A/N: for some reason, I don't like this chapter much. I feel very... Iffy about it. Thoughts on it would be appreciated, and if you guys hate it, I'll rewrite it.

Now, onto what I'd like to talk about before the chapter begins. The character Credence has many theories surrounding him right now as to who he is, the most popular being that he is Tom Riddle SR. I just wanted to let everyone know that these theories will not play into this fanfic until they are proven by reliable sources. Also, Credence's actions in this chapter may seem... Sort of strange, but I'll have a note at the bottom of the chapter as to why.

I do also plan to continue this story to the end of the Deathly Hallows, (each movie will be a new book) as Credence will play a rather large part in those books.

Thanks guys, please remember to vote and comment!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

"I don't as such, need a place to say, but simply an undisturbed part of the castle," Newt said, pulling a tiny suitcase from the pocket of his shirt. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand.

Pulling out his wand, he waved it and the suitcase returned to what would presumably be its normal size.

"Bringing more dangerous creatures into the castle," Dumbledore replied with an accusative glance.

"They're not dangerous! I've just got some unicorns, Occamy, a Swooping Evil, some Bowtruckles-"

Credence listened as Newt listed off many, many words, a few of which he recognised. He knew what unicorns were, but had no idea that they were real. The majority of the other words seemed like pure gibberish.

He followed behind the two of them, tripping every so slightly. He was extremely tired, and wanted to sleep.

This place was unfamiliar. It was a castle, he knew that, but the stone corridors didn't seem welcoming. He'd forgiven the old man for restraining him against his will, and was slightly thankful for it. The boy that attacked him would've been dead, and Newt probably would've been too.

Yet he still didn't forgive that boy, Harry, he was called. He wasn't so quick to accept apologies anymore.

Mr Graves had hit him in the face, and then apologised as if expecting things to be okay. The utter betrayal he'd felt was impossible to comprehend. At first he'd been kind, alluring and caring, then he turned stone cold.

He still didn't quite trust Newt. Everything in him screamed for him to, to trust this man, but he felt after all he'd been through he simply couldn't.

Credence bowed his head, looking down at his scarred hands and wrists. Tears welled up in his eyes, yet he refused to let them fall. He'd cried enough for one day.

Diligently he followed Newt and Albus, his gaze cast down and his messy black hair falling into his eyes. A person passed every now and then, staring at the three figures, but they continued on their way.

Soon they came to a tower, which Dumbledore stopped in front of. "This tower is never accessed by anyone. It's filled with spare bits and bobs, so a suitcase should go unnoticed if someone does go up there." Dumbledore's tone had visibly lightened, and he seemed amused by Newt's excited chatter about his creatures, most of which Credence had ignored.

"Speaking of dangerous creatures...would you mind telling me why you're housing a werewolf and a vampire in this castle?" Newt's voice was suddenly accusing. "Two dangerous creatures, and you won't let me being an obscurus in?"

"Yes, but those two are the key to saving our world."

"I don't get it. What have I missed?"

"The dark lord has grown more powerful than before, Newt." Credence finally began to listen, interested. "He became much worse, massacring cities overnight. A prophecy was found, telling of a boy who would eventually destroy him. In an attempt to get rid of the threat, he tried to kill the boy, but he survived and the dark lord has his own magic rebounded back onto him. He was close to death, but he's been back twice already. He's not gone, we know that for sure, and that vampire is the boy from the prophecy."

It took a few moments for Newt to completely understand the story. A boy who survived the killing curse?

"If you want more information, you can go to the library. There are many old daily prophet articles there. I trust you remember where the library is."

Newt nodded, starting up the steps to the tower with Credence following.

Every step seemed to be a mass effort, and Credence wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep. The steps seemed to drag on forever, and his legs felt like dead weights. Finally, they reached a door, which Newt opened.

Inside was a large circular room, filled random objects. Chairs, tables, other broken furniture were stacked in hazardous piles, along with chests and other random objects. A smashed chandelier lay on the floor, the shards of glass scattered on the marble. An empty, sooty fireplace faced them from across the room.

Newt raised an eyebrow in contempt at the mess, waving his wand.

