At the end of one of Grindelwald’s meetings with his followers, not long after his escape from MACUSA, he called for the Lestranges to stay awhile. They had practically glowed with delight that their lord wanted to talk to them.
When the room cleared, Grindelwald gestured towards the empty seats near him at the end of the table.
“You have a daughter, yes? She attended Hogwarts with the Scamander boy?”
The Lestranges glanced at once another before nodding, slightly confused as the purpose of their Lord’s questions.
“You mean Theseus?” Everyone knew who Theseus Scamander was- a powerful wizard, a war hero, and their only daughter’s fiancé.
Grindelwald frowned, leaning forward and shaking his head.
“No- the Magizoologist, Newton.”
“Newt?” The wife repeated, her eyebrows rising in surprise. Why would anyone want to talk about him? He’d been foolish enough to get himself kicked out of Hogwarts and wasn’t worth Grindelwald’s time.
“Y-yes? Leta and Newt were friends at school.” The Lestrange husband explained, glancing at his wife nervously.
Before either could ask why Grindelwald had asked about Newt, who was awkward and certainly no threat to anyone, the German wizard had ordered them to bring Leta to his home tomorrow.
That night, the Lestranges left worried and afraid. They hadn’t thought of it at the time, but they had heard that Newton was the cause of Grindelwald’s imprisonment at MACUSA. But, they worried- would Grindelwald punish Leta in Newt’s place? They hadn’t even seen each other in years!
Even when Newt came to England to see Theseus, he never saw Leta- or so Leta claimed.
Early the next day, as Grindelwald requested, Leta Lestrange soon-to-be Scamander walked into the Dark Lord’s Manor with her parents.
He dismissed the older adults almost immediately, taking Leta instead into a sitting room where a House-elf was leaving a tea tray for them.
“Now Ms. Lestrange, about Newton- “
Leta bit her lip, nails digging into her hands hard enough to draw blood. She didn’t know or understand why she was here- nor what Grindelwald wanted with Newt. Did he think she knew his weaknesses?
‘It’s his creatures, of course.’ But if he asked, wouldn’t she have to tell him?
Her loyalty to Newt was weak at best and while she didn’t want any harm to come to her future brother-in-law, her first loyalty was to Grindelwald and his cause.
“What house was he?” Grindelwald’s voice had changed, softer somehow. As if he harbored some kind of fondness for Newt.
“He was a Hufflepuff.” Grindelwald laughed at that- drawing a bit of ire from Leta. Hufflepuffs often were considered the weakest house, filled with the nobodies the other three didn’t want. That wasn’t true, though. Hufflepuffs were probably the best of all four houses, they loyalty and goodness made it so- however, their choices in who to trust often led them into trouble. It was why Slytherins often felt the need to protect their Hufflepuff allies.
Ravenclaws were often arrogant and Gryffindors were Gryffindors but Hufflepuffs always saw Slytherins as who they were and not their house’s dark lineage. It gave them a tighter bond then the connections between other houses.
That ire in Leta died when she realized the blonde wasn’t laughing to mock but that he was honestly pleased by her answer.
“What his favorite creature?”
“Um, a hippogriff, last time I asked.”
“Does he prefer coffee or tea?”
“Coffee- tea puts him to sleep.” Which had led to a number of accidents when Leta’s pureblood parents had wanted Newt over for tea.
“Does he like jewelry?”
She couldn’t help but giggle at that- for Newt’s 13th birthday, Leta had given him a family heirloom of a phoenix on it. Within the same day, a creature from the lake had eaten it.
“He’ll lose it, even if he tries not to.”
He continued in his questions- nothing about weaknesses or how best to manipulate the redhead- just things about Newt’s preferences. What he liked and didn’t like.
What was Newt’s favorite colors? Did he like Quidditch? What was his favorite team? Did he get along with his brother or his parents? What was his favorite meal? Why did he like muggles? Why did Dumbledore like him? What kind of wand did Newt have? Who were Newt’s friends? Why did he like creatures? And so on.
She was able to answer most of the questions- with the addendum that she hadn’t talked to Newt in years which Grindelwald had waved off. He wanted her knowledge, even if it was a little out of date.
Newt’s favorite color was Hufflepuff yellow and light blue. He liked playing quidditch with Theseus and Theseus’ friends but professional quidditch was boring. He and Theseus’ relationship had grown tense with age. As students, Newt had a crush on Leta and when she chose Theseus that had broken Newt’s heart.
At this, the young lady noticed an odd fire in Grindelwald’s eyes that hadn’t been there before, an odd kind of fury. She’d seen that look before- it was the same in Theseus eyes when other men flirted with her.
How odd.
Theseus, she continued to explain, just wanted to protect Newt who would never admit when he needed help. Newt disliked asking for help when it concerned himself, but for his creatures that was an entirely different story.
Newt never spoke of his parents so Leta couldn’t say how he felt about them.
She didn’t understand why he liked muggles, especially when they were so often the cause of his beloved creatures’ death.
Newt’s first wand had been broken when he was expelled. The one he used now, Leta knew nothing about except that Theseus had scoffed at it when she asked.
“Newt doesn’t really do friends, at least not when he was in school. Most people find him annoying.”
Grindelwald seemed genuinely surprised at that,
“Why?”
Leta couldn’t help but raise a brow at Grindelwald,
“You have met him, right? Newt is fantastic and kind, but he had a one-track mind. If it’s not related to his creatures he doesn’t really care and he just- “She struggled to explain this part as she didn’t really understand it, herself.
“Newt doesn’t understand people. He can’t read people or tell when a situation is tense. It’s partially when he always tries to stay by himself.”
“Partially?”
Leta looked away, embarrassment flushing her skin red. Softly, she continued,
“He’s been betrayed enough- another would break his heart.”
Grindelwald nodded, satisfied before another question occurred to him.
“Is he a virgin?” If Leta had been sipping her tea, she would have spit it out.
Instead, she coughed and tried to look like a proper lady.
By Morgana and Merlin, what kind of question was that?!
Clearly, by the look in Grindelwald’s eyes he demanded an answer for his entirely improper question.
“As far as I know yes.”
He hummed leaning back, looking away from her into the fire. “Thank you, Ms. Lestrange.”
Raising at the obvious dismissal, Leta turned to walk away but paused at the door.
“My lord?”
The Blonde wizard glanced at her, waiting for her to continue.
“Are you going to hurt him?”
Grindelwald grinned, his head tiled to the side as if deciding if he would answer truthfully or not.
“No, I plan to do the opposite.”