A shatter of glass, a crash and a yelp pulled the Wentworth girl's attention back to the Englishman and the pilfering pest. Laid outside of the Voclain and Co store, surrounded by the window pane that had smashed into thousands of tiny pieces and a toppled over jewellery stand, Newt turned a blind eye to the damage he and his pet had caused.

Marigold could not turn a blind eye. Chaos unfolded in front of her and she simply did not know if she should help the fallen man back up to his feet or chase the odd creature that scurried away from him.

Jacob opted for the latter and unsuccessfully tried to stop the Niffler in its path as Mr Scamander jumped to his feet, seemingly unharmed with his wand in his hand.

"Accio".

With a flick of Newt's wand, the beast tumbled through the chilled winter air, beady eyes locked on a competing jewellery store that sat across the street from Voclain and Co, untouched and in pristine condition.

Coins, jewels and stolen silvers fell from the Niffler's stomach pouch and the shimmering goods ricocheted like expensive bullets off Newt's suitcase which Jacob Kowalski held in front of his and Lady Marigold's face, shielding them from the flying jewellery.

Newt pursued his Niffler across the street, Marigold and Jacob trailed behind him, and with another swish of his wand and a silent mutter of a word, the thieving beast spun around one of the tall black street lights, desperately clinging to the frozen metal with its small paw before it was thrown against the large crystal pane of the competing jewellery store.

The Niffler wiggled, chittered and tried to set itself free but it was stuck like a fly in jelly and unable to tear its eyes from the sparkling jewellery that hung off Newt's blue trench coat, decorating him like one of the many christmas trees that stood in the halls of Wentworth Manor.

"All right. Happy?" Newt raised his brow, watching the beast as it tried again to free itself.

His Niffler had sent him on one too many wild chases for him to even be shocked by its antics. However, Newt Scamander was rather surprised that in a city of millions, the Niffler had managed to track down Lady Marigold hours after their encounter in the bank.

"One down, two to go," Newt's voice was quietened by the echo of police sirens that grew closer with every visible breath that slipped past Marigold's blue tinted lips.

"So, your parents named you 'Lady'? A little out of the ordinary" Jacob glanced over his shoulder to Newt as the Englishman pulled the beast free, leaving behind a small crack. Jacob's last twenty four hours had been far from ordinary.

Marigold slapped her hand over her mouth, unable to stop the laughter that bloomed in her chest. While on her travels she'd been met with a similar conversation more than once and never did it fail to bring a smile to her face.

"Lady is her title," Newt answered, shaking the beast upside down to empty its pouch.

Jacob's brows furrowed, then softened and his eyes widened, "Like a royal title? Like a princess?" The man glanced over his shoulder again to Newt and then back at Lady Marigold.

"Not a princess. A Lady," Marigold could see that Jacob was still confused, his third glance at the Englishman gave him away. To Mr Kowalski's misfortune, Newt Scamander caught a glimmer of Lady Marigold's silver necklace as it fell to the ground, its dainty chain tangled up in another stolen necklace.

"My father is an Earl, he inherited his title from his father and his father before him," Jacob nodded with a half smile and Newt picked the necklaces up and carefully placed them into his coat pocket.

"My title is of no importance, not to me and not to a great deal of the world," Marigold turned toward Jacob and she held her hand out to him, "Please just call me Mari, or Marigold but I much prefer Mari. Mari Wentworth".

Jacob stared at the woman for a moment. He regretted the topic of small talk he had chosen to calm his nerves until the police arrived at the scene. He was surprisingly even more confused than he had been moments prior but nonetheless he took Marigold's cold hand in his, shaking it gently, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mari".

Marigold could not hide the smile that shone on her face. It was rare, especially in England with the company that the Wentworth family kept, for Lady Marigold to be addressed by Mari. Her brother, born Augustus, had been unfairly addressed as August since he was six years old by everyone including their parents. Marigold could not be mad at her brother, it was not his fault she was a woman.