Credence watched in shock as the furniture repaired itself, the random trinkets organising themselves and the smashed chandelier fixing itself and attaching itself to the roof. A fire roared in the now wood-filled fireplace.

Newt sat down on one of the couches, looking more exhausted than Credence felt. His eyes were half closed as he dozed, the tiredness overwhelming.

Credence sat down in an armchair, still looking around and trying to familiarise himself with the surroundings.

"I hope everyone's okay," Newt's voice was worried. Credence understood, he was worried about Tina and the others. "Travelling through time is dangerous. I don't even know how I've done it in the first place. You can create different dimensions, be alive when records say you're dead."

Credence pulled his legs up underneath him, curling up slightly.

"I just hope we haven't done anything horrible."

Credence cast his eyes downwards, unsure if he should reply or how to reply.

"Where are we?" The black haired boy finally spoke up.

Newt lifted his gaze to look at Credence. "We're in a wizarding school called Hogwarts. I went here when I was a kid, but I got expelled when I was thirteen for accidentally letting some creatures loose in the castle. That man was Dumbledore, he's the headmaster. Very powerful wizard, that man."

Credence blinked, taking all the information he'd just been given in. A wizard school?

"I don't understand. Why am I here?" Credence asked.

"Because we're going to find a way to kill the obscurus without killing you-"

"Yes, you've said that," Credence murmured, running a hand through his already messy hair. "But why?"

It took a few moments for Newt to form an answer.

"Because everyone deserves a full chance at life, a chance to be happy. You've never had that before."

"But I've killed people! By law I should be dead."

"Everyone deserves a second chance. There is goodness in everyone, even if it is buried. Everyone has some form of kindness, even if it is only in the tiniest."

******

Draco smiled as Harry began to stir, opening a Crimson eye slowly to blink at the werewolf. He gave Draco a single contempt look before closing his eyes and curling into Draco's side again.

"Well good morning to you too," Draco said, mock bitterness in his voice. "Sleep well?"

"Oh yes," Harry answered, grinning sarcastically. "Your bony shoulder is so comfortable."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Mean."

Harry spat his tongue out at the werewolf childishly.

******

The two walked down a corridor on their way back to their common room, fingers entwined. Draco had taken Harry's hand to pull him up off the bed after the vampire refused to get up himself, and simply hadn't let go of Harry's hand.

The best part was that the vampire didn't protest, and didn't comment on the matter either.

His hand was cold as ice, yet it spread a warmth through the werewolf, and he found himself battling back grins every other second.

"I feel bad for losing control," Harry spoke up. "But not so bad for attacking that boy."

Draco nodded, understanding. "I could feel the dark magic practically radiating off him."

"Something's not right with him, I know it. They came out of nowhere. Do you think he's dangerous?"

"Yes and no," Draco replied. It was an odd question to answer. "He does seem capable to be dangerous, but his mental state is screwed by the looks of it. He looks really traumatised."

"Hopefully we don't have to worry about him then. Christmas is tomorrow. You excited?" Harry asked, casting a smile in Draco's direction.

Draco shrugged in reply. "Sort of. I've never really celebrated Christmas before, my parents were always too busy."

Harry gave Draco's hand a comforting squeeze. It felt horrible to not have parents, but to have ones that didn't care about you must be much worse.

"I hope they still have the Christmas dinner this year," Harry said with a smile, reminiscent of the previous years where he'd spent Christmas at Hogwarts.

"They have a Christmas dinner?" Draco asked, curious. He'd never stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, they set up the huge Christmas tree in the Great Hall and have a huge feast. Best feast of the year, to be honest. Not that I'll be eating any of it," Harry's voice quietened, remembering previous times he'd attempted eating to only reveal that food and drink turned to ash in his mouth.

"I'm sure it'll be fun."

******

Darkness had descended upon the castle of Hogwarts, the only light in the circular tower coming from the still burning yellowish orange fire.

Newt sighed tiredly, running a hand through his haphazard hair. He was exhausted.

His eyes flickered over towards Credence, who was asleep in the same armchair he'd originally sat in. Newt had long ago levitated a blanket to cover his body.

He slept so peacefully, it was difficult for Newt to believe that such a person, filled with serenity while sleeping could have so much darkness harbouring within them.

