Someone like him wasn't meant to have a happy ending
Percival held his face with both hands, while around him, in the No-Maj bar that he had hidden, the noise concealed his grunts of embarrassment.
He should have known.
He should have thought of it.
An old curmudgeon like him wasn't meant to have a happy ending.
How could it occur to him that someone like Newt Scamander might have feelings for…for Graves?
The wizard released his hands and ran one of them through his hair, while with the other he poured himself a new drink, which downed in one go, feeling how the liquor burned his throat.
“Wow” a voice told him “If you keep drinking like this, my friend, you won't last long sober”
MACUSA's Director of Magical Security raised his face with the sole purpose of telling the guy who was talking to go to hell and leave him alone, since, precisely, what he was looking for was to sink enough into the drink to not remembering and surviving the humiliation he was experiencing due to his own stupidity, when upon seeing his interlocutor, he recognized his face.
“Queenie…”
The auror muttered, shaking his head.
“The name is Jacob” said the man sitting on the other side of the table “but yes, she sent me”
“Mister…”
“Kowalsky”
“Kowalsky” Graves said to his secretary's boyfriend “It's not that I don't… appreciate Miss Goldstein's intentions, but this is a private matter…”
“Newt likes you”
Percival blinked in astonishment, but instantly felt anger spread through his body. It was cruel. Very cruel. Telling him that when he was going through…
“I don't say it, Queenie says that he does”
Clarified the No-Ma… Jacob and Graves sighed, shaking his head.
“Miss Goldstein has… the best intentions, but… I think that, in this case, she’s mistaken and… she is just trying not to make me feel bad”
“Do you seriously think that Queenie would do something like that?”
The Director looked down and swallowed as he turned the glass with one of his hands.
This Kowalsky guy hadn't been in the raid. He couldn’t know. But Tina Goldstein did, and through her, her sister must have found out.
They were both good girls.
Good professionals, too.
But they liked him, and so they couldn't be excellent judges of what had happened with Newt just a few hours ago.
The request for reinforcements had arrived at the MACUSA auror headquarters as their team was returning from a procedure in another part of New York.
Naturally, there were magical creatures involved for Tina Goldstein and Newt Scamander to be taking part in another raid. And Percival didn't disagree with the professional decision the woman had made. "Dangerous magical creature" was the perfect tag for the British man, who really could win the hearts of any of them, just as much as his own.
But he wasn't prepared for was receiving the auror's patronus, saying with fear in her voice that she couldn't find the magizoologist, that they were outnumbered and badly needed reinforcements.
No more than seconds passed then, for him and his troops to appear on the spot.
“Carefully!” he ordered the aurors “This place is going to fall apart at any moment and we still have to find Goldstein and Scamander!”
The other MACUSA members nodded and split up to cover all the entries. Moments later, the lights from the spells and the screams indicated that battle had broken out inside the building.
A chill ran through Percival's body as he fights wizard after wizard, discovering at the same time a trail of blood and bodies that had pieces torn off. The guys involved in that operation had definitely messed with a beast they couldn't control.
“That's the last one, sir!”
His second-in-command exclaimed, throwing a nasty-looking guy at the Director's feet as the aurors restricted his movement.
“What were you doing?” he asked leaning down and holding the man's face tightly with one of his hands “What creature were you using? Where are the aurors that came first?”
The prisoner jerked his face free and spat at his feet. Turning the criminal’s head and seeing his neck, Graves shook his head.
“Acromantula” murmured recognizing the shape of the wound that the delinquent had “What the hell is wrong with these idiots that they don’t leave alone those animals?”
“Money” Roberts pointed out as the Director got up “We eliminated a poison vendor and…”
“Another had to supplant him”
Finished the Head of the Aurors.
Offer and demand.
Basic and concrete.
There was a market for acromantula venom, which he had discovered thanks to his partner's book notations, that it worked as an intensifier of different potions, as well as an excellent weapon to exterminate enemies.
“Well, process whoever is breathing and be very careful” he explained to Abernathy and Roberts “If Scamander hasn’t dominated the creature and it is still alive, it is extremely dangerous. Do not seek to interact. Escape and report their location”
“Understood…”
Abernathy began to say when a shout made them turn their faces.
