CHAPTER ONE
Please
April 1907.

          Elska, Theseus and Newt sat silently in their compartment. None of them tried to speak, it had been like this since yesterday when Newt got expelled from school for 'endangering his classmates', which was a lie, but hadn't convinced the Headmaster anyways. Theseus hadn't spoken to Elska, and didn't seem like he wanted to. Newt had told her he was mad at her, so she knew he was somehow trying to hold her accountable for everything that had happened to his little brother.

"Elska, reckon you can take care of Puff for me?" Newt asked quietly as he watched outside the window.

Elska shifted uncomfortably, feeling Theseus' gaze on her, "Sure, Newt. I will."

"Who's Puff?" Theseus asked his little brother, keeping his gaze on Elska until she met his eyes. "Is that another creature that could be a danger–a threat?"

Elska simply snorted, "This is ridiculous."

Newt sighed, "It's a niffler, Theseus. We found him near the forest, but we didn't bring him back. We feed from time to time," he explained softly. "Don't be so rude to Elska...She had nothing to do with this."

"I don't believe you, Newt. You are telling me that Elska wasn't part of it, when you two have been bound to the hips since we started Hogwarts? See? Doesn't make any sense, whatsoever."

"It would be nice of you...to actually believe me," he replied. "She was with you that night. I know it because you weren't in your bed when I came back," he muttered.

Theseus shrugged, "She left at some point."

"I left to go feed the bloody pigmy puff!" She argued. "I've already told you, Theseus. I left the bed for five minutes and then, I came back."

Theseus kept it quiet, clenching his jaw tightly as Elska scoffed and left the compartment under Newt's eyes. Perhaps he had been quite the idiot, but he was sure of himself that she had something to do with it, there was no other way. Newt was silent too, glancing at his brother here and there, afraid that if he would say another word, Theseus would just lose it. But, it was unfair to bring Elska when she wasn't even involved in the whole story.

Theseus was angry. Angry that Newt had been expelled, angry that his girlfriend...ex-girlfriend? Merlin, he didn't know. Overall, he was mad. He closed his eyes, trying to find some sleep before arriving at the train station but whenever he would start to drift away, her laugh would echo in the train or an image of her would pop up in his mind. The most divine image, if he was honest. He loved her, he truly did. With a flick of a wand, the noise was finally distant...almost nonexistent and he was finally able to close his eyes.

"Theseus," Newt muttered gently, shaking his brother as Elska read a book Penelope O'Connel had given her earlier. "Elskie, help me please."

"What for?" She muttered, standing up as she completely ignored Theseus asleep. "Shake him a little harder, Newt. He will wake up."

Newt scoffed, "Do you know him? He's a heavy sleeper!"

"Oh, trust me, I know," she mumbled under her breath, shook her head and put her bag down. Her first thought as she settled her eyes on him was how peaceful he looked, almost as though he didn't loathe her. "He's going to flip out about me waking him up."

Newt shrugged, grabbing his own bag before walking out of the compartment and onto the platform. Elska cussed under her breath softly, leaving her no choice to actually wake him up.

"Theseus," Elska whispered, bringing her hand on his cheek and caressing his cheekbone. She had learnt over the months that shaking him up never worked, instead it needed to be sweeter. Gentler. "Theseus."

His eyes opened slowly as he squinted them, trying to adjust them to the light and moved his head to see who was waking him up. As soon as he noticed Elska, he backed up, as though she had plague or something. Elska frowned, a little taken back by his action but said nothing nevertheless. Theseus seemed to have understood and rapidly reached for her hands; he put them back on his face and took the time to kiss the inside of them. He couldn't bring himself to say sorry, or to utter a word; he just held her hands close to his face. He didn't know how long they stayed in this position, but soon the warmth of her hands were replaced by the cold air of London and he snapped out of the bubble.

She cleared her throat and said, "We should go."

He agreed, taking hold of his bag and trailing behind her. Considering he was taller than her, he was able to spot his mum and Newt way faster than her. He grabbed her hand, ignoring how she let him take it reluctantly and instead led her to his mum. As soon as his mother noticed Elska and him, her face lit up and she finally left Newt's arm to take his instead.

"Oh, darling," she cooed, wrapping him into a tight hug as he hugged her back without letting go of Elska's hand. Perhaps, he didn't want it to. Not yet. "Am I squeezing you too much, love?"

