In the Beginning
Chapter:1
Flowing and gliding through the air, colorful fall leaves slowly covered the ground of downtown New York. The bright splashes of red and gold brought a warm sense of familiarity into the hearts of the city walkers.
The cold air clung to the city walkers as they carried on through their day. Each held their own life and their own story. Some had the luxury of homes to sleep in and a fire to keep them warm through the cold winter nights to come.
As if pretending to be a fallen leaf, a piece of white paper fell to the ground. It stood out amongst the bright fall colors and the deep grey of the sidewalk and road. The white leaflet of paper got accidentally caught up and kicked around by the feet of passerbys.
A little boy, not much older than nine, picked up the white paper. The boy flipped it over and revealed the words: NO WITCHCRAFT IN AMERICA. The boy turned around and found a taller boy with a short black hair cut and a slumped posture handing out fliers.
The boy held the leaflet up for one of his parents to see, but in that moment, he was pushed by one of the passersby and the white leaflet fell from his hands and went through sewer gates.
The older boy with black hair continued to begrudgingly hand out fliers. In his heart he felt a constant paign of fear that kept him outside everyday handing out fliers. His adoptive mother waited for him at home everyday, and if he didn't hand out enough fliers; she would know. She seemed to know everything, and attack at any instance of disobedience, but she left one fact slip through her hands. One of her witch hating children, had magical powers beyond her own comprehension.
The black haired boy, hunched over and full of fear, hoped that one of the passersby who took a hold of his flier, would look at him. Ask him if he needed any help, get him away from his mother. There was only one woman in history that seemed to do that for him, and she lost her job because of it.
His mind drifted over to his sisters as he continued to hand out fliers. They cared about him, and he cared for them, but even them couldn't keep their mother from hurting him. His hands shook and his body tensed up.
He closed his eyes in an attempt to control himself. His body went back to normal and his eyes opened again. But in the back of his mind, he knew he would have to go back home, to a place of fear and beating.
His hands shook again as he continued to hand out fliers. Then, his head perked up when he saw the face of someone familiar. A woman with short brown hair and a purplish grey overcoat walked his way. Without looking up she grabbed one of his fliers.
He sighed. That woman tried and failed to fight for him, to take him away from his abusive mother. Other than his sisters, Chastity and Modesty, she was the only woman he trusted. He hoped and dreamed that she would save him, take him away from his adoptive mother, but instead she lost her job and left.
However, she looked down at the flier and turned around and made eye contact with the boy. Time stood still as they noticed each other. He hoped, that she would be able to do something, anything to get him out of his home.
She walked over with a slight smile on her face. "I haven't seen you in a while." She stood next to him as he continued to mindlessly hand out fliers.
He nodded his head without saying or mumbling a word. There was so much he wanted to say, but his fear of his mother still controlled his thoughts and actions. He had a hard time keeping eye contact and quickly resorted to looking at the ground in his hunched over posture.
"How are your sisters doing?" She wanted to carry on a conversation, but knew that he wouldn't say much.
"G-good, they are doing good. They eat well. Mother gives them lots of food." He spoke in short sentences. He wanted to talk to her so badly and get her to do something to stop their mother, but he was too scared to talk. Deep down, he feared that his mother would somehow hear his words and hurt him even more.
She smiled and nodded. They stood in silence as he continued to hand out fliers. He needed to get rid of his stack of fliers before dinner or his mother would know. She knew everything.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do much. I tried really hard but I couldn't stop her. I hope you don't hate me-"
"No," he said very quickly in a stern voice that was very out-of-character for him. She was taken aback by his brashness. "I-I don't hate you. No, I just" his hands shook violently which caused him to drop his stack of fliers.
She instantly bent down and helped him pick them up. The ground was wet from a rainfall earlier in the day, which meant that most of the fliers were damp and slightly unreadable.
His mind panicked. He dropped the fliers. She'll know. She'll know that he dropped them and that he didn't give them all out. He panicked. Wide eyed and scared.
"Hey, Credence, are you okay?"
"Sh-She'll know. I dropped them. I dropped them. I-I" His knees were getting wet as he had bent down onto the ground in order to pick up the fliers.
She rubbed her hand on his back in an attempt to comfort him. "Shh-Shh, it's okay" she spoke quietly. She wanted to calm him down, but she knew why he was so scared. She knew what he had to get back home to. She knew.
Thoughts swarmed through her head of how she could help this poor boy. She knew he was non magical, which put a halt on what she could and couldn't do to help.
"Credence."
He turned to look at her. His eyes were still wide with fear as he looked at her.
"When do you have to be back home?"
The question caught him off guard. He tried to think of why this lady who was so nice to him before would want to know when he had to go back home. Back to his mother.
"A little after six. If I don't get there by then she'll get" he paused for half a second as he contemplated what to say next. "Worried."
"Well it's only three, maybe," the woman thought of what she was going to say next very thoroughly. "Have you eaten anything yet?"
He shook his head.
"Well, my sister Queenie makes a really good calzone. I think resting might be good for you, at least until you have to go back home."
He looked at her, still wide eyed, but not with fear, but amazement. He had always hoped that her or someone else would find him and help him get away from his life. Get away from his mother.
"Would you like that?"
He nodded and shakily stood up. He looked down at the fliers that were scattered over the sidewalk. The text on some of them were still slightly visible, but for most of them, they became a pile of mush on the sidewalk.
She stood up and followed his gaze to the pile of fliers on the ground. She knew that he must be scared, but she didn't know to what extent the fear had gripped him. She didn't know how much he wished to leave his mother, how much he dreamed about her leaving.
If it wasn't for the lady or someone else, he knew he would eventually hurt his mother. All he wanted was to leave, but one of the possible outcomes, in his mind, was his mother leaving instead.
"Don't worry about it, let's go get something to eat" She smiled and began to walk down the road.
He looked back at the pile of fliers before following her. He sped up to be by her side and once he was, she covertly pulled out her wand and used magic to make the fliers disappear.
AN: Hey, so I started writing this fanfiction because I was so mad at what happened to Credence in the movie Fantastic Beasts that I felt I had to write a fanfiction with a different end. There is no romance in this fanfiction, other than Queenie's interest in Jacob. It begins before the movie starts and will continue through the movie and past its end. I have only seen the movie once so far so I might change some things after I see it again and if you think I don't portray something correctly, feel free to leave a comment. As always, don't forget to review and follow the story! I hope you have a nice day/afternoon/night.
-Disclaimer- I do not own the Harry Potter Universe, JK Rowling does. I am simply imagining a different story inside the universe. I don't claim credit for any of the characters and I do not make any money from the making and distribution of this fanfic. This is purely for fun.