Two Months Earlier
It was late when the floo spit out a middle-aged man with a kind (but tired) face that was wearing a long black overcoat and a nice suit, Gomez making a delighted sound as he helped steady the man. "Marcus Scamander, my good fellow, you cut a ghastly sight indeed!"
Lena's eyebrows raised from above her hot chocolate, glancing at Pugsley and Wednesday.
"His father's a good friend of the family, though no one in their family ever remembers to come over on holidays." Pugsley frowned slightly, voice a murmur. "In fact last we had Mr. Scamander over, it was with his late wife- Tina."
"-yes, well, father sent me to get the girl, as he doesn't leave the manor much anymore and just got finished dealing with the new runespoor he went and saved despite what Credence suggested and..." The man sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Really, Mr. Addams, I think that this might be a bit much for my father to handle at this time and Dumbledore isn't always known for his easy requests."
"Rude."
Indeed.
Light brown eyes found her again and she arched a single eyebrow slowly, watching the man swallow thickly. "I mean, my father hasn't been in the best mental state since mother passed and-"
Gomez nodded. "Oh, yes, you are quite right." The mustached man looked at her sternly. "I trust you will make the family's famous bloodmeal for Mr. Scamander along with sending our wishes for him to join his wife soon in undying rot?"
Ignoring where the other man was gaping, she stood and set her mug aside, nodding. "Of course I will. It would be my pleasure." Shouldering her bag and picking up her trunk, she tucked her hands in the pockets of her worn jeans, staring at the man who was sputtering. "Now, as I am obliged to follow the plan that Albus set before me and he would not have suggested the change of location unless he had a suspicion of foul play... Shall we leave?"
"My father is already burdened enough and he has no need for-"
"No one has a need for any other person, but we find ourselves in the company of others anyway no matter how hard we try to be alone." Lena looked at the man steadily. "If I stay here for much longer, I may very well die. Are you going to sentence me to that fate?"
Pausing, the man sighed deeply and then opened up the floo line back up so the green flames could dance freely. "Very- very well. Step through to my office and then I will have someone drive you up to the manor."
Nodding, she did so, looking around at the medium-sized room that she ended up in, the man moving past her and waving his hand at her. "Come on then."
Moving after the man, she found herself in what had to be MACUSA- the American version of the ministry- looking around curiously as she walked after the man silently. She got the impression that he wasn't looking to talk, which was completely fine with her.
Walking out of the front door, the man moved through a parking structure and waved down a tall man that was smoking next to a glossy black car. "Cameron! I need you to take this girl to the Manor."
"The Manor?" The man frowned, looking between them a bit warily. "Mr. Scamander and Mr. Barebone know that she's coming? To the Manor?"
Marcus Scamander nodded. "Apparently it was above even my knowing until this morning. Can you get her there or not?"
"Of course, sir. Just..." The man looked between them, then seemed to think better about what he'd been about to say, shaking his head. "Go on and sit where you like, girlie. It's a bit of a long drive."
"As long as you get me there." Giving the other man one last glance, she opened the back door by her and slid inside with her truck.
A hand stopped the door from closing, Marcus looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. "My father... he's not well and he's not been well since my mother died, with that friend of his moving back in and... If you change your mind, change it now. Father shut down the floos and doesn't have any sort of travel, so if you want to leave it's either by calling a car or long-distance apparition, and I'm not sure when someone would be able to come to get you by car."
Lena looked at the man for a long moment. "Unless I am in more danger with your father than I am at the Addams's manor with a Dark Lord hunting me, then I am not going to change my mind."
Looking between her eyes, the man sighed. "I admit I have not gone up to see my father for quite a while, nor has anyone else, and the isolation is not all that good to his mental state, though he would never listen to me about that. You know it is not your obligation to stay, right? The last guest he had, he said in a letter, moved on within the week."
"I will letter the Addams occasionally, so-"
"Father doesn't keep an owlery." Marcus frowned. "He knows a certain spell he learned during the war to send letters without an owl, but I doubt he will teach you, as he grew quite paranoid after mother's passing and I don't know it either."
Lena wanted to frown but waved her hand instead. "I will call then if I need anything." She doubted that would be an issue, as she'd endured many places in her travels and none she'd needed to give up on, finding a place within each of them.
This would merely be the same.
"If you say so." It was said in almost a sigh, as if seeing she wouldn't reconsider and giving in reluctantly as he shut the door gently, looking at her through the glass as if watching a train go off its tracks before turning and walking away into the building with a shake of his head.