Newt had spent the afternoon mostly observing Credence, picking up every mental affliction the boy carried that he could. It'd be easier to expel the obscurus if he knew the boy's mental state well.

So far he'd noticed that he had a severe case of depression, he seemed to be almost always close to tears and hyperventilating panic-attacks. He hardly spoke, and was reluctant towards food when offered to him. He clearly suffered from anxiety, his eyes hadn't stopped searching the room for possibly dangers until he'd dozed off. The dark circles under his eyes hinted towards possible insomnia.

Newt curled his body into a lying position on a couch, thoughts of worry still clouding his mind for the friends he'd left behind.

Too tired to keep his eyes open any longer, he drifted off to sleep.

******

Credence awoke with a gasp, breathing heavily as sweat dripped down his forehead. He struggled to breathe as he stared around the unfamiliar place, his breathing calming as he noticed a familiar figure. Oh, that's right, they were at Hogwarts now.

Calmed down, he stood up weakly and walked over to sit in front of the fire. The flames burned hot and made his eyes sting slightly as he stared into them, but the orange flares were so hypnotising it was difficult to look away. The firelight illuminated his pale face, and cast his hunched over shadow across the room.

His hands trembled and his head spun slightly. But this was the way things usually were to Credence.

He'd long gotten used to all the side effects that came with having this thing- this monster, the obscurus, inside of him.

Constant chronic pain wreaked his body, and some days it had been so bad he couldn't get out of bed or put a knife to his throat, debating ending it all because every part of him hurt. His head pounded relentlessly, it was painful to even look around. It caused him agony to use his body to walk, to run, to speak. It hurt to blink, it hurt to breathe.

His constant cries and whimpers of pain as a small child had just made his punishments from his mother even worse, so he'd learned to keep his mouth shut and his teeth gritted, the pain causing him to often be unable to speak or to twitch involuntarily.

He often found himself not wanting to eat. Food was something he needed, like everyone else, but at the same time he didn't need it. Sometimes the sight of food made him vomit, even though he was starving. He'd always been severely underweight, and he knew he probably always would be.

Not to mention the various sleep-paralysis episodes he'd endured. Waking up in the middle of the night to hallucinate nightmarish things without being able to move was utterly terrifying and had permanently traumatised him.

Credence curled his legs to his chest, hugging them. He knew he didn't have much time left, a few months at most. Colours seemed duller to his eyes, once in a while he found himself colourblind. Pain shattered his frame, and constant tiredness overwhelmed him.

The black haired boy turned to look at the figure lying on the couch, asleep. He gave the tiniest of smiles, the first time he'd smiled in years.

At least he'd made it to today, his eighteenth birthday. He could die in his sleep tonight happily, simply drift off, knowing that there was someone who cared about him enough to risk his life for him. He could die knowing he had made it this far, and that it was a pure miracle.

******

Credence opened his eyes as sunlight filtered through the windows, shining into his face. Now aware of the fact he wasn't dead, he let out a yawn, sitting up. He was still lying in the same place on the floor that he'd fallen asleep in last night.

He heard a muffled groan and turned to see Newt, still fast asleep. His mouth was wide open as he snored quietly, drooling onto the arm of the couch.

Credence cracked a tiny smile at the comical state of the figure who usually seemed so... Put together, so perfect down to the tiniest details. Even his messy hair and crooked bow tie with his stupid grin were perfect.

Newt cracked open one of his blue eyes and abruptly closed his mouth, going slightly red at seeing Credence staring at him. The black haired boy diverted his gaze and left the Magizooligist to awaken in peace.

"Merry Christmas," Newt yawned, giving Credence a grin as he sat up, wincing at the pain shooting through his back.

"You too."

"I would have gotten you a present but there wasn't really the time for it," Newt grinned sheepishly.

"It's fine," Credence replied weakly. He'd never even thought of the possibility that anyone would want to get him a Christmas present in the first place.

"Well, we've got a long day ahead. Dumbledore sent me a letter last night, and he wishes for us to act as part of the faculty, to teach classes."

"Wait, I can't do magic. I can't teach a class," Credence frowned, anxiety rising.

