One year ago
The past few months have been tough on you. Since you lost your job at the ministry, you couldn't keep up with the rent and ended up being evicted by your landlord. The only possessions you had to your name was the small suitcase containing a small amount of clothing, your wand, and your ever faithful pet phoenix. He'd been with you for as long as you could remember, always staying by your side. You can remember your mother telling you that he once belonged to your father before he passed away, and his father before that.
Your luck had changed a few weeks after your eviction. It was a chilly winter day, the bitter wind making you pull your coat around yourself that little bit tighter. Your phoenix companion had nestled himself inside your jacket, gently warming itself up to make you more comfortable.
A young wizard had stopped in front of you and you let your eyes wonder up to see who it was. He wore a rather warm looking blue coat and sported a shock of wild hair that nearly covered one eye. Your phoenix popped it's head out from where he was hiding inside your jacket to take in the stranger. The stranger came down to your level and slowly extended his hand towards your phoenix. He stopped a short distance away. “May I?” he said, looking at you with a kind expression, one you hadn't seen in such a long time. You nodded and he held his hand out towards the phoenix. He popped his head out further, taking in the strangers hand cautiously. You warmed to this stranger, thinking he must mean well. Your phoenix was fiercely protective of you, not letting many people get within a few paces of you. Your phoenix gently nuzzled the strangers hand, gladly welcoming the chin scratch.
The strangers eyes then met yours and quickly came away. “My name is Newt. Do you not have somewhere to stay?” Newt said, fixing you with a warm but worrying stare. You looked down at your tatty blanket, embarrassed.
Newt inched closer. “If you need somewhere to stay, I have a spare bed you could use?” You felt yourself stiffen. “I could also do with an assistant or sorts, to help me with me creatures. I'm a magizoologist you see. You seem to have a natural affinity with animals as well, so I think you'd be perfect for the role.”
You glared at him again, mouth slightly hanging open. A perfect stranger offering you this lifeline. Should you take it?
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Present day.
It was Newts birthday today. It was also nearing the one year “anniversary” since your life had changed for the better, so you wanted to repay Newt some of the kindness that he had shown you. You wouldn't have known it was his birthday, had it not been for Queenie mentioning it to you whilst they were visiting. She just neglected to say how she knew the both of you never celebrated birthdays.
As it stands, you couldn't imagine your life being any better than it is right now. You were among animals you'd only ever read about, and a part of something you knew was going to mean so much in the future.
You constantly saw Newt inscribing various things in his trusty brown notebook, which was never far from his side. It was getting rather full lately, so you decided it was high time he had a new one. As you now had a small part time job outside of your work with Newt, you could afford to get him a good gift, having saved up what you could. There was a department store in the city that had a decent sized crafts section that specialized in leather work and embossing. You'd chosen a leather notebook that was slightly bigger than that one that he had now. It was almost identical to the shade of blue that was on Newts coat. You'd paid a little extra and had a small green Bowtruckle embossed on the front of it.
You had it all wrapped up in sheets of silver tissue paper that glistened slightly whenever it caught the light. You'd decided that you'd give it to him later, once all of the animal checks had been done this evening.
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Newt was sitting cross legged in the hut in his suitcase, tongue peeking out the corner of his mouth in concentration. The Niffler was sitting on the stool opposite him, eyes wide in wonder at the sight in Newt's hands. Newt held up the creation in front him him, eyeing up his work. Granted that it was his first time knitting, the outcome wasn't half bad. He was already thinking of knitting little scarf's and hats for some of the creatures.
He turned it around and showed it to Niffler. “What do you think? Will he like it?”. Niffler squeaked in agreement. Newt had knitted a long cardigan in different shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. It literally looked like you could wear fire. The pet phoenix had shed a feather as it's little contribution. With a flick of his wand, newt transformed it into a thread that shimmered from red, to orange and then to yellow. It made the whole cardigan shimmer, and made Niffler extra jealous. He patted it's paws away and proceeded to wrap it neatly in some brown paper and twine.
He put Niffler back in his cage and made his way up to the tree that is on top of the Mooncalf enclosure. He always like to sit there when all the animals were asleep. The moon would always gently illuminate the surroundings, with a gentle breeze moving through the leaves and rustling Newt's hair.
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You'd finished the last of your rounds, making sure all the animals were fed, watered, and tucked up in bed. Always made you smile when you'd walk past Niffler's nest and see him fast asleep clutching a shiny gold coin. You quickly ran into the hut and splashed some water onto your face, making yourself look half decent. You looked out the tiny window and could see Newt sitting there underneath the tree. You picked up your package, smoothed over your hair and headed out.
