August 11th, 1921.
London, England. United Kingdom.
Theseus Scamander's house.

Amélie woke up very early, the second she heard a bird chirping near the small window. She stood up and looked outside, Theseus was laying down on the couch, asleep and with the blankets on the floor. She smiled, walked back into the bedroom and used her wand to lift the blankets and cover his large figure. The sudden warmth of the blankets made him shift position but he was still deeply asleep.

Next, Élie grabbed the clothes she had arrived with and made her way to the bathroom. Once there, she closed and locked the door before making the water run down. She used an enchantment to make the clothes float in the air and iron with the steam of the shower. When the water was warm enough, she took off Theseus' jumper, her underwear, and stepped into the shower. She washed her hair and body quickly and in within fifteen minutes, she was out. Moments later, she dried her hair with a towel she grabbed and proceeded to get dressed.

She had walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to put on her boots before making her way towards the kitchen, she started to prepare some french toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast, as well as some coffee. The delicious scent of the freshly made food, as well as as the cutlery noises, woke Theseus up. She saw him sit down on the couch from behind the counter.

"Bonjour." She said with a smile.

"Bonjour." He said back as he rubbed his eye. "What are you doing?"

"Potions to make you hair grow faster." She said with sarcasm as he stood up and rubbed his lower back that was aching. "What do you think I'm doing?" He smiled.

"Isn't it a bit too early for your sarcasm?" He asked as he yawned and rubbed his neck.

"Never." He chuckled and took one of the toasts, making her complain in French as he chewed the bite, saying he should wait for her to be done in order to take the entire breakfast. "How did you sleep?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Roughly. Told you that goddamn couch wasn't made to sleep on." She chuckled again as Theseus rubbed his neck. He noticed her hair was damp. "You took a shower?"

"Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, consider this place an inn until you leave, only that I won't charge you anything." She smiled and chuckled as he frowned and looked at the toast he had in hand with a tender frown. "This is really good."

"Merci." He nodded, took another bite, and left the halfway-eaten toast on his plate.

"'I'm taking a shower myself."

"Hurry up or it'll get cold."

"Will do." He said as he walked down the hall to get to his bedroom. He realised the bed was perfectly tidy and assumed Élie was responsible for that as he got his black suit out of the closet and walked into the bathroom shortly after he had hanged it over the closet's handle. He showered quickly, in ten minutes to be precise, then, he wrapped a towel around his hips and made his way back into his bedroom in order to get dressed. Once his clothes were on, he made his way to the kitchen. "You know? You didn't have to do this."

"Oh, but I did. I imagined you'd like to go to a small restaurant near the Ministry to get that famous English breakfast, which I do not like, by the way."

"What do you mean you don't like the good ol' English breakfast?"

"Well, that I simply don't. I do not know how you all like that black pudding that much."

"Because it tastes good."

"Well, French toast is better. It's sweeter and you can add scrambled eggs to it, the combination tastes good. I will die on this hill." He chuckled. "Plus, is the least I could do for what you've done."

"And what exactly have I done?"

"Listen." She smiled at him as he took a sip of his coffee, leaving the cup down immediately. "Andre was my best friend, he was the one I'd talk about this with but I obviously can't do that anymore. Without him, without my family, I only have like three real friends and I couldn't tell them. I had no one to go to, but you. You were the person I knew I could trust this with and you listened, you didn't hear what I had to say, you listened to me. There is a huge difference there, and I appreciate it." He smiled. "That and the fact that you allowed me to stay. Consider this my way of payment." He chuckled and nodded.

"So...does this mean we're friends now?"

"Maybe." She smiled back at him while he nodded. This was nice, lovely actually. To stop disliking people and befriend them instead, despite not really forgetting. After all, you don't need to forget to move past something, however, you can grown from it. And that's what these two have been doing for the past years.

"Either way, I still find you annoying." She laughed, the comment was no longer offending.

"Same here, Scamander."

Then, both Aurors had breakfast and enjoyed their coffee, all this in silence. When they were done, both cleaned the dishes and continued to get ready. Theseus was brushing his teeth and Amélie was putting on her coat, taking out from one of her pockets some mints that she always carries and ate one when the bell rang.

"I'll get it!" Theseus said from the bathroom and made his way to the entrance with large steps until he opened the front door. "Leta."

"Hi." She kissed his cheek and stepped in. "You're dressed, great. You need to get to the Ministry at-" She realised he wasn't alone. "Amélie."

"Bonjour, Leta." Lestrange looked at Theseus and at Rosier, wondering why was the other Auror at his house and the scent of breakfast made not long ago.

