#jacob kowalski background

[uefb]

New fic in the works

Feeling excited but experiencing trepidation about this short fic I’ve been working on, which is a combination of three WIP one-shots that I finally realized today are part of the same story. It’s set primarily in the 1970s when Tina & Newt’s children are adults, and it focuses on their middle child Ephesus (Fife)—a natural-born legilimens—who has just taken up a career a bit too close to Newt & Tina’s own traumas for comfort. I hope I can pull it all together! Writing these characters in late middle/older age (I mean, they’re wizards, what is a “lifespan” 😆😆) is certainly a challenge

Hoping I’ll be able to pull this off and post it late this week!

[fantasywriter19]

LJ's Blog

Welcome, one and all. I have finally figured out how to compile everything into one area so, if there is any one era you’re into, I have everything listed below. Of course, I haven’t begun writing for all of them, but they will fill up soon enough because this is an awesome community.

I would blog for all the fandoms I enjoy but, considering I have more background compiled for the wizarding world of Harry Potter, I think that’s all I will do for the time being. Of course, the only snag is that I aim to finish the Melody Riddle autobiographies first in order for everything in the next generation era to make sense when I work on that.

Without further ado… let’s get this show on the road!

Books:

Melody Riddle Autobiographies — my first and main baby I’ve been writing since the year 2012, this series chronicles the daughter of Lord Voldemort during her time at Hogwarts as she navigates the fine line between good and evil on the path of building a close relationship with both her father and his greatest enemy.

Jessamyn McPhee Series — set in the realm of Hogwarts Mystery, Jessamyn embarks on a journey to break the curse of the Cursed Vaults at Hogwarts in the process of searching for her missing older brother.

Characters + Short Stories:

Founders Era:

Emmanuel

Hogwarts Legacy Era:

Abigail Grandshaw

Marauders / First Wizarding War / Pre-Hogwarts Mystery Era:

Orele Ollivander

— Bonsai

— Amortentia

— Memorable Mother's Day

— Riddle Me This

Gerald Ollivander

Hanalee Kowalski

Jessamyn Kowalski

Jacob McPhee

Hogwarts Mystery Era:

Jessamyn McPhee

Ash Z

— Honourable McGonagall

Ford Billingsley

Cassandra Santacruz

Seraphina Selwyn

Golden Trio Era:

Melody Riddle

Rebecca Figsund

Addison Gentz

Elisabeth Parker

Beatrix Figsund

Magic Awakened Era:

Victoria Durazno

Christian Gentz-Williams

The Calamity Era:

Mugsy

Next Generation Era:

COMING EVENTUALLY

[aesthetic-background]

/ / Jacob Kowalski / /

/ / Background / Lockscreen / /

[doradorapuff]

fantastic beasts and where to find them inspired lockscreens

please like if you use please do not repost or delete the caption.

[somebody-already-took-this-url]

quickest sketch of my life but I adore it nonetheless because Jacob Kowalski is my number one fav character from Fantastic Beasts and this scene always makes me cry

[fanonical]

never mind that, when questioned as to why there are no jewish wizards in her series, jkr responded with 'Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, Jewish wizard' as though that makes her Queen Of Representation, it also shows that she seems to think that one (1) background character makes for good representation

and then she completely failed to pick that up and run with it. other writers might say "hmm, i was criticised for not showing jewish people in my world, i'll add explicitly jewish main characters to my next thing!"

but instead she gave us jacob kowalski and queenie and tina, who are all jewish-coded, but are not explicitly jewish within the movie and are never seen practicing their religion even in a small way

and then she had queenie go and join the wizard nazis

[w0nderw0man-cinema]

Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore

8 of 10 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

First things first, I could do one or even more blog posts about the whole 'recast of character' topic and the whole background and the reasons for and against it, but that's not the topic for this review. I'll just say, don't let the recast of Grindlewald make you stop watching these movies. There are three movies and three Grindlewald now, but that doesn't make them less good. Mads Mikkelsen is a pretty good actor, especially for villains and therefore a good choice. You can easily forget they recasted his role again.

This third movie is much more mature but it still fascinates with those cute, creative creatures. The whole Credence plot they developed the last two movies is more of a side plot now. Unsuprisingly, if you need more bad guys in a movie in that case to support Grindlewald, they come up with the stereotype nation of villains. So I guess it was an easy decision for them to make the whole german ministry of magic corrupt, bad and stand with Grindlewald and his follower. Thanks for that. Nothing new. Maybe that's only a personal issue, because I am german and I am tired of being used as the clischee bad guy.

Big winner again is Jacob Kowalski. This man and his story is gold. The whole story is thrilling until the end because their plan to defeat Grindlewald is based on chaos and confusion and I like that a lot.

There are little plot holes and it's not super round to it's peek, but it's fun and entertaining. And I am excited there'll be more magic to come our way and they can extend the Wizarding World so hopefully we can meet with old friends again which I missed in this movie like Tina and new friends we met and I enjoyed a lot like Professor Hicks.

Check out what else I recently watched > here.

Cheers, A.

[dumbass-gryffindor]

HPHM Character Profile: Autumn Clover

This awesome template was made by @hogwartsmystory

This is more focused on Autumn in her 5th Year

IDENTITY

Name: Autumn Clover 

Gender: Female 

Age: 15 

Birth Date: 5/30/1973

Species: Human

Blood Status: %62.5/Half-Blood  (Classified as a half blood by the ministry)

Sexuality: Bisexual 

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Ethnicity: African American 

Nationality: American

Residence : Lives a bit secluded but the closest people to her home are muggles 

Myer Briggs Personality Type: ENFP

THE MAGE

1st Wand: 

Rowan wood 

Unicorn hair core 

11’ and unbending flexibility

2nd Wand:

Ebony wood

Dragon heartstring core  

11 ¼ ‘

Animagus: Border Collie (orange and white)

Misc Magical Abilities: Legilimen

Boggart Form: Jacob being dead,insane or evil 

Riddikulus Form: N/A (I have no idea how to make that funny)

Amortentia: Nighttime , baked goods, vanilla , cinnamon

Amortentia: Potion Supplies/Classroom,A bed of flowers, (Penny Haywood )

Patronus: Border Collie 

Patronus Memory: It changes every time but it's mostly memories of Autumn and Jacob when they were younger

Mirror of Erised: Autumns family being happy 

Specialized/Favourite Spells: Protego, Depulso, Patrounus Charm

APPEARANCE

Faceclaim: Nathalie Emmanuel

Voiceclaim: Im really bad at these but I have a few ideas

Veronica Sawyer (Heathers)

Korra (Legend Of Korra )

Mary Saotome (Kakegurui)

Marceline (Adventure Time )

Game Appearance:  

Height: 5’2

Physique: Average and if you squint she has a little muscle 

Eye Colour: Dark Orange/Light Brown 

Hair Colour : Burnt Orange 

Skin Tone: Brown

Body Modifications: N/A

Scarring:

Right Shoulder (Ice Vault)

Left arm and on the front of her right hand (Vault of fear)

A bunch of other scratches (from Autumn being a reckless idiot)

Inventory:

A few pictures (The one from ‘A Christmas at Hogwarts’’, Another picture of all her friends during her 4th year, and a picture of her and Jacob when they were kids).

