in the street would think the same thing about him when they passed, and a few even stopped on many occasions to say aloud to her that he was a stunning baby.

That afternoon, she needed to buy some ingredients for supper; they had been running low on a multitude of things, from flour to potatoes, so Queenie had decided to go to the shops with her youngest son while the other children were at school. It was a busy afternoon, the streets filled with pedestrians and mothers such as herself shopping for supplies; Eli squirmed in her arms, eager to explore for himself – he had more than mastered how to walk by himself now, and he took great pleasure in going wherever he could without any cares. That was all well and good at home, of course, but in the middle of New York it was simply not an option to let him walk on his own.

"I know, Eli," Queenie cooed, shifting the basket on her arm to make more room for him. "We won't be long, honey – if you're a good boy, Mama will let you walk in the shop. How does that sound?

Eli looked rather put out but stopped squirming. "Oh-kay."

The grocer in the store nodded politely at her, recognizing her as a regular, and she smiled back before returning to her shopping; despite the regular hustle and bustle of New York, the majority of people here were friendly, if nothing else. A number of people – shop owners in the area particularly - recognized her as being "the Kowalski fella's wife" and were kind to her because of her. It was nice to read the recognition in their minds, especially when coupled with admiration for her husband's baking.

"Mama, walk," Eli reminded her, giving a wriggle.

Queenie looked around; there weren't too many people in here, and so long as he stayed in the shop… "Alright, honey," She agreed, beaming at him affectionately as she put him down. "Only for a few minutes while Mama gets some food – don't leave the shop, okay? Stay close to Mama."

Eli was immediately toddling around with glee, his giggles bubbling up already – he was such a happy child, she reflected, and it made her feel warm inside. So long as she could hear his thoughts and his laughter he was safe, so she turned back to the shelves of food to see what she needed.

Let me see, she thought to herself: Flour, I needed that for the pie…oh, and potatoes, that'll be over on the other side of the store-

Queenie Goldstein?

Queenie froze immediately, smile fading fast – no one had called her by that name in years. There were very few people who would think she was still "Goldstein", and those were employees at MACUSA. Careful not to make it too obvious, she tilted her head and tried to catch a glimpse of who might have thought such a thing.

And her heart sank.

Standing across the store was a middle-aged man in a sharp suit; she recognized him as being one of the low-level MACUSA functionaries she'd had to bring coffee to on a number of occasions. She couldn't remember his name, but she knew that they had all thought the same degrading things about her.

It is Queenie Goldstein! I'd recognize those blonde curls anywhere! What's she doing here, of all places? We thought she'd moved or something, like her sister…Hell, there was the rumours of her being knocked up floating about at one point…

She couldn't panic – if this guy was studying her, he'd see it. No, she had to keep a calm head; maybe, just maybe, he'd find something else to occupy his mind and forget about her in the shop. After all, shopping wasn't a crime – she wasn't breaking the law or anything-

"Mama!"

Oh no. Queenie couldn't help but bite her lip at the sight of her son – of little Eli – running across the shop to her, blissfully ignorant; she reached out for him when he was close enough, picking him up and cradling him to her chest. She already knew what the man would be thinking before she read it in his thoughts.

She has a…a kid? It can't be her sister's or anything, her sister is across the Atlantic last I heard. Maybe the rumours were true...but if she was pregnant eleven years ago, then she must have at least one more. If she was married though, why hide? Why wouldn't she have registered it? Unless…

Apparently he wasn't as foolish as she had hoped – he was putting the pieces together easily, like a children's puzzle.

There always was talk of her being sweet on a No-Maj – of her leaving work early to go watch him. Never believed those rumours, but now…

The shopping suddenly seemed meaningless – she had to get out of there now.

Queenie hefted Eli in her arms, ignoring the squeal of delight he gave, and grabbed her basket before heading for the exit of the shop. She could hear the man getting suspicious of her sudden abrupt need to leave, especially without buying anything, but that didn't matter now – not when she had her son with her, not when there was the risk of her family being found out.

