"Lumos."
A single light filled the mausoleum.
The white marble walls were a stark contrast to the town covered in thin black sheets, courtesy of Grindelwald. Still, the place felt no safer, or warmer, than the bleak outside.
Credence and Nagini's grip on her arm only tightened at the silence. Reyna was glad that they were comfortable enough now, to trust her to protect them. But would she able to take on whatever was waiting for them?
They ventured further into the silent room, where Grindelwald had told them to meet him at.
'LESTRANGE' was carved in grand letters on the side of a statue, in the middle of the room. All her thoughts paused when she heard footsteps in the distance. She put a finger over her lips, to alert the others about the incoming figure, and ushered them behind the wall.
"Nox," she quietly whispered, extinguishing her light.
"Queenie?" a voice rang out, echoing against the white walls.
Jacob? Reyna thought. What was he doing here?
"Queenie?" the voice yelled, much closer this time.
She was about to come out from behind the wall, when another voice entered the room.
"Don't do anything," a man's voice threatened.
From her hiding spot, Reyna could see Jacob turning around slowly, facing a very familiar looking man, who held a wand to his throat.
It was Yusuf Kama, the man who had locked them in the cell. There was something off about him; he seemed a bit frantic, hands shaking as he held his wand. An unstable wizard was a dangerous wizard.
"Expelliarmus!" Reyna shouted, disarming the man's wand from his grasp. It flew to the opposite corner of the room, far from his reach. She held her wand up, still wary of him. For all she knew, he could be skilled in wandless magic.
Jacob screamed, jumping in the air, frightened by her voice. He looked back in fear, calming down once he realized it was her.
"Reyna!" He cried out in happiness, running over to her with his arms out.
"Oof," she let out, her airway blocked by his tight embrace.
"Thank you, thank you!" He said, truly relieved by her appearance.
"Of course, Jacob," she squeaked out, struggling to catch her breath once he let her go. He gave her a thankful smile, that she replied with a warm one of her own.
"Jacob, would you mind grabbing his wand?" she asked, ensuring Yusuf wouldn't be able to pull a fast one on them.
"Sure."
Turning back to the frazzled wizard, she noticed that his attention was not on her, but behind, directly on Credence.
"You," Yusuf accused.
"Do you know who I am?" Credence asked quietly.
"Yes. I have been searching for you."
Reyna titled her head in confusion. Why was he looking for Credence?
"How do you know about Credence?" she asked him.
"How could I not know of the long lost Lestrange heir?"
"Lestrange heir?"
"Oh yes. Corvus Lestrange, named after his father, and half-brother to Leta Lestrange." He paused, seeing Credence lift his eyes to him. "You are the bane of my existence," he muttered.
"My name is Corvus Lestrange?" Credence reiterated, in disbelief.
"Your father, Corvus Lestrange, used the Imperius Curse on my mother. He didn't love her. He was only filled with lust." He spat. "She died giving birth to a girl. My father died from grief of losing my mother, and before he died, made me vow to return the favor, and kill the one thing Corvus Lestrange loved most in the world. I thought it would be the baby, Leta. But it turned out he didn't love her either." He laughed manically. "It was only after he took another woman to bed and had you, did he learn what love was."
"And you came here to kill him." Reyna said, connecting the dots.
"This vow has made me go insane. I want to be free of this curse. And the only way I can be free is to fulfill the vow.
She gripped her wand tightly, backing further away from the man, who went mad from his Unbreakable Vow.
Yusuf glanced at Jacob, who was currently holding his wand. He was about to lunge for it, when a voice stopped him.
"Stop!"
All the heads in the mausoleum turned to the source of the voice.
Leta Lestrange suddenly appeared behind Yusuf.
"Yusuf, stop," she pleaded. "Corvus….is dead," she weakly whispered. From behind her, followed Newt and Tina.
"Reyna!"
"Newt!"
Their names tumbled out from each other's mouths, in surprise. Yusuf's voice regained their attention.
"How do I know you're not lying to protect him?"
"Because," Leta paused, her voiced strained. "because I killed him. I saw him die."
She retold the story of the night of the storm; how they escaped the boat, but she had switched the baby. The proof in the Lestrange family tree confirmed her words.
"I just wanted to stop the crying." she repeated, her voice faint.
"Leta, you couldn't have known what would happen. You were just a child." Reyna heard Newt whisper.
"You're too good Newt."Leta said painfully, looking back at him. "You never met a monster you couldn't love."
"Do you know who I am, then?" Credence spoke up, having his newly acquired identity stolen just as quickly.
Leta shook her head in response. Yusuf let out a breath, his body loosening in knowledge of not being broken free of the vow that had previously bound him.
Reyna looked at Credence sadly, seeing tears of frustration in his eyes, not noticing Newt staring at her. She eventually turned her gaze to Newt, feeling his stares. She had a strong urge to walk over to her friend and hug him to death. But it disappeared, seeing the two women by his side.
Her heart ached, and she was reminded of the hard truths. He had come for Tina. He was in love with Tina. He was still hung up on Leta. He had history with both of them. They both returned his affections, at one point, if not currently.
She had no chance with him. She had no business being in love with him. He would never return her affections. He would never care for her the way he did about either woman. She would only be a friend.
Nothing more.
Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall. Newt's eyes widened and walked over to her.
"Reyna, are you okay? What's wrong? Did you get hurt?" He asked, worryingly.
She laughed at herself, in her head, at how pathetic she was: for being happy at his attention and worry and for being emotional about her unrequited love at a time like this. And she couldn't help but wonder if he had thought about her at all since they last saw each other. If he noticed she was gone and worried about where she was. If he had looked for her before going off with Tina.
"What's wrong?" Newt asked again, wiping away a tear falling down her cheek.
"Did you look for me?" she asked, looking into his eyes.
*(A/N): This series is based on a one shot I wrote way back when, and it basically left off the same way the movie ended, but a little more focused on Reyna. This series was me going back to that same one shot and just adding on details, but this part wasn't included in the it originally because there was too much dialogue to get through. So that's why it took a while for the update. I wasn't sure whether I should go with my original outline or add on this scene. But I do think this is a good transition scene for the last parts to make more sense and flow better. The next update should be sooner since now I'll just be going back to add on to my original outline! Let me know what you think of the series so far! Safe readings!