000
Against My Nature
Newt/Harry, Timetravel Shenanigans, Canon Divergent
His plan was to avoid changing the timeline. He knew he wouldn't be able to resist if the opportunity presented itself. So he fled to Africa, where opportunity found him instead.
000
Chapter Twenty Nine
Her name was Amira.
She had forgotten it in the two years she had been locked away.
Her name was Amira.
A-mee-rah.
Amerah. Ah-mee-rah.
Her father had named her, she remembered now. She was his eldest daughter, his only daughter at the time. The only daughter amongst four brothers. Amira. Four older brothers, herself, her youngest brother, and then her little sister. The oldest girl of seven children. Ah-me-rah.
It meant Princess.
She killed him.
He named her his Princess and she killed him.
He died screaming.
She... Didn't know how to feel about that anymore.
000
The world passed in a daze, in a too bright blur of colour and light that hurt, that she hated as much as she relished. She didn't know where she was, just that it was far away from the village, where none of them could ever hurt her again, she was with the Sun and the Moon called Harry and Newt. She knew she should have been scared of them, they were strange pale men, like the demons in the stories the old man in the white robes used to tell.
But they were so kind. So kind and gentle with her. She had a pretty dress, the colour of green grass, and the scarf one of the ladies used to wear sent to her from her sister in the city. Harry turned golden when she was near, and she could feel him whenever she touched him, her darkness melting into his light. She could feel how tired and sad he was, how much he cared, how much he wanted to help her, to make her happy, could feel it like a physical pain in her chest that made her eyes sting until he gathered her against his chest, winding his arms around her, smelling of herbs and animals and sweat, letting her sob into his shoulder until she slept. She felt so safe with him. With them. Because even though the Moon, Newt, didn't turn into light when she came near, even though she couldn't feel what he felt when she touched him, she could feel how much the Sun loved him whenever he came near, could feel how happy the tall man with his strangely patterned pale skin made him.
The Moon was gentle, and sweet, and seemed so scared of hurting her. At first she thought he didn't like her, at first she thought he believed her dirty. But when nightmares shook her awake, and Harry was not there, it was Newt who came immediately to her sleeping bag, that held her as she sobbed, and her magic churned like a stomach ache inside of her. Soft words she couldn't understand as long, hot fingers stroked up her back, and cradled her as if she were something precious again.
She liked him.
She liked them both, and she knew they liked her too.
She didn't want to leave.
Her days were so bright now, so full of life.
Harry explained that he used to be a police officer for people with powers like theirs, he was supposed to catch bad men and women who used their powers to hurt people. It had been like her mind tripped up, like it hiccupped, because surely that meant she would catch her? But... had he not already done just that? She asked what would happen to her now, and he knew immediately what she meant. Was she going to go to jail, was she going to be punished for killing her parents, the animals in the village, those people?
'No, sweetheart, you were very frightened and your magic tried to protect you. It does that. Mine did it too, in just the same way. That's why I'm here, so I can help you the way that no one ever did for me. I'm not going to arrest you for protecting yourself,' he had promised, holding her close. She wanted to tell him that she hadn't always done it to protect herself, sometimes she had done it because she could, because she was angry, and sad, and they had hurt her. But...
Somehow she thought he knew. And that he didn't care.
Newt looked for animals, to learn about them, so he could teach other people about them later. And then he introduced her to a little black creature called Moriarty, something that was apparently called a niffler.
He didn't seem as keen on her as she was on him as he grudgingly let her pet his head, grumbling unhappily before skittering away once he'd had enough. 'No doubt to steal something shiny,' Harry had repeated in her own language as Newt shot off after the little creature before it got too far.
They walked, and walked, and she saw so much, the world was so big out of her village, out of her hut.
She saw flowers in colours she hadn't even known existed.
Watched in awe from under Harry's arm, in their little tent, as the sky flashed and snarled with power, lightning that used to terrify her streaking across the sky in dizzying beautiful bursts of light she could now see. The way a sunrise looked after a storm, all pinks and greens, and diamond dewdrops. She watched birds wheeling overhead, and was allowed to run and run and run because Harry could always find her and she never had to fear getting lost. She ran until her legs failed and she had to be carried, exhausted and aching, back to their ever moving little camp.