Theseus chuckled, struggling to hum, "Yes, mum. You are."

Elska stood behind awkwardly, glancing around. For the first time since her parents died and she started going to the Scamanders, Elska wished to see them in the crowd, to let go of Theseus' hand and just go hug them.

"Elska, dear," she said softly, pushing herself away from Theseus and pulling her into a tight hug. "I've missed you! Nala misses you too, by the way. Will you help out with her as soon as we get home?"

Instantly Elska relaxed, put on a soft smile and replied, "Of course, Erin. I'll help. I'll always help."

Erin's eyes shifted to their intertwined hands, she let out a satisfied hum and turned on her heels. Newt, Theseus and Elska trailed behind her. By the time they reached the bar that had the Floo open, Theseus hadn't let go of Elska's hands. Almost as if he was scared to let go. To be honest, she couldn't bring herself to let go of his hand either, it brought her a feeling of calmness. Theseus' hands were warm. Just like the sun. One touch and she'd melt.

"Can I—" Theseus started, glancing at their hands and Elska pulled hers away immediately. "It's just to use the floo, Elskie."

"Don't worry, I know," she replied, keeping her voice as flat as possible. "Just...go."

Theseus looked behind him as he noticed his mother and Newt were gone, he turned his head back to Elska and sighed, "Can we speak later when we get home?"

"Of course," she smiled.

"You go first," he insisted, pointing at the fireplace and she nodded her head. "I'll see you in a moment," he added.

Seconds later, Elska wasn't here anymore and he pondered grabbing the powder for a moment. If he took it, he would have to talk with her and he wasn't sure he wanted to do it. He loved her, Merlin knew he did. He loved her all day and night. He loved when she would give him cherry candies in secret, kiss him here and there, and explain to him every strange creature she had found across the grounds. He loved her the most when she was asleep, she looked fragile and beautiful; the way she parted her lips softly and snored. If he was quite honest, he wanted to hear it forever. But, then he remembered that Newt had just been expelled and it was enough to ignite the annoyance.

With a shake of his head, he held the powder tightly and shouted his floo name. Seconds later, he was stepping out of his fireplace and his eyes fell down on Elska who was petting Newt's kneazle, Pop.

"Where are Newt and mum?" He queried, taking off the ashes on his sweater.

Elska looked up at him and answered, "They just went outside. A Hippogriff problem, I reckon," she chuckled. "Theseus, listen..."

"Not here," he said, taking her hand once again as the kneazle jumped off her lap and hissed at Theseus. He led her upstairs and closed his bedroom door, before looking at her again. "What I did on the train was...I didn't mean to, alright?"

"I know," she said.

"I love you, Elska," he started, sitting across her as she nodded her head, unsure of what to say. "This isn't working though, us, I mean. We are not working."

Elska scoffed, "Are we not?"

"No, we're not!" He argued. "I think we jumped in too fast and didn't think of how Newt would feel about us, and maybe that's why he was so..."

"No," she cut him off harshly. "You don't get to blame this problem on me then us! I know you love him and I do too, but what happened was not my fault or his. It was Leta's."

"Then explain to me why you were out of bed!"

"I told you, Theseus," she replied with an exhausted sigh. "I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Elska, we need to sort this out!" He said. "You are living with us and we can't just not speak! Mum will go mental," he let out a frustrated sigh, pulling on his hair. "It's not right, Elskie."

"Theseus," she started, grabbing both of his hands and holding them. "It's simple. We don't work it out. We break up."

"But..."

"You said it yourself...we don't work," she whispered softly, clearing his throat. "Maybe we will work better as friends, eh?"

At this point, Theseus was silent, not that he was disagreeing with her but Merlin he really didn't want to let her go. Again, he had been the one planting the idea in her head at first. We don't work out. Parts of him wondered if it was a good choice, letting Elska go; he truly didn't want to because he loved her. Yes, that was it. He loved her.

"We break up, yeah?" Her voice echoed again, pulling out of his thoughts. He looked up, noticing the way she avoided his eyes and then he realised she was stopping herself from crying. "I love you, Theseus but we're young and maybe we will find each other again later."

"What if we don't?" He whispered, keeping his voice as steady as he could. "What if you get married and all I can do is watch?"

Despite the situation, Elska laughed and said, "If I ever get married to someone who isn't you, please feel free to yell I object," she teased as he smiled softly because he would. He totally would rise on his feet and shout I object.

