It seemed too good to be true. Grindelwald had been laying low for a while now. After the entire fiasco with the Qilin, his support seemed to have disappeared. But Grindelwald always has some magic tricks up his sleeve.
Grindelwald would not give up. His ability to manipulate the public, his victims and well... essentially anyone that could breathe (and even this was not a hard requirement) exceeded all expectations. Somehow, he'd managed to sickly twist the story to his favor. His followers, though not as fiercely proclaiming their support as once was socially acceptable, ceaselessly continued to uphold his ideals.
Had they simply not killed the first one before they could properly judge the situation? Had the Qilin not gone to both Dumbledore and that other yellow miss? Who was to say that the Qilin did not suffer from knee problems as it appeared to kneel down before literally anyone?
Regardless of the various doubts or rumors that were promulgated amongst the firm supporters of chaos, the essence remained the same. After all, how could one betray Grindelwald when they had compromised everything for it?
Theseus had suffered with these developments even if they were for the better. He had dedicated his life to the cause, but no clear answer availed. Everything appeared all right. But reality could not be faltered by mere appearances. Everyone felt the underlying anxiety regardless of how they acted. The ministry had a certain affinity of acting like nothing was going on anyways. Grindelwald just went from a name they whispered, to a name they shouted, back to a name they whispered.
It was as if Grindelwald's disappearance only shun a light on everything that was lost along the way; People's morals, their integrity, their lives - her life.
Her beautiful eyes.
Her beautiful smile.
Her touch.
The documents he had been tossing around fell to the ground and he placed his elbows on his desk, hands to his head, sighing painfully. He increasingly pulled on the strands of his perfectly done hair in the most violent manner. He proceeded to close his eyes involuntarily, firmly believing in the undeniability of his fault in Leta's death.
Her face dwelled before his eyes yet again. Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes, he thought. But it didn't help, it never did, quite the opposite actually. In his sleep he was tormented ceaselessly by her existence - whatever still lingered of it. It was as if all of her memory was kept alive by him - only he had the burden of carrying the death of this sweet and delicate creature with him. It had been all his fault, after all.
The promise of destroying Grindelwald had kept him on the move, but now that the wizard was vaguely out of the picture, his suppressed pain crept up on him. He had been waiting for an attack from Grindelwald, anything, any glimpse of hope to take down this wretched man, Leta's murderer. But this unfinished chapter left him with mere scribbles of mourning.
The dark circles under his eyes permanently accompanied him. Anything to run from her.
He just focused on his job, it was the only thing that he could lose himself in. But he found himself growing increasingly tired of the formalities. He remembered the way the Ministry folded for Grindelwald and could not help but to detest them for it.
His brother and his friends (Lally Hicks, Yusuf Kama, Tina Goldstein and the newly wed couple Queenie and Jacob) brought him occasional escapes from reality, but he hardly could seek out these experiences. It took him everything in his power to do so. He felt pathetic compared to who he once was, almost powerless. He could not help but feel nice after a conversation, so he eradicated most conversation. How dared he be happy when his happiness, Leta, had been brutally ripped out of his life?
He was so far lost in his thoughts that he had not noticed the young assistant that had walked into his office. She was too nervous to command attention, so she had just awkwardly watched Theseus have a mental breakdown.
When they finally did meet eyes, he wished that they had not. Her eyes were filled with innocent hope and a real urge to change the world. Like he once was. He slowly regained himself.
'Miss Dartanne.' He said while the gaze in his eyes softened slowly, almost as if his eyes were adjusting to the radiant beams of sunlight after exiting a dark room.
The young assistant only needed this small sign of encouragement to start her update on the current situation. Not a single word he was able to hear, before Miss Daphne Dartanne's words had already become a faint and distant sound. Her lipstick stained mouth was moving and her eyes were looking up sometimes as if she was recalling everything she had practiced to say. Her hands making small victory fists with news he assumed to be positive.
Suddenly he was overcome by this intense wave of appreciation for his assistant.
She had been the only thing keeping him together, he thought, as he watched her talk about Merlin knows what. Then he quickly averted his gaze with intense guilt as he realized that he was not even listening to her. He was such a mess, was the only thing he could think.
'Oh, and someone send you this, Sir,' Miss Dartanne said at last, putting a small piece of parchment paper on his desk. 'but there was no sender identified.'
Theseus ears spiked up at those last words. No sender identified. He immediately analyzed the small note. It was not sealed or anything. It appeared to be nothing more than a simple note neatly folded in half.
'Visit me, please.'
He turned the note around a few times, expecting it do anything but be a simple note. But it didn't.
'When did you get this Miss?' He asked her not averting his eyes from the paper.
'Uhm, well, just this morning, Sir.' She nervously muttered as her hands were restlessly expressing her anxiety.
It was not from anyone in the Ministry since it did not contain the proper code of conduct (and Merlin help anyone that does not use the proper code of conduct. The Ministry might actually have had to take Grindelwald down, had he forgotten to use the proper language and form when writing them).