She had to drink gross tasting 'potions' to help her stomach, and after a while she stopped being so itchy and uncomfortable. It stopped hurting to go to the bathroom, and she was even allowed to use a cloth to clean herself up afterwards.
She got to wear what she wanted, no matter what it was. Even when she hesitantly asked for trousers one day, because they were the same thing that Harry and Newt wore and she wanted to do it too, because they looked much more practical than her dresses that kept getting caught on the bushes as they hiked. She got soft new shoes, and cool drinks, and hugs, and before long, Harry sat her down and began to teach her how to read and write and count, all things she had never been able to do but wanted to, distantly in her dreams of before.
She remembered wanting to be a dentist.
She had forgotten what a dentist was.
And then, she was allowed to go into the suitcase.
000
Harry was nervous about taking Amira into the case. They'd been caring for her for the last six weeks, hiking slowly up towards Egypt figuring that whatever wizards that may have been following them, or whatever followers of Grindelwald that may have gone looking for her, would not have anticipated them using muggle methods of travel. It was a gamble, but thus far one that seemed to have been paying off.
Amira had been coming along quite nicely, there had been next to no relapses or hiccups which made Harry exceptionally nervous as he would have expected at least one by now. But no. Amira seemed to only need to lay her hand on him before she calmed down. She was a worrying mix of clingy and eager to please that had frazzled him considerably in the beginning, and given how she could feel his emotions whenever she laid hands on him, it wasn't – sometimes he had to leave Newt to handle her while he took some time to just breathe elsewhere. He felt wretched doing it, especially when he could hear her sobbing and wailing herself back to sleep against Newt's side but... it wasn't fair for her to feel his frustration and anxiety when it wasn't her fault. Thankfully Newt understood.
On those evenings when Harry was of sound enough mind and emotion to handle Amira's night-terrors, Newt would be in the case expanding their home, making more space. The suitcase entrance now opened into a small porch area with two doors, the porch itself had both of Harry's brooms, their cloaks, shoes, muggle coats, and a few leashes for whatever creatures they took outside. And, of course, a perch for Mei so she could wait for them should she so desire.
One door lead into Newt's shed, as expected. The door that once lead into their bathroom was now the one into the porch, the bed under his desk had been removed, it was a little bigger now, with more windows to let in more light, he had also made some further efforts to include more plants and now had hanging baskets from his ceiling, and a shelving unit filled with potted plants and soil trays where he was growing more, and on the bottom shelf was a tank of water which had already begun to cultivate some gillyweed. It now also had several locks on the door that lead into the creature enclosures, for Amira's safety, and theirs.
The other door in the porch lead into their new home. Harry imagined it must have looked somewhat like Newt's childhood home given the look of it – it was, not to Newt's usual tastes. The wide hallway was a clean pearl white colour with a single trim of peacock and emerald green in delicate swirls and eddies that mimicked water. The ceiling was high, with moulded white arches above each handsome walnut coloured door. There were two opposite each other, and one at the end of the corridor with a white staircase possessing walnut coloured railings to the left. Through the door on the left was the familiar bathroom they had created, still with the two shower heads, and the large sunken in bath-tubs, several shelves to the right with baskets and towels, frosted windows giving the room a lot of light, while plants and moss made it feel natural, and less open and vulnerable. Through the door on the right was a small living room, a few sofas, a fire place, an armchair, a coffee table, and a thick plush teal coloured carpet. It was somewhat impersonal, but Newt had made an effort to change that by putting a handful of pictures above the fireplace, and chucking one of the blankets they picked up in Tibet over the back of the sofa. At the end of the corridor was the kitchen, and that was going to be undisputedly Harry's domain within their new home as Newt still wasn't one-hundred percent in the kitchen (he was learning! He could make pancakes now!).
Upstairs was three rooms, one was a little small, with warm yellow walls, and a white and pink bed, white furniture and a big window that overlooked the mooncalf enclosure. Harry remembered kissing Newt senseless when he saw how much effort he had put into that little room, from the yellow walls that had little white phoenix flying across it, the white ceiling that was enchanted to show the stars overhead and provide just enough light that she would never be blind in the dark ever again, the pink bed, the white dresser and chair, and wardrobe, painted with purple, yellow, and pink flowers, and the pale pink carpetted floor. And the stuffed toy set on her pillow, a simple chocolate brown teddy bear with a pink ribbon.
