CHAPTER FOUR
Final Days At Hogwarts
June 1907.

Elska was finally done with Hogwarts, no more classes, no more loud people in the hallways and no more waking up early. As soon as she got home, she would change into a swimsuit and tan by the pond in the garden but before that, she would perhaps help Erin with Nala, the Hippogriff.

For now, she laid in her little flat–the one that was only reserved to Head Girl and Boy. Elska used it for privacy for Henry and her, while Adolphus used it to bring women. Elska never minded as long as he remembered the rules: not one of her friends, he had to throw a silencing charm beforehand and get them out before Elska woke up to have breakfast.

"What will you do after?" Henry queried as they laid in bed, both staring at the ceiling. The pair had yet to get ready for graduation but none of them had found the strength to get up.

"After school?" Elska queried.

"Well, yes."

Elska shrugged, flipping on the bed so she was on her stomach and rested her head in the palm of her hand, "Newt and I are going to discover the world and look for creatures," Elska replied with excitement.

"Really? That's bloody great," he told her. "Where will you two go first?"

"We were thinking of Paris."

Henry hummed, stealing a lazy kiss from Elska. Truth was she liked Henry and had developed somewhat strong feelings for him. He was sweet, funny and caring. She would attend his games and cheer for him, while he would spend most of his free time on the grounds with Elska as she showed him the creatures living there. It had been a great year for her.

"What will you do after?" Elska asked softly, pulling away.

Henry sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose, "Get married, have children, work at the ministry perhaps? Dad said he could get me in."

"So you have it all worked out for you, eh?"

"Yeah, I reckon," Henry breathed out softly.

Elska found it sad. Henry would probably never know what true freedom felt like. Perhaps that was a pure-blood curse. If history went well, it repeated itself over and over again. The heir had to continue the lineage in order for the line to never die. Elsk    a found it stressing and even a bit less human. Thankfully, Erin was not into that type of mindset despite being a pure-blood.

Sensing that Henry was starting to overthink, Elska grabbed him by the tie to bring him closer so she could kiss him softly, soon enough Henry started kissing her back but before any of them could pull away, the door flew open revealing Erin, Newt and Theseus.

"Surpri–Merlin, Elskie!" Erin shouted, covering her eyes. Newt laughed as Theseus turned on his heels so he faced the other way.

"What are you doing here?"

"Professor Dumbledore told us we could come up and visit you," Newt replied with a shrug, stepping forward to press a kiss on her cheek. "Hello, Henry. Nice to see you again."

"Hello, Newt," Henry replied, red as a tomato. "Hello, Mrs. Scamander. Hi, Theseus."

Erin greeted him as Theseus nodded his head simply. Henry rose to his feet, excusing himself because he had to go and get ready. A minute was all it took for him to leave the flat. Erin and Newt settled down on the couch as Theseus did not move, and instead avoided Elska.

Elska and Theseus didn't see each other much these past few months–he was busy and barely came home whenever Elska was there. They never exchanged letters as if they were strangers again. It wouldn't surprise Elska to know that Erin had dragged her son there.

"We thought you might be nervous, sweetheart," Erin started, standing up to cup Elska's face. "Newt and I brought you a little present."

Erin handed her the huge box, sharing a knowing smile with Newt. Elska grabbed the box, carefully disposing of it on her bed and started to unbox it. A gasp left her mouth as she realised that Newt and Erin had bought her a dress. The dress was green and stopped right after her knees–it was a perfect dress for a graduation.

"It is beautiful, Erin," she whispered, hugging the dress to her chest. The tears pricked her eyes and she opened her mouth to tell how grateful she was but nothing came out, just a choked sob.

"Oh, Elskie," Newt said with a soft smile. "Mum and I are really happy to give you this, alright?"

"I'm just so grateful, thank you," she mumbled, burying herself into Newt's arms.

Theseus fought the urge to join the hug and hoped his mother wouldn't hold it against him for staying back. Luckily, she didn't even glance at him. Pulling away, Elska muttered words that he could not bother to listen to. After he had left for the training centre, he had to remind himself that Elska and him were not together anymore and that the night they had shared before his departure meant nothing. Surely, she would grow tired of him sending letters so he stopped writing them.

As they spoke together, he roamed around the apartment. He felt like an intruder in her home after all these months spent without talking to her or seeing her. But his mother had dragged him there stating that it would be nice of Theseus to show up for Elska once in a while, so he had dressed properly with a suit he had bought with the money he had earned with the training.

Without noticing, Newt and his mum had left the place leaving him alone with Elska. The atmosphere was quiet, almost uncomfortable and he couldn't bring himself to face her as he started to speak.

