December 10th, 1925.
Nurmengard Castle, Austrian Alps.

"Wake up!" Said a female voice and a sudden slap made Amélie's eyes snap open as she grunted. "Happy birthday, sister. How does it feel being thirty?" Said Vinda as Élie groaned. "Get up, I've organised a little party for you." Amélie's eyes adapted to the light that came in from the corridor and saw Grindelwald, Abernathy, Carrow, Krafft and two familiar faces.

"Queenie." Amélie said as she looked at the blonde woman, her strawberry blonde hair replaced by a very white blonde hair. "Yusuf." She frowned. "What? You...filthy traitor." She tried to have a go at him but Vinda used the Mobilicorpus hex on her and her body started moving against her will, causing her to scream in frustration. "Let me go! What do you want from me?"

"To know." Said Grindelwald.

"Know what? I know nothing." Gellert looked at Vinda and the Cruiciatus curse flew from her wand towards Amélie, whom was writhing in pain midair. Queenie closed her eyes and Kama just looked at the ground. "Please." Amélie cried. "Please." She begged again, this time out of breath.

"Tell me what you know."

"About what? I have no idea what you want from me." More pain inflicted by the curse, which stopped when Élie gasped for air.

"The details of Dumbledore's plan, tell me."

"I was told to meet with him in Berlin and hand in invitations for the tea party and the candidates dinner. But he never showed, the team he had assembled showed up instead. That's all I had to do." She continued crying. "Please." Gellert's eyes looked over his shoulder, towards Queenie.

"Queenie?" Few seconds went by and Queenie finally heard the buzz of Amélie's head, Amélie granted her access knowing Queenie was asked to read her mind, and it was the best she could do to stay alive. At least that's what she thought. Grindelwald's eyes went back to Amélie once Goldstein had nodded. "I want names." She didn't say a word. "Names!" Silence, it felt like a tomb. Gellert looked at Vinda and, in a second, Amélie's cries and screams echoed in the room.

"Please." She cried as air barely made its way to her lungs. "Have mercy." She chose her words carefully, Amélie knows Grindelwald wants to feel like a saviour. He has to be merciful. "That's all I know."

"Give me the names." She cried.

"I can't." She whispered and whimpered. The Cruciatus curse made her skin burn from the inside out. "Please..." Vinda aimed at her again, but Queenie intervened before she could throw the spell again.

"She is telling the truth." Amélie whimpered. "She only knows the Auror, Theseus Scamander." A silence fell upon the room. "It's in her head." She added, then her eyes turned sad as tears streamed down Amélie's face. "She wants to know where this Theseus Scamander is, last time she saw him he was being dragged away." The door of Rosier's mind was shut closed for Queenie, who simply blinked.

"He's dead." Said Grindelwald coldly after a couple seconds spent in pitching silence.

"No...no!" Amélie started crying and screaming louder as she felt her heart breaking. It hurt almost the same way it had hurt when Alexandre fell dead on her arms or when it was his funeral and the coffin went six feet underground, only that the pain was sharper. It felt as if someone had ripped her open and pulled her beating heart out of her chest before crushing it as if it was an empty eggshell. "You lie!"

"Everyone out." He looked at Vinda. "Do what you will with her, try to get as much information out of her before killing her." Queenie walked out as Amélie's screams of pain and heartbreak filled the room. The door closed the second her crying went from a sad cry to a cry of pure pain. Vinda was torturing her again. Goldstein closed her eyes and a pair of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Is he really dead?" She asked Grindelwald, who just turned around to face her, his white eye twitching.

"I don't know." With that he walked away, as well as the rest.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Berlin, Germany.

  Theseus' eyes snapped open and found only darkness.

"Amélie." He whispered and tried to move, finding himself tied entirely; his hands, his arms tightly pressed against his body. "Amélie!" She didn't respond. He moved again and the sudden pressure in his head and ankles made him groan, he could barely see a thing, for only a candleholder illuminated the place, but he was sure he was upside down and tied with a rope. "What the hell?" He asked himself, when he tried to move again, a clocking below him called his attention, it was a small creature. He had no clue what that animal was but he was sure it was not amicable when it started hissing.

