Sirius slid a couple Sickles across the bar, wincing as they stuck to the wood, and accepted his pint of Fullers.
"Cheers mate," he said with a nod, but the bartender had already moved on, yawning as she listened to the next person's order. Sirius snorted, and took a swig. The beer was bitter and smooth on his tongue, and he sighed with appreciation. Turning away from the bar, he elbowed his way through the crowd to an empty corner of table from where he could people watch in peace.
Carkitt Market was bustling, even late at night. The shops were lit by a golden glow from within, the flickering candles and log fires casting a romantic and festive atmosphere. Despite the dusting of snow on the rooftops of the alley, Sirius was toasty warm under his trench coat. Some kind of spell that Harry's clever friend Hermione would undoubtedly know about was keeping the warmth inside the market, without trapping any of the smoke that curled from the chimneys, silver wisps that soon faded against the dark night sky. Snow was falling, but it never seemed to land, an impressive piece of magic that Sirius quite fancied learning for his lounge. It was the sort of thing Harry loved.
There was a band playing jazzy, soulful music, and Sirius smiled against the rim of his glass. Offset against the buzz of late night shoppers and the steadily growing chatter of wizards and witches socialising in the bars, the night was perfect.
There was a man ambling down the street, definitely a tourist from the way he was craning his neck to take in the sights, wearing a coat that Sirius was immensely jealous of. It was a deep turquoise, and both contrasted and matched the other man's eccentric outfit, creating a look that was both gorgeous and peculiar.
In his hand was a brown case, the leather well worn. A thin copper chain looped around the case like ribbon round a present, with a padlock in place of a bow.
This was a man that Sirius desperately wanted to know. He finished his pint, and fell into step with him, determined that he would become Sirius' new best friend.
"What kind of case needs a padlock?" Sirius asked, intrigued, and attempted a charming smile.
The man jumped.
"Oh, hello there!" He blushed, an attractive pink that drew Sirius' attention to the smattering of freckles across his cheeks. "Well, it's all rather complicated really." He shuffled so that the case was hidden behind his back. "I don't suppose you could tell me the time?"
Sirius smiled, bemused by the change of subject, and checked his watch. "A little after eleven," he advised. "Just enough time for us to get a drink together this evening, don't you think?"
"Er, maybe," the man muttered. "And the date?"
Sirius frowned. "It's the 14th of December."
The man winced. "And, er, the year?"
Sirius crossed his arms, and arched a brow. "The last person to ask me that was my godson, who'd somehow got his hands upon an experimental time turner and travelled twenty years into the future and back again. The year is 1995, and begs the question – what year, exactly, did you come from?"
"1995," the man mouthed, and he ran a hand through his golden curls. "Why am I not surprised?"
Sirius sighed. Just when he thought he'd have a quiet evening off. Still, he couldn't find it within himself to be annoyed at the man, gorgeous and endearing as he was, even if he'd brushed off Sirius' invitation for a drink without a second thought.
"Sirius Black," he said, and offered his hand. The man shook it absentmindedly. He was spinning on one foot, trying to take in even more of the sights with this new revelation.
"Scamander, Newt Scamander," he said. "A pleasure."
Sirius snorted. "Hilarious. Truly. Go on – what's your real name?"
The man stopped abruptly, and stared at Sirius curiously. "That is my real name. What other kind of name would I have?"
"Newt Scamander authored one of my school books. If you're going to pick an alias, pick a better one."
The man smiled sheepishly. "Really? That's wonderful news. It wouldn't happen to be a book about creatures, would it?"
Just then, a leaf poked its nose out of the man's breast pocket. Or rather, a leafy bowtruckle. It wiggled its antenna at Sirius before ducking back down.
"Okay…" Sirius began warily, and took stock of the other man. "You're Newt Scamander… shit."
Mr Black was staring at Newt with something akin to awe upon his face. It wasn't an expression he was used to seeing directed his way.
"I'm a little temporally displaced," he admitted reluctantly.
Mr Black laughed, and it seemed to shock him out of his stupor. "You can say that again. You're what – thirty? I'd say you're about fifty years out of time."
"Fifty years exactly," Newt agreed. "She – er – I mean, um, what I mean to say is that she's perfectly harmless, but…"
"Any sentence that starts like that can't help but worry me," Mr Black said. He linked their arms together, and Newt startled at the intimate touch. "Come on, let's grab a coffee, and you can tell me all about it."
Newt was hustled into a corner alley off the main market, and into a small, cosy coffee shop. He was sat in a leather armchair that felt as if it could swallow him whole, and Mr Black disappeared and reappeared with two drinks in the time it took to check the wards and bindings upon his suitcase. He didn't need to lose another creature, after all.
"Irish coffee," Mr Black said, and saluted Newt with his cup before taking a swig.
Newt sipped at his own drink, and found it quite nicely suited his tastes. "Thank you, Mr Black."
The man spluttered. "Merlin! Call me Sirius, man, I can't remember the last time anyone, bar my old professors, called me Mr Black."