Cursed Vault notebook (contains everything Autumn knows/found out about the Vault’s).

Hair ties

Some kind of food

Locket necklace (If she's not wearing it )

Friendship bracelet (From Rowan and Ben )(Also if she's not wearing it ) 

ALLEGIANCES 

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor 

Ilvermorny House: Thunderbird

Affiliations/Organizations: 

Kowalski Family 

Clover Family 

Hogwarts: School of WitchCraft and Wizardry 

Gryffindor 

Gryffindor Quidditch Team 

Holyhead Harpies 

American National Quidditch Team

Professions: N/A (for now)

HOGWARTS INFORMATION

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Charms: ★★★★★★★★★★

DADA: ★★★★★★★★★★

Flying: ★★★★★★★★★★

Herbology: ★★★★★★★★★☆

History of Magic: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Potions: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Transfiguration: ★★★★★★★★★★

Electives:

Care of Magical Creatures ★★★★★★★★★★

Muggle Studies ★★★★★★★★★☆

Arithmancy ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Studies of Ancient Runes ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Quidditch: Captain as of 5th year,Chaser 

Extra Curricular: N/A

Favourite Professors:

Kettleburn 

Rakepick (Before betrayal)

Mcgonagall

Sikander (Muggle Studies) (I know we haven't even seen him in game yet but he seems like the best teacher ever)

Least Favourite Professors:

Dumbledore ( I know he’s not a professor but still )

RELATIONSHIPS

Brother: Jacob Clover

Father: Leo Clover

Mother: Stella Kowalski Clover 

Love Interest: Penny Haywood 

Best Friends:

Rowan Khanna 

Ben Copper 

Bill Weasley 

Charlie Weasley

Merula Snyde 

Rival: Merula Snyde, Ismelda Murk

Enemy: R, Death Eater, Voldemort 

Dormmates: Rowan Khanna 

Pets:

Niffler - Pepper

Owl - Apple

Cat (Siberian) - Rowboat 

Spider - Bunny 

Puffskein - Dime 

Closest Canon Friends:

Rowan Khanna 

Ben Copper 

Bill Weasley 

Charlie Weasley

Merula Snyde

Andre Egwu 

Tonks 

Barnaby Lee

Jae Kim

Skye Parkin 

Murphy Mcnully 

Orion Amari 

Talbott Winger 

BACKGROUND/HISTORY

Autumn's father Leo, was from a pureblood family in Europe. Her mother Stella had a sister named Ophelia. Stella and Ophelia were the daughters of Jacob Kowalski and Queenie Goldstein. They grew up with both wizard and muggle culture. The two were quite popular at school due to her parents reputation but they never let that get to their heads.

Stella would describe her younger self as a free spirit, she liked to travel a lot. That's how she met Leo Clover. They fell in love instantly and got married three years after they met. Leo moved to New York with Stella, but Leo’s family wasn't exactly pleased with this. The Clover’s wanted Leo to marry a pureblood, but Leo couldn’t care less about blood status.

In 1969 they had their first child Jacob Clover, named after Stella’s father. Jacob was the handful at first but once he got a little older he became calmer. Jacob was an adventurous soul and was always wandering off and he loved to learn. From a young age he had an interest in Quidditch, he loved going to the Quidditch world cup every year. 

Autumn was born to Stella Kowalski and Leo Clover on 5/30/1973. Autumn clung to her brother's side like she was glued to him. Autumn wanted to be just like Jacob in every way possible. Like everyone else in her family, she had a fascination with magical creatures. She lived a really happy life in America.

But when she was 5 years old her family moved to Europe including her aunt and cousins. They lived a bit far from others, but the closest people were muggles. They lived in a better house compared to the one In America. There was plenty of backyard space for magical creatures to live outside.

Leo Clover was a part of the ‘Order of The Phoenix’ and fought against Voldemort. Leo had the suspicion that members of his family might be Deatheathers due to their Pureblood supremacy. 

When Jacob started school in Autumn was distraught at first. She then realized that she would be able to write him letters and such. Jacob sent Autumn a letter once a week telling her stories about his first year at Hogwarts and all of the friends he had made. What he had failed to mention to her was all the trouble he was starting to get into due to the cursed vaults. He got into a bit of trouble when he came back from school for the summer. But that didn't stop him. Every year he became more and more distant and sent fewer and fewer letters. He stopped coming home for Christmas.

But the summer before Jacob's 4th year was when true tragedy struck. The family was out in Diagon Alley when two death eaters started a fight with Leo Clover. The fight ended with Leo’s death. 

Things were never the same after that. Autumn's mother was strict before but now it has been taken to another level. Jacob was diving deeper and deeper into the search for the vaults. Autumn didn't hear from him until he came back for summer break, and when he came back he didn't have time for her.

During Jacob's 5th year things took a dark turn. During the middle of the year Jacob's friend, Duncan Ashe had died. Soon after that Jacob was expelled, a week after that Jacob went missing. It was all over the Daily Prophet, all the wizards and witches of Europe had heard about Jacob Clover. Everyone had different theories. Maybe he joined the dark lord , maybe he wanted to be the Dark Lord himself, maybe he was just plain crazy. Autumn was set on finding out when she went to Hogwarts, and that's exactly what she was going to do.

PERSONALITY

Snarky: Autumn picked up this trait from her brother. It takes a bit of getting to know her to see this side of her. Autumn may seem like a sweet person and she is but she's also very witty and snarky. She has the best comebacks, most times she doesn't even notice.

Curious: Ever since Autumn could remember she’s loved to ask questions. Hogwarts was the perfect opportunity for her to learn more. She not only likes to learn about different subjects she loves to learn about people. She likes to know things about her friends. 

Loyal: Autumn's loyalty is unwavering. Once she considers you a friend she’ll always be there for you. She would make a good Hufflepuff.

Friendly: Some people might be scared of Autumn and not want to be near her. But she’s very sincere and supportive of all of her friendships. She does truly care for each one of her friends and would do anything for them. 

Hard-working: Once Autumn has a goal in mind she’ll do anything to achieve it.Sometimes to the point where she ignores her own needs.

Protective: Once you're one of Autumn’s friends she feels a need to protect you. If anyone even dares to look at you the wrong way, Autumn is going to ‘deal with it’.

MISC

Autumn loves to show her friends things from America, whether it be Muggle or Wizard stuff.

You may not be able to tell at first glance but Autumn does like to read. It just has to be a topic she's interested in.

She knows how to bake due to her grandfather’s (Jacob Kowalski) bakery.

