Disclaimer: I don't own Rose Granger-Weasley, Newt Scamander or any other character created by J.K. Rowling. My aim is merely to entertain and play around with them a little.

Chapter thirty-two: In which life begins anew

It took Rose quite some time to feel able to leave Professor Dumbledore's office to join the others back downstairs. Leta's memory had troubled her more than she could say, and thoughts were swirling in her head as she tried to focus on what exactly had been the most unsettling. She knew she'd have to stop long enough to really ponder what had been said, but also knew she couldn't do it right then, when her friends were waiting for her and most certainly worried sick about her.

She gently cooped Kit into her arms, checking the stasis charm on his paw, and the creature nuzzled into her jacket gently, making her smile at him affectionately. Being around Newt's protégés never failed to lift her mood, she noticed.

As she carried the Niffler back towards the infirmary, Rose had something to focus on other than the familiar settings of Hogwarts, and even managed to mostly ignore the curious glances on the students' faces when they crossed her path on their way or from their breakfast. When she reached the Hospital Wing, though, she couldn't ignore the group of five girls that were gathered at the door, desperately trying to get a better look of who was inside.

"Is it him? Is it Theseus Scamander?" was asking one, pushing one of her comrades to the side to get closer to the door. "For real?! I own at least six Chocolate Frog Cards of him! He's so handsome…"

The others giggled or tried to elbow their way closer too, until Rose pursed her lips and cleared her throat. The girls – who couldn't be older than Fifth Years and were all Gryffindors – jumped a good foot in the air and turned to her, startled expressions on their faces.

"I'd be glad if you didn't linger at the door, girls. The Hospital Wing is made for those in need of peace and quiet, and you're not providing them that by lurking out here." She plastered a severe look on her face, channelling the fiercest person she'd ever known: her grandmother Molly, as she added "Besides, my brother does not need thirteen-year-olds to drool all over him. He has more important things to do with his day." She waited for the indignant grimaces that soon appeared when she'd mentioned a younger age than theirs – she'd expected it – and growled for good measure, taking what she hoped was a threatening pace towards them. "Now shoo!"

She felt rather smug when they all scattered away, and the look caught Queenie's eye when she entered the Wing to find her friends all gathered around Dumbledore, ready to go.

They had all been cleared by Matron Febris, who once again congratulated Rose on her Healing skills. The young witch was happy to receive such praise, especially from one of the earliest female Healers in the UK.

The gang had decided to gather back at Newt's place, to calm a bit down and decide what to do next. Theseus looked wary, and more than just physically, but Rose could barely look at him after what she'd just heard inside Leta's memory. She felt stupid, foolish, childish and guilty about the whole thing.

It's only when Dumbledore turned to her one last time that she dared raise her gaze to him, still cradling Kit in her arms, a welcome distraction from the elder Scamander brother.

"Rose," he started with a soft smile, "from now on, I would like it if you thought about what you have done in this…adventure of yours, what it means and what it achieved." As he saw she was not fully understanding what he meant, he added "I believe the mission you were assigned has been fulfilled."

She stared blankly at him, and then, the full meaning of his words hit her like a Bludger to the head. Queenie. She'd saved Queenie from Grindelwald. By being there when she was lost, she saved her from his silver-tongue and twisted words.

She'd changed the past.

Again.

Her breathing accelerated and Newt pushed Tina aside, latching onto her hand as if it was the biggest remedy to her panic. Of course, this time, it did little good, because once again, Rose had screwed things up. By saving Queenie, by saving Graves earlier that year, who knew what she'd had changed for her future? Who knew if her loved ones would ever exist?

Someone grabbed the hand that Newt had gripped, and placed a small vial in her grasp. Newt understood, and helped the vial to Rose's lips. She almost choked on what was poured in her mouth, but as soon as the Potion hit her tongue, her breathing calmed.

"Thank you, Matron," Dumbledore said, and when Rose's sight came back to normal, when the black spots of panic cleared, she understood that Hogwarts' nurse had given her a Calming Draught. She couldn't find her voice, though, and barely managed to nod her thanks before Newt gently steered her away and back towards the castle entrance.

Behind her, she was dazedly aware of Queenie's intake of breath and Jacob's surprised huff as he caught her and stopped her from tripping. Tina caught her sister's free arm, but the blonde refused to answer their worried questions. Her gaze was locked onto Rose, fear and pain in her eyes.

Newt's living-room looked like an improvised tea-party had started in a very dusty alley and went back to his house afterwards. Everyone was covered in grime, dust or blood, with various looks of grief on their faces. Yusuf and Credence's friend – whose name Rose still didn't know – were sat on the floor near the fireplace. The dark-skinned wizard was staring at the flames, wincing from time to time when a small tongue of yellow heat rose above the rest.

