Egg of Fire
“Luella! Luella! Luella, where are you?! Luella!” Newt called out into rapidly darkening forest as the sun began to set, being careful where he stepped in case he-
“Ow!”
Stepped on her. Going around, he saw that he had almost stepped off of a small dugout that was dug under a hill, making it into a mini cliff. From his spot, he can see the glare of the fading sunlight reflecting off of her eyes.
“Luella, why are you under there?” I have been calling you for the past 30 minutes!”
“Sorry, Daddy. I was-ow-chasing this little guy. He ran off my jacket and went down here suddenly. When I got to him, he was cuddling this thing!” She explained while crawling out, one of the baby Nifflers resting in her dirt covered hair, Raksha in her bag, giving her a scolding look. And in her hands was a large white scaled egg.
“Luella, how...how did you find this?” he asked i awe, gently taking the egg from her hands. It was a bit heavy, making him use both hands to properly hold it, but its beauty was breathtaking. It was a pale cream white, the same color as Luella’s hair, with stormy blue gray swirls that disappeared and reappeared when moved. When sunlight hit it, it glittered like a hoard of jewels in a dragon’s cave. A dragon egg.
“Orange cream, found it. When I got him off , I saw something, shining in the dirt and thought it was something he stole, so I dug it up and found it.” She explained, doing her best to brush off the dirt in her hair. She was going to have to wash it later.
“This is amazing, Luella! Do you know what this is?”
“An...egg?” She guessed, her face scrunched up as she stared at him.
“Not just any egg, Luella. A dragon egg.”
At his answer, Luella’s entire face brightened with awe, her jaw dropping in shock.
“Really?”
“Really!”
“That’s amazing! Good job, Orange Cream!” She screamed excitedly, congratulating the baby niffler now making a nest in her hair to sleep in. Getting a squeak in return, she turned back to Newt.
“But how did it get there? I thought dragons prefer isolated, faraway places. There’s three towns nearby, so that’s a lot of human activity.” She asked, looking around confused.
“Right. It is odd that a dragon egg would be here of all places. Let me see this.” He answered, mumbling the last part as he hands the egg to Luella, getting on his knees to investigate the odd hiding place. Patting the curved interior wall, he notes the odd smoothness of it and how it curved over the dug up area where the egg was hidden. Almost as if on purpose.
“This is man made. A hiding place.” He thought out loud, the sharp bite of fear nipping at his neck. If this was a hiding place, there is a high chance of the egg belonging to smugglers. Newt shivered, the possibilities of what could’ve happened if whoever hid it had found Luella first.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we have to get out of here, quickly. Come.” Newt said hurriedly, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her closer before apparating home.
“Uncle Theseus, guess what.” Luella piped up at dinner, grabbing another roll from the basket.
“A new hippogriff?” He guessed, smirking as he took a piece of her roll.
“Hey! No, that’s not for two more weeks.”
“Oh, my sincerest apologies. Let’s see then….hmmm, your griffin has started to fly?”
“Nope, but almost.”
“Alright, I give up. What is it?”
“I found a dragon egg! Well, Orange Cream found it, but I found him so I still count.” She answered excitedly, almost hopping in her seat. Newt nervously looked up at his brother, anticipating a negative reaction. Theseus was silent, eyes darting between Luella and Newt before giving the girl a proud grin.
“That’s wonderful, Luella!” He congratulated, scooping her up to squish her in his usual bear hugs.
“Daddy says that he doesn’t know what breed it is. He even said that it might be a new breed!” Luella said excitedly, kicking her feet in her usual display of excitement. Newt let a small smile peek out from his lips as he watched his family celebrate Luella’s accomplishment. To this day, he is still surprised at how fast Luella has taken to Theseus. It took only one meeting with him and Luella welcomed his many hugs with open arms. She had so little affection in her early years, that she welcomed every bit she got. It made Newt worry a bit. He knew he wasn’t the most physically affectionate person, that was Theseus’ specialty.
‘Do I show her enough affection? I hold her hand, kiss her goodnight, I hug her occasionally and pick her up. But...maybe it;s not enough?’ He thought, a part of him sad that he may not have been giving the neglected girl the amount of love she deserved.
“Heeeellloooooo, Daddy! You’re in the sea in your mind!” Luella’s waving hand in front of his face brought him back to the dinner table with his brother and daughter who were giving him concerned looks.
“Newt? Are you alright?” Theseus asked worriedly. Newt gave the two his customary shy smile.
“I’m alright. Just a...got a bit lost in my head is all.” He reassured them. They weren’t quite convinced but knew better then to try to interrogate him.
“So what are going to do with the dragon once it hatches?” Theseus asked, stealing more bits of Luella’s food, much to her chagrin. Newt was still figuring that part out. At first, he thought about sending it to a dragon reserve, but knew that wouldn’t work. Luella gets really attached to those beasts she takes under her care, just as he did, and it hits her very hard when she has to release them back into the wild. And he didn’t trust the Ministry at the moment with matters involving dragons. That really left one answer. One that he knew Theseus won’t like.
“We will raise it.” He murmured, gaze set on the table. Newt heard two forks drop onto the table. Glancing up, he was happy to see Luella” happily surprised face and mentally sighed at Theseus’ look of shock and exasperation.
“I get to keep it?!” Luella shouted, hopping out of her seat to run over to him,
“Well, we don’t yet know what species it is and we wouldn’t know which dragon reserve to send it to, so it would be best if we kept it-” Newt explained before being cut off by the shrieking of Luella.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” She rambled quickly, giving him a quick hug and a kiss on Theseus’ cheek before dashing up the stairs, calling for Arro. Newt watched her go, feeling as if he made the right choice. With a heavy sigh, knowing what’s coming, Newt turned to be met with Theseus’ unamused look.
“Newt-”
“I know, I know-” Newt cut in to prevent the oncoming lecture, only to get cut off in return.
“Do you really? Because you just gave custody of a dragon to a-”
“Squib?” He cut in, an unamused look staring at Theseus with a sliver of anger. Newt knows his older brother can be too overprotective, something he has been the subject of countless times, but he has become overprotective of Luella to a smothering degree. Luella may not mind it now, or even notice it, but what about later?
“A child! A child, Newt! How is she going to feed it? How is she going to teach it how to fly? How is she going to protect herself if it has a tantrum?!” Theseus questioned hysterically, barely restraining himself from hitting the table. Newt knew Theseus was right. Even if Luella had magic, it wouldn’t have been enough to raise a dragon of all beasts! But even so...that look of pure, unrestrained joy on her face, it was one he didn’t see often on her face. He couldn’t bare taking that away from her.
“We’ll figure it out. She won’t be alone. She’s never alone.” Newt reassured, taking his now empty plate and rising from the table. Theseus didn’t look completely settled but lets out a sigh of resignation, admitting defeat.
“You’re right about that one.”