A woman screamed. Grey walls. A large black door. Bright lights. A black haired man. A wand. Flash. Crystal blue skies. Sand. Sunshine. Sparkling blue eyes.

Nora's eyes flew open and she shot up in her bed. This was the third time this month that she experienced the same nightmare, and it was always the same things that happened, though it was always in a jumbled order. Tried as she might to get rid of them, tea before bed, pulling bad memories from her mind, she had little success. She flopped down in bed and sighed deeply, there was no light outside but there was no chance she'd get back to sleep now she'd woken up.

So she did what she had done every morning since she arrived in New York and pulled on her bright green slippers and trudged through her small bedroom to her small kitchen/living room. Her apartment only had four rooms, her bedroom, her bathroom, her kitchen/dining room/living room and her hallway, but she liked it, she knew where everything was and the place required little maintenance. She flicked her wand and the room burst into life. The lights flickered on and a fire sparked in her fireplace. Her long black trousers and white silky loose shirt which was hanging on the back of the living room door straightened out and was placed neatly on the back of her comfy yellow armchair, her black shoes which she carelessly flung to the other side of the room the day before lifted in the air and were placed together by the front door, her large over sized grey coat that had resided on the floor was hung on the small hook in her front door. A cup and small plate flew through the air from its place on the kitchen worktop, a kettle of boiling coffee mixed with a jug of milk and poured itself into the mug, setting itself on her dining room table, whilst two pancakes drowned in maple syrup slid on the plate and landed next to the cup.

Nora sat down at her dining table and picked up her coffee, she sensed today was going to be busy at work and she wanted to be as awake as she could be to tackle what was going to be thrown at her. She looked at the clock hanging above her front door, 4.03 am. Better to start early, get everything done, people to be investigated, files to be filed. She didn't have any plans for the day after work so she predicted that MACUSA was where she'd spend her Thursday.

She finished her breakfast and shuffled to the bathroom, after having a quick bath she caught her reflection in the steamed up mirror. Her ash blonde hair was in large rollers, it was curly wavy but she wanted a more definitive curl, as it was 'fashionable' at the time. She dried herself with a towel and set to work putting on her makeup, black liner to frame her bright sapphire eyes, a coat of mascara on her long lashes and a hint of rouge on her lips. She pulled her rollers out slowly and pinned her shoulder length ringlets back so it formed a little bun at the nape of her neck, a few curls escaped and rested on the sides of her face.

As soon as she was done with her appearance she grabbed her belongings, her MACUSA identification papers and badge, her lipstick, her quill and her lucky charm; a small wooden carved figure of some creature given to her by a friend; and shoved them all into a little silver bag. She waved her wand again so the newly straightened clothes started to glide through the air and slowly slide onto her body. She checked the clock again; 4.56 am. She bent down at her fireplace and blew until the small fire died out, and turned off the lights. With once last sigh and glance around her apartment she slipped on her shoes and pulled on her gorgeous woollen coat. She grabbed her keys, which lay in a little multi-coloured patterned bowl on a stand by her door, next to a wooden-framed grey picture. Her hand froze above the bowl as she stared at the picture of herself with his arm around her, they were both grinning in the picture with their hair blowing gently in the breeze. Her time with him was the best in her life, she loved every minute of it, the adventures they went on, what they discovered, what they achieved. Before she knew what she was doing she threw the picture across the room where it smashed into small pieces against her kitchen wall. It was the best time of her life, but held many painful memories that she was not willing to re-live. She grabbed her keys and a silver ring with a small diamond-cut emerald in the middle, and headed out the door. Whilst the picture slowly made its way back to the stand, the glass and wood joining together once more.

She quietly made her way downstairs trying to be mindful of the other residents in the building who were very much asleep and resting, girls needed their beauty sleep after all. She got to the front door and slowly opened it, wincing when it made a long creaking sound as she pulled it towards her, but then ran outside shutting and locking it behind her quickly. Off she went.


New York was an interesting city, it was never fully quiet, never fully dead even in the early hours of the morning, there was still some form of life in little nooks and crannies of the streets. She could always find something wherever she went. The city that never sleeps. It was still quite dark when she started to walk to work, so she was going to go down a dimly lit alleyway and apparate her rest of the way to work. It was only round the corner from where she was now and hardly anyone went down there, even in the daytime. She felt lazy but she also felt a little bit nervous, as she did not like being on her own in the darkness. Four blocks from where she lived she turned the corner quickly onto 'Tolfred St' which had a few shops littered down the street, the grocers at the end sold the most magnificent apples ever.

Not looking where she was going she did not see a slim-built man walking in the opposite direction and accidently knocked his arm, sending hundreds of papers flying into the middle of the road.

"Oh my goodness I am so sorry, I did not see you there." She stuttered, bending down to help collect the posters.

"It's alright." A small voice replied.

After she was done collecting all the spare pieces she stood up and handed them over, glancing at the poor fellow whom she had assaulted. She was very surprised to see the Second Salem boy, with his head hung, not meeting her eye, tapping the edge of the papers to make sure they were all neat and tidy.

"You're with the Second Salem lot aren't you?" She asked, brushing her clothes down to try to appear pristine. He nodded his head but didn't say anything else. "Listen, it's quite early and very dark, surely you should be at home. The streets can be dangerous." She furrowed her brow, slightly concerned for the vulnerable boy's wellbeing.