"Congratulations on passing your NEWTS," Theseus spoke up, clearing his throat as he hoped that he would manage to keep a steady tone throughout the conversation.

"Thank you, Theseus."

Theseus' name sounded so bitter as it dripped from Elska's mouth and he wondered if it was just a bad dream he had been pulled into. Since when Elska was bitter with him? Had it started after his letters stopped reaching home? Or when he would refuse to come home during her holidays?

"Er, how have you been?"

Elska shrugged, eyes fixed on his back, "Good. Why are you asking now?"

Theseus sighed, "I am just trying to make the room feel less awkward, Elskie," he argued as Elska let out a scoff that did not go unnoticed by Theseus.

"Elska," she corrected.

Theseus' heart sank; was he not allowed to call her Elskie anymore?

"Am I not allowed to call you Elskie?"

"No, not since you've been ignoring me for the past few months," Elska spat, sounding a bit more furious than a minute ago.

Theseus stayed silent because he had no explanation for his sudden disappearance, he just needed to be far away from her–to convince himself that without her, he could be something. And yes, the way Theseus had done things was not pleasant and had made Elska feel awful but he didn't regret it that much because he had been able to focus.

"So, you and Henry then?"

"He deserves me," was all she said, applying some make up on her face as he finally allowed himself to glance at her. She had not changed a bit except for her hair that had grown longer but she was still so beautiful that it stopped his breath every single time he looked at her. "Did Erin drag you here? If you don't want to be here, you can go. I'll tell them we fought."

"Didn't I deserve you?" Theseus asked.

"Did Erin drag you here, Theseus?" She asked, ignoring his question.

"Yes, yes she did," Theseus mumbled. "But I want to be here for you!"

Elska hummed unconvinced, "Right, yeah. Well, I'm alright."

Theseus sighed once again, not knowing what to say to ease the tension but it was his fault that she was so defensive with him. He reached for the inside of his pocket, fumbling with the gift he had given her and pondered if he gave it to her or not. But after all, he wasn't going to let it get dusty in his room so Theseus handed it to her.

"There," Theseus muttered as Elska glanced at the velvet box. "I got you a gift for your graduation. It is—well, you'll see," Noticing she wasn't grabbing the box, he put it down gently on the desk and said. "I'll be in the Great Hall with mum and Newt."

"Alright," Elska whispered. "And Theseus," she called before he could leave the place, he turned on his heels to look at her. "Congratulations on becoming an Auror. I told you you would manage perfectly."

"Thank you," Theseus said softly.

...

The graduation had been great. Elska had received her diploma with loud cheers from Newt, Erin and Theseus. She had seen him rise from his seat and clap his hands together while he shouted some incomprehensible words. The sight of it made her all fuzzy inside, she didn't even bother watching Henry on the other side. Her eyes were settled on Theseus who wore a proud smile—a proud smile just for her.

Now, Elska found herself in Newt's flat. After all it was the plan: her moving to London with Newt. The flat was rather nice for someone who had such a low wage but Elska didn't question it. Instead, she ran to the room Newt had kept neat for her and unpacked her stuff. Erin said she would come back with the biggest stuff and not to worry, so Elska had left with only the essentials.

For the first time in a while, it was rather weird to fall asleep with noise instead of pure silence. People were chatting until late, and Elska found herself throwing a silencing charm to find some peace before bed.

The next morning, Elska was out of the bed early and already heading to the Ministry where Newt had managed to get her an interview. Despite their plan, Elska needed to earn some money before they threw themselves into a complicated quest all over the world. If she recalled well what Newt had told her, she was interviewing for the position of assistant to the head of the department of magical law enforcement.

"Right, good luck Elskie," Newt mumbled, kissing the side of her head. "Remember I'm on Level 4, yes?"

"Don't worry, Newt. I haven't forgotten," Elska chuckled, nudging him softly. "I'll see you later, yes?"

"Of course," he replied, stepping back into the lift and waved at her once more before disappearing.

Elska turned on her heels as she held her purse tightly in her hands and started to walk to the front desk, she assumed she had to announce herself beforehand. Elska had never been down there or anywhere in the ministry before, if she did, she didn't recall it at all. Walking on the red carpet, she stopped right before the desk and cleared her throat hoping the woman would look up.

"Hello, you are?" The woman queried, chewing her gum so loud that it made Elska tighten her hands around the handles of her bag. "I need a name and the reason why you are here, love."

"Elska Prewett. I have an interview with Mr. Travers for the position of assistant," Elska said rapidly.

Elska watched as the quill wrote words for words what she had just said and vanished in thin air, "You can wait here," the woman pointed at the armchairs on the side before returning to her occupations.