Lady Marigold's smile faltered and she and Jacob – he still held Newt's case in his right hand – raised their hands beside their heads as police tires screeched to a stop in the street. The car headlights further illuminated the four – incredibly guilty looking – suspects.

The police officers exited their vehicles, holding guns in their black gloved hands and Newt stood up, peering over the top of Marigold's head. The police had arrived much sooner than he'd expected.

Jacob extended his left arm out to his side, pointing down the street, "They went that way, officer".

Cocking their guns, one officer ordered them to put their hands up. Jacob raised his hands beside his head again, complying with the police. Lady Marigold's hands only faltered, startled by the window pane that shattered behind them.

"I can assure you, officers, this is not what it looks like," Jacob nudged Marigold with his elbow, trying to grab her attention as she spoke to the officers who didn't believe a single word that tumbled off her tongue. "Yes, I will agree that it does not look good but there is a perfect explanation-" Marigold glanced over her shoulder to Newt. Newt shook his head and Lady Marigold raised her brow, they had avoided an altercation with the police earlier that day, thanks to the Englishman and she hoped they could again. "If you'd allow us to explain, I'm sure of all this-". The Niffler peaked its head over Marigold's shoulder, curiously looking at the officers. "-hostility can be-".

"What the hell is that?".

Newt glanced down at the Niffler and realising the officer was talking about the nosey beast, he tucked it back into his coat as Mr Kowalski bumped Lady Marigold's arm for a second time.

Jacob gulped loudly, a look of terror taking over his face, "Lion," Jacob muttered, pointing at the sharp toothed, yellow-gold furred mammal that stalked towards them.

The lion roared and Marigold grabbed Newt's hand, squeezing it tightly as she backed into his chest, terrified of the dark maned 'King of the Jungle' beast. Her brother had seen a lion close up, not nearly as close as his sister stood and he marvelled at their beauty, telling Marigold – before she was engaged to Leopold – that when the opportunity came they'd travel to Kenya so she too could see just how magnificent lions were.

Newt glanced down at their hands. Marigold's was much softer than his. Years of working in uncharted terrain had not done the supple skin of his palms any kind favours, leaving them scarred and rough. He wondered, only briefly but thoroughly, if Lady Marigold noticed she had taken his hand captive in hers as the feeling of her cold hand that slowly began to warm in his almost completely distracted him from the great african animal that had escaped from a nearby zoo.

The officers turned, pointing their guns at the lion and Newt stared at the animal in amazement, a large smile plastered across his face. "You know, New York is considerably more interesting than I'd expected".

Newt's smile never faded, not even as Jacob slowly turned his head to stare at the man with wide eyes before Newt tightened his grip on Lady Marigold's hand and threw his arm over Jacob's shoulder, instantly transporting them down the street.

It wasn't long before they arrived at Central Park, with the Niffler confined inside Newt's suitcase. Marigold's hand still felt warm from Newt's grasp and as much as she did not wish to let go, afraid of losing his warmth, Lady Marigold knew it would be more than disastrous if anyone who unfortunately knew her fiance and dare Marigold think it out of fear he'd appear from thin air, if Leopold himself spotted the newly acquainted hand in hand.

"What exactly are you looking for, Mr Scamander?" Marigold asked.

"An Erumpent," Marigold repeated the name of the beast, trying and failing to locate it in her memory of all the books she had read in her twenty six years. Lady Marigold was unsurprised that she did not know what an Erumpent was. "Have you ever seen a Rhinoceros?".

Marigold's brows furrowed, "Only sketches".

"Well, an Erumpent resembles a Rhinoceros. Erumpent tails, horns and its exploding fluid can be used in potions," Marigold met Jacob's gaze. Newt had opened the floodgate to a thousand questions that he did not have time for while the Erumpent he nurtured was wreaking havoc in the frozen park.

"Potions?" Newt nodded, his eyes darting across the white covered grass in search of the beast that escaped his suitcase.