"Strange... Perhaps he has issues with his father as well?"
I doubt that would be the case without his issue being stated, as the most prominent worry seemed to be his father's health.
Riddle hummed. "Either way, I cannot say I am impressed with Albus's choice this time."
Yes, well, I get the feeling they may not have had time to see each other for a few years.
The driver started the car. "To the Manor then. I don't suppose I could listen to actual music while I can? The wards are super strong and when I went up with the boss a few weeks into starting, it totally messed up my music."
"I don't mind." She leaned against the door, looking up at the sky as they pulled out of the parking garage. It was gray as if it had been sucked of all color just within the last few minutes. "Is it forecasted to rain today?"
"It's always forecasted to rain when driving to the manor- creepy place, with creepier inhabitants." The man's voice was a grumble.
She just hummed, looking out the window at the passing buildings.
The skyscrapers of the big city turned to buildings of small towns, turned to forest.
Lena almost wondered if they'd taken a wrong turn and ended up in Scotland because the forest looked almost as dark and heavy as the Forbidden Forest, a low fog clinging to them as rain splattered against the car.
Rain and hip hop music accompanied her, the man up front seeming nervous and a bit twitchy about everything, driving slower than Gomez would have- though she supposed that was fair, as Gomez drove like a maniac.
"It's just Mr. Scamander?"
The driver almost twitched at her question, glancing back in the mirror at her. "Yeah- well him and Mr. Barebone, one of his closest friends, according to the boss. Been that way since Miss Scamander died- dragon pox. It was a couple of years ago, but apparently, Mr. Barebone just showed up at the funeral and hasn't left since. At least, that's the rumor... I'm new to working with the Scamanders and I've only been up here once- the last guy that went alone to the manor to send something along apparently left pretty suddenly." Glancing from the mirror to the road, the man looked a bit unsettled. "I-... uh... do I have to walk you in? I didn't do that with Mr. Scamander and- uh-... I'd rather not in general."
She shook her head. "No, I'll be alright."
Seeming to relax slightly, the man nodded, though she thought the motion was more for himself than for her.
"Strange."
If they have ties to the Addams, they would have to be. Plus, people get weirder when they get older, it's just part of accepting yourself as life passes on.
Riddle hummed. "No, I meant how he doesn't want to have anything to do with the manor- though that could be some type of limitations on the wards that make it uncomfortable for those not invited..."
Or he just doesn't have as high a tolerance for the unusual as you and I.
"Very possible, my dear, very possible."
Lena watched the trees pass, the fog obscuring the sky so it looked like the forest might go on forever in every direction with just the slim cut of the road leading them out. She thought she caught sight of something running through the trees, large and black as night as it loped gracefully through the forest, but when she sat up slightly, there was nothing there.
The car jostled because of a slight bump and then the loud scratching sound of the road turning to gravel.
Caught up in looking at the forest for the animal she'd seen while also looking behind them at where the paved road seemed to fade into the distance, she paused slightly when she realized the music had changed.
Soft lilting piano music drifted through the car.
What...
Looking forward, her eyes widened slightly when she found the front seat was empty, though the car seemed to be running just fine, wheel in control as it drove down the gravel path. Sliding her foot under her so she could prop herself up, she leaned forward and looked around the seats. "Do you think that's the wards?"
Riddle was quiet for a moment. "I'm not sure what to think... but perhaps drawing your wand would be a good idea, dear."
Reaching down into her boot, her fingers touched her yew wand, but she drew the knobby wand Dumbledore had given her instead- as something in its rough wood gave her comfort.
The car continued to drive.
Trees passed faster than they had been when the man was driving, gravel and dirt scratching the underside of the car, the fog seeming to get slowly lower to the ground.
She wondered if a human would be able to drive in such conditions.
Finally, the fog seemed to fade and she clutched at the door when the car turned out and skidded slightly before stopping harshly.
A tall manor with white stone that was worn and darkened with age, vines and grime lingering around the edges, rose before her and she thought she saw the swish of curtains from a high window as if someone had been watching her.
"This place is... odder than the Addams, certainly." She could tell Riddle was alarmed, though trying not to upset or worry her.
Yeah- it's definitely strange.
Lena opened the door of the car slowly, sliding out and drawing her trunk out, setting it beside her before sliding her wand away and looking around.
The manor was surrounded by the forest, the fog seeming to make it one line of dark trees and she shivered slightly.
