AN:/ Hi! Thanks for reading my story! I hope you like it
This is dedicated to my friend Evey (Evelyn) who inspired this character and is a big part of my life.
I really hope you enjoy this story! 33
In a quiet, seemingly abandoned magical library, a young woman, early twenties, sat with her face stuffed in a book. Her small body was curled up in a comfortable chair in the far back corner of the building. Small, round glasses sat on her faintly freckled nose, her lips pushed in a concentrated line. The title of the book read 'A Guide to Nifflers'. Said creature was on her lap, and tugged at her blouse. She handed him a small handful of coins, and he purred in content. He stuffed the coins into his pouch.
A young man, around the same age (I made him 2 years older) entered through the door, and said an awkward hello to the librarian. He held onto a dusty old brown case that sat at his side.
He went straight for the Creatures section of the library, near the back of building. His long fingers brushed over the dusty books. He felt his heart sink, realizing that no one had been here in this section for quite some time. He shook his head in disappointment at all the extermination guides in the section.
"They don't deserve this..." He muttered sadly.
His eyes wondered about for a time eventually landing upon a small figure curled up in a large armchair. He felt his heart jump, and his face heated up as he realized who it was.
"Evelyn?" With remembrance in his voice he thought back on just how long it had been since he had seen her back in Hogwarts. They had been really close, they even started dating at one point in time, just before he was expelled. He had been 17, she 15. It wasn't an 'i-love-you' relationship then, they never said it, it was just an 'i-like-you-more-than-friends' relationship. They were both fine with that. Just before Newt was expelled, he had realized that he loved her, but never said anything. They had only dated for a few months, so she couldn't be that invested in him. She was one of few who liked him, she liked him from the start.
When she heard her name called in that voice, that voice, she thought she was imagining it. She was lulled into a daze of memories, all the hugs, adventures, and laughs. She subconsciously smiled.
She soon realized it wasn't a figment of her imagination, as the man she missed so dearly stood a few meer feet away. He green eyes gleamed, and his lips were pulled in a soft, but bright smile.
"Evelyn?" He said again. She stared back at him, and he repeated her name one last time.
She finally responded with, "You haven't changed."
As both of their eyes meet their faces turned a light red. A reunion after so long. They both stood still for a moment not sure of how to react, even though they had been in a relationship, that had been 8 years ago, feelings must have changed in that time. Then why did his heart still pound with affection?
As they both realize how awkward just staring at each other in place must be, Evelyn stands up.
"Newt, it's been so long, how have you been?" As she stumbles to get some words out she realizes that he really hasn't changed a lot, he's gotten taller, and his features are more defined, but he's still the same old Newt.
He seemed to snap out of his surprise and stumbled out, "You... you still look the same."
"You mean I'm still short?" He let out a chuckle.
"Well yes, but that's not all, I mean your still interested in the same subjects, and you still curl up into a ball like always."
"Haha I guess that's true-" She shut her mouth, realizing that the cuddly pickpocket in her lap had disappeared.
"Newt? You wouldn't happen to know anything about... Nifflers?"
Her words seemed to have sparked a fire within his eyes. Newt quickly reached into his pocket bringing out a small silver coin, as soon as he holds it out a scampering Niffler clung to his hand trying to snatch away the silver coin. Newt grabbed the creature by his back leg, and tickled at his tummy, causing what looked like dozens of pounds of gold coins, watches, and anything remotely shiny. Evelyn watches with amazement as all these trinkets tumble out, "I never knew that he had all that on him, he never felt heavy, and..."
" Magic creatures are amazing aren't they?" a slight smile crosses Newts face. Evelyn smiles in response seeing just how similar his smile is to his smile 8 years ago.
" Newt do you think you could teach me about Nifflers? I've tried looking it up but there's never enough info on them. It's mostly extermination guides." Newts smile fades.
"I'm not surprised, many people see magic creatures as pests."
"But they're so cute. What did they do wrong?"
"I'll explain later, you asked me a question earlier what did you ask again?"
"If you could teach me about Nifflers."
" Right, -right. Wait me, you want me to teach you?"
"Well yes you seemed to know what it liked, so I figured if I asked you, you could tell me more than how to exterminate them."
"Ok well how about we meet up sometime?" Newts and Evelyn's faces started to blush.
"Ok how about Cafe de Paris on Friday at 2 o'clock?" Evelyn suggested.