What am I gonna do?

"…So, what do you think we should do?"

Queenie bit her lip, looking down at the table. "I don't know. Oh, Jacob, it was awful…he knew something. There was already talk going round the offices of why I'd gone, but…but now he's seen Eli and he knows."

"Do you think he'd say something?" Jacob asked, and she knew he was starting to worry now. "I mean, if he did say something, would they believe it?" Maybe they'd think it was ridiculous, maybe they'd leave it…

"They'd have to take all accusations seriously," She sighed, shaking her head. "If there's even the slightest chance of the law being broken, they gotta investigate."

They were both silent for a long moment, letting this sink in; Jacob sat back in his chair after a few seconds, clearly mulling things over in his mind.

If only… She's gonna be in real trouble if they find out, more than I would be – that's all gonna be on me if she or the kids get in trouble, my fault for not being magic-

"Don't you dare think like that!" Queenie seethed, though she looked more hurt than angry. "There ain't nothing wrong with being a No-Maj at all – it's the law that's wrong, not us! Honey," She put her hand over his, and her voice was almost pained. "You know I don't care that you're a No-Maj, and the kids don't either!"

Jacob sighed. "No. I know. So…what are we gonna do then? What happens if they investigate and find out about…us?"

"Well…I don't know," She admitted, and she suddenly looked teary-eyed. "They could obliviate you again – more permanently this time. As for me…I'd probably be jailed or something like that. I have no idea what would happen to the children, but if I was jailed…"

If Queenie was punished – in prison, most likely – for breaking the law, their children would more than likely be sent to foster homes; they'd probably be separated from not only their parents but each other. Their family wouldn't be able to stay together at all if MACUSA found out and exposed them.

She bit her lip, shaking her head to herself. "No. No, I can't…we can't…we can't stay here and wait for that to happen."

"What, you think we should move?" Jacob asked, looking rather troubled by this. "I mean…"

The bakery. The kids' schools. We don't have the money to move too far away.

Queenie squeezed his hand. "No, we don't have the money – but we can't just sit here, Jacob. We have to do something – the kids ain't safe here, and neither are we."

"Alright," Jacob said slowly, and she read the plan he was formulating in his head seconds before he continued. "We could go South or something, right? I got family down near Pennsylvania, we could go there…"

"The law is the same there," She sighed. "It's a wonderful idea, honey, but no matter where we go in America we're breaking the law…and what if someone finds us there? We can't just keep moving…and Toby, he's eleven…he's supposed to be starting school next year."

But even before the events of the afternoon, it had looked almost impossible that their son would be attending Ilvermorny the next fall; none of their children's births had been registered with MACUSA in fear that their family would be discovered, and so none of them would be on the list of young wizards and witches waiting to attend. Toby had just turned eleven, and he was less than a year away until the age he was supposed to go – and it would be simply awful to not send him to school.

"How long do you think we've got?" Jacob asked slowly. "You know, before they might find us?"

"Maybe…a few days," Queenie murmured anxiously, folding her arms. "A week or two if we're real lucky – they'll know we live nearby if I was doing the shopping, and they'll send out investigators to be looking wherever they can. If we wait too long, we might not be able to make it outta New York without being spotted."

He was silent for a moment, and she heard him mulling things over in his mind; the bakery, the children, where they could go and be safe for certain – and then it seemed to come to him quite suddenly.

"Hey, Queenie? Do you think…maybe…Newt and Tina might be able to help?"

"…And this is Niff, and this is Dougal…and this is the Erumpent!"

Newt was grinning uncontrollably as he looked over the drawing his youngest son had done that evening; at five-years-old, Leo's drawings were mostly colorful blobs and scribbles – but they were wonderful to him, all the same. "Yes, it looks very accurate, Leo – I especially like that you've drawn the Niffler with something shiny."

"It's Mummy's necklace," Leo said excitedly.

