Year Three
I was just throwing some pieces of meat out for my babies --I mean, creatures, to eat. I wobbled a bit before steadying myself, blinking harshly. The medication I have to take every day always wears me down.
All of a sudden everything shook, as if there was an earthquake. I fell on my butt as Pickett clung to my neck.
"What's happe---" The world around me bounced around again, and I could hear all my creatures cry out in fear.
I ran to the shack and climbed the ladder inside to the top of the case. I opened the latch and glanced outside.
Newt and Leta stood in front of me, hands on their hips.
I slowly closed the lid of the case hoping they didn't notice me.
"Eve." I heard Leta's voice from outside then a loud knock.
I put on a grin and opened the case.
"Heyyyy guysssss." I drawled out.
"What're you doing in a suitcase?" Newt asked. "How could you not tell us that you live in a suitcase by night?"
"I'm sorry guys, I know I should've told you about this a long time ago, but I jus..." I stopped, not knowing how to continue.
I just opened the case all the way and sat on the edge. "I'm really sorry guys, I shouldn't be keeping secrets from you. I'll tell you guys everything." I motioned my head towards the case. They glanced at it, at each other, then back at me before walking towards me.
I smiled at them as they hesitantly climbed in. When we were completely inside, their jaws instantly dropped.
They stared out into the vast desert ecosystem as an erumpet ran by, chasing another as a small baby slowly rolled in the grass.
Giant roaches ran by, scuttling around and playing with a ball I gave them.
A nundu perched on top of a hill and roared, its neck flaring out threateningly on the sight of new strangers. Newt and Leta stood there for a few minutes before Newt finally exclaimed
"WOW! Eve you had all of this down here and you didn't tell me?! Don't you know that I love magical creatures and everything about them? Have all of the conversations we had about beasts told you nothing?! Bloody hell, I'm going to live in here!" Newt rambled while walking about and pulling at his hair excitedly.
"Eve, why didn't you tell us about this? Is there a reason you kept this from us?" Leta stood in front of me.
"It's because..." I hesitated. I would have to tell them how I got it, and how I got my beasts.
"Eve?" Leta asked.
I can't tell you.
"Why can't you tell us?"
I can't say.
"Is it because you don't trust us?"
No, I do, whole heartedly.
"We won't judge you, Eve, if that's what you're afraid of, you don't have to tell us. I'm just saying that Newt and I would never do anything to hurt you."
I looked over at Newt, who was innocently petting the niffler in his arms.
I looked over at Leta, who was staring at me, with her eyes full of concern.
I sighed.
I knew it was the right thing to do, to tell them.
"Ok, I'll tell you everything. Meet me in here at 12 tonight." Leta grinned and nodded at me.
I smiled at her, but I still felt like I was going to barf.
This was what I knew what would happen, and feared. I would have to tell them my past.
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❦ ❦ ❦
I tapped my foot against the grass, waiting impatiently for my friends.
All day I felt like being sick, but I had to power through.
I saw Newt stumble out of the shack out of the corner of my eye and Leta soon follow.
They both looked around and saw me and ran over.
"Hey." I exhaled hard, rubbing my hands on my pj's.
"Ok, I guess you're just here to talk to me, huh." I stated with a dry laugh.
"We're all friends, Eve," Newt said, "you can tell us anything."
"Ok. Ok. I'm ready." I prepped myself.
"Ok, so when I was 4, my mum died." Newt and Leta both gasped. I had told them my mum was just at St. Mungo's.
"So I was jumping around muggle foster homes when I landed in the family of a wizard. Except, he had no family. These creatures were his family." I waved my arms around, emphasizing that the creatures around us were once his.
"He was trafficking these animals for money." I dropped the bomb and Newt and Leta gasped again. Leta's hand flew to her mouth and she gripped my shoulder hard.
"That is so wrong and illegal!" Newt tightened his hands into fists and glared at the ground.
"I know, and apparently he adopted me to sell also." They both stared at me, tears in their eyes.
"I mean, he never did, but that was his intent." There was a deathly silence around us. The tension could be cut with a knife.
Newt stepped forward and engulfed me in a hug, and Leta just gave me a sympathetic smile.
I tried to smile back at her but I just couldn't hold back anymore.
And I cried for the first time in years.
Year Four
Leta laughed as she sat on Reedley's lap. Reedley is the boy that she met over the summer when her parents had a house party, and now they are dating.
Newt and I sat awkwardly in the Slytherin common room surrounded by other slytherins. Leta doesn't hang out in the Hufflepuff common room anymore because Reedley had told her that we were "a group of weird nerds." You could say I don't approve of her boyfriend.
Leta has been distancing herself from us little by little, sneaking out more with Reedley and playing with the other slytherins instead of us. Reedley had been a bad influence on her since the beginning of the year, it was now near the end.
Which left us to walk down to the Slytherin common room just to see her.
"Oh, I forgot to do the homework for DADA, Newt, can you give me your paper please, I'll make up to you for it." Leta laughed with her friends and Newt hesitantly pulled his paper out of his bag.
"Bunch of no good mudbloods." I heard Reedley mutter to his friend. I played with my fingers and stared at the ground uncomfortably.
"Maybe we should go, Newt..." I said quietly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry Leta but we have to, um, study and stuff so we'll see you around..." Newt stood quickly and slung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed my hand.
He pulled me up and practically dragged me out.
"Newt, stop holding me so hard." I said once we left the room.
"I'm sorry," he stopped and let me go. "I just can't stand it in there with her anymore."
I nodded in agreement.
Newt and I just walked around the Hogwarts grounds quietly. Just like we did during our first years here.
"You remember when I pushed you into the lake?" Newt turned and asked me. I shot a glare at him but started giggling as I thought back on it.
"And we finally discovered that a giant squid actually did live there." I nodded and laughed. The squid had kindly lifted me out of the lake and back on solid ground and gave me a pat on the head before swimming back to the bottom. It was terrifying, yes, but I was thankful of it.
I laughed at the fond memories, soon forgetting about Leta.
Newt and I sat under a tree and stared out at the view. It was snowing lightly and I started visibly shivering. Newt glanced at me before unfurling his scarf from his neck and wrapping it around me.
I flushed an even brighter red and thanked him silently, suddenly too shy to say anything.
We sat awkwardly for the next few minutes not knowing what to say.
"So..." Newt rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of a conversation starter. "have your parents signed your Hogsmeade permission slip paper?"
"Yeah, they have, they sent it back to me yesterday." I wrapped my coat tighter around myself and let out a few puffs of air, watching as the vapor from the cold floated up and disappeared.
"You're still cold?" Newt asked. I nodded a bit, unable to speak due to his scarf covering my mouth.
"Come here." Newt reached around my shoulder and pulled me closer to his side so I could rest my head on his shoulder. I gasped at our closeness and the fact that OH MY BLOODY HELL HE WAS ACTUALLY HOLDING MEEE!
"You know you're shaking even more now." Newt laughed as he rubbed his hands up and down my arms, trying to warm me up. please have mercy on me newt i cannot
"Is that so." I chuckled nervously through his scarf.
"So I was wondering," he said, resting his arms around my shoulders, "if you would like to accompany, um, me to Hogsmeade." Newt looked down at me nervously, anxious of my answer.
I just stared up at him, not believing that he was asking me out. This amazing boy was actually asking me on a date.
"I'd love to Newt!" I grinned up at him.
His nervous expression turned into one of pure joy and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry I was just very prepared for you to say no." He ran a hand through his hair.
I laughed and hugged him to calm his nerves.
I've been waiting for this since I first met him.