Autumn has a bunch of different notebooks.

Cursed Vault Notebook - She writes down everything she learns about the vaults 

Diary - Formatted as letters to Jacob. Autumn planned to give them to Jacob when she found him. 

Misc. - A bunch of random stuff from quotes from her friends to tally marks on how many times she had broken her nose

Gets competitive even with small things like Gobstones 

Loves to just turn into her animagus form and run around 

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I am not sure if we need another werewolf in the cast, although I would still applaud JC if they had the balls to have Ismelda being injured badly enough to leave permanent scars as the way the model is (technically, lycanthropy is only transmitted if the target is bitten, but any severe wound would leave cursed scars that cannot be fully removed).

I think what would really make the difference, if they really decided to do something like this, would be that the lycanthropy wouldn’t be a background detail of the character from jump. It would be something that happens to them over the course of the story. With Remus, with Chiara, even with Greyback...we’re introduced to them as werewolves. Sure, technically it’s a later reveal, but it’s a reveal that is telegraphed from the start and people will absolutely be able to guess apart from maybe the young kids. It’s a detail about their characters that is already true from the moment they first appear. Now imagine getting to know a character well, a totally ordinary character, and then one day they get infected in a terrible accident or incident. Bam, all of a sudden that is a major part of their life and it will be forever. I think that could be an interesting story to be told as well. You’re right, we probably don’t need another werewolf in the cast. Chiara has covered that ground pretty well. But on the other hand, werewolves are for all intents and purposes, one of the minorities in this world. So getting more representation of them could be a good thing. Reminds me of Jacob Kowalski from Fantastic Beasts. He’s probably my favorite character and one of the reasons for that is that honestly, having a muggle as one of the lead characters is pretty damn cool, we haven’t had that before. 

[ao3feed-gravebone]

let's stick together

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2S4t76R

by vtforpedro

In which Credence tries to find peace on his birthday and finds only strange things happening in New York, from escaped magical creatures to witches and wizards, one of whom he finds himself quite literally bound to by a rare magic.

Or: Credence and Percy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Words: 46121, Chapters: 3/3, Language: English

Fandoms: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Credence Barebone, Original Percival Graves, Newt Scamander, Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstein, Background & Cameo Characters

Relationships: Credence Barebone/Original Percival Graves

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, POV Credence Barebone, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Magical Bond, Magically Bound Together, Credence Barebone Needs a Hug, Original Percival Graves is a Softie, True Love, Fluff and Humor, Credence Barebone Heals, Feel-good

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2S4t76R

[ao3feed-newdence]

Part of the Family

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3fdKbnM

by foggys_cupcake_girl

Percy wants to make Newt's birthday in his senior year of college *extra* special...so he and Credence turn to Queenie, Jacob, and Tina for a little help.

Or, the one where Jacob teaches Percy to bake a German chocolate cake, because Percy just cannot live down the ONE TIME he made the oven explode.

(Outtake from "Sing our love's song.")

Words: 4155, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of The Sing 'Verse

Fandoms: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Multi

Characters: Original Percival Graves, Credence Barebone, Tina Goldstein, Queenie Goldstein, Jacob Kowalski, Newt Scamander (mentioned), Seraphina Picquery (Mentioned)

Relationships: Credence Barebone/Original Percival Graves, Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski (background), Tina Goldstein/Seraphina Picquery (mentioned), Credence Barebone/Original Percival Graves/Newt Scamander, Credence Barebone/Newt Scamander, Original Percival Graves/Newt Scamander

Additional Tags: Fluff, Slice of Life, Friendship, Newt has the BEST friends, Original Percival Graves is a Softie, Smitten Original Percival Graves, the OT3 is mostly implied, Newt doesn't actually show up in this one guys sorry, but he's talked about a lot, OT3, Happy Credence Barebone, Baking, Birthday Presents, Birthday Cake, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Family Feels, but the nice kind of feels, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3fdKbnM

[ao3feed-newtina]

Silence.

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3c8wd1q

by Aurigureyder

I need a minute just to get to you I feel like I might be getting through Come over and say nothing Silence is everything.

Words: 1533, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Tina Goldstein, Newt Scamander, Queenie Goldstein, Theseus Scamander, Jacob Kowalski, Albus Dumbledore, Leta Lestrange

Relationships: Tina Goldstein & Newt Scamander, Newt Scamander/Theseus Scamander, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Leta Lestrange/Theseus Scamander, Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander, Queenie Goldstein & Tina Goldstein

Additional Tags: Song Based, Aly and aj song, Just need Fantastic beast new content, Post-Canon, Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Crimes of Grindelwald compliant, Newt Scamander Needs a Hug, Tina goldstein needs a hug, I need more newtina in my life, My First Work in This Fandom

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3c8wd1q

[dreams-in-charge]

Love and authority II

Pairing: Newt Scamander x Female!MacusaPresident!reader

Warnings: ~

a/n: This is an image for the idea of : “IMAGINE Being the President of MACUSA and Newt falls for you“ by @imagination-of-fictional-men .

This is part 2 of “Love and authority” that I decided to upload again. This, because of problems that it didn’t show up properly.

There will be part 3, the last part of this.

Summary:

Newt and you lingered in the thoughts of the other one. The recent attacks of – whatever it was – caused you to take action in form of a conference. But with Newt's secret revealed in front of everyone, you couldn't help him this time … Or could you?

________________________________________

Murder.

As the owl with the letter reached you, you sat on the chair in your kitchen, making yourself breakfast and thinking about the mysterious man you met just yesterday:

Newt Scamander.

You wanted to get to know him better. You wanted to experience him. You wanted him to call your name again, with this beautiful thank you on his seemingly warm lips.

But your thoughts were stopped by the owl, landing in front of the window with the letter, that caused you to immediately make your way to the building of Macusa, calling out to every ministry in the magical world.

Rushing into your office, there were already different Aurors gathering inside.

“Tell me everything. Now.”

And they did. They told you everything you needed to know as the President of Macusa. About the death that occurred in the evening on the day before. The No-Maj that lost his life because of an invincible force, killing him right on the spot.

This is it.

This would be as far as it gets.

And you would make sure of it.

Right now, one of every country sent a wizard to you, gathering in an emergency conference. You, in front of everybody, looking at the body floating right in front of you like a ghost.

You've got too distracted by that man. And this was the consequence you needed to deal with. Maybe, just maybe, if you had taken this man with you, fulfilling your duties, you could have stopped it.

Maybe.

But you didn't know what could have been. You needed to learn out of your mistakes.

You needed to do what needed to be done, informing every important person on the conference about the latest happenings in New York and discussing a possible solution for this chaos.

“This is  serious matter that threatens to expose us all” said the Swiss delegate, Heinrich Eberstadt. His eyes roamed over every person gathered, lastly you.

“Proud words of the man that let Gellert Grindelwald slip out of his grab” was your remark, looking right at him and returning his gaze with authority. “You cant' lecture me.”