  Hours went by in which he tried to free himself with no use. His eyes tried to recognise the place but he could only see stone arches and a few levels of wherever he was. It looked like a prison but he was sure it wasn't exactly it; he could also hear struggle and those reddish animals echoing around. Screams too. He needs to get out of there, now.

  Suddenly, movement towards his right called his attention. He saw Newt holding another candleholder, his arms up and a bunch of those animals following behind him. Theseus frowned, but he was relieved of seeing his brother here.

"Rescuing me, are you?" He asked.

"That's the general idea." Said Newt as he made his way towards his older brother, he seemed to be dancing or something, Thes didn't know.

"Huh. And I presume this...whatever you're doing, is strategic."

"Yes, a technique called limbic mimicry. It discourages violent engagement, theoretically. I've only actually ever attempted it once before."

"And the results?"

"Uh..." He panted shakily. "Inconclusive." Theseus sighed. "Of course that was a laboratory setting and the conditions were strictly controlled and the...well, the current conditions are more volatile, so making it less predictive of the ultimate outcome."

"The ultimate outcome presumably...being...our survival." Theseus' phrase had pauses in it because he saw something behind his brother, something Newt sensed, for he had gone still, quiet and serious.

  It seemed to be a tail or a leg of a creature, a creature that chittered when they had gone silent. It moved closely to Newt's face, he only moved his head away from it. Suddenly, the lantern a couple cells away from where they were flickered until the light extinguished. The prisoner screamed and the creature hissed, that leg got lost in the deepness of the hole in the ground and was replaced by a tail that seemed like a scorpion's tail, for it had a sting in it. The tail flew straight towards the spot where the prisoner was and he screamed as the tail empaled him and dragged him to the bottom. His screams continued echoing in the distance until silence fell like a bomb in the room.

  Seconds later, what was left of his body was thrown upwards and landed a couple meters away, it was only skeleton, a bit of flesh, clothes and it was all covered by a green mucus of some sort. The animals that were accompanying Newt rushed towards the remains of bones and started eating what was left in them.

"Fucking hell." Theseus whispered as Newt freed him of the ropes that were tying him, causing him to hit the ground with a thud, making him groan. "Well done."

"Come on."

"Okay." They gave two steps and stopped on their tracks when they saw more of those things in front of them, the creatures screeching. "And the plan is?"

"Hold this." Newt gave him the lamp and proceeded to play a tune with his hands, using them as a flute.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Theseus whispered.

"Um...we're going to need some help." Theseus' eyes started scanning the place.

"Help, wait, Amélie. Is she here? Do you know if she's here?"

"No, I don't know. But I don't think she's here, Dumbledore would've told me."

"Dumbledore?"

"He was the one to tell me you were here." Theseus nodded. That was a good thing, right? That she wasn't there? It must be. Certainly she's with Lally and Jacob. Certainly. In a second, Newt adopted the position he had arrived dancing with and the creatures moved their legs up, imitating him, something Theseus did too. "Follow me." They started moving back from where Newt had come from at a steady pace with the creatures following them. "You're not swiveling properly. Swivel, swivel, but delicately."

"I'm swiveling like you're swiveling, Newt."

"I don't believe you are." Theseus rolled his eyes and sighed when the lantern next to his face of another cell flickered and died. Both Scamander boys stood still as the tail took another prisoner to the bottom and spilled him back up in seconds. The creatures moved towards the corpse that had a hideous smell and made Theseus feel sick. Newt and Theseus exchanged looks and nodded to each other.

"Swivel." They said at the unison and went on with their getaway. When they had reached the staircase, Theseus stepped on one of the creatures, both stopped on their tracks and Newt looked at his brother, his eyes asking 'seriously?'. "I'm sorry." Theseus whispered and the lantern started to fickle until the light extinguished. The creatures ran away and both men stood there and moved downstairs until they heard something metallic behind them, they didn't need to turn around to know the sting was behind them.

  In a second, they started running down the hall to the right and the tail tried to get Theseus' head, causing him to yelp. The stings didn't throw venom, they threw what seemed to be lava, for it melted the rock and released a heat that felt as if you were inches away from a bonfire.

  Theseus dodged one of those lava drops and stopped when he saw the little creatures rushing towards him from the front and left flanks, he turned around and started running from where he had come from.

