Mrs. Scamander lived in a big manor near Newhaven, and had generously offered to accommodate your stay under her own roof. She seemed excited for you to interview her son, which was a welcome surprise. People, in general, hated reporters. Truth be told, you had never spent much time in the country at all, and were excited to get away from London for a few days.
The home was quite impressive, you noted, as you made your way up the winding driveway. You tried to imagine the Scamander boys growing up here, but the thought of children playing in such a grand estate seemed almost wrong. You shook your head, smiling at the picture in your mind of a young Theseus pretending to be an army general, commanding his brother to march around the grounds, most likely getting grass stains on their very expensive clothing. Perhaps they spent their summers climbing the massive Ash trees that lined the property, or jumping from the giant marble stairs that led to the entryway, or fishing in their private lake...
You climbed the steps to their door, hesitating momentarily before ringing the bell. A kind elderly man answered, looking at you expectantly.
"Hello," you said, giving him a smile. "My name is Scarlet Littlewood, I'm the reporter."
"Of course," he said, stepping back and gesturing for you to step inside. "Wait here."
You waited in the foyer, bouncing on the balls of your feet. You let your eyes wander from painting to painting, finally settling on a particularly realistic depiction of a Hippogriff to your right. You stepped closer to it, examining it with a crinkled nose.
"Fancy seeing you here," you said to the painting, tilting your head. The Hippogriff turned to you, squawking. "Fair enough," you said, looking away. "I don't like to be stared at either." You wandered over to another painting, eyeing the proud-looking man inside. His hair was rather disheveled, brown curls falling every which way onto his forehead.
"How do you do?" You said, curtseying. The man smiled, his green eyes flashing over you with interest.
"Lovely," he said.
"He was always a flirt."
You turned around in surprise, seeing an older woman standing behind you and smiling at the painting. She caught your eye.
"My late husband," she said, nodding at him. Mr. Scamander's painting smiled shyly. "They didn't quite get his freckles right…"
"Mrs. Scamander," you said, holding out a hand. "It's an honor."
"It is? What have I done?" She looked at you quizzically, and you couldn't help but laugh.
"You know, I'm not sure why people say that, really. I just know it's a thing you're supposed to say." You leaned in closer, whispering conspiratorially. "I've been told I need to work on my manners."
Mrs. Scamander gave you a kind smile and chuckled. "Well, then. It's an honor to meet you, Miss Littlewood."
"Call me Scarlet," you said. Something about her made you instantly comfortable and warm. She nodded. "Thank you for letting me stay in your home."
"Nonsense," she said. "With the boys gone, the house really is quite empty. I'm excited to have guests for a weekend, at least. And both the boys will be here, of course."
"Is Mr. Scamander here already?" You asked. Maybe you could do the interview today and get it out of the way...
"No," she said. "Theseus will be arriving tomorrow. He's got some official Ministry business to take care of.. You know how it is to be important."
"Not really," you said, laughing. "I'm not wanted or needed, most of the time. I just show up to things uninvited."
"Now, who wouldn't want you around?" She mused.
"You'd be surprised, Mrs. Scamander."
"With two boys, nothing surprises me anymore." She turned and began to walk from the foyer, gesturing for you to follow her. "Theseus arrives tomorrow with the other guests, but my other son is already here." Mrs. Scamander led you down a long hallway, stopping in front of one of the rooms towards the end of the hall. "This will be your room," she said. "I'll leave you for now, but dinner will be in an hour. I assume you'd like to freshen up from traveling."
"Thank you," you said smiling. Mrs. Scamander nodded.
"I'll leave you to it, then."
In truth the room was bigger than your whole apartment back home - and about ten times nicer. You had drawn yourself a bath, letting your muscles relax in the warm water as you hummed to yourself. Maybe the Social pages weren't so bad after all. You let your head fall back and rest on the edge of the tub, closing your eyes. You had just about drifted off to sleep when you began to hear scratching noises coming from the bedroom. Curious you stood, stepping out of the water and wrapping a towel around your body. You peeked your head out from the bathroom and scanned the room.
"What the…" You trailed off seeing a strange creature hovering by your jewelry box, which you had placed on the dresser earlier. It had been rummaging through it - evidenced by the contents spilling out and over the table-top. The creature had frozen, locking its tiny, black eyes with yours. You stepped out of the bathroom. "Excuse me!" You said, irritated. "Am I being robbed?"
The creature gave you a look that very plainly said "maybe" before turning away from you and continuing its assault on your jewelry. "Hey!" You made to move towards it, but before you could you were interrupted by the door to your room crashing open.
"There you are!"
You spun, facing the man who had just barged into your room. He was red-faced and out of breath, and you noted absently that he looked quite similar to the painting of Mr. Scamander in the foyer, though perhaps with more pronounced cheekbones. He was eyeing the creature, agitated.
"Really?" He asked it, raising a brow. The creature made a purring noise and went to jump off the dresser, but the man was too quick. "Immobilus." You watched in amusement as the creature froze in midair, clearly upset by this new development. The man strode over to it, grabbing it gently and shaking his head.
"What is that thing?" You asked, hiding a smile. The man looked at you, realizing for the first time that you were there.
"Oh," he said, looking at the carpet. "My Niffler." He fidgeted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, who are you?"
You raised a brow. "Who are you?"
"I'm Newt," he said, as if you should know what that meant.
"Ok, Newt," you said, slowly. "I'm Scarlet." He nodded, though you weren't sure why.
"You're here to interview my brother," he said.
"You're here to… be his brother," you finished. He looked up at you quizzically. "I don't know where I was going with that," you admitted, flashing him a smile. All at once he seemed to remember where he was. His eyes raked over you as he reddened.
"I… I'm so sorry…" He left the room immediately, leaving you surprised. A part of you registered that maybe you should be embarrassed, but instead you shrugged, dropping your towel to the floor and stepping back into the warm water of your bath.