It could hardly be Newt considering the handwriting on the note is actually readable, in addition, he rarely writes notes.
Could it be Lally? No, all the letters he had received from Hicks were fancy and contained some sort of charm or spell on them. It was no wonder considering she was a master at charms and well, liked to brag a bit. He could not help but to slightly smile at the thought of her. He had loved their previous teamwork and Lally Hicks was his preferred partner in crime even though he had never told her that.
Yusuf Kama would rather die than be caught sending paper that was not made of the finest quality, seeing that he had a respectable family name to uphold at all times. This thought made him pay attention to the quality of the paper. It looked exactly like those that he would use during his time at Hogwarts. The parchment there had a certain consistency to it, thicker than usual, bearing in mind the dire amount of anti-cheating charms it had to hold.
Was it then Albus Dumbledore? He looked at the paper again. Well... he does seem like the type to send something ridiculously simple, even though he literally announces his readiness to talk with a floating glove, so it could really go either way.
All this time Miss Dartanne had awkwardly stood there not knowing what to do - again. Her heart was racing. But it always did when in the presence of Mister Scamander, even if he was a total mess and unlike himself. She was trying not to look at the man with his cute hair, his astonishing kindness and raging confidence and decided it would be best to study the floor with greatest dedication instead.
Theseus frowned deeply as he look at the little note. 'Daphne Darling, did you notice any-'
'Oh, is that a declaration of war, just laying on the ground?' She exclaimed nervously. She threw both her hands up a bit in surprise and then started to pick up the scattered papers from the floor.
Theseus lost his train of thought, and he immediately stood up from behind his desk to squat down next to his assistant, trying to clean up the mess he'd made previously.
'I will take care of it, don't you worry yourself. You do too much already anyways.' He said as he gently touched her shoulder, indicating her to get up.
Dartanne blushed for no explicable (to her) reason. 'It is no problem really.' She muttered as she scrambled the last few documents together and handed them to Theseus.
'Dartanne, when was the last time you took some time off from work?' he asked genuinely.
Daphne Dartanne slowly blinked, she was not prepared for this question. 'I, well, you know me, I, uhm, well, actually I don't quite remember, I think I took a day off at Christmas but I am not quite sure, I also assist Mister Foreighburry and, well, you know, with all of that it really is a lot, but, oh - no - I mean I really love my work, do not take my words the wrong way, Sir, please, I talk to much, I-I just meant that -'
'It is alright Daphne dear. But please take this week off.'
She seemed to freeze for a second, but then out of nowhere retorted. Her hands formed fists, that remained stiffly next to her body as she stepped forward. 'This whole week? Sir, that is simply as outrages as a declaration of war that is just chilling on the freaking floor!'
She then gasped loudly at her own audacity and she brought her hand to her mouth. She really just schooled the Head Auror after he kindly offered her a vacation.
Theseus was also stupefied by this fierce reply but more out of sheer amazement than anything else. He felt so relieved that Daphne had finally voiced her emotions and concerns, even if they were slightly questionable.
'You see, dear, the declaration was against a kid that did not address Mister Foreighburry properly at the trial, I think he said 'the old man with the scary moustache' instead of the usual 'your Honor'. So, I believe that paper to be slightly insignificant and well... frankly illegal, which is ironic considering its author is a judge and all.'
It went silent for a moment.
'Yeah, he insisted I call him your Honor outside the courtroom as well.' Dartanna replied monotonous, squinting her eyes together with a disgusted look on her face as she recalls the interactions with him.
Theseus cackled for a second. He immediately started to suppress his laughter by pouting his lips a bit and slowly nodding as he started at the floor, his hands contained in his pocket. The entire situation and the entire Ministry, was utterly absurd... but he refused to entertain this moment. Then he remembered he was staring at the place on the floor where this ridiculous declaration had lain just moments ago and he bursted out in an uncontrollable laughter.
The riddikulus spell was not needed Theseus thought by himself, everything, all this striving to get to this position, it all seemed so ridiculously hollow when the echoes of justice keep calling him.
What a circus, he thought as he laughed a little harder.
Dartanne was staggered by his frantic yet pleasant laugh. It was as if he had let go of all his hurt in that moment. Oh, how she'd missed it. She couldn't help but smile along.
'Okay, how about you take a few days off, if I do so as well?' Theseus bargained, after cooling down. Daphne could not refuse such an offer. She might not care too much about her own well-being but she did care for the well-being of this wonderful man.
Perhaps the two had that in common (even if their reasons to it were different) and this would be the only way either of them would allow themselves to take a break.
Theseus had a spark in his eyes, slightly smiling as he showcased the little note and he said: 'I will go on a little adventure I suppose.'
Daphne Dartanne's heart beamed of happiness. Everything felt lively again. All it needed was a little push, one small moment. She nodded politely and headed out of the office, feeling ready to take on the world and another cup of tea.
'Oh, and before you leave, would you be so kind as to book me a train ticked to Hogwarts?'