“NEWT!”
Goldstein.
Percival's legs moved on their own, quickly following the sound of the woman's voice.
MACUSA's Director of Magical Security waved his hands and used the same wandless magic that had impressed the Brit to power the jump that carried him through the middle of the stairwell to the second floor, where the auror was.
Several of his staff were whispering to each other in a room doorway, and as he pushed them away, Graves' knees wobbled.
The place was a scene of carnage.
There were no less than five human corpses in different states of dismemberment, testimony that the enormous acromantula that was also found dead on one side had sell its life dearly.
And blood.
Blood
Blood everywhere.
On the walls, the floor, the windows, the ceiling and the hands of Tina Goldstein, which held the head of a limp and also covered in blood Newt Scamander.
“No, no, no, no”
Half moaned, half screamed Percival running to the side of the woman who handed him the body of his lover, stifling a sob.
It couldn't be.
No.
Newt was the enchanter of magical creatures.
No creature would hurt him.
No creature would harm him.
They all knew that he was the one protecting them.
Graves' trembling fingers ran over the bloody magizoologist's body, checking for possible injuries, while his friend and auror continued to call the British.
The American swallowed, relieved to find no break or bite and verify that the brown-haired man was breathing.
“Goldstein” he told the woman who was still very affected “Tina!”
The girl blinked, regaining her focus.
“A healer, Goldstein” Percival ordered, seeing how the British began to move, coming back from his unconsciousness “We need to follow protocol”
The auror swallowed, but nodded and rose to call a healer on duty to the site.
Even so, the Auror Chief couldn't help but that his voice cracks a little as he gently moved the wounded man to finish waking him up.
“Newt, please, wake up”
“Percy?”
The magizoologist cuestioned, and Percival had to hold back the sob of relief that rose in his throat, as he settled the boy more comfortably by tracing his fingers down his bloody cheeks.
“Next time please just wait for me, okay?”
He asked the British and the blue-eyed only nodded with an expression of discomfort and exhaustion that made him refocus his senses on the well-being of the wounded man.
“Where does it hurt the most?”
The Director questioned, since acromantulas were famous for defending themselves by all possible means and he couldn't be sure that his lover hadn't been hurt through his clothes.
“No, I'm not hurt," Newt explained, shaking his head "I think I just... I was stunned”
Graves pursed his lips, looking down at his boyfriend's bloody clothing. He means, he loved that man. And loved his worship of magical creatures. But New had to stop hiding when something went wrong with these just to avoid them being punished.
“It's not mine," the British explained to him as he followed his gaze “Where's the acromantula?”
The Auror Chief momentarily closed his eyes and shook his head.
This wasn’t going to be nice.
Graves hated to give him bad news about magical creatures that were part of any of the operations they were involved in.
Opening his eyes again, the magizoologist's gaze made Percival’s heart sink. The sadness in Newt's blue orbs conveyed pain and sorrow for the huge spider was hard to behold.
However, before he could lean in to comfort him with a kiss, the Brit sighed.
“Helen”
“Hi, Newt” he heard a shy voice respond nearby "Uhh... Could you please tell Mr. Graves to move a little so I can check on you?”
“You heard her, Percy”
His partner told him between giggles.
Between giggles.
And Graves couldn't help but protest, before making room for the mediwitch he himself had sent for, still reeling from the fact that his lover was lying on the floor, covered in blood, but very amused at the expense of the Percival's discomfort.
Oh, how he was going to get back at that move from the British in front of all his aurors.
“Sir”
He heard that someone called and brought the fingers of one of his hands to the bridge of his nose, before answering.
“Goldstein”
“We need you, sir. We have several nearby buildings full of No-Maj. Witnesses”
The Director lowered his hand and growled.
Of course, they needed him.
He was the one who directed the blessed operation, but...
“Go” Newt said smiling “They need you. I won't move, I promise”
“Don't worry” the healer assured him “I'll take care of him, Mr. Graves”
“You better, Williams”
The Head of the aurors warned her before leaving the room to meet his team and begin the process of organizing the entire sector.
