I Solemnly Swear I'm Not Trying to Kill You

Theseus yelped as a rather large, brightly colored worm landed on his textbook out of nowhere, causing him to drop the book. Looking up, he saw his little brother grinning excitedly, "Look what I found, Theseus!"

Theseus put a hand to his face in disbelief. "Newt, where did you get that?" They were outside on a warm, spring day. He supposed it was a stupid question, come to think of it, but he had been concentrating on homework and had not been expecting a worm to drop on the page.

"Over there!" Newt pointed by the small pond outside their house. "There's a ton of them. And I think I found the mom. There's a lot more around her and she's guarding some really small eggs."

"That's fascinating, Newt." Theseus deadpanned, shaking off the worm and picking up his text book. His brother was still staring at him. "What?"

"Do you want to play a game?" Newt asked excitedly.

Theseus sighed and looked over at his little brother from the pile of books he'd been bent over. Merlin, he missed those young years when he didn't have any responsibilities. "I really don't have time, Newt. Finals are coming up quickly and I have to study."

"What are finals?" he asked quizzically.

Theseus chuckled. "Tests designed to kill me."

Newt's eyes went wide. "They're trying to kill you?!"

Theseus forgot sometimes how literal little kids can take things and felt bad for the look of horror on his brother's face. "No, Newt. Sorry, I was kidding. But, they are a big test that is terrible to study for."

"Well that doesn't sound fun and you should have fun. Come play with me. Please?"

Theseus made a deep sigh and hung his head, nodding in resignation. He could use the break and it was a gorgeously clear, sunny day. "Alright, Newt. What do you want to play?"

Newt giggled and quickly tagged his brother's leg before scampering off. "Bet you can't catch me!"

"Oh really?" Theseus challenged lightheartedly, giving him a good few seconds head start before tossing his books aside and sprinting after his little brother. Newt had gotten faster than Theseus realized, finding he was running harder than he'd planned. Still, it didn't take long for him to tag him on the shoulder. "Gotcha!" Theseus ran off the other direction. It was actually impressive how short of time it took Newt to tag him back. Theseus chased after his little brother again, trying harder now to keep pace with him before tackling him to the ground. "Hey!" Newt protested before he let him up. Theseus ran off, trying to figure a different plan when he spotted it. A tall oak tree. Theseus started climbing up. About halfway, he felt a tap on his foot. "Seriously?! Ok, I give up. You win!"

Newt beamed, but then stared up at the top of the tree. Something had caught his eye. "What's that?"

"Where?"

"There." Newt pointed at something Theseus could barely see in the branches at the very top of the tree. "Probably a bird's nest, but it's too high. You can't reach it," he said, a tone of I'm-older-and-better-than-you creeping into his voice.

Newt apparently picked up on it and took this as a challenge. He was already climbing higher in search of answers, weaving through the branches ridiculously easily, like they were no obstacle at all.

"Newt, be careful," he warned.

"It's fine."

He was getting very high and the branches were thinning out. Theseus really hadn't meant it as a challenge, but that's what it had become and he was rapidly regretting it. "Newt, come back down!"

It was barely a second later he heard the sickening snap of a branch and watched his little brother fall out of the tree, him completely helpless to do anything from where he was.

"Arresto momentum!" Theseus heard someone shout, terrified, and looked down to see their mother running outside, wand pointed up at Newt. His fall slowed down enough for him to come to a gentle landing he rolled out of and sprung up ad if he hadn't nearly fallen to his death.

"Newton Artemis Scamander, what were you thinking?! THESEUS, get down here, now!" His mother embraced Newt, looking him over frantically. "Are you hurt?"

"No." Theseus was relieved to hear him answer. "I'm fine, mom."

Theseus had reached the ground to see his mother taking deep breaths, trying to relax upon finding Newt seemingly uninjured. She brushed back his hair. "Newt, listen to me. You are never to climb that high in the trees, do you understand me? Promise me."

Newt nodded. "I promise."

She turned to Theseus, furious, "How dare you let him go that high? I expect more from you, Theseus."

Theseus started to protest, but she was right. He should have done more to stop him. "I'm sorry, mom. I'll keep a closer on eye him."