"No, it's fine. You'll be my assistant or something," Newt said as he stood up and stretched.

Credence nodded, doing the same.

"Right, well, I've got several hungry creatures to feed," Newt said, opening the huge suitcase that Credence had completely forgotten about. Credence stared into the case, frowning. There wasn't anything in it, simply darkness.

His eyes widened in shock as Newt climbed into the suitcase, the object seemingly swallowing him up. Finally he disappeared completely.

"Coming?" Came a voice, Newt's voice. Reluctant, but telling himself to trust the man, Credence followed.

He found himself in a haphazard room. All sorts of random objects littered the space. Strange looking plants and potions sat on a cluttered desk filled with quills and notes. Brooms leant against a wall, next to barrels and boxes of unknown contents. A bed was situated off to one side, the thin blanket on it tangled.

Newt was standing nearby, seemingly waiting for him at the doorway out of the room.

Credence walked towards him, and immediately his jaw dropped, a reaction that Newt grinned at.

There were many, many different landscapes set up across a huge area of seemingly endless space.

Many bizarre looking creatures filled the space. In a desert-y looking area a huge birdlike creature swooped, it's many golden wings sending gusts of wind that blew Credence's hair back. Green stick insect like creatures clambered all over several shrubs, what looked like a baby green dragon snapping playfully at them.

Yet out of all creatures, one caught Credence's utmost attention.

It had the form of a little black horse, a baby one. It was lying peacefully in a foresty habitat, away from all of the other creatures, watching them peacefully. One of its eyes was a stark blue, the other a deep brown.

Newt followed his gaze.

"That's a baby unicorn. His mother was very sick when she gave birth and died. He's blind in one eye," Newt said, solemnly as he ventured closer to the creature. The unicorn looked up, watching him carefully.

"I don't know much about unicorns, but aren't they white and supposed to have horns?" Credence asked, remembering the legends he'd read about when he was younger.

"Yes," Newt replied, gesturing for Credence to come closer as he patted the unicorn's forehead. "They're born black, but get lighter as they grow older. They become white when they're fully grown, just like how their horn will grow as they get older."

Credence nodded, the small horse blinking intently at him. "Does he have a name?"

"Not yet. I'm not good at making up names," Newt said with a small laugh. "You could name him if you'd like."

Credence narrowed his eyes calculatingly, the small creature staring back at him, breathing quietly.

"Evyndor." Credence's voice was quiet.

"Evyndor. I like it," Newt grinned.

******

Harry didn't bother knocking on Draco's door, simply bursting in and jumping onto the werewolf's bed, nearly knocking a now abruptly awake Draco out of his bed.

The white haired werewolf yelped, and then sighed, realising it was Harry.

"It's Christmas!" Harry cheered, grinning. His red eyes shone with excitement.

"I was aware," Draco yawned, burying his face into his pillow.

"Wake up!" Harry yelled. "It's Christmas!"

"We've established that!" Draco sighed, unable to stop a grin from forming on his face at the childish vampire's antics.

"Then get up! There's presents!"

There was a gust of wind as Harry shot from the room at his inhuman speed. Draco merely sighed again, falling back to his pillow. He covered his face with his hands briefly, before getting up and pulling on a shirt. He grabbed several wrapped objects from under his bed, and trotted down the stairs to see Harry sitting on one of the couches.

The vampire had his legs crossed, sitting in the shadowy part of the living room, his almost luminous red eyes glinting.

"I've never been given much for Christmas before, but I like the holiday," Harry grinned, holding out several wrapped objects of his own. There were other presents sitting in the centre of the room, most of which Harry had seemingly already opened.

Draco merely smiled in reply, sitting down opposite.

Harry was the first to open another present, a tiny box that Draco had meticulously wrapped in silver wrapping paper. It was a jewellery box. Inside was a necklace, the pendant being a small silver dragon. One of its eyes was a solid emerald, the other a shining ruby.

He held it up, grinning.

"I thought it suited you," Draco said. Harry nodded, moving on to the next present.

A foeglass. Harry had heard of these before, and knew that they were quite expensive.