The other room was an office for Harry, Newt had left that one empty for the most part, aside from ensuring there would be ample light and that the walls were a soothing pale blue, the carpet thick and plush grey, and that the window looked out over the aviary, Harry had been left with a free reign in there. He would fill it later though, when he had time.
The final room was their bedroom, a large double bed, two bedside tables, a huge window, and two wardrobes, one for each of them. The floor was a whiskey yellow-brown, and a little less thick than Amira's, the walls were a warm biscuit colour, the furniture dark oak in hard lines. The bed was sturdy with a large slatted headboard, and lower slatted footboard, white pillows and a dark wine red cover and a thick fluffy white blanket draped over the foot of it. Their wardrobes faced opposite each other, Harry could see his trunk set on top of his own, and Moriarty hiding under Newt's. The niffler looked long and hard at him, and then scuttled back even deeper under the heavy piece of furniture to avoid sight.
Harry was sure Amira would love her room, but he was concerned about how she would react to the animal enclosures, and the fact they had all of this in a suitcase. It would be difficult for even most Purebloods to accept all this in a bloody handheld, Harry found it a little easier because of Hermione, but even she would be astonished by all this. The Gryffindor was sorely tempted to bring it up at the Ministry to see if he couldn't push for a recognition in Charms Mastery for Newt, it would definitely get his name a lot more attention and credibility for when he published his book – meaning people would take his words more seriously. There weren't any Masteries in care of magical creatures at this particular moment in time, which meant that if Newt had the Charms Mastery under his belt then it would only be a short amount of time before one was made specifically for him. That meant better funding, more interest, and more leeway for their next trip, perhaps special dispensation from various Ministries to study in restricted areas.
He shook himself, dragging his attention back to the present, and the fact that they had stopped to make camp again that evening – a camp that would not be set up beyond charms to protect the suitcase. Tonight they would be sleeping in actual beds. Harry's back couldn't wait, the rest of him however was still anxious.
"Poppet, come here a moment," Harry called, he had somehow gotten into the habit of calling Amira the same nickname he had once heard Molly calling little Rose. It must have kind of stuck in the back of his head as a sweet thing to call a little girl. Amira didn't object, and Harry tried a lot to use her actual name to prevent any disassociation, but sometimes he slipped. Newt sometimes called her babydoll, and went red whenever he did, looking away very quickly as if embarrassed. Which, well, given how it had nearly a year before he called Harry by anything but his name, it was somewhat understandable.
Amira bounced over, her curly black hair haloing her face in copper and mahogany highlights. She had filled out considerably in the six weeks since she joined them, no longer looking like a famine victim, she had gained some weight, but not nearly enough for Harry's taste. She was definitely happier though. The last time they had touched, he saw a spark of something pale, and a little blue amidst the churning black – a good sign, a very good sign. Her magic was regaining its original colour. Once she was half-way there, they were going to have to – and he hated to do it – take her back a step. Reopen the old wounds and talk it out, help her come to terms with what happened properly so it wouldn't shatter her by accident when she was older. Such a thing would mean instant death. Once that happened, it would be easier to help her recover, completely.
"Amira, remember when I told you Newt's suitcase was special?" he asked gently, kneeling down in front of her. She nodded as she crowded in close, wrapping her arms around him, their skin automatically beginning to mist with magic. Harry shivered, feeling her happiness, curiosity, and now a little confusion and anxiousness as she picked up on his own trepidation. "He finished fixing it up for us yesterday. Inside is a whole house for us to stay in."
She eyed him sceptically, but she couldn't feel him lying, he was just scared though.
"Are there monsters inside?" she asked warily, and twitched when she felt his anxiety spike.
"Of a sort. But they won't be able to get you, they aren't allowed in the house," Harry promised as he got to his feet, scooping her up and putting her on his hip, it looked a little comical given how short he was. But Amira liked it when he picked her up and carried her. "Newt told you he was studying special animals, yeah? Well sometimes we find ones that are hurt, or lost, so we put them in the case so we can take care of them. And when they're all better, we put them back home. There's lot's of animals in the case now, some of them are friendly, but some of them aren't. But we still take care of them. They can't get into the house, except maybe Moriarty, Pickett, and Dougal. You remember them, yeah? Good, they're nice animals if you're nice to them," Harry explained softly as he walked slowly to the suitcase as Newt finished laying his wards and enchantments around it.