Feeling as if she was being watched but not wanting to admit such and worry Riddle more, as she was sure it was nothing, she took up her trunk and moved towards the heavy wooden front doors.
With a slam that had her startling, the car door shut on its own, the car that had been left running starting to drive off. She watched it go, wondering if all of Albus's friends had to be strange- if that was a requirement or something.
There was a low echoing creak as the tall wooden double doors were pulled open, a man in a nice black waistcoat with the sleeves rolled up as if he'd been doing something before coming to greet her looking at her with unreadable eyes. He was tall, with dark hair like a mop and he sort of reminded her of Riddle if just... quieter. If Riddle's presence was an imposing orchestra when he walked into a room, demanding attention and power, this man would be the soft silence of a graveyard- still demanding to noticed, but in a subdued way that almost seemed more dangerous.
Had Wednesday met him, she would have whispered 'predator' to Lena with a small smirk as was their game of categorizing people.
This was a man that she knew would have no problem killing another living human being if pushed- the same way that Grindelwald or Riddle or Wednesday or herself had that look in their eyes.
They were peaceful, not harmless.
"You must be Miss Farland." The man stepped aside, so she could start up the stairs into the massive manor, his eyes impassive. "I am Credence, Mr. Scamander's assistant."
Moving into the wide parlor, she dipped her head slightly. "Well met. Please, call me Lena." When he nodded blankly and motioned for her to follow him as he drifted through the halls like a ghost, she took the time to study the artwork on the walls that were insanely detailed drawings of creatures and landscapes. "So what do you do for Mr. Scamander?"
"Provide company mostly... cook and bake on occasion." He didn't look at her as she moved to walk beside him, his voice toneless. "The only rule of the house is don't wander into the forest."
"Forest? Why not?"
Turning as he stopped so suddenly that she almost crashed into him, the man stared at her with black eyes like pits. "If you wish to remain living in this house, you will not venture into the forest."
"Threatening to kick someone out for entering a place of wildland is a bit extreme."
Yeah. Must be part of Scamander's creature habitats or something- maybe they have top-secret or rare beasts.
"I bet they're running a Magical drug lab."
Funny.
Lena just looked at the man calmly. "No forest... Got it."
Nodding, the man turned again. "We don't often have visitors, but I don't think that I have ever seen someone wearing such dark magic on them so willingly- are you currently the locket possessing the girl or the girl feeding off the locket?"
"Neither." Lena brushed a finger against the locket. "He cannot possess me, nor I him. We are currently just... sharing space."
Stopping at a door and pushing it open to show a large room that was assumedly where she was to stay, Credence looked at her studyingly. "Interesting. If it is not too much to ask, may I hold it?"
"There is something... off about him. If you would, please give me to him, dear. I wish to see what will happen." Riddle's voice was curious.
Are you sure?
"About 60 percent."
Well, that's reassuring, darling.
Lena looked between the man's eyes. "Only if you promise not to do anything that would put the locket at harm."
"You have my word."
"80 percent now. Please, love?"
With a small sigh, she gave in and unclasped the locket, holding it out with a small frown. Watching the man take it and clasp it around his own neck, she raised an eyebrow when his dark brown eyes flashed maroon and a crooked grin lit his face.
"May I say, you look lovely today, my dear."
She smiled fondly. "You may and I will thank you for the compliment, but what's the big deal with this switch? You're just possessing someone."
The eyes dulled to a brown again, the man tilting his head as if curious. "I see. So you're the-"
The words were cut off as the man's face twitched and his voice came out with the flourish of enunciation that Riddle used. "-wonderful, doting, handsome spouse of Miss Farland, yes."
"I was going to say the shard of an annoying British asshole, but I guess that works." Credence was back, seeming to be fighting the possession fairly easily as if the two of them were scrambling to put their hands on one metaphorical steering wheel.
His lip curled into a sneer as Riddle came back, seeming ticked off. "What, opposed to some half-alive unfeeling obscurius?"
Credence shoved back, shoulder twitching as his eyes blazed brown. "Perhaps I should tell your little wife that-"
"Don't even-"
"Cowardly bastard that can't even-"
"Oh, bugger off, you sad little-"
Lena sighed, turning on her heel and starting into the room. "Idiots. Both of you." Setting down her trunk, she hung up her cloak on a hook by the door before pulling her wands out of her boot, setting them aside as she started to sift through her clothes so she could repack her bag with more color on top.