You took a slow walk up the hill and stopped just short of where Newt was sitting. You coughed before speaking. “I thought I may find you here. Can I join you?” Newt moved aside, not taking his eyes from the moon the illuminated the kind features of his face.
You sat down next to him, almost shoulder to shoulder. The silence lasted for a few minutes. The both of you just sat there and quietly enjoyed each others company before you both broke it. You both took your presents and placed them in each other's lap with a smile. You give each other a puzzled look.
You looked at the brown package in you lap. It was neatly wrapped and had a tag on it which you then turned over. “Happy Birthday,. Newt x”
“How did you know?” you asked him.
He slightly avoided your gaze, leaving it on the gift in your lap. “That would be Queenie's doing. She let told me that we both share the same birthday”
You smiled slightly, letting a soft chuckle escape you. “She did the same for me too.” Somehow, you could feel that Newt didn't really do birthdays, and perhaps he knew the same for you? But you could tell that you both enjoyed each others company. Perhaps you could both start doing birthdays together.
You motioned to Newt to open his present. His fingers lightly moved over the sliver paper that wrapped his gift. His mouth slightly wrinkled in the corner as he smiled at the way the paper shimmered in the moonlight. He unwrapped it and looked at the notebook inside. He lifted it out and let his fingers glide over the Bowtruckle that graced the front of the blue notebook, which perfectly matched the color of his favorite coat. It made him feel all warm and bubbly on the inside, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. From under the lapel of Newts waistcoat, Pickett poked his head out and climbed down Newt's arm to inspect what was on the front of the book. He patted it gently, thinking it was a real Bowtruckle. He turned back to Newt, and then to you, offering his squeak of approval.
“Thank you,” he stuttered, “but you shouldn't have. I shall put this to good use though.” He left his hand resting on top of his book. “I should think that's it's now your turn.” He patted the wrapped present in your lap.
You go to undo the the twine before Newt stops you for a moment. “It would be best if I did this first. It would help show of your gift better.” He waved his hand over the sky and made more stars appear. You'd always marveled at how Newt could make wandless magic look so beautiful
You opened the present carefully and unfolded the garment that gently illuminated your face. You didn't notice that Newt was taking in your reaction, reveling in the way your eyes reflected the sparkle of the knitted cardigan. Few things in life made you speechless, with this being one of them. As you let your hands roam over the sleeves, you could feel a warmth spreading through your body. It made you flinch ever so slightly, but Newt noticed.
“I've charmed it. You say you always feel cold, so I thought you could use this” he said. It made you smile a little inside at how Newt would remember such a small detail about yourself. It made you a little teary eyed. You quickly wiped it away and re wrapped your cardigan, already looking forward to wearing it to bed later. You took out your wand and with a swift flick, lit a small fire. You pulled out a bag of marshmallows and skewered them. Newt gently took the one you offered and held it out over the flame. You thought it was cute, seeing just the two marshmallows close to each other. They were sweet enough as is, but this made it sweeter.
You sat there for a good while, both content with each others company, sharing marshmallows and talking about anything came to mind. By the time you snapped back to reality, the fire had died down to glowing embers, no longer emitting a comfortable amount of warmth. This made you wrap your arms around yourself, which Newt noticed. He conjured a blanket and wrapped it around you. “Wait here. I'll be back in a moment.”
You nodded gently and wrapped the blanket tighter around yourself, letting your head fall back against the tree.
Newt returned a few moments later with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. He handed you yours and then stood there, eyeing the blanket. “Erm....m-might I join you? I'm finding it a little chilly now.” You couldn't say no. To be honest, you wouldn't say not to anything Newt asked of you. You unwrapped the blanket and patted the grass next to you. The blanket was one of those ones that was at least three times the size of yourself, so there was more than enough left to wrap around Newt, and then some.
This was cozy, you thought. You could see yourself getting used to this. You took a sip of the beverage, letting it fill you up with that comforting warmth that only a hot chocolate could give. You looked over and saw Newt had already fallen asleep. He looked so calm and at peace in that moment, and it warmed your heart. You took a sip of the beverage, letting it fill you up with that comforting warmth that only a hot chocolate could give.
Now you were all warm and cozy, it started to make you really sleepy and you could feel your eyes start to close. But you were disturbed, finding that New had fell sideways in his sleep, his head now resting on your shoulder. Lord knows that Newt could do with more sleep, so you hadn't the heart to move him away. You closed your eyes and let out a content sigh and let your head fall against his. You'd stay like that for as long as Newt wanted to sleep. Was this the start of something? You hoped so. But for now, you just let yourself enjoy the moment, drifting off into the most comfortable sleep you'd had in a long time.