The No-Majs, naturally alerted of the fight, had called the New York police, for which reason, together with his second and third in command, he had to intervene by posing as members of the FBI, since it was MACUSA's rule not to obliviate agents of the No-Maj law, since the encounters with them were too regular and the Bureau, thanks to the intense collaboration they had under the table with the wizarding community, turned a blind eye to the non-legal use of their identifications by the aurors.
The policemen took effort to be convinced, but by the time they finished chatting, the agents of the law found that none of the residents of the place remembered having summoned the authorities, so they had reluctantly left.
“We cannot remain here much longer”
Noted, despite this departure, Abernathy.
“I agree, this site needs to be thoroughly cleaned”
The Director stated.
“We'll take care of it, sir” the auror told him “Go back to Newt”
“Not a single trace”
Graves clarified to which his aurors nodded, rolling their eyes.
The Head of the United States Aurors turned and smiled as he walked up the stairs. It was obvious that he had no doubt that his troops were going to get it right, but it was part of his position to be the curmudgeon who always pointed out the obvious.
“How's he?”
He asked the healer, squatting next to Newt after entering the room once again.
“Fine. He'll be dizzy for a couple of minutes because of the spell though”
Percival nodded in relief, and as the healer withdrew, he bent down to pick up his partner, who, naturally, began to protest.
“No, Percy. I can… I can walk! I promise. I can. I'm not that dizzy”
The Director sighed and ended up putting the stubborn Brit down at the door, because he honestly didn't want to cause a scene.
Already he has given the entire headquarters enough to talk about his total love for the one brown-haired and, on the other hand, he needed to say something to the that same man precisely.
“So stubborn” murmured, looking tenderly into the eyes of the half-angry magizoologist, to then raise his face and tell his friend that was waiting for them “Can you give us a few minutes, Goldstein?”
“Of course, Sir”
The girl answered and, as soon as she had disappeared, Percival dropped his executive mask, to allow the worry and terror he had felt in those moments when had believed his lover seriously injured or dead, to seep into his words and expressions.
“For a second, I thought I was going to lose you”
Confessed, because that was exactly what he had felt.
That Newt's life was slipping out of his hands and, although as Director of Magical Security, he had lived through dozens of losses of aurors and victims, nothing could have prepared him for the degree of desolation and suffering that he had gone through, in those compact moments, between when he had entered the room and discovered his bloody body until the British had looked him in the eye again.
“But you didn't-“
Mercy Lewis.
That boy was amazing.
He couldn't believe that could comfort him and lessen the dangerousness of the situation.
Didn't he understand that Percival didn't need that?
That Graves was even grateful to love him to the point of fearing lose him with such intensity?
The American closed the distance between them and seized the Brit's lips on impulse. But the pleasure that ran through his body when he finally felt those lips on his turned into amazement and then into fear at not receiving any response from Newt.
Oh no.
The young had told him he wasn't ready before, when he'd suggested they go to his house together.
He couldn't be stupid enough to breach the boundaries the magizoologist like that.
What was he?
A teenager unable to control himself?
“I'm sorry, I should've asked first...” he stammered after separating from the boy trying to excuse himself “I know we're not… We're taking it slowly, but I… Tell me if I made you feel uncomfortable or-“
“No, that's not it. You just surprised me.” Newt replied “I didn't know you liked me that way”
Percival couldn't help but laugh a little then.
Newt must still be disoriented.
Say that he wasn't going to like him that way.
“We've been dating for weeks now, of course I like you that way” the auror clarified “You must be still dizzy”
“What do you mean we've been dating for weeks?”
The Brit questioned him and in the sincerity of his gaze the Director of Magical Security of MACUSA felt that the world was collapsing around him.
Newt… he… never…
Mercy Lewis.
He had misunderstood things.
Percival's mind raced through all the instances in which they had been together and, for the first time, he was able to identify the fact that since that meeting in which he had believed that the magizoologist had actually declared his love to him what had been seeing was what the Director had wanted to see and not what had really happened: Newt was simply a shy boy who had tried to be nice, but since he didn’t have much experience in dealing with other people he had inadvertently used inappropriate social formulas .