She hadn't worn anything but darker colors around the Addams' and she felt that the coming summer would fit something less... bleak.
There were hissed words in the background for a bit and then it went silent, the man standing right behind her when she turned, looking down at her with mismatched eyes as she put a hand up to stop herself from colliding with him. His hand moved to touch her shoulder lightly as if steadying her. "It seems we have come to an agreement."
"Does that mean I am not to have you back, dear?" She looked between the two different eyes with a small frown.
"We thought- I thought that it could be a sort of... practice in case I was not around." Seeing her frown deepen, a hand was held up to brush aside her hair, Riddle obviously taking most of the control for the moment as he smiled softly. "You must get used to having your own thoughts and desires, my dear. Nothing in that means that I will leave you, I would wither into nothingness before I would even entertain the idea, but I wish for you to step just a bit away from the crutch I have become- to be your own person without my influence even if I will be right next to you every step of the way."
Lena stepped back slightly, voice a hiss. "Crutch?"
"He means that you two are highly codependent." Credence's voice was flat in comparison. "It was not meant to offend."
Taking that in as she stared at the man, cooling the defensive hurt that had risen at the thought of Riddle thinking that she needed him as something to lean on- that he somehow saw her as weak- she nodded slowly. "I... am not going to protest if this is what you wish." Her small frown stayed, turning back to her trunk as she wondered how she would be able to sleep.
"I am no longer able to hear your thoughts, my dear."
"Have you two discussed sleeping arrangements?"
There was a small flat snort from the man, obviously Credence. "I am not going to-"
But then there was silence and she wondered if this was what it felt like to be on the outside when she was talking to Riddle in her head- long pauses of unfilled silence.
Lena brushed the curtains of the window aside, looking out across the small open space in between the forest and the back of the large manor to see a man standing there, back to the house with his head tipped back. She wondered what he was feeling, moving past where Credence had gone silent and starting towards the door on the main floor she'd seen on her way to the rooms.
The tall weeds that grew everywhere past the patio of the manor brushed against her high socks, scratching at her legs slightly, but she didn't stop until she was standing next to the man.
Her hands twisted around each other, a bit thrown off without Riddle's presence, but she straightened her shoulders and just asked what she wanted. "You're Mr. Scamander?"
"I am, and therefore you must be Miss Farland. Gomez passed along that you wore a soul shard." The old man's voice was idle, still looking up at the grey colorless sky. "I assume Credence got caught in the idea of feeling something through another person?"
She tucked her hands in her pockets. "Is that what happened? And why does your assistant need to find emotions by being possessed?"
Head coming down, the man looked at her with a sad smile. "Credence's magic is wild, the only obscurus I have known to survive his magic, but that has made him... trapped in time. He seeks out things to anchor him, like me, but all the anchors he had are slowly slipping away- having someone else in his head to help out might be a good thing."
"He's immortal?"
"He is something close to it, but I do not think that he or anything else is truly immortal, as all living things- on definition- have to be able to die."
Lena nodded slightly, looking out at the forest. "The car that drove me here... what happened to the man?"
Newt Scamander looked at her with a slight tilt of his head, his brown eyes dark. "The wards make sure all that are not invited do not disturb us. He was taken from his vehicle as the wards took over to bring you to us, but surely his car will find him again, though he may be a little disoriented."
"Good. He was pleasant enough company, even with as unsettled as he seemed." Smiling at the man faintly, she gave him a questioning look when he just stared at her for a long moment. "Something wrong?"
"You have eyes the color of death, Miss Farland."
She just nodded, looking away and tilting her head back to look at the sky. "I got them from Lily Potter... And please, call me Lena."
Living with Newt and Credence was like playing hide and seek with shadows, they were always dark parts lingering around the edges, but it never felt... wrong.
The house creaked with the wind, at least one shutter always clattering against the side of the house and it sounded like there was someone screaming in the distance, but no matter how much she wandered the halls, she never found the open window.
Credence, eyes mismatched, and smile all too familiar on the unfamiliar face, flitted around the house like a ghost. Sometimes she would wake to find him sitting across the room in the worn armchair by the window watching as she slept, sometimes she would not see him for hours at a time but then turn around to find him leaning against a nearby wall with a small grin and a quip on his lips.
She couldn't say she minded all that much, even if it was a bit lonely being alone in her head, but she was a bit concerned as those small grins seemed to reach his eyes less and less with each day. All she could do was sit and talk with him when she woke from bad dreams, offer to play chess or other board games when he found her during the day, and hope she was helping.