"Hello. Um...I don't mean to be rude but, what are you doing here?" Despite her making clear she didn't want to be rude, her tone of voice was still cold.

"I visited him at the Ministry to give him some information about Grindelwald but...an important part of what I found, I couldn't say there."

"She doesn't trust the Ministries employees that much anymore, not after Graves." Theseus added as he made his way to the bathroom to finish with the cleaning of his mouth.

"En effet. So, we came here and I told him the rest. When I was about to leave he offered me his couch, saying that paying for a one night stay at any place was a worthless expense." Leta smiled at the half-truth, for saying she had slept in his bed didn't sound like the right thing to do.

"Sounds like Theseus." Both chuckled. Now, Leta's voice was more welcoming. "And he would be right, they charge the foreigners a bit too extra for no reason." She said, trusting their words. "It's good to see you again." Amélie smiled at her.

"Likewise."

"Alright." Theseus said from the hall as he approached the living room, where they were. He stepped close to Leta and kissed her lips tenderly. "What were you saying?" Amélie looked away. She looked back at them when she saw from the corner of her eye how they separated from each other.

"That we need to get to the Ministry. Now." Both of them frowned.

"What's the rush?"

"Newt was seen in Paris." Theseus placed his hands on his hips, closed his eyes and dopped his head forward as he sighed.

"What's the problem with Newt being in Paris?" Asked Élie.

"That he's not supposed to leave the country, he doesn't have authorised documentation." Theseus answered.

"Oh." Rosier said and Scamander nodded, opened his eyes and looked at Leta.

"I assume Travers is going mental?" He asked.

"That would be correct. He said he's on his way to Hogwarts." Lestrange answered.

"Why Hogwarts?" Asked Rosier once again.

"He's there to see Dumbledore." Leta answered, making Amélie frown even more as she opened her mouth to speak.

"He thinks Dumbledore was the one to send Newt to New York months ago, then, the city was destroyed. Therefore, he blames them both for that." Theseus added before Élie could ask 'why' again. "Wanna join on a little trip before heading back to Paris?"

"I mean, why not? I'm already here." He nodded and grabbed his coat from the rack while she took her hat. Everyone stepped out, Amélie was already standing on the street as Theseus locked his door. He sighed and moved his head in circles trying to ease the ache on his neck.

"What is it?" Asked Leta. Her hand funding his arm.

"Nothing to worry about. I slept on the couch and I seriously do not recommend it. Might even buy a new one I can actually sleep on." Leta let out a small and dry chuckle, Theseus didn't notice its dryness though. He walked down the small staircase and met with Rosier on the street. Lestrange stood there watching them, not understanding what had happened last night or why would Amélie lie about who slept on the couch. "C'mon, darling." Theseus added and extended his hand towards Leta. She approached him and took it, intertwining their fingers while Amélie took the arm Scamander was offering.

  A second later, they deapparated from the street to appear at the Ministry's entrance, then they walked in.

Once inside, they found Travers and five more Aurors, Theseus immediately recognised Arthur Brown, he had been tasked to be his little brother's shadow. Right after Travers asked why was Rosier there only to gain a witty response about it from her, the nine of them walked out to disappear from the London streets just to appear at the bridge, right before Hogwarts' main entrance.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Scotland. United Kingdom.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The castle stood tall and imposing as it has always have been, the sunlight that hit from the back made the towers look even taller. They all walked down the yard to get inside, and spotted the different students who stood behind the windows looking at them in awe, hitting each other with their elbows to point out Aurors were here to their mates. They all walked down the empty halls, their footsteps echoing everywhere.

"Excuse me." A woman called. "Excuse me! What is your business here? There is no threat for the Aurors to be here." That's when Amélie could have a better look at her. Minerva McGonagall, Transfigurations teacher.

"Minerva, I'm here to see Dumbledore." Travers told her, not really caring about her being there. "Now, where might he be?"

"He's a teacher, where do you think he might be?" Travers scoffed.

"Theseus, you studied here, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir." Scamander answered.

"Is the Dark Arts Teacher's office in the classroom?"

"Uh, yes, sir."

"That's where he might be, perfect." McGonagall sighed annoyed as he made his way towards the stairs with the group following him, not making a noise.

"You can't be here, there is no reason for you to be here." He elected to ignore her for a bit, determined to get to Dumbledore's classroom. And eventually, they all did. The laughter of the kids could be heard from behind the door, that Travers opened in a second. The laughter ceased. "This is a school. You have no right-"

"I'm the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. I have the right to go to wherever I please." He said, looking at Albus dead in the eye, the smile he had dropped slowly. "Out of here." He ordered the children, but none of them moved, instead, they all looked at Dumbledore. That only caused Travers' rage to increase.