And Graves…
The Auror Chief's stomach twisted in his body and he immediately wanted to vomit.
Not too long ago he had given that same boy a wandless magic class and had hugged him without permission and even tried to kiss him as he had done minutes before. And not only that, but also... Newt... Scamander... Probably this had been the first job he had managed to get related to what he loved, allowing him to being able to afford the costs that his creatures generated and in which, on top of that, that he shared space with his new friends.
What if he had thought that only by consenting to the inappropriate advances of his new boss could he keep it?
Blood drained from the Director's face turning it pale.
He never... but... what other explanation was there for the complacent behaviour of the British?
Deliverance Dane.
No.
“You didn't know. I thought… So you mean you never” Percival stammered again, feeling worse and worse at the idea of having forced himself on someone else “I'm sorry, Newt. You probably thought I was harassing-“
“No! Percy, I…”
Damn.
It was his damn fault.
The magizoologist was just too good.
And now…now he was trying to make him feel better when it was obvious he had never wanted to be in a relationship with Graves and, despite humoring him, he had been unable to hide his rejection.
Percival closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again, letting his training as an auror take its toll on the shame and humiliation he felt at his own stupidity.
Newt didn't deserve to suffer because he was socially a disaster.
“It's okay”
He told him nodding, and then walked past the man, interrupting the British's excuses to head towards the stairs where he met Tina Goldstein.
“Auror Goldstein” he called her “Make sure you accompany Mister Scamander to your house and make sure that he doesn’t present negative changes in his health for the next few hours. Any problems, immediately contact the DLE healers and have them assist you”
“Yes, sir”
Stumbled the woman when answered him, since he was sure that, despite his control of his facial expressions, something must have leaked out that betrayed the pain he felt.
But that would be a matter to worry about later, he thought, using the apparition to leave the place, with what little dignity he had left.
“So, what you think is that Newt agreed to your ‘advances’, as you call them, because he needed the money, it was his first magical creatures related job and because he didn't want to let Tina and Queenie down”
Percival sighed and after downing another glass of liquor, nodded.
Which came to be a horrendous idea.
Because at the moment of touching the liquid, his stomach turned in such a way that he had to run to the bathroom to vomit everything he had drunk.
The No-Maj didn't understand.
If that night… in which he had invited the British to his house, the man had agreed, he was sure that, convinced that the boy loved him, he would have managed to kiss him and, perhaps, something else, and he would have been committing a crime without knowing it.
And Newt would have hated him for it.
Because Graves had studied the magizoologist's file and knew first hand, from his conversation with Dumbledore, that he had been mistreated as a young man and he was not unaware that, psychologically, this could condition a person in his actions.
The youngest of the Scamanders hadn’t had a way to resist or oppose.
Although he had tried.
Theseus.
How had it not crossed the Director’s mind that, if the blue-eyed boy had been truly interested, he wouldn’t have wanted his only brother to know of his relationship with Percival?
Mercy Lewis.
His friend was going to kill him when he found out.
And Percival Graves would gladly lend his wand to him to do so.
“Are you okay?”
He heard and nodded as arms maneuvered him onto someone's shoulders.
“I can manage alo…”
He started to say, but Queenie Goldstein's boyfriend sighed.
“Man, you can't stay on your feet, less you're going to be able to ‘apparate’ safely. Newt and the girls always say that if you're not focused you can end damaging yourself…”
“Splinching” he accepted “It's true. If you would be so kind as to call...”
MACUSA's Director of Magical Security thought quickly. He wasn't going to bother Seraphina, the safest thing to do was to contact Abernathy, since his second in command wouldn't ask too many questions, or change his opinion of his boss by seeing him intoxicated once.
“Nonsense” said the No-Maj beginning to move it “My bakery is close”
“Alright”
Percival conceded, feeling how the liquor began to take effect and his body became heavier.
He only hoped that by the time he reached his resting place, the intoxication would be strong enough for him to sleep without dreaming, erasing the image of Newt from his mind.