Harry had gotten Draco several bars of Honeydukes best chocolate, after figuring out Draco had an extensive addiction to sugar, and also a golden telescope that could supposedly see into other galaxies entirely.

******

Credence sat on a couch, playing with a button that was coming loose on his jacket absentmindedly, waiting for Newt to finish reading the letter that a huge red bird, and Phoenix, had flown in with earlier.

"It's from Dumbledore," Newt said, letting his eyes flick over the piece of parchment a few more times. "He says that were required to be at the Christmas dinner this evening with appropriate alias' to meet the rest of the staff."

Credence nodded. That was understandable. They didn't want people figuring out who they really were.

"Right. I'll make up a name for you, and you can make one up for me," Newt said, sitting opposite Credence, an almost excited grin on his face. Credence nodded.

"Okay..." The dark haired boy trailed off, thinking. "Edward, or Eddie," he spoke after a few moments, repeating the name in his head.

Newt grinned, nodding. "Sounds good. And for you... Ezra."

Credence raised an eyebrow, he'd never heard a name like that before.

"I've always liked that name. Or Adam."

"Ezra," Credence repeated the name under his breath, feeling fond of the name immediately. "What about last names?"

"We won't need them for tonight, so we'll worry about that when the time comes. I'm actually twenty-nine, but I'll knock off a few years and I'll be twenty two."

"I'm eighteen, as of yesterday in fact, but I'll be twenty I suppose."

Newt gave Credence an affronted look. "Yesterday was your birthday? You didn't tell me."

"I didn't think it was important. I nearly forgot myself, to be honest," Credence murmured in reply, shifting in his seat.

******

Harry couldn't help but smile as he walked into the great hall. Christmas had always been a glorious time at Hogwarts.

A huge Christmas tree that nearly reached the roof stood, covered in lights and colourful tinsel, Filch struggling to decorate the monstrous tree with baubles and other ornaments.

The four house tables had been moved out of the hall, a single large table taking up the centre space. On the table was every food imaginable, all looking delicious. House elves bustled around happily, singing Christmas carols as they tended to the food and the decor of the room.

Draco looked around, observing everything with wonder. This had to be his best Christmas yet.

Harry sat down the table on the far end from the teachers, Draco sitting beside him. Harry frowned at all the food.

"I miss eating."

Draco couldn't help but burst into laughter at how ridiculous the comment sounded, Harry soon joining in.

******

Credence looked around the hall, nervous about the unfamiliar place. Newt, who was sitting next to him, noticed his unease and placed a hand on the dark haired boy's knee comfortingly.

The teachers had all sat down and were chatting with the two happily, asking questions about themselves. Not many students had remained for Christmas this year, but those who had were taking and laughing happily down the other end of the table.

"So," Professor Sprout, who'd been talking happily with them for the past five minutes began. "What'll you be teaching then?"

"We'll be helping Hagrid with the Care Of Magical Creatures classes," Newt replied with a friendly smile as Credence picked at his food. "It should be interesting to teach. I've been all over the world studying magical creatures."

"Really?" Professor Sprout looked interested. "Where have you been?"

"Everywhere," Newt grinned. "All over England, Egypt, I've been to Australia once or twice. Africa has always been interesting, but I'd have to say I liked America best. That's where I met Ezra."

Credence's eyes flickered up. All afternoon he'd been training himself to respond to his new name, practicing his acting skills. He'd managed to tone down his twitching, and dispel a bit of his social awkwardness. He remembered Newt's words from before they walked down here.

"Don't worry about anything, you'll be alright. Trust me, go along with what I say, and the night should go fine."

Did he trust Newt? Well, of course he did. Now he did, anyways. The man had proved his loyalty. He wasn't fake. Fake like Graves was.

Credence managed a small smile.

Professor Sprout grinned at them both cheerily. "Are you two together then?"

Credence froze up at this, noticing Newt's eyes flicker towards him before back to the herbology teacher. Credence nearly jumped in fright as he felt cold metal materialise on his left hand's ring finger. He calmed quickly as Newt placed his hand over Credence's.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Newt said with a smile. Credence swallowed, repeating Newt's words in his head. Go along with it. Go along with it, and it'll be fine. Trust him.