Amira gripped him tightly, feeling a sudden sick sensation in her stomach, "Are you going to put me in a hut with them?" she whispered.
"No Poppet, you're going to live in the house with us, and have your own bedroom and everything. Newt made it especially for you," Harry told her soothingly, he was upset that she thought they would ever do something like that but he supposed it was natural. She likely never thought her parents would do such a thing either, and yet here they were.
"Ready?" Newt asked eagerly, he wanted to see her reaction to her new room, and Harry hadn't the heart to tell him what her initial reaction had been.
Harry looked at the little girl who nibbled her lower lip before nodding slowly. Harry set her down on her feet, and went first. Stopping on the middle of the ladder so she could see him and wouldn't fall down the, admittedly steep, ladder-like steps. Her dark eyes practically dominating her face, she reached out for Newt's freely offered hand, and gripped it tightly as she carefully lowered herself into Harry's waiting grasp.
She gasped when she looked around, a whole room in such a tiny suitcase? And she was going to live here?
Newt was all smiles as he jumped in after her, by-passing the steps all together. He babbled excitedly, words completely lost through the language barrier, but she smiled none the less at his clear excitement and happiness. "He says he spent a long time making it, he wanted to make you feel comfortable so he based it on his own home, when he grew up with his mother," Harry explained gently as the Hufflepuff eagerly held a hand out for the little girl.
They whizzed through the house, showing the little girl everything including how to use the bathroom, and the modern plumbing in the little toilet that she had never seen the like of before in her young life.
She burst into tears when she saw her room, overwhelmed and exhausted from the day's travelling, she just broke down and clung to Newt's shirt saying that she had a room, over and over. Poor Newt looked horrified, worried that he'd upset her. Silly sod. Harry kissed him and promised that she loved it, and her little teddybear. Eventually Amira cried herself out, and the three of them went downstairs to have a quick dinner, the little girl clinging to both Newt and her new teddy with a deathgrip that neither wizard cared to try and break. She decided to name it Mor, for reasons none of them knew, but she liked the sound of it, so that was that. Mor the bear it was.
The first night in their new home, while Harry and Newt christened their new bed, the young Obscurial slept without nightmares for the first time.
000
The next day, Newt showed her his shed, Harry at his elbow explaining everything in her own language as he showed her where the medicines were, just in case she ever needed anything and neither of them were around. Mei was perched on her shoulder, the two having taken a great liking to each other when Amira woke up that morning to the little firebird singing on her headboard.
With the phoenix keeping the young girl calm, they very hesitantly introduced her to the rest of the enclosures. They started with the benign animals, showing her how to feed the crups and the kneazles, all of whom seemed very curious about this new human. They were, at first, wary of her when they got a sniff of her Obscurus, which was fairly normal Harry had found as most animals took some time to warm up to even him whenever they got a whiff of that, but then they seemed to develop some kind of attachment to her in short order. Also, fairly common. It took a while, but most magical creatures tended to get over the initial wariness to become protective of any creature with damaged magic like that, Harry had seen a bowtruckle forming one such protective bond over a severely abused crup on an auror raid over a puppy-mill in a muggle property that had managed to find a few crups. Non-magical animals often never did get over that initial wariness, sometimes even becoming more hostile. Which definitely explained Ripper's behaviour given how Harry had never actually been aggressive towards him, even when they first met Harry had given the dog his space, and even fed him, so by all rights Harry should have been his second bestfriend in the house. Yet Ripper hated him the most.
Dougal had already taken to her quite nicely, and when they were reintroduced, the demiguise wasted little time in digging his long fingers into the girl's hair to check her for parasites, stroking gently through the dark curls as she giggled.
Thus far, things had been going well.
Harry sincerely hoped it would continue to do so. But he brewed eight cauldrons of combat potions as well. Just in case.
0000
(flop) I honestly don't know how to handle Amira. I'm hand-waving a lot of her recovery by going 'magical connection when she touches Harry, there's no trust issues because of that, she's always certain of where she stands with him'. Newt can't help too much because he doesn't speak Arabic and Amira doesn't speak English, Harry's starting to teach her though.
So yeah, sorry about the shitty chapter. I just wanted something OUT.