You needed to have a good look on Eberstadt.

But your gaze lifted from him to the hologram of the dead body, floating in front of you.

“I think the most important thing now is to-”

But your word were cut short as Tina Goldstein stormed into the hall. She seemed stressed, but something like the faintest of a smile lingered on her face.

Instantly, your eyes were on her and you stopped as you recognised the case in her hand.

Newt.

“Madam President, I'm so sorry to interrupt, but this is critical-”

She stopped, just now realizing in what she ran into. Every eye was on her and her confidence seemed to get less and less. Everyone was silent, all too occupied with the surprising behaviour of the Ex-Auror.

“Mrs. Goldstein. I hope you have a good explanation for your rude and surprising intrusion” you said, with the thought of Newt in the back of your mind. Worrying what she was up to. No – you knew what she wanted to do.

At first, Tina looked at you with a nervous look. But she seemed to remind herself of the urgency of what she was going to say. So, she gathered all her confidence, stepping forward and looking directly at you.

“Yes, Ma'am. Yesterday, a man arrived in New York City, with a case full of magical creatures. And – unfortunately – some of them escaped. I hope you remember the person I brought to you yesterday?”

Of course you remembered him.

You actually had the chance to take the case from him that was placed in Tina's Hand right now.

But you didn't take it.

Your (e/c) eyes shifted to the case you remembered all to well, thinking about the man the first time after the letter arrived. Memories tumbled through your head, bringing you the same rapid heart-beating you experienced in his presence.

“Where is he now?” you asked, without any clue of the storm of feelings that raged inside you. This situation needed you to keep your cool, to act like the President of Macusa you were. Especially in front of the many wizards of the different country's.

Tina took one step forward and sat the case onto the floor.

You instantly knew.

She seemed to knock on the lid of it, taking a cautious step backwards and waiting for something – or rather – someone.

After some seconds, the case seemed to open itself from inside and a nervous looking Newt emerged. At first he didn't seem to register the situation he was in, as all eyes were on him. After him the No-Maj Jacob Kowalski, laughing at first, but realising the same thing Newt did.

Newts eyes landed on you and stayed. Taking you in, but with a nervous and cautious look in his eyes. You, on the other hand, tried to not really look at him for more than two seconds.

On the one side, the ginger man was glad to see you again. You, who roamed in his thoughts for the last hours, turning his heart into a roller-coaster. On the other hand … This was not (y/n) in front of him. This was the President of Macusa, Madame (y/l/n).

“Scamander?”

That was when Newts gaze flickered to the British Envoy. Rumours were heard inside the case, but you were just half listening. Something with 'Theseus Scamander? The war hero' and 'No, this is his little brother'.

You were too focused on the burning feeling inside your chest as you knew that you couldn't cover him up.

Not in this situation.

And never again.

Yesterday was a one-time-thing. Nothing you could do again, or you would risk your position. Especially not in front of all these gentleman.

So you did what you needed to do and braced yourself for the impact.

“Goldstein, who is this man next to Mr. Scamander?” you asked. Acted. No suspicion.

Tina instantly turned back to you, focusing on your question.

“This is Jacob Kowalski, Madam President, he's a No-Maj who got bitten by one of Mr. Scamander's creatures” was her answer, immediately causing another discussion to arise.

Newt's eyes found yours again, after roaming around the different persons in the hall. The pleading glimmering inside them left your heart aching, making you wonder how he could have gathered so much power over you.

He already had a chance.

Turning your eyes from him to the floating hologram of the dead body in front of you caused him to follow your gaze. Gasping, focusing on it, seeing the horror of the damage done.

“Merlin's beard … !”

Pretending to not really know this man, you needed to react on him.

“Is this the work of one of your escaped creatures, Mr. Scamander?”

Newts green eyes shot to you, biting his lip, then turning his gaze again to the hologram. He knew what you needed to do. He knew about your position, about your duties and that he had big luck yesterday. But his feelings couldn't accept this, hoping for his beasts that you would at least keep them safe.

The ginger was helpless in this situation. He didn't want to risk your job, but he needed to think about his creatures too...

“No creature did this, Madame President. And please, don't pretend to consider this option ...” he said with a short look towards you, disappointed about your words. “You must know what that was – I mean – look at the marks ...”

That was when your eyes flickered to the dead body, focusing on the evidence Newt pointed out for you. Trying to figure out what could do such things, until an idea struck you.

No.

“An Obscurus ...” you breathed.

Muttering broke out, everybody seemed to be alerted at this point. Much so, yourself.

But that couldn't be.

“This can't be possible. There can't be an Obscurial in New York ...” was all you could say, pressing your lips together and looking through the different faces of wizards around you.

Everyone looked at Newt like he was insane, but with worry in their eyes. Some didn't believe him, some considered his thoughts. But with or without the truth, you knew that you needed take the case away from him as a symbol of at least some security and authority.

Sighing, you looked at Mr. Graves, who seemed as alerted as everyone else. Although there was a strange feeling you've got, your instincts telling you something you didn't understand.

“Mr. Graves. Take that case away from Mr. Scamander.” Panicked, Newts eyes shot to his case as the said one was gone and next to Graves with a flick of his wand.

“No ... No, no, no, no, no!” was all he muttered, taking some steps towards you until he, Tina and Jacob were forced to their knees. Spells hit them, forcing them into the strange and weak position, wands flying out of their hands.

“Madame President – this isn't right!”

“I decide what is right and wrong ... And I can't let you roam free with your creatures threatening New York.”

Your eyes met Newt's and you hoped he could at least see the true feelings buried inside of you. The silent plead, the silent scream of him to trust him with this, reached you.  But it wasn't possible.

“Mr. Scamander, Mrs. Goldstein and Mr. Kowalski. All of you are under arrest” you said, as Graves stood with the case in his hand. Shoving the screams of the ginger into the background of your mind, you stood tall above them.

“No, please – don't hurt them. You need to understand – nothing in there is dangerous! Madame (y/l/n), you know that!”

Breathing in and out you shook your head, breaking Newts heart in the process. Rumours went through the hall, all about suspicion that you may know this man better than you wanted to admit.

“We will decide that, Mr. Scamander” was all you could say, trying not to look into his pained eyes, as the Aurors surrounded them, wands in hand. “Take them to the cells. We will decide what happens to them later.”

Trying to block out the desperate cries of Newt, you turned your head to the side, closing your eyes and breathing in and out. You needed to keep calm, despite the pained feeling spreading through every pore of your body.

“Don't hurt those creatures – there is nothing in there that is dangerous! Please don't hurt them – they are not dangerous ...! Please, they are not dangerous!”

(y/n)!

As much as you tried, all your attempts to ignore the pleading cries of him failed and caused them to rule your head even more. So much, sitting on your comfortable chair, trying to work through the papers in front of you couldn't keep them away.