"O-ok" Newt responded.
That night when Evelyn had returned home she looked at a picture from when she was at Hogwarts. It showed her and Newt standing together. "I miss those days." She whispers to herself. She and Newt start to smile in the picture.
The next morning Evelyn wakes up to remember the date that Newt and she had made. She hops up and goes through her daily routine, getting stuck at what she should wear. "Why am I getting so nervous about this, he's just teaching me about Nifflers." She settled for a comfy gray sweater, and a pair of black pants, with her boots. Pulling her peacoat over her shoulders and lightly wrapping her scarf around her neck, she walks out the door.
(Cafe de Paris, 2:15 pm)
(Newt POV)
As Newt sits, waiting for Evelyn to arrive he realizes she's taking a bit longer than he had anticipated. He wonders if maybe she forgot or something came up and she was just being held up by something for a while. A few minutes later he decides to leave to look and see if he can't find her on her way there. A few blocks down he notices her standing next to another man, to close for Newts comfort, who seems to know her. Newt could only pick up a few words of what they were saying.
"See you... again... remember... We were..." One section caught his attention, "broke up..." Evelyn couldn't have been talking about their relationship, they never broke up... They just drifted away as the years went by. He felt his heart tighten at the idea of Evelyn dating another person. He recognized the man as Dan Garner, a RavenClaw one year below him.
His fists clench involuntarily with an unnatural rage. As he walks closer he notices that Evelyn looks pressured, her eyebrows furrowed, as she seemed to be trying to get around the man. Newt starts to hear more of the conversation. "We made a great couple, why did you break up with me?"
"Excuse me I'm trying to go somewhere."
Newt looks to see how small she is compared to Dan and starts to understand how frustrated she's getting, but why is he blocking her path?
When Dan grabs one of Evelyn's wrists, Newt feels his blood boil, and starts marching towards them. As Newt reaches them he puts a hand on Dan's shoulder explaining that he had been looking for Evelyn, "Back off." Newt warns.
"Excuse me I didn't know that this was your conversation, I suggest you leave." As Dan says that Newt whispers "Flipendo," underneath his breath, causing Dan to fall backwards as if pushed, letting go of Evelyn's hand.
"Are you okay?" Newt asked, holding gently on Evelyn's arms, his back towards Dan. Once she responded with a nod, while rubbing her wrist behind her back trying not to worry him, he softly held onto her hand, leading her back to the cafe. Although instead of going to the cafe he leads her to an alleyway, away from crowds, and people.
"Newt? The cafe is that way..." She trailed off as he put down his dusty case on the ground, carefully unlocking the locks. He looked back and forth, before opening the lid, and climbing inside. Evelyn watched with confusion on her face. Newts face peeks out and calls her to come along.
Hesitantly, she follows. She is surprised on how long it takes for her to climb down the ladder. When she turns she sees Newt taking off his coat and throwing it onto the cot.
She feels her face heat up in embarrassment. When Newt turned and saw her expression, his face too, turned red.
"S-sorry." He mumbled, "come along." He called, hurrying through the door.
"There's more?!" She exclaims, quickly shedding her coat and scarf, before following.
Although Newt had disappeared from her sight, she didn't care. She was surrounded by a utopia for magical creatures. All around was the most fantastical creatures she had ever seen, from Mooncalves to a Nundu sunning herself. She even saw her niffler rummaging around, his pouch no doubt stuff with anything shiny.
"So that's where he went..." She muttered to herself.
(Newt POV)
" So you wanted to learn more about Nifflers right?" What did you want to learn first..."
As he looks to where she was, he finds that she was not behind him. He felt a strike of panic. There were so many creatures that were easily startled in his case. And many still did not trust humans. His thought come to screeching halt as he hears a scream. Thoughts come flooding back as he worries whether or not Evelyn or any creature has been hurt. As he rushes toward where the scream was panic rushes through him at the same time.
"Evelyn?!" He calls, his panic rising as only silence greets him.
When he finally gets to where the scream came from, he felt his heart tighten painfully.
He was at Frank's habitat, he had only rescued him a few weeks ago, and he hated strangers. He wouldn't let Newt get near him unless there was large amounts of food.
As Newt looks around he sees Evelyn on the floor sitting. He nears her and notices that Frank is cuddling up next to her. His chest rumbles contently, and he rests his head on hers.
