One: Diagon Alley

Newton Scamander was sitting in his room, gently playing with the bowtruckle he'd managed to lure from its tree in their garden. It was small and delicate, and seemed to be enjoying hanging off of the boy's fingers. "Ouch," he hissed, as the creature dug in its tiny claws. "Be nice, Frederick."

Newt was jerked from his happy world when someone knocked on his bedroom door. "Newty, you fat arse, get going! We're leaving for Diagon Alley in ten minutes. Mother's actually acting sane for once, and we want to keep up appearances while we can." It was Theseus, Newt's older brother. Theseus Scamander was a fourth year Gryffindor, and the top of his class. Once upon a time, they'd gotten along rather well, but that was before Mother's illness and Father decided Newt was the cause of all of the family's problems.

"Coming," Newt sighed, getting to his feet and letting Frederick out onto the tree just outside his window. "I'll be back this evening," he assured the tiny creature, before opening his door, revealing his older brother.

Theseus had always been a good-looking child, but now at fourteen he was starting to look more like a man, which made him even more attractive. He had Father's dark hair and strikingly blue eyes, as well as the broad shoulders and square jaw. Newt, on the other hand, was thin and lanky. He had red-gold hair that was so curly it refused to ever be fully tamed, and green eyes that were always flitting from place to place, never keeping eye contact for more than an instant. Theseus looked just like their father, but Newt looked just like their mother. He sometimes wondered if that contributed to how vehemently his father hated him.

"You're decent? No dung or animal pieces?" Newt clenched his jaw to stop himself from retorting, and nodded. Theseus rolled his eyes and turned around. "Come on, then. Try not to send Mother back into insanity with your obsession."

As soon as Newt came down the stairs, his father sniffed. "Decided to come down in clean clothes today, did we? How thoughtful."

Newt flinched, staring at the ground. His hands twitched at his sides, unsure of what to do with themselves. Suddenly, there was a gentle pair of hands on either side of his face, and he looked up to see his mother smiling at him. Her eyes were clear, and she clearly recognized him, something that hadn't happened for a while. "Newton, darling, you look so handsome today! If you were a hipogriff, you'd be a prize stallion."

Theseus snickered, and Newt felt his cheeks flush bright crimson. All the same, it felt good to be complimented. That hadn't happened since the last time his mother had fully come out of her daze, and that had been almost two months ago. Her good days were getting farther and farther apart, and Newt knew soon he'd be truly alone, but he always chose to forget that. It made everything hurt a little less.

"Merlin, Celestia, don't coddle the boy. You'll make him more of a freak than he already is." Newt felt any warmth in him be sucked away by the icy tone of his father's voice.

Celestia Scamander straightened and turned to her husband, eyes flashing angrily. "Perseus Humphrey Scamander, if I hear you talking about your son like that in my presence again, I will curse you until you are nothing more than hippogriff feed. Understood?"

Father wilted a little under her glare. "Yes dear," he said meekly. Newt knew as soon as the fog descended once more he'd abandon that promise, but at least for now he'd be free from torment.

"Now," Mother said, fixing the shawl around her shoulders (which was mainly there to ensure no one noticed how horribly thin her arms were), "are we going to Diagon Alley or not?"

Theseus smiled his typical dashing smile, the one that always convinced their family's guests that he was the good one, that Newt deserved the verbal abuse he was put through most every day. "Of course, Mother."

Of course, Mother had never been quite as fond of her older son as everyone else in the world was. She ignored him, and simply gestured for her husband to throw the Floo powder into the fireplace. He obeyed quickly, obviously still thrown off by her earlier threat.

With a crackle, the flames turned a beautiful emerald green. Theseus stepped forward, his chin pointed up, his strut more pronounced than normal. He was probably trying to gain some attention from Mother, but Newt knew it probably wouldn't work. "Diagon Alley!" He shouted, and then vanished.

"Newton, you next," Father barked. Newt winced, but stepped into the green flames as he was told. He stared at the fire and pretended it was a snake, or some other creature that wouldn't yell at him.

He straightened his back, and stared his father right in the eyes. The man's eyebrows shot up, which made sense, since he always avoided eye contact if he could help it. "Diagon Alley."

A few seconds later, Newt was dusting himself off as he stepped out of the Flourish and Blotts fireplace. Theseus was standing nearby, and grinned cruelly. "Didn't stutter this time? D-d-diag-gon All-lley?" Recently, as Mother's episodes became the norm instead of the odd day, Newt had found himself stuttering almost everything he said.

One particularly horrible incident was when he stuttered saying Diagon Alley and ended up in Knockturn Alley. Now, Knockturn Alley had a few unsavory shops and tended to attract unsavory people, so Theseus found it truly hilarious. Father had called him a "stupid boy," and once they'd gotten home had locked Newt in his room for a full day without food. Theseus had continued to mock him about it ever since.

Mother and Father stepped out of the fire then, looking utterly graceful and very refined. Mother noticed Newt staring at her, and smiled gently, a sadness in her eyes. She never quite understood what happened during her episodes, but she always felt sorry when she woke up.

The shopping itself was dull for the most part. Robes, books, a cauldron... even his getting wand wasn't particularly interesting (ash and unicorn hair, 11 inches, with a piece of firecrab shell on the handle that he loved). It wasn't until Mother pulled out her purse and insisted she get him an owl just in case she wasn't awake for Christmas that he became interested.