Sighing you leaned back and allowed yourself a break, but no true break. Was that the right decision?  

Remembering the look Newt gave you made you flinch, making you feel his pain anew. The feelings in your chest told you that you needed to help him. But the reality was different: You needed to think about the safety of the wizarding world and the non-wizarding world. You needed to think about you.

But a tiny part inside of you made you stop.

(y/n)!

You had heard him shout your name, the last word from him before the silence.

Burying your head in your hands, you considered your options:

You could just get along with your life. He was one of many, just one wizard in this world, his beasts roaming free in New York. Maybe, just maybe, it is better like this.

Maybe is a strong word.

Maybe everything he said was true. That you needed to help him, even risking your job, because it is the right thing to do. And you had the feeling that only Newt Scamander, the man and his beasts, were able to find the remaining creatures.

You felt it, you felt the decision you would make.

Until a knock at the door of your office made you stop. A young wizard came in, one that was just in his development to become an auror, and he was looking concerned.

“Madame President, I apologize for this disturbance. But I have a message from Mr. Graves.”

“It's all right. What is it about?” you replied, finally sitting back in your chair, looking at the still nervous man in front of you.

“It's about the wizards and the No-Maj in the cells. Mr. Graves questioned them and saw Mrs. Goldstein and Mr. Scamander as a danger for the wizarding world. He made the decision to sentence them to death.”

Your heart stopped for a minute, your eyes growing big. But then, everything seemed to move faster and faster inside you, a fierce piercing rage bubbling inside you, mixed with concern.

Concern about Tina, one of the best former Aurors you had, and of course the man, who left you with your thousand thoughts of him.

Newt Scamander.

And you knew what you needed to do.

Like Queenie Goldstein and Jacob Kowalski new what they had to do.  

Hearing the thoughts of her sister and the strange man, Queenie immediately needed to take action. She just got the case out of the office of Graves, with the help of Jacob, the No-Maj she became so found of.

Every nerve in their body's tingled as an alarm got off in the distance, causing many wizards to run around them, some into the opposite directions. They didn't know what happened, but they had no time to really care about it.

Just as they turned a corner, they saw strands of (h/c) in the distance and Queenie stopped. Jacob nearly bummed into her, making a surprised sound.

“What's wrong?” he asked at first, but followed her for him beautiful eyes towards a woman, making her way to them. And he recognised her. “Oh no.”

“Mrs. Goldstein?” you asked her and she held the case behind her, blocking your sight of it.

“Yes, Madame President?”

Eyeing her suspiciously, you immediately knew what she was up to. With the sight of the No-Maj behind her, trying to look into another direction and hiding behind her, with the case in both of her hands.

You knew about Queenie's ability to read minds, about the alarm that went off and the execution of her sister and Newt. It was easy to place everything together and your analysing look on her softened a bit.

The blond woman on the other hand panicked, even reaching out for her wand to use it and forgetting her ability to read minds. She couldn't let them do what they wanted to, she couldn't let Tina or Newt die. And she was ready to fight for them.

Jacob, on the other hand, watched her with a concerned look on his face. Until he gathered his courage, touching her wrist as her eyes shot to him. And with just one look into his eyes and the faintest shake of his head, she relaxed a bit, letting go of her wand.

“I can assume where you are planning to go, Mrs. Goldstein. Especially with that No-Maj behind you.”

Her gaze flickered to you again, smiling nervously. She didn't have an excuse for this and even with one … You could see right through her. Like she did with the thoughts of everyone.

You took some steps towards her, Queenie standing her ground under your fixated gaze on her.

“And I want to help you.”

Both looking perplex, they stared at you, clearly shocked at your words. A grin spread on your lips, amused at their reaction, until you remembered what you three needed to do.

“We need to hurry. It could already be too late ...”

That seemed to get them into the reality again. Nodding, now motivated and feeling somehow safer than before with the President of Macusa on her side, all of you hurried to the lower floor, hurrying towards the cells.

You a bit ahead of them, hoping that It wasn't too late.

“Madame President-”

“I think (y/n) is more appropriate in this situation” you answered, smiling at her just slightly and she returned it sweetly. “I'm not the President of Macusa in this situation, not any more.”

“Well then … (y/n)? Why do you help us?”

“Yes”, Jacob stormed in, “I thought you needed to arrest us. I mean – because of all this mess with Newt's beasts. And you seem to be – pardon me – in a quite strong position.”

Nodding at him and their question, you needed to gather your thoughts first, smiling a bit at them.

“Well … Like Mrs. Goldstein said, she brought Mr. Scamander into my office yesterday. But in the case she showed to me were no beasts. Strangely, there seemed to be baked sweets inside. I must say, they looked rather delicious, but I of course couldn't believe her.”

Jacob seemed to blush at the last sentence and you wondered why. But you didn't ask why. That would have been quite strange.

“But on the street, when the stars shined at the sky … I saw him hunt his niffler with you, Mr. Kowalski. And he showed his beasts to me. No, not beasts … His friends. And I could see that neither he nor them wanted to do us any harm. Of course, I needed to act like my position before, but I never wanted an execution to take place.”

Both of them looked at you with understanding eyes, nodding to themselves while you sighed. Queenie had a knowing smile on her lips, reading your thoughts and therefore knowing about the feeling inside of you. As for you, concern was bubbling inside your stomach and your steps seemed to get faster and faster ...

Until you bummed into someone, nearly falling to the ground.

Your hand shot to your wand, reflex taking over you, until you somehow recognized the smell of the man that prevented your harsh collision with the ground by holding you close to him.

Newt.

The name caused a storm to swirl inside of you for anew, making you numb but so much more sensitive at the same time. Your eyes connected, his beautiful green and your (e/c) ones, in a dance only you both seemed to witness.

The heart inside both of your chests seemed to explode and for a split second you thought that he would be mad at you. For sending him to the cells, for not covering you. But the glimmer in his eyes, the little smile on his lips and his hands at your lover back, radiating warmth, seemed to relax you...

“Darlings, I know … But we need to keep going” said Queenie, sending both of you out of your trance. A blush rouse on your and Newt's face, letting instantly go from each other.

Queenie and Jacob needed to chuckle, but Tina seemed to look a bit confused.

“Madame President, what are you doing down here?” she asked, looking at you.

“I've got a message about the death sentence” were your words, your face growing serious and rage growing inside of you. “I can't believe Graves just decided on his own about something as serious as this. And I want to help you.”

Looking up at you, Newt couldn't help but smile at your determined eyes, feeling proud and happy. At first, he needed to admit, Newt really did feel disappointed at you. The red haired man understood of course, but his beasts were more important for him in that moment … And now, here you were. Standing right in front of him, glowing in a pale light like the sun and the wonderful creature.

Catching his gaze you smiled at him, wanting to say something more, until you heard running and voices in the distance. Hastily turning around, you instantly shoved Queenie and Jacob towards Newt and Tina.

