Chapter Text
Chapter XV
The familiar sensation of being pulled into every direction apart and then back again came over me.
And then I stood on solid ground again. Carpet floor, and just to be sure of it. I let my shoe slide against the floor again, just to be sure.
Yep, definitely carpet.
"I'm impressed, you did not throw up." Came the obnoxious voice of Theseus Scamander, wearing a half smirk on his face.
His voice wasn't unpleasant to listen too - I'm sure that he had quite few lady friends fawning over him - it's just, I am not overly fond of him. Thus everything he says or does seems very annoying in my eyes. Granted, I didn't him at all, but I also didn't care enough to spend more time with him and get proven otherwise.
"We are here." He then announced, dropping my suitcase onto the floor and walked away.
I linked twice, doing a whole 360 degree body turn around the room, until it finally hit me why everything seemed so familiar.
Archer's home. The very same on I will inherit in the future.
Homesickness suddenly hit me very hard like a tons of brick in my face and I tried my best to blink the tears away. Back in my time, when I stood in this very hallway years after my great-grandfather's death, it felt so… cold and empty. Despite the water and electricity and heating working fine, after Archer died it just wasn't the same anymore. Even when he was alive, it was a very big mansion for only one single lonely man. But he always had people hustling and working there daily, helping him out with everyday chore. They liked to be there and around him, he was a good man. And then he died and then stopped coming too and I inherited the house and I was told that I should sell it.
Now that I'm back in the past time, just the mere thought of selling this mansion felt so wrong. This house is warm; it's alive and well maintained. Outside it was freezing winter, but inside I could just waltz around in an ugly Christmas sweater and legging and I would probably have started sweating too. Ginger and cinnamon smell filled the air, not because it was December; that's just how the house always smells like.
Well, that was how this place smelled like till Archer passed away. The soul of the house essentially died with him.
Rushed with the sudden iron decision that I will not sell the house and instead keep it and bring it back to its old glorious warm state, I looked around for any sign of my great grandfather. Part of me was excited to see him again, another part of me was very nervous about the possible outcome of what this could mean for my future.
I admit, at some point I wondered, what if this was all meant to happen? What if Archer knew that one day I was going to the past, and meet him? And that's why he wrote in his will I was to inherit his house and he kept paying the bills for everything? Did he also made sure that the pretty blond lady was gonna be there waiting for me to hand me a book –
Holy guacomoly.
Oh wow, how the fuck did I not make the connection sooner? I am so slow. That was Newt's book she handed me! The same goddamn book he is writing in the very moment and that was supposed to be published soon! Jesus Christ, what a mindfuck! If that is not some sign that fate has its hand playing here, then… I don't know what else it is supposed to mean.
I was about to open my mouth and shout for Newt and tell him about my sudden revelation, when I realized that he is no longer here. Instead there was a bad carbon copy of him somewhere in the house (technically Newt would be the carbon copy since Theseus is older but meh.)
Hm, here did Theseus wandered off? Did he just bring me here and then dumped me? Fine with me, I'm not very fond of him and he didn't seem very fond of me either. Probably not even happy that he's the one stuck babysitting me.
Well, guess I'll move my stuff into the usual room I always stayed at and then see what I should do next.
As I was about to pick up my luggage and go upstairs, something apparated next to me (look at, me adapting so fast to wizarding terms!)
"How may Blooky be of a service, Miss?"
The voice was high pitched and a bit squeaky, so I turned around to see who was talking to me.
No one.
I looked down.
And jumped back a bit. The house elf did the same thing, clutching onto a table's leg.
"Blooky is very sorry, miss! Did not mean to scare miss!" She/he/it (?) began to apologize and bowed, to the point he/she/it was kneeling on the floor and begging for forgiveness.
"Oh no no, it's okay, it's my fault! Really, there is no need to apologize!"
The house elf stopped their crying, sniffing one last time and stared at me with their huge teary eyes Silence passed between us. And then here eyes widened up again, but this time in shock and slight fear.
"A… Muggle! You're a Muggle! This is not good! Muggle is not supposed to know about Blooky! Master will be very ma with Blooky! Bad Blooky!" Then they started to weep loudly again.
A frantic Theseus Scamander popper back into the foyer, his wand ready out for whatever there was, to be blasted into tiny thousand pieces. He sacked in relief when he saw it was just me and a house elf.
"Here I thought you were abusing the house elf." He said, putting his wand away.
"I… what?! That's bullshit!" I spluttered out. Blooky only cried harder after hearing what the older Scamander brother said. "The House elf can teleport!" I added "If someone would get their ass kicked, it'd be me!"
Somewhere between the wailing of the house elf and me protesting and listing up random reasons why I would never win a battle against a house elf (main reason being I just don't have the heart to kick something that is smaller than me), a smile slowly crept onto Theseus face, turning into full amusement. He then crossed his arms and leaned onto the door frame, assessing me from head to toe.
I did not like it. At all.
"Hey asshole. Take a photo, it'll last longer." Oh m god, please don't let him have the hots for me, he ought to be at least ten years older than me and that'd be so weird. Plus I sorta have a crush on his little brother, and there is no reason to make things even more awkward.
Speaking of Newt…
"Hm. You have quite the potty mouth. I didn't know my little brother is into that." Theseus remarked, raising an eyebrow while he stared at me, waiting for an answer. Despite him still wearing a smile on his face, it began to feel like an unofficial interrogation. About his own brother.