"Absolutely not," his father insisted. "He can use the owls at school."

Mother narrowed her eyes, and Newt knew she was getting angry again. "Theseus has his own owl, Persy. You bought him the nicest owl you could find, because no son of yours was going to Hogwarts without the best. But not Newt?"

Father's face was growing red. "The boy's soft, Celestia! He spends all day playing with beasts instead of his own species. He can hardly speak right, nowadays. He's a disgrace!"

Newt felt tears welling in his eyes. It was one thing for Father to say those things to him, but it was another thing entirely for him to say it to Mother. She looked more angry than he'd ever seen her before. "Spending time with creatures makes you soft, does it?"

Newt's eyes widened. His mother bred hippogriffs, and as her illness took hold he'd been helping out more and more. He suspected they'd have to hire some people to help once he went off to school, but that was beside the point. Father had never dared to criticize Mother's love for magical creatures before.

"I-" he realized his mistake far too late. "Of course not, dear, I didn't mean to imply–"

"Enough. We are going to buy Newton an owl, and that's that. Come on, dear, let's go look at them." Mother held out her hand for Newt to take. He grabbed it gratefully, feeling self-conscious with Theseus' angry glare at his back.

They soon returned with a beautiful female barn owl, her feathers perfectly preened. He was thinking about naming her Athena, since his family did so love Greek names. "You'll be a good friend to me at Hogwarts, Athena," Newt whispered, gently stroking her feathers. "I'm sure of it."

Theseus unfortunately heard his exchange and snorted. "Talking to animals, again, Newty? You do know they can't understand you?"

"I wouldn't be so sure, Thee," Newt said softly, still stroking his beautiful new friend. "Magical creatures understand for more than we think they do."

Soon, they were climbing back into the fire with all their shopping, stepping once more into the emerald green flames that sucked them away from the brightly colored Diagon Alley and back to the cold, empty Scamander Estate.

Newt ran up the stairs with his owl the instant his feet touched the floor. He could hear his father barking at him to wipe off the soot, but he ignored him, despite knowing the consequences that could have later on. When he opened the door to his room, he found it just as he'd left it. Breathing a sigh of relief, Newt set down the cage on his bedside table before heading to the window. Peering outside, he saw that Frederick had hardly moved.

The creature chirped happily upon seeing him and held out its arms so Newt could grab him easier. "Hullo, Frederick. How was your day? A fair bit better than mine, I expect." The bowtruckle crossed its arms and pouted. Newt rolled his eyes and shifted it to his other hand. "Oh do stop your whining. At least you didn't have to put up with Thee and Father."

Someone knocked on his door, making Newt flinch violently. "Newt, sweetheart, would you like to go help me with the hippogriffs? It's been so long since I've been able to go see them." It was his mother, her voice brimming with barely concealed excitement.

Newt was on his feet in an instant. Frederick whined miserably, and began to maneuver himself into the boy's shirtsleeve. "Oh hush, you. You love the hippogriffs too," he hissed at the bowtruckle, before opening the door. "Come on, Mother, lets go!"

The next few hours raised Newt's spirits higher than they'd been in months. He loved tending to the majestic creatures, and they all trusted him completely. All of them were thrilled to see Mother back as well, which meant they were more cooperative than usual with things like their baths and claw trimming.

"Newt, darling," she said after a while, pausing in her stroking of the animal's back, "you do know that Father and Theseus don't hate you, right?"

Newt was so surprised by this statement he actually snorted. "I'm sorry, Mother, but did you not see or hear them at all today? They were even being a little kinder for your sake!"

Mother smiled sadly, her eyes gleaming in the dim light of the stable. "You're so much like me, Newton. More than you can ever know. Theseus and your father see that, and they see how I always focus more on you when I wake up, and they get jealous. They hate you for attracting my attention and they hate you for being like me, but they don't truly hate you. Neither of them will ever harm you, Newt. If they do, then the next time I wake up I want you to tell me so I can get you out at once."

The boy stared down at the ground, feeling his stutter rise in him. "I-I didn't ask to be l-l-like you. A-all I wanted was to..." he trailed off, not entirely sure what he was about to say.

His mother stepped forward and kissed the top of his head, pouring all her love into the one second of contact. "I know, darling. Don't let them get to you. No matter what happens to me, all I'll ever want from you is to be happy and be yourself. And that's all that matters. Alright?"

"Alright," he said softly, watching as his mother turned and left the stable, leaving him alone, as usual. Despite his mother's words, there was still the tiny voice that told him he was a hopeless freak. He shook himself and smiled once more at the hippogriff in front of him. Even if humans hated him or found him annoying, Newt could always count on his creatures.

Author's Note:

I'm back, babyyyy!

It's been forever since I've done anything more than a one-shot on this site. For fans of Mafiafoy, I'm still extremely stuck in writer's block, so it'll pretty much be permanently put on hold. But hey, now there's this story, which is basically one-shots that all have the same universe. I love Newt Scamander, and I want the best for him, but I'm convinced he had a pretty sad childhood, so that's why I'm writing this.

That, and I just graduated from high school, so I have some time on my hands.

Trellya