Newt chuckled, handing the drawing back to his son. "Well, he is rather fond of your mother's necklace, isn't he? It's a very good drawing: you should be very proud of yourself."

His son's face lit up at the praise, absolutely enthused by it, as he clambered off of the floor and to the sofa to show his mother. "See, Mummy? I did a drawing of the beasts! Do you like it?"

Tina was smiling fondly as she lifted him into her lap and looked at the drawing properly. "Let me see…it's very good," She affirmed, and he beamed happily. "It's much better than I can do, at any rate – I like how you've made the Erumpent purple too. Very creative!"

Linnet looked up from where she was stretched out on the rug on the floor by the fire. "Mummy, I wrote a story today – can I read it to you?"

"Of course, Lin," Tina told her, patting the seat on the sofa next to her. "Come on, come sit with me."

"You know, I think we'd all like to hear it," Newt agreed fondly, and he gestured to Phoenix; his oldest son looked up from his book in puzzlement. "Come on, we'll all sit together and then you can read your story, Lin."

Linnet was bright-eyed as she stood up, shuffling some paper in her arms and waiting for her family to make themselves comfortable in front of her; once Phoenix was sat between Newt and Tina, she cleared her throat. "My story is called 'Dougal the Amazing Demiguise'…Dougal helped me write it."

"I see," Newt chuckled, and Tina was grinning to herself.

"Okay… Once upon a time, there was a demiguise named Dougal," Linnet read clearly from her paper. "Dougal was very kind and soft and lovely, and he had a best friend called Linnet Scamander who loved him very much. One day, three baby Occamys escaped from the case that was their home, and they were going to cause trouble in the house where Linnet lived! Dougal decided that he had to find all of the baby Occamys before Linnet's Mummy and Daddy found out because Occamys grow and they would destroy the house if they did that. The first baby Occamy was going to the kitchen and was about to become big when Dougal purred – the Occamy looked at Dougal and saw that he had a roach in his hand, so it slithered back to Dougal, who grabbed it and put it back in the case…"

There was a tapping on the window to the front room, causing all of them to look up; an owl was perched on the window ledge outside, a letter clutched in its beak. Newt stood up and moved to the window, waving his hand dismissively. "Carry on, Lin, I won't be a moment."

"Okay… Anyway," She continued, turning back to her story. "The second baby Occamy was in Linnet's room…"

The owl looked rather exhausted, fluttering its wings and glaring up at Newt; he simply unlatched the window, waited for it to hop inside, and then took the letter from its beak. "Alright, I'll get you something in a minute, hang on." He looked down at the envelope in his hands and saw that it was addressed to Tina. "Ah, must be Queenie; I'll give this to her."

After feeding the bird a treat (found in the deepest reach of his pockets, but it did the trick), he turned back to his family and sat down on the sofa beside Phoenix again; the letter could wait until after his daughter had finished telling her story, he reasoned, for she was clearly very pleased with herself for writing it.

"…The last baby Occamy was in Linnet's Mummy and Daddy's room," Linnet read aloud clearly. "It was trying to find a home in the cupboard. Dougal waited until it curled up in one of Linnet's Daddy's shoes and then carried it back downstairs to the case. He then put the baby Occamy back in the case – just as he opened it, however, the Niffler tried to escape!" Leo gave a gasp at this. "It slipped away from Dougal but then… Linnet appeared and she picked the Niffler up before it could run away. Dougal was so glad that Linnet saved the day that he played dollies with her all day." She paused. "Oh, The End!"

All of the family clapped as she did a small bow, and she seemed to glow with pride; even Phoenix was grinning as he leaned forwards in his seat. "Did you write that all by yourself, Lin?"

"Yes…well…kind of…Dougal helped."

"It was fantastic," Tina laughed fondly, and Leo nodded from his perch on her lap eagerly. "You're so good at writing, Lin."