"You're allowed to do it too, then," he told her as she thanked him. "Just...don't give up on us, yeah?"

To be fair, it was a little strange and funny to hear this sentence at sixteen years old. At sixteen years old, people usually spoke about school, upcoming essays but not about love. Well, a kind of love like theirs. Theseus and Elska were promising each other to end together, no matter what and it somehow seemed possible. Crazy, wasn't it?

Wordlessly, Elska rose on her feet and gave him one last smile. But, he wasn't having it. He reached for her wrist, tugging her closer until she was on his lap and he moved his hands on her hips. Before Elska could say something, Theseus had cupped her face and crushed his lips on hers. It didn't take long for her to kiss him back, and her hands ran lazily through his soft curls as he pulled her closer.

"It's wrong," she breathed out, pulling away and resting her forehead against his.

Theseus cleared his throat, humming, "So wrong."

"We shouldn't."

"No, we shouldn't," he agreed, leaning in again as he melted into the kiss.

It was intoxicating. Everything was. The way she ran her fingers through his curls, the small whimpers she let out whenever his hands would squeeze her side, or how her small hands sneaked under his sweater and caressed his abdomen in a way that drove him mad. Really mad.

Pulling away breathless, Elska cleared her throat and rested her hands against his chest to stop him from leaning in, "Theseus," she warned with a small voice, still a little choked up from the talk they just had. "We...we need time."

"We do, yeah," he hummed, taking a step back and instantly missed the warmth of her hands on his chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...I didn't mean to kiss you."

"Don't. Don't apologise," she said, which sounded more like pleading. Her eyes shifted awkwardly between his eyes and her own feet.

"Alright, I won't."

"Good."

"Elskie! Theseus! Dinner's ready," Erin's voice echoed through the house and they both glanced at each other one last time before going downstairs.

Thankfully, none of them made a comment about them and Elska was happy. Instead Newt talked a little about his plans and how Nala was impatiently waiting for Elska to go see her, which she promised she would do tomorrow. Erin asked about school and managed to chat throughout the whole dinner, making all of them laugh and genuinely happy.

As soon as they were done with the dishes, Erin kissed them all on the cheek and wished them a goodnight. Theseus patted Newt on the back, then pressed a gentle and shy kiss on Elska's temple before going upstairs.

"Newt, hey. Can I sleep with you tonight?" She whispered once they were alone, and he looked up with a quizzed look. "Theseus and I...we broke up."

"Broke up?"

Elska sighed heavily, "Theseus said we weren't working," she mumbled under her breath, avoiding Newt's eyes. "I don't want to be in a one sided relationship, so we broke things off."
"Oh. I see, yeah."

"It's fine, really. I'm fine," she reassured with a tiny smile. There was a dead silence for a few minutes, until she spoke up again. "So, can I sleep with you?"

"Of course, Elskie," he offered her a smile. "You know, even though I'm not at Hogwarts anymore. We should still work on this project for us."

"We should, yeah," she agreed as they walked upstairs. "We would have to start with France, I heard about some creatures there. I'm sure you'd love it."

"I'm sure too," he replied. "Alright, I'll be in my room. Okay?"
"Yeah."

Newt left her in the corridor as she made her way to the bathroom, the one next to Theseus' room, she turned on the tap and splashed some water on her face before looking up in the mirror and catching her own reflection. Perhaps, it hit her now that she would never hold Theseus' hand anymore or kiss his cheek whenever she pleased, she wouldn't look at herself and him in the mirror while his head rested on her shoulder. It was all gone. Her hands gripped the edge of the cabinet as she released a shaky breath, and closed her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Theseus' voice broke in, making her eyes shot wide open and her posture straightened almost immediately. "I didn't know you were in there."

"It's fine, T."

"I can—I can leave if you need me to."

"I was going back to Newt's room anyways," she whispered as his eyes shifted back on her face. "Besides, it's your bathroom."

"Lo—Elska, you don't have to bunk in with Newt. You can have my bedroom."

Elska smiled and said, "I don't need it, don't worry. Night, T," he hummed softly and her hand reached to squeeze his forearm gently. "I will see you tomorrow morning?"

"Always," he replied, watching her leave the bathroom.

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authors note, so we're starting with a bittersweet chapter...so can we talk about how painful they are going to be??!!? 😝