Her brown eyes caught his, and he let out an exasperated smile, and she gave a cheerful one in return.
"Newt Scamander! You never said you had a Thunderbird!" She mockingly scolds him.
"You never asked." He responds, having done many sass battles. He only ever did that with her.
"Same old Newt."
They stared at each other fondly, seeming to entrance the other.
Evelyn snapped out of it first, flushing softly under Newt's affectionate gaze, "Newt? Can you teach me... About all of this?" She asks, lips parted.
He gulps, slowly coming out of his daze, and nodded. He smiled, and when she returned it, he felt his heart swell with affection.
When she turns back to Frank, whispering in his ear, Newt felt his smile fade, and his mind wander.
Evelyn really had not changed since school. Her hair was longer, and she seemed to now need glasses to see and not just read. But she remained the quiet, and enchanting Ravenclaw that he met that first day of his third year.
Newt sat curled up in one of the coaches upon the Hogwarts Express. As usual, he sat alone. In his lap sat a large book, filled with descriptions and pictures of magical creatures. Beside him was a pile of similar books.
He jumped at the sound of the door to the coach slamming open and a body flopping themselves on the seat opposite to him. He finally looked up from his book to see who decided to become his first coach partner. It was a young girl, her small body lying down on her back on the seat. Her hair was ruffled, but still elegant in it's own way. A pair of reading glasses sat on the bridge of her nose. Dirt covered her sweater and part of her face, while she took big deep breaths. Before he could scold himself for staring at her, she turned her head towards him, "Hi." His breath hitched at the sight of smoky quartz eyes staring at him. Her head fell back, and she seem to be resting herself, so Newt muttered a quiet hello in return. She was a strange girl. He liked that.
When the train was almost to their destination, he decided to wake her up. He shook her small shoulders, and her eyelids fluttered. When they made eye contact, he flushed. Those eyes. She made small mumbling noises realizing the situation.
She sat up quickly, bumping foreheads with him. They both let out a hiss, holding a palm to their head.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice was soft, but also filled with confidence. He nodded. He was shocked when she smiled and held out her hand, "Evelyn King. This is my first year."
"Newt Scamander, this will be my third." She pouted slightly, "Aw, too bad, maybe we'll be in the same house?" She offered.
"It be nice to have a friend before... everything." Newt just stared at her. "What?"
"No one's really asked to be my friend..." He muttered 'with the exception of one' he thought of his Slytherin friend, Leta Lestrange. She too, was an outcast with a love of creatures. Though he noticed she was, like her house insinuated, sly and clever. She was good at acting, playing the victim card, almost too well. But still, they were there for each other.
"No one's asked me." She smiled again, and he found himself flushing under her cheerful gaze.
"Do you want to be my friend?" He blurted out before thinking. She jumped slightly.
"You... you said no one asked you. Now someone has." He stumbled out.
She let out a laugh, and his heart tightened, 'was that the wrong thing to do?' he thought.
"I guess you're right. Newt, I like you." She said in between giggles.
He snapped out of his thoughts when Evelyn called his name, "Newt, come on, it's time for my lesson." She gave a small wink and walked around the corner with her Niffler following. His mind started wandering again as he followed suit.
Although she had been sorted into Ravenclaw, they spent lots of time together, in class, out of class, breaking curfew together. Even exploring the forest and lake. He felt excitement knowing that someone was ready for adventures, and clever enough to cover up their tracks. He couldn't recall how many rules they broke in her first year.
Leta hadn't liked the new addition to the group. As they say "three is a crowd". Although she didn't say, Newt could sense she didn't like the company of the enthusiastic young Ravenclaw. He saw every glare, sneer, and insult thrown at Evelyn. And she took it with a grain of salt.
"I don't care if you like me, I'm hanging out with my friend. If he wants me gone, then I'll leave."
Leta would often plead with Newt to tell Evelyn to sit out on certain adventures, but he would spend the entire next day talking of their adventure. She remained content, even if she didn't go, Newt was great at telling stories, it made her feel as though she did go.
"Newt! Come on." Evelyn's voice called. Newt eagerly walked over to the young woman. She was curled up on floor, the Niffler eagerly counting his treasures on her lap.
He sat down across from her. She stared expectantly at him, her eyes sparkling like diamonds. He know understood, he still cared for her... even after all these years.
"So let's start with Bowtruckles..."