"I think you should be writing books, not me," Newt remarked, grinning at his daughter. "That was a fantastic story – I'm impressed Lin."

Linnet looked ecstatic at this. "Really? Can I really write books like you, Daddy?" He nodded in agreement, and it warmed his heart when she went pink-cheeked with happiness. "Thank you, Daddy!"

The children were relatively easy to coax into bed that night – Linnet not even putting up her usual fight to stay up later as she usually did – and it was no more than half an hour later that Newt and Tina found themselves curled up on the sofa in the front room with hot mugs of cocoa (as was routine for them). It only occurred to Newt as he watched his wife turning the pages of her book that he'd left the letter from earlier tucked in his trouser pocket.

"Ah! I almost forgot… A letter came for you, Tina," He muttered, and he struggled slightly as he fished it from his pocket. "I think it might be from Queenie, judging from the hand-writing."

Her face lit up at the prospect of a letter from her sister, and she hurriedly closed her book so that she could take the envelope; she quickly opened it, eagerly scanning the writing immediately. "I wonder how Eli is getting on: we haven't seen him – any of them – since…since last January! We should plan another visit soon or..."

Her voice trailed off suddenly; Newt studied her face as she read the letter, waiting to see if he could gage a reaction from her. For a long moment, she just silently read the letter with her lips pressed together, unreadable – but then she started to gnaw on her lip, a sign something wasn't quite right.

"Tina, love?" He found himself asking tentatively. "Everything alright?"

His wife's face had gone a ghostly grey, as if she had seen a ghost. "It's Queenie…she and Jacob…"

She offered him the letter, looking utterly terrified; Newt took it from her and hurriedly read the contents.

Tina

I'm sorry this letter is short, but it's desperate. We can't stay here, not anymore – someone from MACUSA saw me with Eli in a store, and they'll investigate soon. Jacob and I don't want to cause you and Newt any trouble, of course, but we don't have anywhere else to turn and we really need help – for the children's sakes.

I don't know what you could do, but if you or Newt could offer any advice or a solution, then we'd be grateful.

Please write back soon,

Queenie

Newt felt his own heart sink into the pit of his stomach, mind racing; it had only been a matter of time, really, but all the same he had hoped that perhaps MACUSA would change their minds regarding Rappaport's Law. He knew that Tina had worked effortlessly to convince them to consider it whenever she visited, meeting with the British Minister of Magic to convince him to support her campaign and arranging visits with every new President elected (for there had been many changes over the years) to give her argument. Every time, however, she had been unsuccessful.

"We have to do something," Tina stated worriedly, clutching her mug in her hands as she stood up and started to pace the room. "They'll send an investigative team to track Queenie and Jacob, to watch their every move…they'll find out sooner or later if we don't help."

Newt nodded in agreement, putting the letter down on the coffee table and thinking hard to himself. "Of course…well…do the children have passports?"

"Passports?" She tilted her head at this, clearly confused, and put her mug down. "Why would they need-?... Oh."

"I know it's not the most convenient solution," He admitted. "In fact, it would be rather reckless, but I can't think of anywhere else they could go – any place in North America is bound to be unsafe from now on."

"But where would they live?" Tina questioned, folding her arms as she looked at him. "What about the bakery? Jacob's been working in that bakery for years, he can't just leave it without any warning…"

Newt sighed, looking down at his hands. "I know, I know; it's going to hurt him to leave that bakery, but if there's no other way… I...I could perhaps pull a few strings." She noticed that his cheeks had gone slightly pink as he said this. "My father is still rather well-respected in the eyes of the Minister, so I'm sure that it might be possible to perhaps procure a loan of some kind…there's a sweet shop closing down in Beaminster that belonged to the Prewett family for years, but they can't afford it anymore – as far as I'm aware, no one's bought it yet. If I contacted my father tonight, he could perhaps reserve it for the future."

"Alright, I suppose that's an idea," She allowed. "But where would they live, Newt? They're a family of seven – it'd be impossible for them to find a home on such short notice."