"Well isn't that wonderful!" Professor Sprout looked positively thrilled. "I'm sure you two will fit in here well."

Newt grinned, Credence catching a flash of silver on his left hand too. He diverted his gaze shiftily, uncomfortable.

Surely as Newt had said, the rest of the night went off fine. The teachers were all pleasant, conversing with them happily. Credence didn't say much, as he'd a,way been extremely shy and that hadn't changed. Thankfully, Newt did most of the talking for him.

The night came to a close rather fast, time had flown. Credence knew he had to leave soon regardless. His head throbbed, colours fading from his vision to become black and white before returning in blinding colours that made him wince.

Everyone was standing up and leaving, Credence watching as Newt left to speak with Dumbledore. He came back a few minutes later.

"Dumbledore says that we have our own office now like all the other teachers, and we'll be moving in there tonight instead of that tower."

Credence nodded numbly, noticing Newt's grim expression as they left the hall and began walking down a deserted corridor.

"Why'd you have to tell her that-that we're married?" Credence finally brought up the nerve to ask, fiddling with the silver ring on his finger, some part of him not wanting to take it off.

"I-I panicked, I suppose. I didn't know what else to say." Newt noticed Credence's expression. "We can stage a breakup or something if that'd work-"

"No, it's fine," Credence sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly.

They reached the room where their supposed office was. It was a nice area, much alike the other tower. The main area had a large desk and many shelves, and a couch and two armchairs that sat in front of a fireplace. Blue flames crackled quietly in the space. A spiralled staircase was off to one side, probably towards their bedrooms.

Credence collapsed onto the couch, exhausted. He barely registered Newt's murmur about going to get his suitcase before he was alone.

He lifted his left hand to look at the ring, again wondering why he was going along with this and if he was going crazy. It was pure silver, a few blue gems that looked like sapphires encrusted into the side.

He remembered the strange feeling of the ring materialising onto his hand, and sighed, wondering where it had even come from in the first place, or how it was possible for it to simply appear.

He let out a quiet whine as pain shot through his skull, forcing him to close his eyes. After a few moments of silence, he sat up and made his way slowly up the spiralling staircase.

There were only two doors at the top. Credence opened one, to find a pristine looking bathroom. Raising an eyebrow weakly, he opened the other. A double bed sat in the large bedroom, a wardrobe against the wall. There was a small stained glass window, a large dragon pictured there.

Credence leant against the doorframe, emotionally, mentally and physically drained, incapable to care that he'd probably be sharing a bed with another man. He opened the wardrobe, and found many pairs of pyjamas and different sets of robes there.

Taking out a pair of the black pyjamas, he pulled them on clumsily and fell onto the right side of the bed, pain wracking his chest, agony seeping into his bones. He let out a tortured whimper as he buried his face into the pillow, yet the pain didn't relent.

He pulled the covers over his head and shut his eyes, hoping that sleep would drag him off and away from the pain.

******

Credence opened his eyes weakly to see darkness, but found himself not scared. He felt a weight on the other side of the bed, and he rolled over.

Newt was lying there, shirtless and seemingly asleep. Credence blinked sleepily, silently admiring the sleeping Magizooligist.

Newt's blue eyes flickered open, and he didn't speak, simply watching the boy with some form of intent. A look of content was written across his features, sleepiness evident.

Credence looked into Newt's blue eyes, searching in the depths to see if he could find any sort of clue as to what the man was thinking. Finding none, something else caught his eye.

A large, jagged scar ran across Newt's chest. Lifting his left hand, Credence let his fingertips trail across it gently, Newt watching him carefully. Credence lifted his gaze, a look of curiosity in his eyes.

"Dragon," Newt murmured, his voice deep and husky from sleep. Credence merely blinked, before resigning back to tiredness. He felt a strong arm wrap around his waist and a pair of lips against his forehead before he drifted off, content to sleep.

A/N: so in the Fantastic Beasts movie, we see Credence warm up to Graves almost immediately. This is probably because he's never had a figure like Graves in his life before. We can also see that Credence doesn't speak horribly much, but reacts to physical contact in a (usually) positive way when it's from people he likes. This is the reason for his actions at the end of this chapter, it's simply me trying to show his trust towards Newt.