Jacob pointed at his neck as he lightly tapped Lady Marigold's arm, "Look here," There were four reddened indents and when Marigold tilted her head the indents almost looked like small teeth marks. "A Mur...Murf-".

"Murtlap," Newt interjected with a faint smile. "Imagine a tentacled rat," The confusion on Marigold's face faded, it was much easier to envision a tentacled rat than a Murtlap, another beast she'd never even heard of.

"And it did that?" Marigold nodded her head at the markings on Mr Kowalski's neck.

"The potion tasted worse than the bite felt," Jacob was being a little dramatic, only a little as the Murtlap bite had knocked him unconscious after a few long moments while the potion left him with a bitter aftertaste that a handful of pills could not rid.

"A poultice isn't a delicacy, it's a healing potion," Newt Scamander said.

Marigold hummed, "So these potions are medicine for wizards?" Lady Marigold raised a brow, unsure if she was correct.

Newt was wide-eyed as he glanced between his companions, "Ah," Jacob muttered, "I may have let that slip," Jacob smiled awkwardly.

"It's quite alright," Newt responded, "Mari has witnessed far too much to be obliviated. And yes, they are medicines. But some can do more harm than good".

If Lady Marigold had not felt unsettled by the word 'obliviated', nor the Ostrich that cut between them on the stoney Gapstow Bridge, the smile that lit up her face wouldn't have dimmed. The pronunciation of 'obliviate' sounded far too similar to 'oblivion' which Marigold knew to mean – with few and close definitions since the 13th century – 'a state or fact of forgetting'.

Turning on her heel, Lady Marigold watched the black and white Ostrich as it ran through Central Park, along the snow covered path, "Was that-?" Jacob blinked, after everything, Mr Kowalski was still shocked.

Marigold nodded, glancing at Jacob, "An Ostrich".

Hearing the familiar lowing of a Erumpent, Newt pulled a brown protective helmet from inside his coat. "Check your left inside pocket, Mari," Newt shoved the helmet into Jacob's chest and Lady Marigold unbuttoned the blue trench coat of Newt's that she wore. Marigold dug into the pocket, which was far deeper than she had originally thought, until her nails grazed over the rugged material of a second helmet.

Marigold pulled the padded hat from the pocket and Jacob glanced between the one he held and the one Lady Marigold held, "Put them on," Newt instructed.

"But why would we have to wear something like this?" Jacob asked, Marigold wondered that also.

"Because your skulls are susceptible to breakage under immense force".

Newt, his suitcase in hand, took off in the direction of the Erumpent. Lady Marigold shoved the helmet onto her head, further messing up her usually neat brunette hair, "How lovely," Marigold mumbled, clipping the straps together under her chin as Jacob speechlessly did the same.

They followed after Newt, neither certain about the Erumpent or the danger they could face. Rhinoceros, known to many, even those who had not seen them outside of a hardback book, were dangerous if provoked like most threatened animals.

Finally, coming to a stop outside of the Central Park Zoo, its silver gate toppled over amongst rubble. Mr Scamander sat his suitcase down and retrieved a cuirass made of the same thick material as the helmet from his pocket. Marigold searched her left and then right pocket before finding another brown cuirass folded at the bottom of the pocket.

"Here, you just," Newt stood behind Jacob, holding the chest plate armour over his torso. Jacob slipped his arms into the cuirass and Newt tightened the straps behind his back, securing it in place. "Um, pop this on".

Lady Marigold slid her arms into the armour, bringing it up to her shoulders and over her chest. Newt stepped behind Marigold to help her. He clasped the straps together and tightened the cuirass.

"Now there's absolutely nothing for you to worry about".

Marigold glanced over her shoulder, Newt offered her a smile, one that didn't fill her with much confidence.

"Tell me, has anyone ever believed you when you told them not to worry?" Jacob asked.

"Well, my philosophy is that worrying means you suffer twice".

Leaving footprints in the shimmering snow, Newt led Marigold and Jacob into the zoo, the lowing of the Erumpent growing louder with each step over the bricks that once stood tall as the zoo wall.