"What makes you think your little brother is into me?" I asked back, crossing my arms and trying to mimic his aura of authority.
Theseus raised his chin slightly. Just a little bit, but enough for me to notice it and signaling that he was looking on me. "Let's call it a gut feeling that I have."
"Tough luck, Mr. Scamander. You got the wrong person. His sweetheart is all the way across the ocean, probably waiting to get a letter from him soon."
Now it was his turn to blink in confusion, dropping the smile. "It's Auror Goldstein, isn't it?" Theseus inquired further.
"Yeah. Tina Goldstein." I confirmed.
And then the mask dropped. Theseus went from hardass-magic-government-bad-cop-act to slumping his shoulder and bumped his head against the doorframe. It looked so out of character after witnessing him acting all high and mighty. "Are you telling me I signed up as your babysitter only to find out my brother is in fact not courting a Muggle?"
"No one asked you to take that job! And who the hell uses the word courting? You can't jump into conclusions like that!"
"I do! That's what gentlemen say, and I did it out of love for my cute little brother! Father and I were not very thrilled to hear that reports stated he has been getting very close to a Muggle. As much as I believe that lover can conquer everything, I am still skeptical about a Muggle-wizard relationship. What if things don't work out?"
You know what, that was a very valid point he had there. And yet in the span of arriving to the manor and talking to him, I learned couple of things about Theseus Scamander:
He loved Newt very much
He was most likely a romantic sap
He seems to like to play the big brother and give the break-his-heart-and-i-will-break-your-face speech.
Out of all the things I imagined how Newt' brother would be, those were not what I expected of a war hero. Then again, I also found less out less than 24 hours ago that Newt even had a brother. So there's that.
"Okay look buddy. Trust me when I say out of all the Muggles that would date Newt, I am the last one to pursue a relationship with him." I started, but was promptly interrupted by him.
"Are you implying that my little brother is not good enough for you?"
"What – no! Quite the opposite, he is – look, you signed up for a babysitting job, I'm sure they gave you a rundown of my situation, and if you use that peanut sized brain of yours, you'd know why me and your cute little brother is never going to work out." Also, Tina Goldstein just happened to me so much cooler than I am. And more compatible. C'est la vie. "What do you want from me?"
At that question, Theseus put back his business face. "I want you to know that should you ever think about doing anything that will hurt New in any way, I will not hesitate to use the Forbidden Curse on you."
Yikes. There he is, going all big brother again.
As if he read my mind on what I was thinking, Theseus then casually shrugged his shoulder and cleared his throat to get my attention. "I've always wanted a younger sister. Got a little brother instead, doesn't mean I cannot be the overprotective older brother anymore."
"Dude, that's messed up."
"If you had a little brother, you would know"
"News flash, I have one. But I would never meddle in his matter with girl-" I stopped myself mid sentences because I realized that Theseus was in fact correct; I have been that overprotective older sibling on several occasion.
When my brother was eight, there was this girl in his grade that really wanted to sleep over at our place and specifically share a bed with him. All harmless and innocent, but 18 years old me was not very happy with that. Needless to say I have hated her ever since. Another moment was when my brother was ten and he missed a girl's birthday party, and I found out that she was very sad he did not show up because she wanted to kiss him. How dare she wanting to take my brother's first kiss. But in a sense, I get what Theseus was talking about and I absolutely loathed that in we were similar in the matter of siblings. Me interrupting myself mid sentence did not help the situation, it only was a silent agreement on my part that he was right. Shoot.
Before our spat could develop any further – Blooky has disappeared while we were busy tearing at each other's throat – the front door opened. Cold winter air entered the room before the figure finally closed the door behind him.
The chilly breeze stayed though. Or maybe I just felt a chill go down my spine as I saw the face of a young man who had the same eye color and nose shape as me. A face that I have known briefly through looking at old photographs but couldn't commit it in my memory because the photo quality back then was not very great. But not what I was seeing him in front of me, it feels like I have none this face my entire life. Which I guess in a sense, I have.
The man standing in front of me is after all, Archer Ainsworth.
My great-grandfather.
Instantly my hand went clammy, my breathing became more frantic. Maybe wearing this many layer of clothes was a bad idea, it was sweating hot inside, making me want to peel everything off and just walk around in a tank top and jeans.
"Well well well, who do we have here?" He said as he closed the door behind him. Blooky instantly appeared next to him, trying to help him take off his coat, but Archer only smiled and told the house elf he can do it himself. Blooky then bowed and then Apparated off. I then noticed the wooden walking cane Archer was holding in his hand – in his late years, my great grandfather also used a cane to support himself to walk around. I always thought it was simply because he was over a hundred years old, but I didn't think he would have received the damage from this young.
Theseus then looked down at me and put his hand at my back, giving me a slight push forward. Stumbling on my feet, I stepped toward Archer and reached out a hand toward him. "Hi. I'm Oswin – your great-granddaughter from the future?"
His eyes lit instantly up and he took my hand into his, shaking it a few times. "Ah, yes yes. You have the Ainsworth nose. And our eyes. Are you sure we are not triggering the grandfather paradox right now?"
My lips twitched and I tried to fight the smile from appearing on my face. Heh, my kind of humor. Or rather I got my humor from him? Who knows. But he did worry his brain over the same issue as I did, and yet the Ministry of Magic decided to put us together.
Risky.