A/N: Thanks for follows and favourites.

Late 1928

Her gaze roved around the table in the centre of the room as she made an entrance, the few she recognised nodding at her in acknowledgement. Sitting down in the closest empty seat, she smiled at Newt who was a few seats away in between a vacant seat and a man she vaguely recalled as his brother Theseus. Dumbledore, sitting at the head of the table, waited for a few others who had arrived after her, including Tina, to sit down before addressing everyone and beginning to talk about recent events related to or involving Grindelwald. Since it was her first meeting, she hung off his every word even though most of what he said was already known to her.

"Grindelwald seems to have had little luck in Madrid," Dumbledore spoke calmly. "He has returned to France but has not been seen entering his former headquarters. Curious, isn't it, given the recent news?"

She sat back, confused, as the others in the room murmured in agreement. Maybe it was because she was new to this but she had no idea what anyone was talking about, not until a charmed piece of paper floated towards her and landed right in front of her. It was a French newspaper clipping but she didn't have to understand French (though she did) to understand why Dumbledore wanted her to see it or why he even invited her to the meeting in the first place. The photo of a man she hadn't seen in a year, captioned Corvus Lestrange V, said it all.

"He's definitely not who he says he is," Theseus vehemently protested. "Leta said her brother died. This fraudster is making a mockery of a dead woman's twenty-six years of pain."

She winced. She tried not to think of Credence too often but when she was forced to face how he had hurt and continued to hurt others, she felt like she was complicit in his crimes just by reminiscing fondly of him from time to time.

"Oh, I know he isn't Leta's brother, Theseus," Dumbledore appeased, sounding as if he knew exactly who Credence was. "I, myself, would like to find out why he's doing this."

"How?" Newt and Tina asked at the same time, the former proceeding to give the latter a shy smile. The pair already behaved like such a couple that she wondered why they weren't already married by now.

"Barebone is infinitely powerful," an American man sat opposite her interjected in a grave voice. "Hunting him down again would be an awful mistake."

Dumbledore's eyes settled on the man, a look of consideration upon his otherwise serene face, before redirecting his gaze to meet hers without even turning his head. She immediately looked down, as if doing so would shield her from his view.

"Miss Anguis," he started, making her look over at him in surprise. Anguis was a fake name she had only used a couple of times. How he knew of it was beyond her. "If I recall correctly, you were once close to Mr Barebone, weren't you?"

Everyone in the room shifted, pointedly staring at her, and a lump caught in her throat. While she had known that Dumbledore was going to task her with something as soon as she saw the photo of Credence, it finally became clear to her why exactly he had chosen to summon her to this meeting rather than privately approach her. He did not intend for her to even have the chance of saying no.

"I knew I recognised her," someone said from the other end of the table, effectively putting a nail in the coffin.

Mustering up some confidence, she cleared her throat and spoke up. "I'm not sure I would say close, Professor."

"Albus, please," Dumbledore offered kindly. "I understand that you have some painful memories so if you don't want to elaborate, you don't have to."

She tried not to give him a dirty look. She was sure he knew that he had cornered her into a difficult situation. Knowing what some people back at Arcanus had whispered to the ringmaster about her and Credence when they thought she wasn't listening, she knew she had to elaborate otherwise the people here would make the same assumptions. She didn't want or need the pity that she'd undoubtedly receive at not only being a Maledictus but a Maledictus who was abandoned by her lover.

"I mean, we were friends but we only knew each other for a few months," she explained, heat rushing to her face. "It wasn't long enough for us to grow close." She was lying, of course, and Dumbledore could probably see right through her but she hoped that the others couldn't. She didn't have the nerve to scan the room and find out.

"A few months is enough for some, believe me," Dumbledore commented in a strangely thick voice. If she hadn't glanced at him, she would've thought he was crying. Instead, his eyes were dry and he appeared perfectly calm, as always. "Would you be willing to assist me? All you have to do is meet Credence."

Opening her mouth to respond in the negative, she closed it again and considered his request. This was not the way she'd originally intended to help in the fight against Grindelwald but she would have to take what she got seeing as she wasn't the best at combatant magic. There was a chance she'd be competent in fighting when the next battle took place but, for now, she was probably more helpful as Dumbledore's agent.

"Though Grindelwald is likely watching Mr Barebone's every move, I do not believe he is with him at all times even if he has made the Lestrange residence his new headquarters. Mr Barebone should be at the liberty to receive guests."

"What exactly do you want me to do? Or say?" she asked, feeling as if she should already know.