  When he arrived at the open area, he saw the huge beast that was at the bottom of the hole, for it had crawled up to get its prey. One of its stings got stuck on the rock right next to his head, he grunted and screamed when he tried to hold on to the wall. Theseus proceeded to dodge the legs and stings of the creature as he made an effort of running towards the next staircase towards the left. That thing seemed to know he was the prisoner, for it was really going after him, and he felt his heart pounding in his ears.

  At some point, the creature brought down some rock, trapping some of its legs there, closing the path behind them and allowing the brothers to take a deep breath. Although that didn't last long, for one of the legs wrapped itself around Theseus' torso and pulled him backwards.

"No, wait!" Yelled Newt as he grabbed Theseus' arm and pulled trying to free him and failing. Newt held on to one of the stone walls and pulled Theseus' hand firmly. However, the strength of the beast was more than the human's and it pulled Theseus, causing the grip of the hands to break. Theseus screamed and held on to a rock of the ground, Newt rushed to grab his hand and pull.

"Newt!" Newt saw something falling near his foot and it was Pickett with his wand, he looked over his shoulder and saw Teddy. In a second, he took a hold of his wand.

"Accio!" Teddy flew towards them at the same time the beast pulled them. "Grab the tie!" In a second, everything started spinning and their backs hit the ground roughly. Both groaned as they sat up and blinked for their eyes to adapt to the bright sunlight.

  When they were on their feet, they realised they were still holding hands, Newt pulled his away quickly and Theseus gasped when the leg of the creature that was still wrapped around him hissed, he pushed it away and it fell to the ground before crawling towards a lake that was ahead of them. Both started walking and Theseus offered Teddy to Newt, for he was still holding on to the tie.

"That was a Portkey." Said Newt.

"Yeah." Said Theseus as Newt held on to Teddy.

"Well done, you two." When they looked up, they saw the beautiful castle, they were at Hogwarts. "This is yours." Theseus looked at Newt and grabbed his wand, which the youngest was offering.

"Thank you."

"What happened to your face?"

"Some guy beat me up."

"Oh." Theseus nodded. "Did he break your nose?"

"I don't think so."

"Hm."

"Hey!" Both chuckled.

"This is also yours, Teddy, hand it over please." The Niffler extended his hand and gave Theseus his pocket watch, which he gently took in between his hands.

"Thank you, lad." His fingers caressed the silk and he opened it, revealing Amélie's picture. She smiled at him and he felt his heart sinking to his feet as his thumb touched the picture delicately. He breathed in and closed the watch to keep it in his waistcoat's pocket. "C'mon, we gotta hurry."

"You gotta clean your face before we walk in." Theseus grabbed the napkin of his pocket, wetted it with the water of the lake and started to wash away the dried blood from his face.

  Theseus and Newt made their way into the castle grounds and eventually arrived at the Great Hall where the children were having lunch. Theseus was walking very fast, he needed to make sure Élie was there safe and sound. The first familiar face they met was Hicks'.

"Lally." Newt spoke.

"What kept you two?" She asked.

"Uh, we encountered some complications. You?"

"We encountered some complications." Lally handed over a newspaper to Newt. 'Murderous Muggle' could be read on the front page and it was a picture of Kowalski.

"Jacob tried to murder Grindelwald?" Asked Theseus as his eyes scanned the bright room.

"It's a long story." The Auror scoffed. "Jacob, look who I found?" Jacob turned around, he was talking to some kids, he smiled at his mates.

"Hey!" He greeted them. "My wizard friends, Newt and Theseus." He told the kids. "I gotta go. Alright, have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He approached the team. "Can you believe this place? They got pint-sized little witches and wizards running around here."

"You don't say." Said Theseus "Is Amélie around here somewhere?" Lally and Jacob looked at each other. "What?"

"She's not here, pal." Said Jacob.

"Vinda took her with them." Lally informed and Theseus' heart started pounding in his ears again. He felt his chest heavy, his mind rushed like lightning, his hands tickled and were shaky, his breath lacked. He moved past Jacob and Lally, walking with large and quick steps towards Dumbledore, whom was at the end of the corridor. "Theseus." She called his name but he didn't listen.

"Well done, all of you. Well done. Congratulations." Said Dumbledore while Theseus frowned, surprised at the compliment when everything had gone terribly wrong.

