Traces

Olga Oleander

“Is it just me or is Abernathy not really taking this seriously,” Nila asked her hesitantly as they found themselves on their fourth break for that day.

So far they had no clues or better understanding as to where the director’s body may be. And they hadn’t even tried using the DNA tracing spell either.

“Witness statements are the most important, besides we have other promising leads to follow up on,” Abernathy had told them when they had asked, and they had quickly backed off after that. 

Something in his expression had just seemed so annoyed at them.

He was a good auror, Abernathy. 

And it was his first leading case so they hadn’t really had the heart to ask any other questions questioning the way he was leading the case after that. 

And there was the fact that they had entered auror training together and were practically friends at that point, although a bit distant for the last couple of months.

“I don’t know, Nila. But, I know that things can’t go on like this if we want to find the director,” Olga finally answered, looking her friend in the eyes for a short moment before moving to confront the man.

The director was known for being strict and cold, but Olga knew that he was an asset to MACUSA, and that he cared for the work and the people he worked with in his own ways. 

It was so discreet though that she wasn’t even sure if the director himself was aware of it himself, but she had seen him decline the after works meetups at the pubs which he did so that they could feel more comfortable according to Sera, and then there was this fact that he only pushed them the way he did because he knew that the job they did was dangerous. 

Carelessness could after all cost them their lives.

Sure, he wasn’t the friendliest, but he was a good person and like she had mentioned earlier; an important asset for MACUSA.

She sent a quick patronus to Sera to inform her of the circumstances, ignoring the teasing smile painted on her friend’s face before walking up to her colleague who was now smoking a cigarette leisurely while looking at the documents.

The scent of tobacco was strong and Olga found herself scrunching her nose up a little as she moved closer to her superior.

“Sir, I think we should give the tracking spell a shot. It’s worth giving a try first either way as other methods may not be as reliable.”

Abernathy stared at her for a moment, his gaze sending a shudder down Olga’s spine. 

“Had he always had such an intense and creepy gaze?” Olga though to herself, feeling an anxious feeling starting to grow inside of her.

“Hm. Very well, I have already gathered some hair for you, given to me by his parents and I just got word from the ministry that the request to perform the spell too has been approved.”

Olga felt her shoulder slump a little down in relief. So maybe she and Nila had been underestimating Abernathy.

It sure seemed that way now.

“Alright, thanks, sir,” she sent him a quick smile, before grabbing the hair from his offered hand.

Abernathy just waved her off in answer, before turning his attention back to his cigarette and the documents again.

“Seems like we were wrong about him,” She breathed out in relief as she went to ask for Nila’s help to prepare the tracking spell.

In reality it was more of a ritual rather than a spell, so the preparation was a bit more complicated rather than just casting a spell. 

Not that casting spells was simpler all the time either though.

The cauldron puttered and both Nila and Olga worked in silence for a while, the chopping of the ingredients and crackling from the fire filling the space around them.

Eventually, the potion was ready to have the hair sprinkled in.

“Do you have the parchment?,” Olga asked her friend, to which Nila answered by waving a piece of paper in front of her, “Of course,” she grinned, making Olga grin back at her.

They just worked too well together sometimes.

They watched the parchment paper soak in the potion for a while, its yellow brown color turning purple for a moment before it finally switched to a bright orange with some blue dots, signaling that it was ready for use.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” Nila chanted before levitating the piece of paper onto the table in the middle of the potions lab.

“That’s weird..” Olga eventually said, watching in confusion as the blue magic dots on the paper shifted around for a bit as if they could not decide where to stay.

Eventually, the dots settled themselves down, but the result was far from satisfactory for Olga to be happy about it.

“Do you think we did it wrong?” 

Nila glanced down at the paper where several places all over America were marked out with small blue dots. 

Olga frowned, not really knowing what to make of the map in front of her.

“I have no idea, but doing it again wouldn’t hurt, I guess?”

And she could only hope that the result would be different this time, because the only other plausible reason she could think of at the moment would be that the director’s body was scattered all over dozens of different places around their country.

----------

Newt Scamander

Seraphina Piqquery looked towards Newt with a bit of a sour expression, making him shrink a little in on himself.

“Well, there is no point in keeping you away from the investigation now. From what you told me that may be more triggering than anything else,” Piqquery clasped her hands together in front of her face, sighing a little.

“Besides, as much as it pains me to say this, you are our best hope in finding yourself..” She let out another sigh, fixing her turban a little in the process.

“She’s tired,” Percival muttered, leaning above Newt’s shoulder to have a better look at his friend. Although the proximity made Newt get flustered a little.

“Percival thinks you look tired,” he ended up blurting out to the president in a moment of nervousness, making Piqquery snort a little.

“I don’t think Percival meant for you to say that to me.”

“It’s okay, Newt. But yeah, telling Seraphina that she looks tired is not a good idea,” Percival sent him a reassuring smile at that, and Newt slumped relieved back into his seat again.

The tiredness was starting to get to him, but he did not want Percival to know that.

“So, what now?” he asked her, glancing at Percival to see how he was doing at the moment. He looked calm enough, but Newt could tell that was nervous too.