“I can buy everyone of you some time … But you need to hurry. I can keep them away for a short time. You need to get along alone after that. There will be chaos. Use that for your advantage.”

“But, Madame (y/l/n)-” Newt began, but you stopped him.

“Call me (y/n) … Newt.”

Even the bare name from him rolling off your tongue made his heart stop for a second, your eyes meeting again, until more voices cut the air around you.

“Now, go!” was all you said. Tina took a hold of Newts hand, dragging him and the other two away from the scene.

“Madame President!”

Turning towards the Aurors approaching you, the serious look returned to your face. You needed to buy them some time. And you knew how. Keeping the Aurors away from them for even a short moment would be difficult and they needed to have extreme luck getting out of this mess.

But you trusted them.

And that was what kept you going with it. Even when everything was a mess and you needed to regain a somewhat organized day, it was worth it.

[the-shadow-of-atlantis]

Full name: Nova Irine Vinci

Eye color: heterochromia, one green one gold

Hair: black, waist length, straight with bangs

Body type: average height and slim like a dancer's body

House: Slytherin

Parentage: Father, Frans Vinci, comes from pure blood decent however left his family shortly after leaving Hogwarts and went off become an auror, joins the Order of the Phoenix. Mother, Keti Vinci(daughter of Jacob Kowalski), was born a squib but instead of conforming to squib standards decided to form her own path and became a muggle Doctor. They met toward the end of the first wizard war when Frans was injured in a fight with his death eater sister, Keti found him and helped him heal, never left each other’s side ever since.

Interests: Space, science, and magical creatures. Advances well in potions.

Pets: Niffler, snuggles, gift from Amos Diggory

Story: Nova grew up in a muggle environment but knew of her magic. She developed a strong love for space and desired to be an astronaut. Knowing of her dream, after receiving her letter to Hogwarts, her mother decided she should continue for at least one more year of muggle school and be homeschooled for wizardry. Nova goes to Hogwarts in her second year and gets placed into Slytherin and immediately questions why Slytherin have such a bad rep. She becomes friends with Cedric Diggory and eventually dates him ending their fourth year. She ends up having a teen pregnancy and prematurely gives birth to their daughter hours after Cedric's death. She continues to attend her last year of Hogwarts though starts to see just how terrible the wizard system is and joins the DA club.

After hogwarts seeing as how nothing is improving and the return of Voldemort is upon them she works alongside her father and the Order to start evacuating muggle borns and half bloods. She even sends her own daughter away along with the Diggorys for fear of losing her the way she did Cedric. Towards the end of the war she becomes Percy’s bodyguard after it gets revealed Ron is with Harry and promises to look out for him for the Weasley’s, resulting in mutual feeling for each other and eventual relationship.

After the war she sees that things still need to change in the wizard world abandons her dreams of being an astronaut and because an activist instead. Later opens an orphanage and decides to become headmistress of Hogwarts to help new generations.

Strengths: respects her muggle background and intertwines it a lot with her magic to unlock possibilities

Weaknesses: often puts others before herself and tends to forget to look out for herself from time to time

[terriblelifechoices]

Happy holidays, guys.  I actually have a thematically appropriate timestamp!

(And, more importantly, I am DONE with my holiday crafting!  Which is weird.  I don’t have a project to work on for the first time in like a year.  Obviously it is time to start plotting next year’s holiday crafting, but what the hell am I supposed to do on my lunch hour now?  Do not suggest talking to my coworkers, for I am awkward and cranky.)

From Chapter 7 of the second volume of Timestamps.  Yakkorat said: I just keep thinking about family holidays.  The family, both blood family and chosen, keeps GROWING.  What’s Solstice/Christmas like at the Graves household?  I assume his sister’s family is there.  Are Percival’s whole team and their growing families on the guest list?  Seraphina and perhaps Marco and Grandmama?  What would Graves be like having all his people under one roof?  How would Credence deal with hosting such a huge event?  LOL.  Clearly, I have QUESTIONS.  LOL.

And, well.  That looked like fun.

Graves Manor, December 25, 1933

“Credence, my grandma is going to come back from the dead and haunt me if you don’t sit down,” Jacob said, exasperated.

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Credence said mildly.

“You never met my grandma,” Jacob muttered.  “You know what she’s gonna say to me?  She’s gonna say, Jacob, didn’t I raise you better than this?  And I’m gonna say, yes, Grandma, you did.  And she’s gonna say, then why haven’t you told that poor sweet pregnant man to put his feet up?  And I’m gonna say, well, Grandma, I tried, but you told me not to argue with people in the family way when they start nesting.”

Credence sort of wished he’d met Jacob’s grandma.  He suspected she would have gotten along with Grandmama Genevieve and the rest of the coven.  Anyone who produced a grandson like Jacob Kowalski had to be pretty special.

“It’s my kitchen,” he pointed out.  “You can’t kick me out of my own kitchen.”

Watch me, said Jacob’s expression.

“Besides, you don’t even celebrate Christmas,” said Credence.  “So it doesn’t seem fair to make you cook.”

“No one’s making me do anything,” Jacob said.  “I like cooking.  Especially for family.  Besides, it’s not like wizards celebrate Christmas the way non-magic folks do, anyhow.”

He had a point.  As far as Credence could tell, American wizards celebrated the winter solstice more than they did Christmas.  Wizarding celebrations had less to do with the birth of Christ than they did celebrating the return of light after the long, cold dark of winter.  The only reason wizards didn’t celebrate on the solstice itself was that not participating in traditional holidays was the sort of thing that stood out to No-Maj’s, and it was better to blend in.

“I like cooking too,” Credence pointed out.  He even liked cooking the No-Maj way, even if using his wand was faster.  There was something comforting about it.  Magic was all very well and good, but every once in awhile a man wanted to enjoy the work of his own two hands and knowing that he’d made something -- that he’d provided for and nourished his family.  Surely Jacob, who fed everyone who came into his orbit if they didn’t move fast enough, would understand that.

Jacob sighed.  “C’mon,” he pleaded.  “Let me practice my expectant father hovering on you, would you?  Sit down.  You can still help, as long as you’re off your feet.”

Credence considered that.  He probably owed it to Queenie to let Jacob get the fussing out of his system now, or he’d just spend all night fussing over her.

“Alright,” he said, stepping away from the stove and letting Jacob take over tending the pot full of gently steaming milk.

Jacob added in a generous handful of Speedwell’s chocolate and a teaspoon of vanilla, stirring the mixture carefully.

Credence watched him work.  Jacob had magic all his own.  The fact that it didn’t manifest as wizarding magic didn’t make it any less magical.  His heart and his kindness were magic enough.

His cooking was pretty magical, too.

He looked out the kitchen windows into the back garden, half-listening for sounds of distress.  There was a lot of excited screaming from Gally and Ollie, who would probably be getting tired soon and need to come in.  Arthur and Gwen and Lance were doing a fair bit of shouting too.  The epic snow battle had been going on for nearly fifteen minutes now.  Credence could hear Robert laughing at something -- probably Percival and Seraphina, who were ridiculously competitive sometimes.  Especially if the stakes were as ridiculous as a snowball fight.