"Congratulations?" Asked Theseus, incredulous.

"Indeed. Professor Hicks managed to foil an assassination. And you're alive, you're well. The fact that everything didn't go precisely to plan was precisely the plan."

"Countersight 101." Said Hicks.

"And what about Amélie? Was her getting captured part of your plan no plan?" Dumbledore looked away for a fraction of second and Theseus had a sudden concern. "Albus, we don't have the advantage here and we have to do something to help Rosier!"

"We can't."

"What do you mean we can't? They're going to torture her, they could kill her! Do you know how much her sister wants her dead? She-" Dumbledore stood silent and Theseus saw it in his eyes. Suddenly, he knew. "You prick." He said before having a go at him. Theseus' fist met Dumbledore's cheekbone at lightning speed almost taking him down.

"Theseus!" Newt yelled.
"Albus!" Minerva called at the unison. Newt managed to hold Theseus back before he could try to punch Albus again.

"It's alright, I deserved that." Said Albus.

"You deserve much more than that!" Said Theseus, the fury in his voice echoing in the Great Hall.

"Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?" Jacob asked.

"He's using Amélie as a diversion." Newt frowned and looked at Dumbledore, not entirely believing the words coming out of his brother's mouth. "As long as they're busy trying to get information, that she surely doesn't have out of her, we're going to make our next move, am I right?" He scoffed and the rest looked at Dumbledore, who was rubbing his cheekbone to ease the pain of the punch.

"It's true." Whispered Newt, he couldn't believe this. He trusted Dumbledore blindfolded, but why would he do something like this?

"Sacrificing her for the greater good?" Asked Theseus.

"Theseus, you need to understand-"

"Understand what?! That she agreed to help us- she agreed to help you because she trusts you, and you sent her to an imminent death? She's in the lion's den, Albus!"

"Calm down." Newt told Theseus.

"I can't calm down! Would you calm down if it was Tina, Newt?" He remained quiet. "That's what I thought." His eyes moved like darts from Newt's to Albus'. "It should've been me, not her! Anyone but her!" Theseus placed his hands on his hips, breathed in and out, trying to calm himself. "Did she know?" He asked after a hot minute in silence. "What you had planned for her, did she know?" Theseus knows Amélie would've agreed to sacrifice herself, but she wouldn't have agreed to die on the spot. Death terrifies her, she had told him.

"No, she didn't." Theseus scoffed at Dumbledore's words.

"When she finds out she'll never forgive you, nor trust you ever again."

"I'm counting on it."

"And neither will I."

"I know." He sighed. "But she is alive, Theseus."

"How do you know?"

"Because, like you said, they need information."

"Information she doesn't have, Goddamn it! We need to rescue her."

"One thing at a time. We will rescue Amélie, Theseus, I give you my word."

"I wish your word had any worth to me anymore, Dumbledore." Albus sighed and nodded.

"It has to if we are to finish this business and get your girl back."

"How exactly do you plan on doing so? We're back to where we started and we don't know where they're located. They could be anywhere. That's why it's been years and we haven't been able to catch 'em."

"You're right. We don't know where they are and things are a great deal worse." Newt and Theseus frowned. "You haven't told them, have you?" He asked Hicks, whom looked at the brothers with a dead serious expression on her features.

"Grindelwald's been allowed to stand in the election." She dropped the bomb.

"What?" Asked Theseus.
"But, how?" Asked Newt at the unison.

"Because Vogel chose easy over right." Dumbledore spoke, rubbing his face still. He proceeded to draw something in the air with his wand, from its tip crawled smoke until it solidified in mountains.

"Bhutan." Said Newt.

"Correct, three points to Hufflepuff. The Kingdom of Bhutan, sits high in the Eastern Himalayas. It's a place of indescribable beauty. Some of our most important magic has its origins there. They say if you listen carefully enough, the past whispers to you. It also happens to be where the election will be held."

"He can't win, can he?" Asked Jacob.

"Only a few days ago he was a fugitive from justice. Now he's an official candidate in the International Confederation of Wizards. Dangerous times favour dangerous men." He turned around and started to walk away. "By the way, we'll be dining with my brother in the village. Should you need anything before then, Minerva is here."