"Oh my," Marigold stared at the beast that resembled a Rhinoceros as it cornered a Hippopotamus in its enclosure. It was much larger than Lady Marigold had anticipated and its horn glowed a bright orange.

Newt pulled a phial from his pocket as he sat his suitcase down again, "She's in season. She needs to mate," Newt bit the lid off the phial, spat it onto the ground and dabbed the liquid onto his wrists. "Erumpent musk. She's mad for it".

The phial was handed off to Marigold who curiously sniffed the liquid while Newt rubbed his wrists together. Lady Marigold turned her nose up as tears pricked in the corner of her eyes, the Erumpent Musk was pungent.

A sympathetic smile appeared on Newt's face as Marigold passed Jacob the phial and covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her coat, blocking out the awful stench that invaded her senses.

"The scent is far from pleasant," Marigold would have appreciated Newt's warning five seconds earlier. "Now, you two stay here," Newt whispered, picking up his suitcase.

Keeping their distance from the Erumpent, Lady Marigold and Jacob watched the Englishman as he circled around the monkey enclosure towards the beast. He laid his suitcase on the ground and opened it with a click of the faulty clasps.

"The Erumpent came out of his suitcase?" Marigold spoke quietly, afraid that she'd draw the beast's attention to herself and Mr Kowalski if she spoke at a normal volume.

"Surprisingly, yes," Jacob nodded, his voice just as quiet as Marigold's.

Even more surprisingly, after rolling his sleeves up his forearms, Newt began loudly mimicking the Erumpent and performing a sort of dance that consisted of a lot of wiggling and foot stomping, which had captured the female Erumpent's attention.

"Mari?" Marigold hummed, unable to take her wide eyes off the peculiar performance, "Does this usually happen in England or is it a Wizard thing?" Jacob asked.

"I think it's a Wizard thing," Lady Marigold couldn't be certain, besides her travels to both Europe and America, Marigold had spent all of her life in the South of England, amongst men and women who held themselves to the highest of standards.

"Oh, okay," Jacob mumbled.

The Erumpent, entranced by the Erumpent musk and the mating dance Newt performed, inched closer to the suitcase, as she and Newt stepped in a circle. Marigold hadn't expected her day to get stranger, yet somehow it had.

Mr Scamander fell to the floor and rolled on his back, flipping his coat over his back as he stood up. The Erumpent's horn shone a vibrant orange, her full eyes following Newt's every move before she fell to the floor and rolled towards the suitcase.

"Good girl," Newt praised, the Erumpent lowed, wiggling her legs in the air, "Come on. Into the case".

Lady Marigold could not deny that it was brilliant – that Newt was brilliant.

Jacob, although warned by Marigold's repulsed reaction and Newt's verbal warning against smelling the Erumpent musk, could not help himself or the curiosity that bubbled within him. Jacob lifted the phial to his nose, taking a whiff of the pungent liquid.

With a twitch of his left eye, Jacob instantly regretted his actions and he further regretted bringing the phial so close to his body as something hit his back, causing him to spill the Erumpent musk over himself.

The smell strongly hit Marigold's nostrils and Jacob turned to see what hit him... It was a cold, dead fish... Thrown by a rather proud young seal.

Lady Marigold covered her nose again, the smell beginning to make her nauseous as the Erumpent rolled back onto her legs and away from the suitcase, with her attention solely on Jacob.

"Mr Kowalski," Marigold patted his arm and Jacob slowly turned to face the Erumpent.

"Oh, no," Jacob muttered.

The American ran out of the zoo, screaming as he left Marigold's side. Lady Marigold, afraid of being trampled, ran left around the monkey enclosure – that the Erumpent barrelled through – and towards Newt as he scooped up his suitcase and pulled his wand from his sleeve.

"A seal threw a fish at him," Marigold pointed behind her in the direction that Jacob ran.