Theseus was squashed next to Jacob on the sofa, his large hands gripping his teacup tight, spilling a bit of its untouched content onto his already tainted trousers. The usually joyful baker was silent, for a change, and he was watching Rose tend to Kit's injuries as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Tina was looking after Queenie, who hadn't spoken a word since they'd Apparated back from Hogwarts. She was trembling, and kept staring at Rose with the look of a deer caught in headlights. Her sister was muttering comforting words, but the blonde Legilimens would not talk, or move.

Newt, on his end, had disappeared into the basement to check on his other creatures, and had just reappeared to hand Rose her house Healing supplies and to put the kettle on. If the others suspected that he wanted to be alone to grieve Leta properly, they didn't say.

After a while, Theseus stood, spilling the rest of his tea onto the carpet. He cleaned it with a harsh movement of his wand, and strode towards the stairs leading to his brother's lair. Rose shared a knowing glance with Tina, who nodded, and closed the door behind him with her own wand.

That sudden change in the atmosphere roused Jacob, who then turned to the two prostrate people in front of the fire, and sighed. "So, what're you gonna do, now, man?" he asked Yusuf.

The wizard shrugged. "I don't know. My oath is fulfilled, but I have no home to return to."

"Don't you have a job?"

He shook his head. "My whole life has been dedicated to find and kill Corvus Lestrange."

Jacob huffed. "Well okay! But you'd better find something you're good at now. You'll need the money!"

Yusuf shrugged again, and looked at the silent girl who, as she had done the past day, almost, was looking at them all in turn, as if wary. "I have a disposition for Advanced Transfiguration, and Astronomy. Wherever that may lead." He paused. "What about you, Nagini?"

Rose's head snapped at his words. Had she heard right? "Nagini?" she repeated.

The girl raised her head finally, meeting her gaze with her dark eyes. She was frightened. "That's my name," she said in her deep voice.

Rose jumped to her feet, placing Kit back down. Now that his paw was fully healed, he scurried away and up the stairs, no doubt to raid her bedroom again. The red-head's first instinct was to reach for her wand, but a hand on her wrist stopped her, and when she looked down, she was surprised to see Queenie staring back at her, her grip firm, a severe look in her eyes.

"Rose, don't. She's not a danger."

"Queens, she's-"

"Not now." The blonde witch shook her head, and gently pushed her sister away before standing, her hand slipping from Rose's wrist to her hand instead. "Let's talk alone. Please."

Tina stood too, but she made no move to follow the two as they left the living-room to her care. Jacob made to ask, but she was swift in silencing his questions.

Rose had been right in her assumptions: no sooner had she pushed opened the door to her bedroom that she found Kit snuggled in her covers on her pillow, already fast asleep. Ignoring the small creature, whose behaviour was by then familiar to her, she sat next to him, and waited for Queenie to sit next to her.

"You saw, didn't you?" she asked the blonde, who nodded, her jaw setting as if she was fighting the memory.

"I was the reason. I was the reason you were sent here. I was the reason your life has been destroyed." She grabbed Rose's hands, eyes suddenly filled with tears. "I'm so sorry, Rose. So sorry…"

The younger witch shook her head, tears springing to her eyes too, but she wiped at them angrily. "I would do it again, you know."

Queenie met her gaze, tears still soiling her cheeks, leaving tracks in the dust and grime. "But, Tina-"

"The Tina that sent me here was one that had had to live a long life without her dearest sister. Not the one that I've learned to care for and love as a friend." That Rose had finally understood, because she would have done anything to have Hugo back at her side right then. A-ny-thing.

"But…it changed things. That's what I saw, Rosie. It changed things. It might have changed too much…"

Rose's breath caught, but she didn't let herself being pulled back into panic-mode. Or maybe it was just the Calming Draught still being in effect. Actually, it was more likely the potion's doing than a miraculous hold on her feelings. "We'll never know. And I can't regret this. I won't regret this. Queenie, I don't regret it." She gripped her friend's hands tighter. "Even if I had thought about the consequences before, I would have done the same."

Queenie smiled through the tears, and brought her into a hug that Rose returned, the pain and grief of this last day being too hard to bear alone in that moment. For a minute or two they remained silent, until the lovely blonde murmured "She's not the Nagini you heard about." Rose made to push her away, to see her face, but Queenie kept her close, her message being delivered as a secret. "She's not a Horcrux, she's a young girl who's scared more than words can describe. She's cursed, Rosie. She's a Maledictus. One day, she'll fully be a snake. Unless we change that too…"

This time, Rose pushed her away, eyes wide as she tried to comprehend what her friend meant by that. "Do you want me to change more things?"