Newt smiled awkwardly. "Thank you, Sirius. Please, ah – please call me Newt."
The other man's eyes gleamed, the silver glowing like shards of occamy shells. "Don't mention it, Newt."
Newt felt abruptly flushed all over, and tugged at his collar, glancing at the log fire that crackled only a few meters away.
Sirius shifted, his legs splayed, coffee cup resting upon one muscular thigh. He laced his fingers together and fixed Newt with an arch look. "So – what exactly is 'harmless' and responsible for sending you exactly fifty years into the future?"
"Amber," Newt said. "And she is completely harmless, I promise. It wasn't her fault, at all. I just startled her, and, well, here I am."
"Who," Sirius began, and then glanced at Newt's case, "or what, is Amber?"
"She's an Elizamibexemy," Newt said, and smiled fondly at the thought of the little rascal. "One of the cousins of the occamy, actually, but instead of manipulating space, they manipulate time. It's quite fascinating, really, all related to the space-time continuum, and how the dynamics of magic work within it."
Sirius was frowning. "I understood about half of that. Do you always travel fifty years?"
Newt nodded. "We don't know why. And it's always fifty forward, fifty back, so, err should be fairly easy to return."
Sirius' eyes twinkled perceptively. "And where is Amber now?"
"Ah," Newt said. "Well."
Sirius eyed Newt, who was squirming in his seat, a sheepish look upon his face.
"She's lost somewhere in London, isn't she?" he said with a laugh that was half delighted and half incredulous. "If you find her, will you be able to get back?"
"Oh yes. Very easily," Newt assured him.
Sirius shook his head, and finished his coffee. He was going to need it, the caffeine and the alcohol both. "Alright. First things first – what does she look like?"
"Gold, with scarlet spines, about the length of that piece of tinsel, and not much wider."
Sirius glanced at the tinsel Newt was referring to. It was probably two meters long.
"We're looking for a red and gold creature that looks like tinsel in London, just weeks before Christmas?" he confirmed.
Newt's sheepish grin was far too endearing. "That's about right." The beginnings of a smirk appeared upon his lips. "They nest in fir trees."
"Of course they do," Sirius said, and hooted with laughter. He received a few angry glares from patrons that were quietly enjoying their minced pies and mulled wine, but he couldn't care less.
"Well, then. I think we ought to start with the biggest fir tree in London – Trafalgar Square."
They made their way to the apparition point, and Sirius side-alonged Newt.
The other man's gasp of delight was worth any trouble they may yet cause as he looked up at the tree.
"It's amazing."
"It's all Muggle," Sirius countered, feeling smug.
"They are truly fantastic," Newt said. "We don't have anything like this in London in my time."
They stepped out of the wizarding quarter, and into the busy crowds of London. Commuters brushed past them, even as they joined the other tourists in gawking at the sights. Sirius used the opportunity to slip an arm around Newt's shoulder in order to guide him closer to the tree. Newt's shiver and sideways look showed that he wasn't completely oblivious to Sirius' advances.
They finally made it to the railing, and stood pressed up against each other, solid against the liquid movement of the crowd.
Hidden amongst the gold fairy lights was a flash of red wound about the tree trunk.
"It's her," Newt whispered, his voice low. He was suddenly intensely focused on the creature before him, eyes narrowed as he reached for his wand.
"Hey – hey," Sirius hissed. "I am not going to be able to obliviate thousands of Muggles by myself, and I'm not obliviating them with a magic thunderstorm either, okay?"
"You heard about that?" Newt hissed.
Sirius snorted. "I tried to emulate that for a school prank. We made it rain pink goo, and everyone forgot the passwords to their common rooms and offices. It was wicked."
Newt stared at him with a look of bewildered awe. "Why? No, wait, it doesn't matter. We need to get Amber out of there before somebody else spots her!"
"And we will," Sirius soothed him. "But she's not in any danger right now, so let's make a plan, shall we?"
Newt reluctantly acquiesced, putting away his wand, but he kept glancing back toward the tree.
"I'm excellent at plans," Sirius said with a smirk. "Don't worry." Suddenly, inspiration struck him. "Do you know what we need?"
Newt shook his head.
"A really good distraction!"
Sirius fished his communimirror out of his pocket. "Prongs. Prongsy!"
For a moment, all he could see was his own face, then the mirror shimmered, showing James' messy mop of hair and hazel eyes.
"Padfoot?"
"I need you in Trafalgar Square, right now!" Sirius said, grinning. "You're going to love this."
"Are you causing mischief?" a voice called out, and Lily appeared over James' shoulder. Sirius tilted the mirror away so that she couldn't see Newt. Out of all of them, she'd be the most likely to recognise him from sight, as she actually read boring things like textbooks from cover to cover.
"Never!" Sirius declared. "Look, Prongsy, come quick, and get Moony if he's free as well."
"Remus will be in bed, as he's teaching first thing tomorrow," Lily said primly. "And I'm sure he'd thank you for leaving him out of whatever mess you're getting into now."