Mr Scamander's wand was snatched from his hand, halting them in their chase and rescue. Turning around, they were faced with a baboon – another animal that had escaped from its enclosure when the Erumpent broke down the walls of the zoo in search of a mate – Newt's wand held like a stick in its furred hand. Newt lunged, failing to snatch his wand back and the baboon scampered.

"Merlin's beard!" Newt exclaimed.

Newt went left, chasing the young and excited baboon and Lady Marigold went right, cutting through the destroyed monkey enclosure. She didn't have much of a plan but once while staying in a small village in France, she and her brother had helped a farmer herd a flock of escaped chicken back into their pen. However, the chase ended before a plan was formed as the baboon perched itself upon a pile of rubble to closely study the Wizard's wand.

Newt Scamander crouched in front of the baboon and Marigold approached the animal slowly, her eyes flicking between the monkey and Newt as he broke a twig off a leafless tree branch.

"They're exactly the same," The Englishman held the stick in front of the baboon hoping it would be fooled by the fake wand. Newt smiled, "Same thing".

Lady Marigold crouched beside Newt, dirtying her dress in the brick dust and mossy dirt, "I read that baboons are as smart as young children," Newt turned his head to look at Marigold. His eyes flickered between her warm eyes, freckled nose and her dimpled chin. He could see every delicate detail on her face and she could see each freckle and faded scar that painted his skin and circled his soft light eyes, "He definitely knows they aren't the same," Marigold whispered, dragging her gaze back to the baboon that was not fooled.

Lady Marigold broke another twig off the dead tree, "Children like to be entertained," The baboon glanced up from Newt's wand as Marigold waved the stick in front of her face before hiding it behind Newt's back. Lady Marigold leaned into Newt's side, stretching her left arm behind him. The baboon tilted its head, watching the stick that Marigold waved again as she snatched the stick that Newt held.

It was a simple game, one that Mr Harvey used to play with Marigold when she was only three and he had come to visit her father, bringing a golden Marigold flower from their garden to give to the young brunette who clung to her father.

Marigold hid her left hand behind Newt's back again before dramatically bringing her right hand up to show the baboon the other stick as she widened her eyes with a gasp.

The baboon dropped Newt's wand and snatched the stick off Lady Marigold, impressed by the stick's disappearing and reappearing act. The wand rolled down the rubble and Newt caught it as he and Marigold stood up slowly, letting the monkey play with the stick.

"That was brilliant," Newt whispered, slipping his wand into his sleeve, "How did you know that would work?" Mr Scamander asked.

"I loved playing games like that when I was young but truthfully, I did not know it would work," Lady Marigold answered as they quietly spun on the heel of their shoes to exit the zoo, the lowing of the Erumpent could be heard throughout the entire city.

Newt grasped Marigold's hand in his and teleported them across the park, leaving the zoo in ruins – Newt made a mental note to return to the zoo once the Erumpent was captured to repair the damage.

There was a fallen tree laid in the snow, an orange hole burnt through the middle of the trunk and its brittle branches snapped. Jacob Kowalski was not too far from the tree, running as fast as he could across a frozen pond with the Erumpent right behind him, his screams echoing throughout the snowy park.

The Erumpent ran, tumbled and skidded across the pond until her legs gave way underneath her and she fell onto her stomach, sliding toward Jacob.

In a flash, the Englishman disappeared from Lady Marigold's side and reappeared on the frozen pond, holding his suitcase, unclasped and open, in his hands. Newt crashed into the Erumpent and the American lost his balance as the Erumpent and Newt ungracefully glided toward him.

The Erumpent lowed and tried to stand back up, fighting against the suitcase that pulled her in, limb by limb.

Jacob screwed his eyes closed, bracing himself for the collision that was bound to happen but all he felt was a warm and wet tongue lick his face before the Erumpent was sucked into the suitcase and Newt slammed it shut.

i don't remember if i have specified before where mari and august are from. they are from worthing in the south of england. the town they live in is very sanditon/downtown abbey looking and funnily enough mari and newt grew up only a couple hours away from each other along the coast.