The bells rang above the hall, and the guests' voices became hushed. Theseus turned his head around slightly to see his parents and Newt, all poshly dressed up, standing on the side of the altar. Part of Theseus could only be relieved that Newt had come and agreed to be the best man - after all, the lack of Newt's presence could only meet him and Leta with constant waves of disappointment that Newt had again rejected their repeated offers for dinner. Even if Newt had showed up with his face muddied and his clothes dishevelled, Theseus would still accept him with open arms.

At least it's not another cold shoulder, another reminder of the unmoving gap between him and his brother.

Theseus shakes his head, remembering that this isn't the place to dwell on what he could no longer have. Today was supposed to be a new page in the book, a new part of his life. Today he was going to have to walk forward, with or without Newt on his side. He scans the crowd again, pulling his gaze away from Newt this time. He sees several colleagues and fellow Aurors among the rows. He even sees his boss, Torquil Travers, to his surprise (Theseus hopes that this isn't part of his façade to woe him into doing more head-on missions with Grindelwald on his behalf, though he wouldn't say no regardless).

He also takes in that most attendees on his right side were people he and his soon-to-be-wife knew from work - Ministry workers, in other words. There were no pure-blood fanatics and not a single Lestrange in the crowd. He knew very well why. After all, such pure-blood families like the Lestranges wouldn't bother attending the wedding of such an unloved female member. Let alone the fact that the Scamanders were nothing but blood traitors to them, not bothering to keep their blood clean of the dirt and filth of muggles.

He'll never understand why. Both why they considered muggles inferior and why they wouldn't attend the wedding of such a vital, brave member of their house.

He takes one last deep breath before the doors across the hall open up. The love of his life walked in, ever so gracefully, with a soft smile on her face. Alone, but so beautiful. Leta had pinned her hair and shoulders exposed in the beautiful new and lengthy dress. Theseus focuses on the black feathers that decorate the back of her dress - representative of the raven, he notes - that slowly grazes the carpet below. Theseus looks up and finally meets her, Leta, in the eye. He could feel his eyes brimming with tears, but he swallowed the emotions. You've done it before, he tells himself; keep it at bay; it's no time to be ugly crying right now.

You should be happy, the voice says, almost mockingly.

Leta steps up to the altar, and Theseus resists the urge to approach her: trace her jawline and lean into her, whispering words of intimacy and telling her how gorgeous she is. Save your comments for the vows, Theseus reminds himself. The officiant between them speaks up, but Theseus tunes out, something he doesn't do very often. He can tell Leta isn't paying much attention either, as her eyes become dreamy when they meet his eyes.

When he's asked to recite his vows, another layer in his voice reserved for his loved ones and rarely heard in public is present. Leta recognises this, and her smile widens a little. The vows were things that he's said to Leta repeatedly in the past, yet, there's a new depth, a new meaning, that wasn't there before. Everything he says means more today, and he knows that. So he pours out everything to Leta, any last drops of affection and emotion to her. And Leta does the very same. Theseus pondered if anyone in the seats had ever seen this side of her. Not the unloved and misunderstood Lestrange, but the bold and understanding woman in front of him.

He wonders if Newt has ever seen this side of her.

He probably has, but he once again pushed such thoughts to the back of his mind.

Almost on cue, Newt walked up with two small velvet boxes that held their rings. Theseus made sure to give a reassuring smile to Newt, knowing he was feeling awkward in the spotlight. Leta goes first, and she slips the ring on his finger, and she briefly traces over it. Theseus does the same, and he again remembers their hand size difference - absolutely adorable - he had once said to Leta when they first started dating as they were holding hands walking through Diagon Alley.

"And you may kiss the bride," he hears the officiant say. Both of them lean in, but before their lips touch, he feels Leta push him away. He looks confused and tilts his head to the side, the unspoken words "what's wrong?" inscribed all over his face. She points to the scene around them. He looks around and notices that everyone's gone, and it is just them in an empty hall in the church. His heart stops as Leta steps off the altar and back on the carpet.

"I'm sorry, Theseus," she finally speaks up, sorrow coating her words, "I…I love y-"

Cold sweat coated everywhere from the chest up, and his heart was racing at an unbelievable speed. Theseus knows that his cheeks were wet - whether it was the sweat or the tears, he doesn't know. He knew his eyes were probably an ugly red from crying in his sleep, and his limbs probably didn't want to cooperate with him, but he forced himself to sit up and wandlessly lit up the fireplace across his bedroom. He almost wished he hadn't because as Theseus looked to his side, he saw nothing but an empty half of what used to be a bed for two. He breathes a little more deeply in hopes of controlling his emotions.

He's always had his emotions under control. Even after his and Newt's significant falling out, "the Ministry took all his attention away". Even after smuggling himself into war to side with the muggles, seeing too many bodies, comrades and enemies fall to death. And Grindelwald's rally in Paris, where he was supposed to lead the Aurors to break the rally. But instead, he walked them to their death and watched his fiancée walk to her death to protect everyone else.

He hears the voice remind him that she died to protect you. The Head Auror. The War Hero.

You should have saved her. You should have been the one to face Grindelwald like that.

Theseus could only try to ignore his demons as he reached for the other side. He slides open a drawer on the bedside table (not without looking at Leta's photo) and grabs his pocket watch that Leta gifted for their first anniversary. His fingers subconsciously trace over the carvings on the back: T.S and L.L. However, he stops himself before the emotions reach the surface and pop it open. 5:49, it reads. Theseus sighs as he finally gets himself off the bed.

As much as his dreams were his new safe place, he knew he couldn't be asleep forever. Theseus figured that he might as well arrive at work early and work on locating Grindelwald for his next mission as soon as possible before Grindelwald could touch anyone else, touch Newt.

The last thing Theseus wants is to have his happiest moments with his little brother in his dreams.