From outside, he heard Percival give an indignant yowl of rage, and then a faint whumph as snow exploded everywhere.

“Cheater!” Seraphina shouted back.

“A filthy cheater!” Lance chimed in.

“You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it first,” Percival said and then squawked.  Credence suspected someone had hit him in the face with a handful of snow.

Jacob sprinkled cinnamon over the hot chocolate mixture and brought Credence a mug.  Credence took it and inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of chocolate and comfort and home.

“You make the best hot chocolate,” he said.

“Aw,” said Jacob.  “Thanks.  Think I should dish some up for the hoard outside, or do you want to put a warming charm on it?”

“Might as well do another mug,” Credence said.  “Olwen’s probably going to need to come in, soon.”

Right on cue, he heard Olwen start crying.  There was a brief lull from the snowball fighters, and then Dindrane came inside, balancing Ollie on her hip.

Ollie scrunched up her little face and wailed.  She was only three, and she’d had rather a lot of excitement already.  It was about time for a tantrum.

“Oh, baby,” Credence said, getting to his feet.  “Are you all tired and cranky?”

“No!” Ollie said, still crying.

“Of course not,” he said.  “You want some of Uncle Jacob’s cocoa?”

“I’ve got her,” Dindrane murmured.  “Sit down.”

“Is everyone going to tell me that?” Credence asked, exasperated.

“You’re a million months pregnant,” Marco pointed out.  “So, yes.”

“Jumping Jehoshaphat!” said Jacob.  “How are you so quiet?”

Marco raised his eyebrows and indicated the din outside with a tilt of his head.

Jacob snorted.  “Yeah, no,” he said.  “I wouldn’t have heard you coming even if it were dead silent out there.”

Marco shrugged, adjusting his hold on Gawain.  “Trade you,” he said to Dindrane.

“Eight,” Credence muttered.  “I am eight months pregnant, not a million.”

“No one wants to be told they look a million months pregnant,” Dindrane informed Marco.

“I didn’t say he looked --” Marco sighed and changed tactics.  “You should be resting.”

“I will ban fussing,” Credence threatened.

Marco bounced Olwen in his arms and leaned in to whisper something to her.  Olwen’s tantrum subsided, and she pressed her red snotty face against his neck.  Marco didn’t seem to mind.

“Marco Ramirez, literal baby whisperer,” murmured Dindrane.

“I’m very soothing,” Marco deadpanned.

He said it like it was a joke, but Credence suspected there was a grain of truth to it.  Children instinctively knew who they could trust.  And Marco -- who was entirely unflappable -- practically radiated calm, which babies and children seemed to find soothing.

Or at least, his children did.  But that might have also been because Marco was family.

“Is that cocoa?” Queenie asked, padding into the kitchen on slippered feet.  She was wearing the burgundy sweater Credence had knitted for Jacob and dark colored trousers he thought she might have stolen from Tina.  He was fairly certain they weren’t his, although Queenie was good enough with tailoring charms that he probably wouldn’t have noticed if they were.

Credence still wasn’t sure why being Tina and Queenie’s adopted younger brother meant that they could borrow his clothes.  He generally only minded when Tina wore his trousers better than he did.  He had enough things.  If his sisters wanted to borrow them, that was alright with him.

Besides, it wasn’t like he hadn’t borrowed one of Tina’s hastily re-tailored blouses a time or two.  It was, if Percival and Seraphina’s stories were any indicator, just something wizarding siblings did.

“Hi,” Jacob said, his smile going faintly besotted.

“Hi,” said Queenie, leaning in to kiss him.

“Good nap?” asked Jacob.

“Mm, still tired,” Queenie admitted.  Credence had spent the morning commisterating with her over how much work it was to grow a whole new person, and he’d managed to convince her to go take a nap while Jacob had grateful raptures in the background.  “But the baby wants cocoa.”

“Cocoa for two, coming up,” Jacob said.

“How’s the snowball war going?” Queenie asked.

“Winding down, I think,” Credence said.  “Did they wake you?”

“I’d have put up a silencing charm if I minded,” Queenie assured him.

Credence made a mental note to put a silencing charm on Jacob and Queenie’s room anyway.  “They should be coming in, soon,” he said.  Hopefully the kids would be tired enough for a nap.  Well, hopefully Galahad would be.  Arthur, Gwen and Lance seemed to have the boundless energy of youth, in addition to being a bit too old for naps.

“I can go get them, if you want,” Marco offered.  He accepted a cup of cocoa from Jacob and shared it with Olwen, careful to keep her from spilling.

“Let them have their fun,” said Credence.  Gawain made a fussy sound from Dindrane’s arms.  “Uh oh,” he said, getting carefully to his feet.  “Someone wants his Papa.”  

At fifteen months old, Gawain was not quite too big to hold, even with the disadvantage of Credence’s pregnant bulk, but Credence didn’t think he could carry him for very long.  That was, he thought ruefully, one of the few things he disliked about pregnancy.  He wanted to be able to hold his babies, and Gawain wasn’t old enough to understand why he didn’t fit in Credence’s lap anymore.

“Are you excited for Christmas?” Credence asked Gawain.

Gawain babbled at him.  His vocabulary wasn’t very big, but Credence listened attentively anyway.

“That’s right,” he agreed, when Gawain was finished.  “You’re going to have a good time tearing up the wrapping paper.”  Galahad and Olwen both had when they were Gawain’s age.  Credence just hoped Gawain didn’t enjoy tearing paper as much as Olwen did.  Olwen had made the correlation between wrapping paper as a thing it was fun to tear and ordinary paper, and had torn the pages out of four books before her paper tearing rampage could be stopped.

At least she hadn’t gotten in to Percival’s office.  Or his.  It could have been worse.

“Story, Papa?” asked Olwen, squirming free of Marco’s hold.  “For me and ‘Wain?”

“What story?” Credence asked.

“A Daddy story,” Olwen decided, which meant a Merlinian legend.

“Do you want me to get Daddy and have him tell you a story?” Credence asked.

Olwen thought about it.  “Daddy story,” she said again.

“Alright,” Credence said.  He stuck his head outside the kitchen door carefully.  “Can I call for a ceasefire?” he asked.

“Aw, Tio Credence,” Lance said.

Gwen took advantage of his distraction to shove snow down the back of his coat.  She was very much a Graves, sometimes.

Lance swore at her in a mixture of English and Spanish.

“Swear jar!” Credence and Percival both said.

Percival brushed snow off of his knees, red-cheeked and windswept.  “I could use a break,” he admitted.

“Good.  You need to come in and tell a story.”