"Whatever you feel like you must." She noticed Newt shaking his head despite the amused smile on his face. Dumbledore's cryptic answer didn't exactly fill her with confidence but somehow, she gathered that this was as forthcoming as he would get.

"When do you want me to go?"

"The fourteenth of February should do nicely," Dumbledore said, his eyes practically twinkling. "Don't you agree, Miss Anguis?"

She thought to correct him but with what? Nagini was her stage name and while it was what her few friends called her, giving Albus Dumbledore a fake name did not feel right.

"I—yes," she responded, not knowing what to make of his sudden romantic mood.

The rest of the meeting passed by in a blur as she was no longer interested in listening to Dumbledore talk, far more pressing matters on her mind. Credence had left her behind. What if he just wasn't interested in seeing her again?

.:. QK .:.

"Mrs Scamander!"

Pegging Newt's shirt to the washing line, she turned in the direction of the voice to see her middle-aged neighbour peering at her from over the fence that divided the two gardens. As far as she knew, the woman was a new tenant and had not formally been introduced to Newt yet. She was baffled that the woman knew Newt's last name.

"I'm not Mrs Scamander," she corrected not unkindly, picking the empty bucket up from the ground. "I'm Mr Scamander's housekeeper."

"Ooh, oh dear," the woman said, appearing to be embarrassed. "I was wondering whether Mr Scamander would like to come round for tea this evening. You're welcome too, of course."

"I've got a lot of work to do so I won't be free this evening but I'll pass the message on to him," she stated, walking towards the back door as the woman called out a 'thank you' from behind her.

After putting the bucket away in the utility, she entered the living room and was surprised to find Newt sitting in the armchair near the fireplace, having expected him to be at work or in his basement. He seemed to be in deep thought so she decided not to disturb him and quietly sat down on the sofa across from him, grabbing the copy of the Daily Prophet that was on the coffee table in between the two of them.

Three Grindelwald fanatics arrested for attacking 'violent' Aurors.

She sighed inaudibly at the headline. Grindelwald hadn't even called a rally in Britain yet but tensions between Aurors and terrorist sympathisers were already running so high.

"Nagini?"

She made a noise of acknowledgement as her eyes sifting through the article, searching for a mention of the name she always kept an eye out for whenever an article about Grindelwald popped up. However, the only names she found were those of the Aurors who had been attacked as well as that of Theseus preceding an official statement of his as Head Auror.

"I've asked Tina to marry me."

This time she looked up at Newt, folding the newspaper and putting it down on her lap. She couldn't say she was surprised. Newt and Tina's affection for each other was amusingly obvious to everyone around them; they had even been making eyes at each other during Dumbledore's meeting, something she had found both inappropriate and heartwarming. She didn't even bother asking what Tina's response was—there was only one answer Tina was ever going to give Newt. It looked like the neighbour would get to greet the real Mrs Scamander soon enough.

"When are you planning to marry?" she questioned, hoping Grindelwald wouldn't invade England or New York any time soon. Newt and Tina deserved happiness more than anyone she knew.

"Well, that all depends," Newt began, appearing to be a little uncomfortable. "Tina doesn't want to get married until we get Queenie back. She feels responsible for whatever happened and doesn't think she deserves to settle down until Queenie and Jacob do."

Jacob was Newt's American Non-Magique friend, that much she knew. Queenie... Queenie had to be Tina's sister, the blonde woman who had joined Grindelwald after screaming at someone she now knew had been Jacob. She would've never guessed that Queenie and Jacob were a couple or that Queenie and Tina were even related let alone sisters. Jacob and Queenie seemed like an odd pairing whereas Tina and Queenie looked nothing alike. The world worked in strange ways, very strange ways indeed.

"I see," she said, remembering Dumbledore's request to her. If Grindelwald was indeed staying at Lestrange Manor, there was a high possibility that Queenie was as well given that she was part of his inner circle. "When I go to France, I'll seek her out. I'm not sure what good it'll do but I'll try to get through to her."

"You don't have to do that," Newt interjected quickly, an alarmed expression on his face. "What you've been asked to do is dangerous as it is."

She shook her head. "I can do at least that much for you, Newt. You and Tina are some of the few wizards who have been kind to me. I can't promise that I'll be able to talk Queenie into leaving Grindelwald but I will remind her that she has people here who care for her."

"Thank you."

Giving him a weak smile, she stood up and made her way to the kitchen. She still had about two months left until her 'mission' to France. She didn't know what scared her more: facing Credence again or properly facing Grindelwald.

A/N: I did write the Dumbledore part up before watching CoG. Did I make him too manipulative like HP era Dumbledore?