“Abernathy’s team are scouting out some possible locations for where Percival’s body might be, Tina is down at the cursebreaker department inquiring about the bell and we’re here so that I can brief you guys about what Flamel had to say.”

“And what did he say?” Newt recited Percival’s question, reaching a hand out to squeeze the other man’s hand reassuringly.

Percival turned to stare at him for a moment, his gaze turning soft for a bit before squeezing back.

“Hecate’s scissor is an ancient artifact, not well recorded though, but it’s said to be able to split one person’s soul from their body,” Piqquery said with a troubled expression on her face, making Newt pale a little.

“So, that explains Percival’s condition then?” Newt inquired, still holding the other man’s hand as he felt the other starting to tremble. 

He gently started running his thumb over Percival’s knuckles, making Piqquery move down her gaze at where their joined hands were.

She hummed, a quick smile painting her face for a brief moment before it turned serious again.

“Most likely. Good thing is that it means Percival’s body is still alive, and Flamel himself thinks that his soul and body can be restored again with the help of the scissors. Something about forging a needle out of them to stitch his soul back,” she recounted, moving to stand up from Percival’s overly expensive office sofa.

“That’s great news then!” Newt felt his heart jump up a little in joy, turning his head to send Percival a quick smile.

“It is, Newt,” Percival muttered eventually before dislodging their hands, moving to stand closer to Newt.

“Percival?” 

Newt almost gasped in surprise as the man turned to embrace him, his face flushing as he inhaled the other man’s scent and warmth.

“I’ll leave you guys to whatever moment that is happening in front of me,” Piqquery just snorted before moving to close the door to Percival’s office after her.

“Thank you, Newt,”

“It wasn’t just me though!” Newt scrambled to say, as he carefully wrapped his arms around the other man.

“No, but still…”

“Oh, Percival.” Newt turned his body a little to the side so that he could wipe off the tears that were falling down Percival’s cheeks.

He turned quiet for a moment before fixing his gaze on Newt again.

“Do you think that we could still meet when everything is over?”

Newt looked at him shyly before leaning in a bit closer to whisper at his lips.

“Of course, Percival. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Percival smiled at him before leaning in the last bit to meet Newt in the middle.

His lips were warm, and firm. Yet the kiss was soft.

Newt hadn’t really kissed anyone on the mouth before, and found himself unsure as to where to place his lips. With Percival however things quickly felt natural for him.

The other man placed his hands on Newt’s waist so that he could hold him better, and Newt surprisingly enough found it natural to place his respective hands around Percival’s neck.

The rest of their bodies naturally melted together as well and Newt could feel the heat radiating off from Percival’s body.

The sound of heavy breathing filled the room as their lips continued to move against each other, and Newt found himself soon enough backed against one wall in Percival’s office, his back meeting the wall with a soft thump as Percival trapped him against the surface.

His heart quickened up a little in heartbeat as he gasped out Percival’s name.

The other man of course chose that opportunity to slip his tongue even more inside Newt’s mouth, making the curly haired man’s knees start to tremble a little.

Newt felt hot, incredibly hot as their saliva mixed together. 

Although, it was a pleasant type of warmth more than anything else.

Eventually, the pace slowed down a little before they stopped and Newt found himself almost whining a little at the loss of contact.

Percival chuckled.

“Newt,” he said simply looking down at the magizoologist with impossibly soft eyes.

“Yeah,” Newt panted back in answer, trying to will his face to not flush anymore.

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” Newt whispered back, leaning forwards again to meet Percival in the middle again.

----------

Porpentina “Tina” Esther Goldstein

“Is Abernathy here?” Tina inquired Auror Oleander, her foot tapping a little urgently as she awaited an answer.

“He went out,” her colleague replied, sipping a mug of coffee as she peered down onto a map where blue dots were shifting around all the time.

The auror’s desk was overflowing with a stack of papers with different locations crossed off on it and Oleander herself looked stressed to put it mildly.

“I have an important message for him. It’s regarding the bell we found. It’s confirmed to have the trace of Grindelwald's followers on it.” 

Tina stopped tapping her foot before letting out a small sigh.

“I’ve sent some other aurors out to try to trace where it may have come from, but realistically speaking that’s not looking bright with the timeframe we have. ”
Oleander hummed, “The same luck we’re having with the director’s body then,” the auburn haired woman mumbled as she finally looked up at Tina, her eyes having huge dark circles underneath them.

Tina grimaced as she looked at the chaotic map and the tired auror in front of her.

“If you want I could try to find some more hair from Percival for you? Maybe it’s just a matter of it being contaminated?”

Oleander smiled a little before brushing her off. 

“We already ran the ritual several times, but it always turns up like this.” 

She sighed, “Although, if you want to you could try too? Maybe you’ll have some luck?”

“Well, I have to wait for the tracking spell to be approved either way so my hands are not full at the moment. Madam president also assigned the case of the missing shopowner to someone else, so yeah I’d be happy too.”

Oleander sent her a grateful smile, “You’re a peach, goldstein,” to which Tina grinned back at her.

“I always am.”