When Mr. Travers made his way to her, he wore a warm and wide smile that reassured Elska right away. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. Shaking his hand, she followed him to his office and sat down on the chair in front of him. First, he asked questions about her as he grabbed her resume but then he said something that made Elska's blood boil.

"Mr. Scamander speaks highly of you, you know," Mr. Travers said at first, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He even said you'd make a good assistant and because of that resume, right there, I can see why," he added.

"Which Mr. Scamander, may I ask?"

"Theseus surely, I rarely meet his brother, Newton."

Elska's jaw clenched and she stopped herself from talking more. Instead, she smiled and said something nice about Theseus. Despite not wanting the job because Theseus was the one proposing it to Newt, she needed the money. Besides, she could get used to working here. In spite of his harsh look, Mr. Travers seemed very nice to her.

"You know what, Miss Prewett," Mr. Travers exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "You shall start next week! What about that, eh?"

Elska's eyes widened, "B-but don't you have other people who applied for this job, sir?"

"Well, of course there are other people, Miss Prewett but don't you want the job?"

"No, no, I do! I just thought you'd like to hear the others before making up your mind," Elska explained with a tight smile. "Does that mean I'll be your assistant from now on, Mr. Travers?"

Mr. Travers' lips curled upwards, "You are everything I need, I don't need to see other people," he told her. "Please, call me Torquil. After all, we are bound to spend much time together. I'd rather have you call me by my first name."

"Of course," she breathed out. "You can call me Elska then. Thank you for the opportunity, sir–Torquil, I mean."

He let out a laugh, waving a careless hand, "You will get used to it. You start in three days, is that alright?"

Elska nodded her head furiously before leaving the office. As soon as she left, her shoulders slouched down a little and she breathed out, tightening her hands around the handles of her purse. As she entered the lift, she bumped into a familiar face but could not put a name on it.

"Oi, sorry," she said softly, standing next to him.

"Elska Prewett, am I right?" The man queried, wearing a little smirk that made Elska's heart flutter a bit. "Connell Barclay. I was in Ravenclaw. We shared herbology," he then added.

"Oh, so it is you. I knew you from somewhere but I couldn't remember your name," Elska chuckled. "How do you remember mine?"

"Well, a pretty face is very hard to forget, Elska," Connell answered confidently as Elska gaped at him before shaking her head and clearing her throat. Her eyes settled on the number in front of her and she realised she had already reached Newt's level. "I'll see you soon."

"Why's that?" Elska queried as she stepped out of the lift and looked at him.

Connell smiled, "I am an Auror," was all he said before the doors closed.

Not only was he an Auror, but that meant he knew Theseus. Elska shook her head once again, trying to shake him out of her thoughts and hurried to the desk so she could ask for Newt. The woman never bothered looking up once as she gave her the directions. Elska found secretaries extremely rude here, and she wondered if she would ever become like this in the future. Perhaps the job tended to wash their kindness away.

Knocking on the door, she said, "Newt, it's me!" The door flew open, revealing Newt at his desk with piles of paper around him. "How messy. This looks like your room at home," she teased as he sent her a glare. "Well, someone's grumpy this morning."

"Well, I suppose you have not seen Theseus or you would be as grumpy as I am right now," Newt replied as she rolled her eyes. "Pardon me for the messy office, I am sure Mr. Travers' one is much neater than mine. How was your interview?"

"I got the job."

The answer made Newt stop writing as he put the pen down and looked up at her, "Is it true?"

"Yes, yes! I start in three days," she replied.

"Oh, Merlin!" Newt said happily, rising to his feet so he could give her a proper hug. "That is fantastic, Elskie. I am very proud of you," he said, pulling away as she smiled. "Mum is going to be very happy as well, you shall owl her tonight, yes?"

"I will, Newt," Elska reassured. "But I think you had forgotten to tell me a tiny detail about this interview. Why didn't you tell me that Theseus had already talked about me to Mr. Travers?"

"Well," Newt started fidgeting with his fingers nervously as he looked down at his feet. "Well, er, he came to me yesterday and said that if you were looking for a job, he had put out a good word for you to Mr. Travers bu–"

"So, Mr. Travers took me out of pity?"

"No, no," Newt rushed to answer. "Theseus told me Mr. Travers wouldn't be easy to convince but apparently you did it perfectly."

Elska sighed, "Well, I managed."

"We shall go to the restaurant and celebrate, yeah?" Newt said happily, gathering all his belongings. "Don't worry, no one will notice that I'm gone. Miranda never looks up when someone walks in or out of the department," he added.

"Alright."

—————
authors note, i feel... BITTERSWEET bc i miss them so much already ⚡️😞⚡️😞
also see how i already introduced connell 🥰🙌☺️