"Go with Professor, McGonagall, please." Every single one of them moved and started to get out, their eyes glued to the Aurors who stood in the classroom. A little girl focused on Élie, who smiled and winked at her before she walked out.

"He's the best teacher we've got." Said a Gryffindor kid to Travers, making Theseus and Amélie exchange looks, both smiling amused.

"Thanks, McLaggan." Said Dumbledore, telling him with his soft tone of voice to please leave.

"Get out." Travers told the boy harshly.

"Come, McLaggen." McGonagall told the kid and they all walked out. Once that happened, two Aurors moved to the back, to stand behind Dumbledore's desk, Theseus and Amélie moved to the left to stand by the windows, Travers was right before Dumbledore and the other three were standing behind him.

"What can I help you with?" Asked Dumbledore.

"Newt Scamander is in Paris." Travers said.

"Really?" Albus smiled at the ground, placing his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"Cut the pretence. I know he's there on your orders."

"Oh, if you ever had the pleasure to teach him, you'd know Newt is not a great follower of orders." Theseus giggled in a whisper that was only audible by the short woman beside him. There were only three people in that room that knew how true that was. Dumbledore did look at the older Scamander brother as he said that before Travers threw something at him for him to catch. A book.

"You read 'The Predictions' of Tycho Dodnus?"

"Mmm. Many years ago." He opened the book and had a look at the first page.

"A son cruelly banished. Despair of the daughter. Return-" He started quoting the poem.

"Yes, I know it." Dumbledore cut him off and sat on his desk.

"There is a rumour this prediction refers to the Obscurial. They say that Grindelwald wants-"

"As a highborn henchman, I've heard the rumour." He cut Travers off again.

"And yet, Scamander appears wherever the Obscurial goes...to protect him. Meanwhile you've build up quite a little network of international contacts." Dumbledore smiled, incredulous and amused.

"However long you keep me and my friends under surveillance, you're not going to discover plots against you, Travers, because we want the same thing: the defeat of Grindelwald." He sighed. "But, I warn you, your policies of suppression and violence are pushing supporters into his arms."

"I'm not interested in your warnings. Now..." Travers sighed, as well as some Aurors that silently think he should be interested in that warning. "It pains me to say it because, well...I don't like you." Both men laughed at the sarcasm of the Head of Law Enforcement department. "But, you are the only wizard who is his equal. I need you to fight him." Dumbledore looked at the ground, the wall across from him and then at Travers.

"I can't." Travers pulled out his wand, and with a flick of his wrist, he made some mist appear before them all. Every single one present was looking at the images before them.

"Because of this?" The mist quickly turned into figures. Dumbledore and Grindelwald's figures. "You and Grindelwald were as close as brothers." The Aurors simply looked at the people in the mist, surprised.

"Oh, we were closer than brothers." Amélie sent Dumbledore a quick glance before the young version of the Dark Wizard turned into the current one. The longing in his voice...perhaps closer than lovers.

"Will. You. Fight. Him?" The man was desperate, he knows himself alone doesn't stand a chance.

"I can't." Dumbledore answered afflicted, shaking his head.

"Well, then you have chosen your side." With another flick of his wand, two separate handcuffs were placed around Dumbledore's wrists. "From now on, I shall know every spell you cast, I'm doubling the watch on you, and you will no longer teach Defence Against the Dark Arts." Travers looked at all of the ones present, his glance letting them know it was time to leave. "Where is Leta? We need to go to Paris." He said and they all rushed outside. Theseus and Amélie walked slower though, being the last two remaining in the room alongside the Professor.

"Theseus, Amélie." Dumbledore called. They stopped walking and turned around to face him. "Listen to me, if Grindelwald calls a rally, don't try and break it up. Don't let Travers or Antoine send you there. Theseus, if you ever trusted me..."

"Scamander! Rosier!" Travers called from outside, both of them looked at the door. "We're leaving now!" They looked at the man that once was their Professor and he offered a sad smile, they returned the gesture before walking out.

"A rally?" Élie asked in a whisper. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, to tell his followers of his plan, maybe." Theseus whispered back. "Question is where would that be? Out of anywhere in Paris, where you think he could do such thing?" She shrugged.

"Aucune idée. It could be anywhere, let's face it, the guy has a bunch of followers."

"Indeed, he'll need somewhere quite big to fit them all there." She nodded.

"Hey, did you understand what was Travers talking about? The rumours? What rumours?" He sighed.