Newt was a different beast entirely- sometimes he would ask her name two times in a conversation, looking at her as if he'd never seen her before as he smiled and welcomed her into his house cheerfully and yet other days he would tell her the most vivid stories without beat or pause. He would sometimes stand by the windows and stare out into the darkness during the night as if he could see something she couldn't and when she did find herself getting up for a glass of water, finding him by a window on her way to the kitchen, she learned not to stop or ask what he saw.
The answer was never what she expected and not something she ever let herself dwell on.
"Why does death have to exist?"
Newt chuckled softly, still smiling as he looked over at her, sitting back in one of the plastic lounge chairs they'd transfigured in order to sit outside and look up at the stars. "Because if it didn't then life would have no meaning."
"I feel..." Tangling her hands in her hair, she took in a shaky breath. "I feel like I'm coming apart from myself, pretending like I'm fine. I feel like I haven't really woken up from that ratty bed in the small cottage Jack had... as a dream where I'm prophesied to die would be something I would dream up."
"And I can't tell you what you're feeling isn't real because you're experiencing a whole different world than I am, as our brains are fundamentally different..." With that same smile, he held out a hand. "But I can tell you that I see you- that I am hearing you and you're here with me, looking up at the vast void of space."
Choking on a sob, her smooth hand found his soft wrinkled one, holding on tightly as she shook with silent cries that couldn't seem to get past her throat.
His thumb ran along the back of her hand. "Exist here with me, Lena, not in the past that's hurt you and not in the future that scares you. Here, with me and my old crumbling house in the middle of my forest of beasts. Here, with the night's breeze on your face, because here's a secret: you are enough here. You're allowed to exist here however you want and no matter who you are at this moment, I think that you're enough."
Curling on herself, choking on the need to be silent as she hadn't allowed herself to cry loudly enough to be a bother to anyone in years, she closed her eyes tightly against the pain welling up in her chest. Gasping silently in between holding all her misery, she clung to the hand as best she could. "I-" It was hard to speak, to get out the words she had running through her head, and her voice was hoarse when she did speak up. "I just- I need it to stop."
"Not tonight, Lena. Credence should be home soon from his usual weekly shopping run." He pulled at her hand gently. "Come here. Until he can squeeze all of the pain out of you, I'll do it for him."
Stumbling out of her chair ungracefully, she moved to pool into the side of the chair with him, tucking herself into the soft material of his old-man sweater vest so she could shake like a leaf in his arms. Her face was wet with the evidence of her pain, nose running even if she tried to wipe it messily with her sleeves. "S-sorry."
Newt stroked her hair gently. "There's no need to apologize. Tina always hated this vest anyway."
Her laugh came out harshly as she buried herself further into his arms.
Credence's presence, as always, came with a sort of gentle pull as the man moved out of the house to meet them, sitting in the unruly grass in front of them. Reaching out, he gently put a hand against her back. "Lena?"
Pulling herself from Newt and moving to fold herself into Credence's arms, she reached up to hold the locket that sat around his throat, finding it warm against her skin. "I... I think that I'm- I'm falling apart."
"Then we'll put you back together." The flash of maroon eyes that were so different from Credence's dark brown ones seemed to soften slightly, Riddle speaking though Credence at the moment as he held her close. "I'll collect every single of the little chips you leave behind and keep gluing yourself together until you can hold yourself without my help. You're not alone, Lena."
"Ev-everyone's alone." Her voice shook as her hands curled into his jacket. "I'm alone in my head, alone with my thoughts, and I'll have to die alone- how can you tell me that I'm not alone?"
Pulling her closer and holding her against him tightly, the man pressed his lips to her forehead, voice a soft murmur. "Because I'm here. Listen to my heartbeat, darling, and hear how real I am- how alive and here I am, because I have no intention of ever leaving you."
Head pressed to his chest, she closed her eyes tightly as she shook, though when she found his heartbeat it was like it became all she could hear- her breath shaky as she tried to match its steady pulse, her shaking slowly subsiding.
"There we are... just breathe, Lena. Just breathe." His warm hands stroked her hair as he tucked his chin over her head. "You'll be alright. We both will be alright."
And for a moment, she almost believed him.
~~~
A/N: Credence: How are you doing?
Lena: I have a feeling I'll be sad for the rest of my life
Lena: But besides that, I'm fine- how are you? :)