The shattered teacup laid in a handkerchief upon the table. Marigold had shed herself of her coat, it was thrown across the back of a chair and her necklace chain hung from her pocket, shining in the dim orange light a lamp in the corner of the room provided.

Marigold's eyes were red and her cheeks were stained with the tears that she had cried. Lady Marigold was terrified. She was terrified for her future and for the children Leopold Harvey expected her to bear for him but she was equally as angry at her parents for giving her no choice.

Marigold pulled her knees to her chest. She wasn't sure how long she had been laying on the floor but the sun had long since set and she could see the moon through the window across from her.

Sometimes, especially when she was younger, Marigold liked to imagine what it would be like to live on the moon. To live on something so beautiful and so far away from the rest of the world. She'd be free. Free from any control and allowed to roam the moon's land without her parents or Mr Harvey disapproving of her every move.

To live alone on the moon was wishful thinking.

A shadow dashed across the window ledge causing Lady Marigold's eyes to shift away from the shimmering moon that lit up the night sky and danced amongst the twinkling stars. Marigold didn't move and for a split second, until the shadow reappeared in front of the window, she assumed the shadow belonged to a rat or even a bird.

Marigold sat up slowly, afraid she'd scare the animal away as it pressed its tiny brown paws up against the glass and peered in through the window with one of its black beady eyes. Niffler. Marigold swiped a fallen tear from her cheek and with a breath trapped in her lungs she watched as the Niffler squeezed under the glass.

Marigold highly doubted it was the same Niffler but before today she had never seen one. Marigold had some suspicion that the animal was rare – or at least rare enough for her to have never come across one in books or nature.

The Niffler stood on the window ledge and peered down at Marigold. The animal tilted its head seemingly as surprised to see her.

"Hello," Marigold whispered.

The Niffler jumped down from the window ledge and stood up on its back legs. Marigold sat up on her knees and stretched her hand out to the Niffler encouraging it to come to her. The Niffler didn't hesitate and it began walking to her on all four of its legs.

"I'm Mari," Marigold spoke softly. "Do you have a name?" Lady Marigold asked.

Marigold almost felt silly for speaking to an animal that couldn't respond but she believed it could understand her.

The Niffler sniffed Marigold's hand before nuzzling its head against her palm. Its fur was soft, softer than it appeared yet somehow exactly how Marigold had imagined.

"Are you friends with a Mr Scamander?" Lady Marigold questioned.

Peering up at her the Niffler tilted its head again. Its black eyes sparkled like black pearls in the lamp light and the slight shift of its head made Marigold assume that she had encountered the same Niffler twice but she couldn't be certain. However, when the Niffler's attention was caught by the sparkle of Lady Marigold's necklace Marigold was more than certain.

Marigold's fingers grazed the Niffler's fur as it scampered past her. Marigold twisted her body and fell onto her side as she failed to grab the animal.

The Niffler clawed at Marigold's coat and sniffed the fabric, "That is expensive," Marigold pointed at the animal in front of her as she warned it to not damage the coat Leopold had bought. He'd be furious.

Marigold stood up and adjusted her dress that fell to the middle of her calves. The silver necklace swung gently as the Niffler tapped it with its paw and the animal's head moved from side to side with it.

With quiet steps, Marigold crept towards the Niffler. She kept her footsteps as light as she could and hoped the floor boards below her didn't– The Niffler's head snapped towards Marigold as the floor beneath her creaked.

Marigold stared at the beast and it stared at her.

Frozen in place as if they were statues from a museum, they waited for the other to make the first move.

It was a game, one that Lady Marigold believed herself to be good at. She played many rounds of staring contests against her brother when she was young and she won every single one but as the seconds ticked by and the Niffler didn't budge, Marigold realised she had met her match.

She didn't want to make the first move but she needed to. The Niffler was sly and Marigold didn't want to chase the animal across New York if it got ahold of her necklace. However, unfortunately for Lady Marigold as she went to take a sudden step towards it, the Niffler snatched the piece of jewellery from her pocket.

The Niffler jumped up onto the table causing the tea cup set – what was left of it – to clatter together. The beautifully decorated teapot that sat in the centre of the set began to topple over.

Marigold forgot about the Niffler for a moment as she hurried to the table and caught the pot before it fell to the floor and ultimately shattered like the tea cup. The Niffler saw that as its opportunity to escape and dashed toward the hotel suite door as Marigold set the teapot steady.

"Oh, Bloody hell," Marigold cursed.

As Marigold circled the table, the Niffler stuffed her necklace into his stomach pouch before it slipped underneath the door. Marigold crossed the room and ripped open the door, she half expected the Niffler to be on the other side but it wasn't.

Marigold looked to her left; nothing, not even a shadow. She turned to her right; Niffler paws peeking out from the elevator doors as it began going down to the reception.

Marigold kept her eyes on the Niffler paws until they disappeared from sight then, knowing that her fiance would love to make a hat out of the thieving beast, Lady Marigold spun on her heel and ran towards the stairs.

Her hand slid down the railing and the clicking of her heeled shoes echoed about the stairwell as she raced to the bottom. Strands of her hair fell loose from her updo and hung in front of her tear marked cheeks. If Catherine and Phillip saw Marigold right then, her mother would surely keel over and shortly die from embarrassment.

Marigold fell into a quick step as she exited the stairwell. She tucked her hands behind her back and held her head straight. Lady Marigold offered smiles and short nods to the hotel guests she passed. One thing Marigold had always been good at was putting on a show, whether that was a recital of her favourite storybook to her parents or simply acting like she was in love with her soon to be husband at certain events, Marigold could perform and she kept up the act as she entered the ballroom.