"Leta had a brother, and he died. Rumour has it that said brother survived and that Credence is the guy." She stopped on her tracks. "I know, I know."

"Do you think it's true?" He was silent for a moment as they spotted her in the distance.

"A little, there might be evidence about it. It's useless to ask her, whenever I have she's gotten mad at me. Can't say I blame her." Rosier sighed and nodded.

By this point, they were all outside of the castle and walked down the bridge before they all disappeared from sight just to appear miles away in France.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Paris, France.
French Ministry of Magic.

When they arrived at Paris, the city seemed so gloomy, specially because every building had been covered by a thin black fabric. Amélie seemed quite shocked, she has never seen her home like this before. As soon as they walked in, Elyna was by the entrance.

"Oh, Dieu merci, vous êtes là. Nous allions aller vous chercher à Londra si vous ne vous montriez pas rapidement." She said.

"Well, I'm here now. No need to go looking for me." The blonde woman nodded. "Brought some friends from London." She looked at Theseus. "He's the Head Auror of their Bureau, he can boss you all around as much as I do while he's here." Elyna nodded again. "Now, brief us in the situation, would you?" Everyone started to walk quickly into the beautiful building with vaulted ceilings decorated with paintings of different constellations, towards Amélie's office.

"Oui, Madame." Said her second —now third— in command. "Those veils started to appear about twenty minutes ago, Charles went to investigate and just returned with his report. It's Grindelwald's doing, obviously. He's calling his followers for a rally tonight." Theseus and Amélie exchanged looks, Dumbledore was right about the rally.

"Where?" Asked the British man as they entered the office. Rosier took off her coat, left it on the rack, as well as her hat, and took her tight blazer off just to throw it over the chair. She felt the air cold against the warmth of her skin, shirt and vest.

"The Père-Lachaise Cemetery." Rosier frowned as her hands found her hips. "Specifically at the Lestrange Family Mausoleum." The pair of Head Aurors frowned, exchanged looks, and sighed. They all searched for Leta but she wasn't in the room. "There were ravens imprinted on the veils, that's the Lestrange emblem."

"Right." Said Élie. "Has anyone from upstairs asked us to do anything?" She longed for the answer to be no, that way they could go to simply listen instead of risking being outnumbered.

"Yes. Antoine asked us all to move in." Amélie sighed, her hands on the desk.

"I agree. We will all move and we'll do anything to get them." Said Travers.

"With all due respect, sir, I don't think that is a wise idea. We are very few compared to all those he has under his influence, if we go in and try to break the rally, many corpses may be laying on the ground by the time everything's over."

"It's an order. We must catch him."

"Excusez-moi? I agree, we must catch him, but allow me to tell you something, here you are just another Auror, Monsieur Travers. You move under my command while you're here, as well as all your Aurors, and I will move under my boss' orders. I will present him the options and if he still asks us to move, you're free to join. But you will follow our orders. You're no longer on Londoner soil, you're on mine." Travers gulped. "Alright, we have the location and we know it is tonight. We will act swiftly, one misstep and many people die. I don't want that. Let's go." As she grabbed her blazer, everyone walked out.

"That was brilliant." Theseus complimented. "The best moment of my life." She chuckled.

"Merci."

"There's one more thing." Elyna said before Amélie left the room when the rest were out. Theseus heard, so he stayed as well as he took off the coat and placed it on the rack beside Élie's.

"What?" She put on the black jacket.

"Antoine fled with his wife, we don't know where." Rosier's face reflected worry. "He also left this for you." She handed over a small envelope that Rosier took.

"He gave the order and left? Just like that?" Elyna nodded at Scamander's questions. "Why?"

"His wife is a Non-Magique. He's protecting her." Answered Amélie.

"You're fully in charge tonight, madame." Elyna commented.

"And I do not like it." She sighed, took her hat and walked out with the two of them walking right beside her.

They walked near the entrance and found Charles and François, four Aurors accompanying each, meaning now they were more than eight.

"What's happening?" Asked Leta, stopping Theseus. Amélie walked beside Elyna to give them their privacy, even if what they said could still be heard, for their voices echoed in the open room.

"Grindelwald's rallying tonight at the Cemetery." She grabbed his arm and used hers to pull him in for a kiss. His hands found her waist and he kissed her back softly.

"Be careful." She said once the kiss broke.

"Of course."

"Promise you'll be careful."

"Of course, I'll be careful. I'll be fine and I have people covering my back."

"I know that." Amélie made a hand movement, asking him to hurry. Time was running out. He looked at her and nodded.

"Listen, I want you to hear this from me. They think that Credence boy might be your missing brother."