"Dumbledore has a brother?" Asked Lally as Theseus sighed.

"This is ridiculous. We need to find her, Newt." Newt's eyes reflected worry and he was surprised to find such desperation in Theseus. "The second they have what they need from her or they think she's not useful anymore, they'll kill her."

"I know. We'll find her, I promise."

"If something happens to Amélie, I would not be able to live with myself."

"It won't come to that. We'll find her and she will be alright, then you'll tell her how you feel." Theseus frowned. "Theseus, you clearly love her. No matter how much you said you hated her in the past, no matter if you haven't spoken in ages, you two cannot seem to be away from each other. You're meant to be. You love her and she loves you. When you see her, pack up the courage to tell her before it's too late." Theseus sighed and nodded.

  The oldest Scamander stayed for most of the day at the Astronomy tower just admiring the view, when he decided to pace around the hallways, he walked into one of Dumbledore's Defence Against the Dark Arts lectures. Albus invited him to take over and teach the kids some stuff.

  Saying they loved that class would be an understatement, learning from an Auror seemed like the most amazing thing in the world. When the class was dismissed, Albus and Theseus stayed in the classroom for a hot minute. When Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, Theseus walked out and returned at the Astronomy Tower.

  There, he begged for her to be okay. He told her once he's not a religious person, but in that second he started praying to whoever's in the heavens to keep her safe. The thought of Amélie hurting, being tortured, crying...dead destroyed him. Theseus cried in his solitude as he tried to trick his mind into believing she was alright and no harm had come to her at all.

  When night started to fall over Hogwarts and the air turned too cold, he made his way towards the Great Hall where he met with the rest of the team. When Lally asked if he was alright, he said he was, that the cold made his eyes tear up. Newt knew, of course, that it was a lie. Like Theseus had told him, they are brothers after all. Dumbledore showed up and they made their way towards Hogsmade, where they stepped into the Hog's Head.

"Here we are." Said Albus as he opened the door and everyone stepped in. There, they found Bunty, the Qilin, and Albus' brother.

"Bunty, you're here." Exclaimed Newt with surprise.

"Yes." Said the woman with a smile.

"How is she?" He asked, referring to the Qilin.

"Oh, she's fine." She let one of the baby Nifflers run towards Newt, he picked up the creature gently.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's Alfie done now?" Wait, you've not been biting Timothy's bottom again, have you?" Theseus smiled at him.

"Miss Broadacre." Albus called Bunty. "I trust my brother has been a gracious host?"

"Yes, ever so gracious."

"Oh, I'm delighted to hear. Uh, so, rooms have been arranged for you in the village, and Aberforth here will prepare you a delicious dinner, his own recipe." With that, he walked away and got lost upstairs.

  The rest of the gang sat down at the table and the plates, cutlery and cups appeared magically as Aberforth walked in with a pot. He served everyone an odd and green looking soup on the plates with a long face.

"There's more of that if you want it." He said and walked away.

"Thank you." Said Bunty. "Thanks." Abeforth stopped on his tracks before walking upstairs and not walking back down. Theseus was the first one to take his spoon and take a sip of the soup being surprised by how good it tasted for its ugly looking colour and consistency.

"Astonishing." He said. "Never had something that looks so repellent tasted so delicious." The Qilin started trilling next to Jacob.

"Who's this little one?" He asked. "Do you mind?"

"She's a Qilin, Jacob." Answered Newt.  "She's incredibly rare. One of the most beloved creatures in the Wizarding World."

"Why?"

"'Cause she can see into your soul." Theseus answered without looking at Jacob, listening to the conversation but focused on finishing his dinner.

"Oh! You're kidding me."

"No. So if you're good and worthy, then she'll see that. But, if on the other hand, you're cruel and deceitful, then she'll know that too."

"Oh, yeah? Does she just tell you that or..?" He started laughing.

"Well, not exactly tells, but-"

"She bows." Said Lally. "But only in the presence of someone truly pure of heart." Jacob frowned. "I mean, almost none of us are, of course, no matter how good of a person one tries to be." Theseus nodded as he almost asked how could someone truly be pure of heart. He certainly doesn't think he is. He's trying to be, though. "There was actually a time, many, many years ago when the Qilin chose who'd lead us." The conversation went on as Jacob served some of Aberforth's soup to the Qilin. Theseus finished his plate in silence, wiped his lips with a napkin and stood up, making them all go silent.