James rolled his eyes and winked at Sirius. "I'll be right there, Pads."
Newt had been half-listening to the conversation, but most of his focus was upon Amber. She seemed content, for the fir tree was well watered, and the lights probably reminded her of the fireflies in his case. He'd cast a subtle Notice-Me-Not charm upon her, so at least she'd not be spotted by anyone who hadn't already seen her.
Sirius tucked away his mirror, and crowded himself up against Newt's side once more.
"Chilly, isn't it," Sirius commented. Newt allowed it, and pressed himself closer, enjoying the other man's body warmth. The casual intimacy was a treat, and Newt allowed himself a moment of contemplation, of futures where he didn't return to the past, but instead stayed and explored this fragile connection. However, such thoughts were fruitless, for he already knew he would – he had – returned.
Still, he hadn't returned yet. Damn the future, at least for now. He twined their hands together.
"Er, it is rather brisk," he agreed, and smiled at the shocked expression upon Sirius' face.
They stood there in silence, a perfect moment.
"Pads!"
Sirius squeezed Newt's hand before releasing it, and they exchanged a wry, bittersweet glance. Newt saw Sirius square his shoulders, and take a breath.
"Oi, Potter! Over here!"
Sirius's friend gambolled over to them, a massive grin upon his face. "What's the deal? And who's this?"
"My mate, Newt," Sirius introduced for him. "Newt, this is James. We need a distraction, Prongsy. Newt's got a creature lose in the tree and we can't exactly magic it back out."
Newt shook James' hand, and didn't offer his surname.
"Now, what I really think we need is a bit of Rudolph," Sirius said. James chuckled.
"Who's Rudolph?" Newt asked, curious.
James smirked, and his eyes twinkled. Newt could see how he and Sirius were friends, troublemakers the both of them.
"Rudolph is a reindeer. And we're going to make him come to life."
Five minutes later, a stag pranced onto Trafalgar Square, nose aglow. Newt hadn't fully understood the importance of the red nose, but from the silence that fell over the crowd, and then the excited screams of children as they rushed toward it, it was obviously a cultural incongruence. Even the police were distracted, dealing with the heaving crowd.
Newt cast a disillusionment charm upon himself, and jumped the metal railing, suitcase in hand. His heart was racing, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He pressed his thumb to the padlock, and it clicked open.
"Amber, darling," he called. He Summoned a fresh sprig of fir, cinnamon and cloves, and wafted it around. Amber twitched, scenting the air, before uncoiling, and dropping into his waiting arms that were braced against her weight.
"Good girl," Newt murmured, and safely stowed her away, locking the case. He breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for the ease of her rescue, and jumped the railing once more, striding toward the place he'd agreed to meet the other two. The stag, masquerading as the reindeer, was long gone, but the Muggles were milling about as they searched for it, adults and children alike.
James and Sirius were giggling together around the corner from Trafalgar Square, in a discreet area of London currently absent of both Muggles and wizards. Newt returned their matching grins, thrilled by the success of Sirius' plan.
"Impressive," he praised, thinking of James' Animagus from.
"Jolly good fun!" James agreed. "Right, I'm off, as Lily's already in a grump. I'm expecting the full story from you Pads, tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said, shoving James away. "See you then."
James saluted them both, winked at Newt, and disapparated.
Sirius was still grinning as he stalked closer. Newt could feel heat rising in his cheeks, and glanced away.
"Did you manage to rescue your darling Amber?" Sirius asked, mischief in his smile.
"Yes," Newt said. "She's safe, inside my case."
"I suppose this is goodbye, then." Sirius grinned like quicksilver. "At least you got the chance to meet me."
Newt met Sirius' gaze for a second that felt like the rest of forever, before squeezing his eyes shut, looking away. He took a short step forward, and brushed their lips together, clutching at Sirius' coat. Sirius caught him before he could pull back, and kissed him again, properly.
"I'm glad you got catapulted fifty years into the future," Sirius murmured, voice low.
"Me too," Newt said, his chest tight. He cleared his throat, stepping back, and Sirius allowed it with obvious reluctance.
Amber was eager to escape the suitcase once more, perhaps able to sense that they were displaced in time. She curled around him, and Newt held his case close to his body, not wanting to lose it. Sirius stood with his arms crossed, and the last thing that Newt saw before Amber shrieked and constricted around him, triggering their travel, were his molten, silver eyes.
Newt would never forget them.
QLFC Final Round 1
Beater 1 Prompt: Set your story in Carkitt Market.
Optional prompts: 13. (object) Padlock and 15. (dialogue) 'At least you get the chance to meet me.'
Hogwarts Assignment #10
Religious Education: 2. Write a story centered around holiday activities(s).
Christmas Movies: 20. Love Actually: Write about finding love during the holidays.
Gobstones: Black Stone - Winter, Accuracy - 13. Snowy, Power - 3. Newt Scamander, Technique - 19. Surprise
Word Count: 2774