"I was just heading home, I was putting up some flyers." His quiet response came; he did not move much, choosing to remain frozen on the spot. He wore the same dark suit as she always saw him in, she wondered if he had any more clothes, and if he washed. The thought was unpleasant.

"Run along Mister Barebone, it's quite dark." She smiled briefly before dodging round him and begun to walk away.

"Wait Miss." She turned around and saw he was holding out a flyer for her to take. She'd be damned if she was going to take one of those ridiculous demonic leaflets.

"It's Nora, and no thank you, now I must be on my way." She spun on her heel and marched into the small alley ten foot from them, there she closed her eyes and disappeared into thin air.


She re-appeared to the side of the large American council building with two entrances, she walked up to Ed, the security guard of the left entrance.

"Good morning Ed!" She beamed at him.

"Well good morning to you Miss Florentine, and what a brisk early morning it is." His American drawl made her smile; he had a deep voice and could cheer anyone up with his big smile and awful jokes.

"Yes it is quite chilled, winter is fast approaching! Have a great day Ed!" She called to him as she made her way inside.

Though it was 5.20 in the morning there were still a few people working, a few people were in the lobby, and there were a few on other floors as she could hear them mumbling quietly. Entering the building she always marvelled at how beautiful MACUSA really was, golden gilded railings attached to the stairs leading up to the lobby, the massive colourful 'danger dial' as she so eloquently called it silently floated above her with its gears and faces moving smoothly all the time, it was currently on threat level 6 due to the mysterious but large attacks across New York and the coward Grindelwald. The large golden thunderbird seemingly keeping guard over the inhabitants of the large building always made her feel a pang of sadness but overwhelming fascination as it was quite beautiful, its large golden head would move every so often, watching those who entered the building. Her shoes clacked as she walked to the elevator, smiling and greeting a few colleagues as she walked past. Nora didn't like looking over the side of the railings near the elevator, she drop made her stomach turn with just the thought of someone falling over it and being squished like a pancake. Not a pleasant thought. She didn't like looking up either, though the 'danger dial' loomed over her it was the 100 floors above her that put her on edge, was there really need for all those rooms and floors? It was too high. Way too high.

She approached the lift and was greeted by the grumpy looking elf who manned it, who would not tell her his name no matter how often she asked him. "Good morning, floor 44 please." It grunted in response but pulled the lever, causing the small elevator to shoot downward and stop abruptly in front a dark grey corridor. "Thank you, good day." She chimed as she walked down the long hallway towards her office.

When she walked through the door she sagged slightly as she saw the pile of folders dumped on the left hand corner of her desk, it showcased the stupid level of paperwork she had to go through day in and day out, which would no doubt have numerous cases added to it during the day. The filing cabinets that lined the left hand side of her office as she walked in were pristinely cleaned and everything inside was very organized, her big comfy green chair was placed facing in the same position she left it yesterday, towards the door. Her office was small and she liked it that way, there was no awkward small talk with people she didn't know, only people she did know bothered her occasionally. But she was a very good worker. The glass panels on her door were frosted, as was the glass panels of her wall so she knew if someone was coming, though she couldn't make out any details.

She placed her bag on the coat rack behind the door and shrugged out of her coat. She placed her hands on her face and groaned loudly.

"Work troubling you already?" A deep voice sounded behind her, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. She whipped her head round to see who was intruding in her personal space and smiled when her eyes met deep dark ones.

"Mister Graves, to what do I owe this pleasure?" She spoke softly, it was too early in the morning to put any effort into shouting or grinning.

Graves grinned, showing off his pearly whites. He was a handsome man, tall, broad with a strong jaw and nose; his big eyes were dark and mysterious. And his black hair was always perfectly slicked back, with grey running from the sides of his head. He was always dressed impeccably, something that Nora could appreciate, as she was not always herself, with his dark suit and tie hiding underneath his long dark coat. "Please Nora, it's Percy. How many times do I gotta say?"

"Sorry Percy, I sometimes forget." She smiled and fiddled with a loose curl.

"I couldn't sleep so I came here to start work. Same with you?" She nodded. "There's a lot to be done today so I thought you may need this." He handed her a small cup and saucer, filled nearly to the brim with delicious looking, steaming coffee.

She took the saucer enthusiastically and took a long sip, smacking her lips after and exhaled loudly. "Thank you Percival, this is much needed."

"Sorry I didn't have any tea, I know how much you English love it." They both smiled at the mild racism, though she could not deny her love of the herb, it made a beautiful beverage. "Listen, I got some stuff to sort out but I was gonna head out if you want to accompany me?" He left the open question out for her, knowing she'd take any chance to be outside rather than 44 floors down from the lobby.

"Yes okay, let me just have a look at some of these folders and I'll be right with you." She grinned warmly at him. "Oh and thank you for the drink Percival, it's very much needed."

"You're welcome Nora." He made his way out of her office but stopped at her door, he had one hand on the handle and one held out in front of him. "By the way," she turned round to face him. "you look beautiful today." She blushed a furious red and looked away, not missing the slight smirk on his face before he walked out of her sight.

Plopping down on her chair she took another sip of her coffee and looked at the pile in front of her today was going to be a long day.


Fantastic beasts was amazing and it's re-ignited my love for the Potter world!
I'm not sure who will be involved in the romance, leaning towards Newt as he's awesome!
Tell me what you think, leave a little review and I'll keep going!