"My apologies, but I will retire." He said, excusing himself. "Goodnight, everybody." He threw on his coat, for he had taken it off when he arrived, and walked out after he grabbed a key that had his name on it. He proceeded to make his way towards the entrance and walked out. Few minutes went by and he heard the door opening and closing again.

"Theseus." Theseus sighed and stopped walking before turning around, Newt was coming with his hands in his coat's pockets.

"What is it?"

"I just...I want to know if you're alright." Theseus smiled weakly before looking at the snow beneath his feet and back into his brother's eyes.

"I'm not. I'm worried. And I'm scared." He sighed. "Today's her birthday, you know? Thirty is such a young age in which one can die." Newt tilted his head. "Amélie can't die, Newt. She can't, because she's the woman that-" He groaned when he felt the knot forming in his throat. "Amélie, she...I." He sighed.

"You what?"

"I love her, alright?" Theseus felt his eyes filling up with tears. "I said it. And she can't die without hearing those words coming out of my mouth." He scoffed bitterly. "Now she could die just because I've said them."

"Because you've said you love her out loud?" Newt connected the dots. "Theseus, what happened with dad was an awful coincidence. It had nothing to do with you." Theseus bit his lip, trying to suppress his tears. "It was an accident at work, it was way out of your hands."

"Still. Whenever I do that, whenever I say those words people die. It happened with Leta too."

"Grindelwald murdered Leta because he is a vile man, not because you had spoken your feelings." Theseus sighed and brushed away his tears quickly when they fell from his eyes. "It's alright, Thes. You just have to let her know."

"I don't want to."

"Why?"

"Because I'm scared of it, of love. I tend to believe it's not meant for me. And she also hates me." Newt shook his head and scoffed, causing Theseus to frown.

"She could never hate you."

"She told me, well...she said she hated me a little." Newt almost laughed.

"Believe me, she doesn't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen it. Theseus, I may not be very good at the love thing, that was always your job, not mine." Theseus giggled. "However, I do pay attention to things that most people ignore, and I've seen the way she looks at you, the effect you have on her. Back in Berlin, when the fireworks went off and she froze there, you walked up to her and I saw her whole body trembling until you touched her. You are the one person that she'll always love, no matter what because you make her feel safe. No matter if she said she hated you." He laughed. "You two are so alike."

"Yeah, maybe that's why we haven't been able to work out. After all, opposites attract, right? It doesn't work for equals."

"I think that's not true. I believe that, precisely because you're so similar, you work out perfectly. The problem you have is your lack of communication." Theseus dropped the chuckle and Newt smiled. "You have to tell her."

"How can I tell her? I can't get those three words out of my mouth whenever I talk to her."

"Tell her she has Salamander eyes." Theseus frowned as a smile made its way through his lips. He has read his brother's book, he knows what he means, and he's not wrong. Amélie's eyes do seem to have fire in them whenever the light hits them. "That worked with Tina. Sort of." Theseus chuckled. "Well, that doesn't matter. The thing is that, at the end of the day, what will matter is that you finally accepted what you've been trying to suppress or not say at all. And Amélie will know."

"You're always so honest. And wise." Newt smiled and nodded as he shrugged.

"That's my job." Theseus laughed again before breaking down.

"I just don't want to lose her, man. I can't go thought that again, not with her." Newt, for the second time in a while, hugged Theseus tightly.

"You won't lose her. I promise you, you won't." Theseus nodded against Newt's shoulder. "Okay?" Theseus broke the hug a moment later.

"Okay." Newt patted his shoulder and Theseus washed his tears away. "Thank you. For listening."

"Always." Theseus smiled. "Try to get some sleep."

"Alright, goodnight, Newt." He nodded.

"Goodnight, Thes." Theseus smiled and walked away until he found the Inn where they'd stay.

  Scamander made his way towards the bedroom that had been arranged for him and sighed when he had closed the door. He took off his coat and blazer slowly and threw it on the chair by the desk. He sat down on the bed and took off his shoes and laid down. When his head was pressed against the pillow, he grabbed the pocket watch and watched her picture. He made a promise to himself: bringing her home safe.