"Well…" Newt looked up, catching her eye and taking a deep breath. "Why not have them stay with us?"

Tina's eyes widened, and it was clear she was shocked by this idea. "Newt, you can't be serious! We have three children – with another on the way-"

"We have more than enough room," He disagreed, shaking his head. "The baby's not due until next year, for a start, and it wouldn't be permanent – just long enough for them to find a home of their own."

"If they moved in with us," She said slowly. "That would be eight children in this house, plus four adults…we don't have enough bedrooms for everyone."

"The children could share," He suggested, pushing himself off the sofa so that he could move towards her. "Think about it – we have seven bedrooms in the house: one for us, one for your sister and Jacob, that's two. I'm sure the children won't mind sharing at all: Linnet would be more than happy to share her room with Daisy, and I'm sure Phoenix will agree to sharing with Toby – so that's four bedrooms."

She didn't look completely convinced, but she gave a nod nonetheless. "Alright, fine. That means there's three rooms left – and one of them isn't at all large."

"Yes, well, there's Leo's room, and perhaps then there could be one for the twins and one for Eli… I'm sure we can work it out," Newt decided earnestly. When she still didn't look assured by this plan, he gently reached to tilt her chin up to look at him. "Tina, love, I know this is all very sudden and frightening, but I'm sure we can do this. If it means they're safe, then it's going to be more than worth it."

Tina gave a heavy sigh, her shoulders sinking. "I know, I know, it's just…I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. I thought that the law would have changed by now or something…I feel like I…I could have done something else to help them…"

Of course she did – but she wasn't to blame for this, not at all. Newt wrapped an arm around her, shaking his head again. "No, you did all you could, Tina, short of actually telling MACUSA about your sister and Jacob's family. Don't blame yourself – the only people to blame are the ones in charge of the law, not us."

"I suppose so," She muttered in defeat, and when she pulled away from him he saw that she was frowning thoughtfully. "Alright, fine. I'll write back to Queenie immediately then and let her know…how soon do you think they could book passage over here from New York?"

"I don't know," He admitted. "But tell them to do it as soon as possible."

Tina was quiet as she picked up her sister's letter from the coffee table, turning it over in her hands. "They'll need a day or so to sort out what to do with the bakery, to pack what they need… I wish it didn't have to come to this."

Newt felt his own posture sink at her words; the idea of his friends – family – in such a position, forced to flee the country for their own safety, was too similar to what many refugees were attempting to do in Europe with the war raging on. "No. I wish it didn't either."

Tina was the one waiting for them on the docks a few days later, hands in her pockets and gnawing her lip anxiously; she lifted at the sight of her sister's familiar blonde curls, and it was all she could do not to run to greet her. She had to remain composed, of course, and not draw too much attention to herself or her sister's family – for their own safety.

She waited patiently as they had their luggage checked; she couldn't help but hold her breath when they presented their passports to the customs officer, secretly worried that something would go wrong. Her worries seemed to be for naught, however, as the entire family were allowed to enter without any problems whatsoever just minutes later.

The children – Daisy, especially – were excited to see her, hugging and greeting her happily; Queenie was positively tearful at seeing her sister again, reaching out and embracing her with the arm that wasn't holding Eli. The feel of warm arms, a nice motherly hug, reminded Tina too much of their mother and how things had once been, and she couldn't help but allow a tear to escape too because it felt so wonderful to finally see her sister again, even under these circumstances.

"Thank you," Queenie murmured, sounding absolutely choked with emotion. "Teenie, thank you."

"It's okay," Tina managed, forcing herself to smile. "I'm just…so glad to see you."

Suddenly the idea of cramped living quarters and so many children being in the house didn't seem to bother her – not now that she had her sister again, not now that she could be sure Queenie, Jacob and their children could be completely safe.

There'll be another chapter soon (and it'll be discussed what's happened to the bakery etc.)

Hope you enjoyed!