Percival gave him a speculative look, clearly wondering whether or not that was a code for something scandalous. It would have been, while he was pregnant with Olwen.  It hadn’t been with Gawain, but that didn’t stop Percival from wondering.

“Oh my God,” Credence hissed.  “No.  Olwen wants you to tell her a story.”

“Ah,” said Percival.  He leaned in and kissed Credence’s cheek, rubbing his cold nose against Credence’s and then Gawain’s, making their son shriek with laughter.  “Can’t blame a man for trying.”

“I can hear you,” Seraphina called.

“Then stop eavesdropping!” Percival called back.  He took Gawain from Credence’s arms and balanced their son on his hip.  “Do you want a story too?” he inquired.

“Oh, tell the one about Arthur and Cath Palug,” said Dindrane.

“Am I telling stories to everyone now?” Percival inquired.

“Might as well,” Robert said easily, trooping into the kitchen behind him.  Lance had Galahad in his arms, and they seemed to be discussing who could drink more cocoa, which Credence suspected was going to end badly.

Percival looked around the kitchen and shrugged.  “Well,” he said.  “Alright.”  He transfigured a chair into a loveseat big enough for him and Credence and Olwen and Gawain and cleared his throat.  “A long, long time ago,” he began.

Credence conjured up a throw pillow and used it to support his back, relaxing into one of the few comfortable positions he could manage and rested his head against Percival’s chest.  The familiar words had the feel of ritual, well-worn and comforting.

Ma used to make them read Scripture on Christmas.  Even now, Credence could still remember the familiar gospels: Luke and Matthew, even if the exact chapter and verse had long since been lost to memory.

This was better.

[aethelar]

i would kill for you if you wrote graves’ side to the fireman story

[part one of the fireman story]

Queenie, the text from Tina read. Hide the matches.

Funny you should mention it, Queenie texted back, artfully shielding her phone with her elbow and maintaining unbroken eye contact with Graves.

“… but what if I rescued him from a small fire,” Graves continued. “Just a little one. All I want to do is carry him out the building bridal style and give him CPR, that’s not too much to ask, right?”

“I’m fairly certain your job is to stop fires,” Queenie said dryly.

Graves shook his head, slow and solemn and one step away from a long suffering sigh. “No no, see, that’s Smokey the bear’s job. My job is to rescue people from fires,” he explained. “Which means, ergo, logically, ipso facto, that I need a fire to rescue him from, savvy?”

“Graves, please stop.”

“Q. E. D.”

“Please.”

He slurped his coffee with far more smugness than the conversation warranted. Queenie hid her giggle in a hasty smile and turned to Jacob, pushing his way into the kitchen through the heavy swing door.

“All ok, love?” she asked as he made a beeline for the cupboard.

“Grand,” he confirmed, pausing just long enough to steal a kiss before digging out the krantz cake. “Your sister, on the other hand… “ He made a so-so motion with his hand.

Queenie frowned, thinking of the strange text Tina had sent. “Newt troubles?” she hazarded.

“Newt troubles,” Jacob confirmed.

“And Newt troubles are…?” Graves asked, already halfway to pushing his chair back from the table. He’d never met Queenie’s sister but he’d heard enough about her - and even if he hadn’t, he was hardly going to let a girl get harassed in a bakery of all places. Half the point of being a tightly muscled fireman, surely, was to loom threateningly in the background while idiots suddenly tripped over their words and found better places to be.

“Sweetie, sit,” Queenie said, putting a hand on his arm. “Newt’s a friend, it’s not that sort of trouble.”

He sat, but didn’t relax. “What sort of trouble then?”

“Newt,” Jacob declared dramatically, “has fallen in love. For real this time, apparently.”

“Oh no, again?” Queenie leaned back in her chair. She shouldn’t laugh, she really shouldn’t, but on the other hand, “Poor Tina, no wonder she needs cake. Who’s he found this time?”

“Either a fireman or a policeman, I think.” Jacob wrinkled his nose as he tried to pick through the fast-paced info-dump Newt had given him while waiting for Tina to arrive. “Definitely a man in a uniform, but the details are hazy.”

Graves and Queenie perked up almost in sync. “A fireman?” Graves asked.

“Maybe you know him!” Queenie added. She shooed Jacob towards the door. “Find out which fireman, go, go!”

“Maybe fireman,” Jacob stressed, but he saluted with the hand not carrying cake and turned to go back out front with the determination of a man on a mission. A not particularly subtle man on a mission, but then, subtle never worked with Newt so it was probably for the best.

“So,” Graves started once Jacob had gone. “‘Oh no, again’? Should I ask?”

Queenie raised an eyebrow. “I thought we were talking about your love life?”

“My love life is a barren wasteland of daydreams and near misses, I’d much rather gossip about your sister’s friends that I’ve never met. Spill.”

“You, Mr Barren Wasteland, are awful. And no, I shan’t. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”

Graves made a face. “You’re no fun,” he told her. “And I’m out of coffee. Where does Jacob keep the instant?”

Queenie pointed. “Third from the left, the jar labelled heathen. Inbetween the seven other kinds of decent coffee you could be drinking instead.” She paused, then added tartly, “And I’ll have you know that I’m more fun than you know how to handle. It’s one of my many charms.”

Graves was saved from answering by the door swinging open again. Jacob walked through, a somewhat bemused expression on his face as he looked sideways at Graves and tried (failed) to adopt a casual nonchalance.

“Well?” Graves prompted when the silence stretched on. “Which fireman? C’mon Kowalski, I’m invested in this story now. Don’t leave me hanging.”

Jacob cleared his throat. “He doesn’t actually know,” he hedged.

“What does the guy look like?” Graves tried to run through which of the squad had been called out recently and who this Newt may have fallen for. Delgado, maybe? Abernathy? Probably not Abernathy. No, wait - Theseus, everyone loved Theseus. It had to be him. “Tall, slightly curly hair, freckles?”

“He, ah.” Jacob glanced somewhat frantically at Queenie. Graves, thankfully, was still frowning into space and trying to work out if Newt and Theseus seemed vaguely familiar because he’d heard it before or if the two names just worked well together. Jacob attempted to clear his throat again and turned it into a cough half way. “Apparently he had arms.”

“He had arms?”

Jacob nodded. “Newt was quite insistent on this.” He focussed resolutely on Graves’ forehead to stop himself looking at the arms in question. In the verging-on-too-small black tank Graves was wearing they were very much on display and, in fairness to Newt, somewhat hard to miss.

“Oh my god,” Queenie squeaked, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. She stared wide-eyed at Graves. “Arms.”

More nodding. “Yes,” Jacob said, an over-exaggerated wink heavily implied in his tone of voice. “Arms.”

“Huh.” Graves shrugged. Arms were a weird thing to notice, but… “I’ll let Theseus know to roll his sleeves up. So, you reckon Newt will ask him out or should I set them up for a blind date or what?”

“Oh my god,” Queenie repeated.

Jacob wordlessly went to fetch more cake.