"As you said, there is no knowing how much of what you knew will be altered now that Mr Graves is alive and that I won't be lost to Grindelwald's cause. You know about things that still have to happen, Rose. Use what you know. Change this world for the better."

It reminded Rose of Grindelwald's own words when he'd tried to sway her to his side.

Queenie caught the passing accusation, and pursed her lips. "I'm not saying that to gain any kind o' power, Rose. I've seen what you've thought about when you heard Nagini's name. I saw that Dark Wizard, the one that will rise and destroy the lives of so many people. Your Uncle…" the thought had just crossed Rose's mind, and of course, the Legilimens had heard it. "Your Uncle, dead so young… What if we could change that? Make sure…Lord Voldemort? does not rise to power at all…"

Rose shook her head, tears now free to fall on her cheeks. "I can't, Queenie. No more. I can't… My family…" She dared not imagine that her parents, her brother, her cousins…might not exist if she played around with time too much.

Queenie nodded, displeased but understanding. "It's alright, Rosie. I asked too much of you." Then, she smiled. "Come on, let's go back downstairs. I'm starving."

She gently pulled her friend out of the room, promising one of her famed apple strudels when they reached the kitchen…

A few hours later, after everybody had had a filling meal that still tasted like ashes in their mouths, the group gathered back in the living-room, Newt and Theseus looking like they'd had a long conversation that had soothed them. Rose didn't think the magizoologist was aware of it, but he was standing quite close to his elder brother, closer than he usually was. Perhaps the instinct to protect Theseus was taking over. She understood the feeling…

Yusuf was the first to go. "I'll go find accommodation in the city. I think it better for me to stay here, in case you need me in the future. Nagini will come with me. She'll be safe. I'll pretend she's a Squib friend."

Rose had stared a long while at Credence's friend while they ate. Beautifully deadly, the girl seemed lovely, in truth, if not rendered fierce by the treatment she'd received all her life. To believe that, one day, she'd become something as odious and horrifying as a Horcrux was impossible.

Once their newest additions to the gang had Disapparated away to Diagon Alley, Tina sighed, placing a hand on Queenie's in her lap. "We have to go back to New-York. I have to report to MACUSA about what happened in Paris."

Queenie's gaze turned sad, and she gripped Jacob's hand tightly. "But-"

"Queenie," the baker interrupted her, "we left things unfinished there. I've gotta go back to my bakery." Seeing her eyes fill with tears, he added "Then, when all is settled, we can come back here and…" he faltered, before a small sad smile appeared on his lips, "and we can get married."

The blonde's eyes widened, and a wonderful tear-filled smile split her face as she squealed and launched herself into his arms, happy beyond belief.

This small moment of happiness was a reprieve, and a welcome one, in an otherwise very dark day.

Newt alone didn't seem moved at all by the announcement. Instead, he was staring at Tina. "Do you really have to leave?"

"Yes," she whispered, and he looked away, green eyes sad and disappointed. The Auror didn't add anything, which Rose was quite displeased about.

"At any rate, you cannot leave right now; you'll need an International Portkey set for you three. It'll take a while." She then turned to Theseus, and ignored the complex feelings that she felt after the all Pensieve ordeal. "I suppose you'll have to report to the Ministry as well."

He shook his head, grey-green eyes settling on the parqueted floor. "I don't think so. Travers would have handled it. I'll have to… I'll have to…" He didn't finish, but they all knew what he'd have to do: host a ceremony for Leta's funeral, and settle her affairs.

Realising that his flat must still be filled with his fiancée's things, Rose blurted out "You'll stay here tonight. Doctor's orders." She ignored the curious glances that her words prompted, and stared back at the Auror, who was about to refuse her. "I'll have to check on you for at least a couple of days. And nights. Matron Febris was adamant." She hadn't been, of course, but Rose played that card so that he wouldn't refuse her just because she was the one asking.

Thankfully, Newt backed her up. "Yes, it's better if we all stay put for a couple of days. Rose can better check on us all if we're close by. And there's plenty of room. If Tina doesn't mind sharing. With Rose," he added, as a blush rose to his cheeks, and then, to Rose's surprise, to Tina's cheeks.

Theseus seemed displeased, but did not question his brother's words further. Apparently, their earlier conversation had shifted the balance between the two siblings. One had to wonder what had been said…

At long last, a truly terrifying and life-changing day ended, in silence, potion-induced peace, and shared dreamless sleeps… Leading to whatever the future would hold.