Chapter Text
Prologue
It had already been a year since the California sun burned the skin of young Credence. Having spent the first 10 years of his life in a small, rainy town in the eastern United States, he was struggling to get used to the heat and the strange feeling of being alive.
Cowering on his floral-patterned towel, unable to bring himself to take off his oversized T-shirt, he watched in amusement as young Tina splashed Queenie with laughter. The two twin sisters were adorable, so tenderly sincere that Credence had been afraid of them at first.
But Tina and Queenie had insisted that he become their friend, and since his arrival at Cora Lovegood's house last summer, he had spent most of his free time with them. They were the daughters of Marlabelle Goldstein, Mrs. Lovegood's best friend and neighbour, and they were both very smart, generous and funny (although he didn't always understand Queenie's jokes).
His heart missed a beat when his eyes landed on Percival Graves' tanned back. He was the step-brother of the Goldenstein sisters. Well, more or less. From what he had understood, with his understanding of an 11-year-old child, was that Mrs. Goldstein had married Silas Graves several years before. Silas already had a son from a first marriage, Percival, and she already had the twins. Then the couple finally divorced after only three years of living together. And by a strange set of circumstances, Percival had been placed in the custody of Marlabelle.
Stories of families, arguments, money, resentment, violence, which overwhelmed the young boy as they terrified him. All he knew was that Percival called Marlabelle "Mabelle", that his mother was never mentioned and that he categorically refused to talk about his father with anyone.
Over the last six months, Credence had developed a kind of fascination for Percival, for the way he spoke, moved, laughed out loud, and put his eyes on the little boy's face as if he were made of pure crystals. The realization of this feeling had made him panic, convinced that, as Ma had so often repeated to him, he would be judged for his impure thoughts. Yes, Credence found the young man unsettling, reassuring, enigmatic and handsome. Percival had just turned seventeen, and without knowing it, he had become the center of the universe of a young and fragile soul.
The red tained his cheeks and he cowered a little more. In the distance, Theseus and Newt Scamander had just joined the Goldsteins. Newt was a school friend of Credence and the twins, a strange but friendly boy who had developed an obsession with unusual animals. Credence liked him a lot, especially when Newt stood up for him and shared with him his latest discoveries about species of bat or bird. But he found it much harder to get along with Theseus (whom Percival called Theo), Percival's best friend, who always seemed to take a malicious pleasure in teasing the black-haired boy. Credence tightened his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees, displaying a scowling look.
“Come on Credence, come and play with us!" Tina suddenly called him.
“No, I'd rather not...” he smiled.
“Come on, the waves are perfect!” Queenie insisted.
“I don't like the water... I think.”
“Oh, the little pearl is afraid to come out of her shell!” Theseus laughed.
It was exactly for this kind of comment that the little boy was having trouble with the oldest Scamander. He grimaced slightly before answering:
“I don't feel like swimming, that's all...”
But of course, Theseus was not satisfied with this answer, and he came running towards Credence. The boy got up to escape him, for fear that the young man would water him as he had done last time. But against all expectations, he grabbed Credence by the waist and, with a quick gesture, placed him on his shoulder before running off towards the sea.
“No! Theseus, no! Let go of me!" Credence shouted , more panicked than ever.
“Theo, let him go!" Percival shouted, running towards them to try to intervene.
Before Credence could fight any harder, Theseus threw him into the waves, laughing out loud. The little boy stayed underwater for a moment, and the thought of never coming to the surface crossed his mind. But the reflexes were faster, and he emerged from the waves, breathing deeply and painfully, with water up to his waist.
Theseus's proud smile quickly faded as he noticed the deep scars that laced Credence's entire body through the white T-shirt. It wasn't the salt of the sea that suddenly burned the boy's eyes, but the hard realization that nothing would ever be the same again. They had seen, they had discovered how strange he was, how frail, broken, different, disgusting he was. He suddenly burst into tears, wrapping his arms around him as Queenie and Tina joined them, looking confused and worried.
Theseus was unable to move; his mouth open like a fish out of water. At the end of what seemed to last an eternity, Credence felt someone wrapping him in a towel, a towel that was soaking wet but covering his thin body. Before he could react, Percival lifted him up in his arms, carrying him close to him as he sometimes did with Tina when she scratched her knees.
In a furious tone, he said to the oldest of the Scamanders:
"You're such an asshole! He told you to leave him alone, why don't you ever listen?"
"I didn't think... I didn't think it was that bad..." the other one stammered, white as a sheet.
"You're just an idiot Theo sometimes!"
Without waiting for his friend's reaction, Percival brought Credence back to the beach. The little boy was shaking like a leaf and sobbing violently and painfully. He still had his arms around his ribs, as if he was trying to protect himself. Percival replaced the soaked towel with a dry one, being careful not to reveal Credence's body during the exchange.
Then he took him in his arms again, turning his body into a shield, ignoring the boy's hands pushing against his chest to make him move backwards. He needed to make him understand that he was not alone, that none of this was his fault.
"Everyone saw..." Credence cried, giving up for the moment to push Percival away.
"No, no one saw anything, Credence."
"Everyone saw, I'm horrible, I'm disgusting..."
Percival's heart was torn at this statement. How could he think that? Credence was so convinced that he would end up infecting the Goldsteins if he stayed too close, infecting them with his sin, his darkness...
"No. Nobody saw anything and you're not horrible, okay?" Percival insisted.
Credence pushed him back brutally, grabbing his own black hair as if he was trying to tear them off, closing his eyes before shouting:
"I hate myself! I hate myself! I should never have come today!"
Percival glanced over his shoulder. Queenie and Tina stood there, not knowing how to act, both anxious and saddened by what had just happened. He gestured to them to bring him his phone and Tina did so immediately, rummaging through his backpack while the young man returned his attention to Credence.
"Don't say that..." he whispered, stroking the dark hair.
"I'm disgusting..." he repeated.
In a tender, yet authoritative gesture, Percival framed the boy's face and lifted it up towards him, waiting for him to finally open his eyes shining with tears.
"You're not disgusting! It's not your fault, okay? Breath Credence, please, everything will be all right..."
The younger one nodded gently, still convinced that Percival was wrong but unable to tell him. Tina handed the phone to her brother, and before he could use it, Credence huddled against his chest, his face buried in his neck. Percival froze for a moment.
"Can we stay like this for a while?" the black-haired boy asked.
Percival closed his arms around the skinny little body, resting his cheek against the top of his skull before answering:
"Of course. As long as you need it..."