The ballroom was packed with businessmen who sat at the circular dining tables discussing just about anything that didn't include their wives and children while neglecting the shining ballroom floor that had been cleaned the night before. Leopold Harvey was amongst them, babbling about his plans to move to New York as soon as he was married.

Marigold scanned the room in search of the Niffler that had made off with her necklace once again. She thought she'd find the animal in the ballroom which was sparkling with golds and silvers he could get its tiny paws on, but she had no luck and her luck only got worse as Leopold spotted her across the room.

"Lady Marigold," Marigold's head snapped in his direction. Leopold almost looked happy from where he sat surrounded by men who clearly enjoyed his presence, "Come, dear," There was a large smile plastered upon Leopold's face and he beckoned his fiancee to him with a wave of his hand.

Her lips strained into a smile and Marigold tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she made her way to the table Leopold sat at. Every foot step, although as light as a feather, felt as if Marigold had rocks tied to her ankles, threatening to pull her to the ground.

Leopold didn't stand up to properly greet his fiancee, Marigold didn't expect it but even when her parents couldn't stand each other after an argument, they always acted accordingly. The last thing Catherine wanted was some rumour that she couldn't control.

"Good evening," Marigold tucked her hands behind her back.

Five sets of eyes shifted to Marigold as she stepped beside Leopold at the table. She recognised all four of the men who were most likely drunk from the hours they had spent avoiding their families upstairs.

Duke Finton, a rather short man with little to no hair that he liked to comb over, his wife, Cassandra, reminded Lady Marigold of her mother. She was very simply a nitpick. Ed Guillings sat beside him, he was much taller in stature and often wore a monocle that he had also neglected that night in his hotel suite with his wife and two young children. Pete Taylor and Jonah Kelly looked almost identical, they were much younger than the other three. Their wives were of similar age to them but only Jonah's wife seemed to be genuinely happy in her marriage.

"I was just telling these men about us moving to New York," Leopold touched Marigold's arm and a shiver ran up her spine. Marigold hummed, her smile never faltering.

"My wife," Jonah said, a glass of whiskey in his hand, "Has her own book store. It was her father's but after he died it became mine and then Chasity took it over," Marigold nodded, Chasity and her had spent an hour over tea chatting about Jane Austen, "Leopold has mentioned that you have a love for fiction, just as my wife does-'' Lady Marigold also had a love for nonfiction, "and Chasity is more than happy to take you on part time or full time at the store".

Marigold's eyes lit up. She didn't wish to stay in America but if she was being forced to stay in a country away from her home and married to a man she didn't love, at least she could find some happiness buried away in a bookstore.

"Lady Marigold is going to be more than occupied after our move," Leopold responded before Marigold could, causing her smile to waver as he grasped her arm that had fallen to her side.

"Yes, of course," Jonah nodded. "But I'm sure Marigold could find-".

Leopold gripped Marigold's arm, "Please," Marigold glanced from Jonah to her fiance then back to Jonah, "Tell Chasity that I am honoured and that if I find the time I will be more than happy to work at her bookstore but Mr Harvey is right, I will be rather busy after our move".

Leopold's clasp on his fiancee's arm loosened as he nodded his head; he was satisfied with Lady Marigold's choice of words.

"Chasity will be happy to hear that," Jonah smiled.

Marigold smiled as she shifted her attention away from the men at the table. She needed to find the Niffler and preferably before the animal left the hotel in the middle of a winter night.

"Will your brother be moving here too?" Duke picked up his glass as he spoke to Marigold.

Marigold didn't respond and her gaze never shifted from one of the many tables across the ballroom. Marigold knew it wasn't a rat and it definitely wasn't a bird that had flown in through an open window with a breeze.

The Niffler that had jumped up onto a table to snatch a metal cigar case snapped its head towards Marigold. The beast stared at her as it stuffed the case into its stomach pouch.

"Mr Finton asked you a question, Lady Marigold".

Marigold didn't look away from the Niffler, "Yes," Marigold answered Duke mindlessly.

Marigold was quite surprised that no one had seemingly spotted the four-legged beast and she could only imagine that he had a large stash of stolen goods in his pouch.

Leopold clenched his jaw, "You should return back to our suite, dear, You seem-".

The Niffler stood up on its back legs and jumped down from the table with its eyes set on the window closest to it. Leopold's voice was muffled in her ears but she could feel his grip tightening around her wrist once again as she took one step away from the table and her soon to be husband.

Leopold pulled Marigold back towards him. The Wentworth girl stumbled over her heeled shoes but caught herself before her back hit Duke Finton's chair, "To bed, Lady Marigold. Now".

Marigold's eyes shifted away from the Niffler, "I'm not tired," Marigold spoke gently as she forced another smile across her lips.

Jonah glanced at the men either side of him. He could see that Marigold didn't want to be there and he knew from conversations with Chasity that Marigold didn't want to marry Mr Harvey and he understood why, "Chasity will be awake, Marigold," Jonah spoke up, "She started reading-".

"That's enough, Mr Kelly," Leopold snapped, his stare never left his fiancee's face. Jonah's interference only made him further irritated, "You are embarrassing yourself, Lady Marigold," Leopold seethed.

Marigold's face hardened and her smile almost disappeared. Lady Marigold didn't care if she was embarrassing herself, she didn't care for anyone in the room, except maybe Jonah. Leopold Harvey, however, was embarrassing himself in front of men he expected respect from.

Marigold tore her arm from Leopold's grasp, there were faint marks left on her skin that burned underneath her long sleeve as she ran towards the Niffler that had begun squeezing its body under the window pane, ignoring her fiance and apologising to the men she bumped into as she weaved through the ballroom.

this is possibly my favourite chapter...