"My brother is dead."

"I know."

"He died."

"I know."

"How many times, Theseus?!"

"And the records...the records will prove that. Okay? They can't lie."

"Theseus, I'm sorry, but we need to go." Rosier called and he nodded before turning back to Leta.

"I love you." Leta sighed with worry.

"I love you, too." He said after a hesitant second and kissed her again before walking away.

  Moments later, and as they all walked towards the entrance, Amélie opened the envelope and took out a note just to read out loud, to herself. "Je veux que tous les participants au rassemblement soient arrêtés, s'ils résistent-" She sighed and shook her head.

"What?" Asked Scamander.

"He wants everyone at the rally arrested and, if they resist, he wants us to use lethal force." He shook his head. "Looks like every Minister and Head of Magical Law wants to do the same thing."

"If we go in too heavy we run the risk of many people dying, just like you said."

"I know. The problem here is they're scared. If they see someone, anyone, taking a hold of their wand, they will kill them, even if I give the order not to." She sighed. "Fear makes people do terrible things, that's why many want to kill Credence. After what happened in New York, and with everything Grindelwald has been doing..."

"I know. Give the order to stand down, to remain calm. I'll help you out."

"Thank you." They nodded at each other. "And by the way, you could've just kissed her, there was no need to make her angry."

"I didn't want to make her angry, I just said that-" He stopped himself and started walking towards the railing that was to Amélie's right. She followed his movements. Both of them were surprised to find a second Theseus wearing Newt's clothes, walking right beside Tina Goldstein through the Typists Room of the Ministry, keeping their heads low. "He's here."

"Yeah, I can see that." They started running to get him, not to arrest him but to find answers. "Elyna, ferme les entrées! Newt Scamander est là!" Elyna nodded and moments later, her voice echoed around the entire facility through a speaker.

"Urgence! Urgence! Un sorcier suivi, Newt Scamander, est entré dans le Ministère!" She gave the alert about Newt, a wizard under surveillance, has entered the Ministry.

"Newt!" Theseus yelled at his brother, calling his attention as himself and Amélie ran after him down a hall with different paintings on them, all of them shifting into a picture of Newt. "Newt!" He repeated as the other two started running away from them.

"Oh!" Newt exclaimed.

"That's your brother?!" Tina's voice echoed around the hallway too.

"I think I have mentioned in my letters that we have quite a complicated relationship."

"Newt, Tina, stop!" Amélie called as they entered the Office of Mail Classification of the Ministry.

"Does he want to kill you?"

"Frequently."

"Not true!" Theseus complained.

"Enough!" Amélie and Theseus threw a spell at the boxes filled with correspondence to trap them there and avoid them from getting further into the Ministry, but Tina stopped them with a counter-spell.

"I thought we were friends." Tina told Amélie and threw a spell at her, throwing her to the back of the room, her back hitting the wall of an opened conference room.

"Élie!" Theseus said looking over his shoulder shortly just to shoot his eyes back at Tina.

"And you need to control your temper." She threw the same spell at Theseus and he collided against the same wall. Both Aurors had their wrists tied behind their backs and their ankles were tied together as well, and they laid on the ground annoyed.

"I think that might be the best moment of my life." Said Newt. "Sorry, Miss Rosier. I think we could still be friends with her."

"Maybe." Amélie groaned as she made her wand touch the magical laces around her hands and freed herself, then, she freed her feet before freeing Theseus. When he stood up, he tried to chase after Newt.

"Pas de." She told him, her hand on his chest, avoiding him from going any further. "We have a job to do, Grindelwald must be our priority. You can scold your brother later, come on." Theseus groaned as he ran after the redhead. "Call in everyone we have." She instructed Charles who nodded and left once Theseus and herself had met the people they were with moments ago, then, she looked at Travers. "As Head of the Law Enforcement Bureau, I will ask you to call your Aurors. We will need everyone that we have." Travers nodded and took two Aurors with him into a Chimney. They disappeared as green fire covered them and returned minutes later. From the rest of the Chimneys many other Aurors walked out. There were around twenty three British Aurors and twenty two from France, plus the ones that were already her, making an army of fifty members.

When everyone was informed of the situation, Élie asked Elyna to open the gates, that Newt could still be here but that they had to leave. If he left the Ministry, it didn't matter, everyone's priority should be Grindelwald and his followers.

  With that final order, she gave Newt the time he needed to do whatever he was doing, and they all left to make their way to the Cemetery as they tried to get ready for battle, because it was sure they'll have to fight tonight. All of them had the same mindset: to come back home tonight, no matter what.