THE FLOOR IS LAVA

The Scamanders had always lived in their quaint, little suburban neighborhood. Mr. Scamander had lands and estates he owned across the country but as soon as he and his wife got married and started their own little family they have decided that they want that small house with a small front yard and a white picket fence where their little boys would run around and play as they grew up. So there, Theseus Scamander had ran and ran as a little boy, alone with the numerous amount of toys his parents bought him despite his pleas for a little brother to play with.

His wish was granted, albeit a little too late. At eight years old, he was gifted with that little brother he always wanted to play with. Newt Scamander was born, chubby cheeked and with tufts of auburn hair on his forehead and he had been the joy of his little family, his big brother most especially.

Sadly, the brothers never got the chance to play in the front yard. For when Theseus had turned eleven, he was sent off to boarding school in London, leaving his three-year-old brother behind to play by himself in the very same yard he had played in alone for eight years. He had hugged his brother tightly and planted a soft kiss on top of his brother's floppy hair before he and his father drove off to boarding school.

Almost a year later, a four-year-old Newt was running about the front yard close to the vegetable garden that his mother had just started as a hobby. He was feeling rather sad because Theseus was about to leave for another year in boarding school and they never even had the chance to play at all. Theseus had changed since he started boarding school. He doted over Newt less than before and he shooed away his little brother when he would walk shyly into the room and ask if Theseus wanted to play. This broke little Newt's heart. He wasn't used to this Theseus, one so serious he poured over books of maths and sciences, languages and arts. But despite all of that, Newt still loved his brother, and his mother constantly told him that Theseus felt the same way, it's that he was just busy with school.

"You'll understand someday, Newton." His mother always said to him as she ruffled his floppy hair before walking away.

Newt had then opted to just play alone outside as he did the entire year his brother was gone. He usually chased butterflies and honeybees that were pollinating the flowers that grew just inside their fence. He made friends with the different creatures he would find in their yard, never afraid of the bugs and insects that crawled, flew, or leapt from leaf to leaf. His imagination took him places that only he could imagine and he was content.

Until one day in late July when their new next door neighbors had moved in. It was a Tuesday when a minivan had parked in front of the house before theirs, a moving truck in tow. A blonde haired woman had stepped out if the passenger's seat as a raven haired man stepped out of the driver's seat. The father moved to open the door behind him and helped his little girl Tina out of the car. The mother did the same thing and unbuckled her little girl Queenie, who was fast asleep, from the car seat they had installed for her at the back of the car.

"What do you think, Teenie?" Mr. Goldstein asked, bending down to his daughter's eye level so that he could see the excitement in her beautiful brown eyes grow.

"It's perfect, daddy," Tina replied gleefully, her short raven-hair following every single one of her movements as she looked up at her father and nodded in excitement.

The father and daughter duo walked over to Mrs. Goldstein as she carried Queenie in her arms, settling the young blonde toddler on her right hip.

Mrs. Scamander had just stepped out of their home to call out to her son that it was time for lunch when she noticed the new faces that had stepped in the neighborhood.

"Oh, you must be our new neighbors," she stated excitedly, walking past Newt who was standing on his tiptoes trying to get a glimpse of the people who had just arrived.

"Yes we are," Mrs. Goldstein replied a little nervously, turning towards the first friendly face they had seen since they arrived in London.

"Welcome to the neighborhood," Mrs. Scamander greeted, deciding to not comment on the American accent she had just heard.

Tina had just stepped out from behind her father, letting go of his hand, when Newt had finally found the perfect rock to climb on to catch a glimpse of the little girl that was moving next door. The two children had an instant connection, their eyes immediately finding others, brown clashing with green, as their parents were introducing themselves and chatting away with each other.

"Hello!" Newt greeted first, his eyes bright as excitement started to rise inside him at the thought of there being another kid in the neighborhood. Maybe she could play with him.

"Hello," she smiles in reply.

A smile spread across Newt's face because he knew had just made a new friend even if they've only known each other for a few minutes.

"Oh, hello there," Mrs. Scamander coos as she sees Tina walk up to her son, her offer of lunch turned down by the two Goldsteins who said that they didn't want to impose. "What's your name?"

"Tina," the little girl answers simply, looking away from her newfound friend and to his mother.

"It's nice to meet you, Tina."

"It's nice to meet you too."

"I'm Helena," she introduces herself before turning to the little boy Tina had just met. "and this is my son Newt."

She smiles at him before looking back up at her father, as if asking him what she should do. He simply chuckled at her before taking back her hand.

"Well, it was nice talking to you lot," Helena said as she realized she was taking too much of her new neighbor's time. "I hope you all settle in well. Are you sure I can't entice you all for into lunch?"

"Thank you, you're so kind," Rebecca Goldstein replied. "but we really need to get settled in."

"Of course," Helena smiled in understanding. "the offer still stands. My older son Theseus is back for the holidays before boarding school and I think he would gladly take Tina and Queenie off your hands for a day. Just so you can settle in."

"Thank you so much," Rebecca said gratefully. "I'll bring them over tomorrow morning. It's such a huge help."

"No worries! What are neighbors for after all?"

The two women laughed before they both turned back to their respective families and marched right into their respective houses for lunch, in the case of the Scamanders, and settling in, in the case of the Goldsteins.

At nine o'clock sharp, Rebecca had her two daughters dressed and bathed and ready for a day at their new neighbor's house. She entered the front yard as she was instructed to do by Helena the day before, closing the quaint picket gate behind her as she walked towards the front door of the Scamander home, holding both her daughters' hands in her own.

"Now you two be good for the Scamanders, okay?" she instructed. "They're the kindest people we've met so far and they're doing us a favor. We are grateful for that."

The two little Goldsteins simply nodded at their mother before all three of them stopped in front of the front door. Rebecca knocked lightly on it's hardwood finish before it opened to reveal a strapping young brunette, who was just a shy taller than her and just on the brink of adolescence.

"Good morning," the teenager greeted with a smile, his hands behind his back. "You must be Mrs. Goldstein. My mother told me about the babysitting, please do come in."

"Oh, no no, I won't be coming in," Rebecca immediately replied, shaking her head at Theseus. "I'm just here to drop the girls. My husband needs help with moving in, I really can't let him fend for himself."

"Of course," Theseus answered, giving her a polite nod before looking at the little girls that Mrs. Goldstein had on her sides.

He looked at the younger of the two little girls and said, "You must be Queenie," who just stared at him as she continued to suck her thumb. Tina giggled from where she was standing which made the teenager turn to look at her turned, his eyebrows raised in question, wondering if he was right. Tina spotted the question in the boy's eyes immediately and she nodded in answer. He grins at himself before saying, "which means you're Tina."

Just as Tina was about to say yes, they all heard heavy footsteps coming from the staircase as Newt ran down. Theseus turned to look at him, smiling in amusement at the excitement that was etched all over his little brother's face. Newt had been talking about today since they came back for lunch the day before. He was excited to finally have someone play with and Theseus could see that. He turned back to Mrs. Goldstein and nodded politely at her as she handed her daughter's over to him for the day, thanking him as she did so. She then left the two most precious things in her life to help the love of her life, not once fearing that they would be in danger because the Scamanders felt like trustworthy people.

"I hope you're not picky with food," Theseus says to all the children that surrounded him, looking from Newt to Tina to Queenie. "because mum didn't leave behind any food and the only cooking I know to do is reheating leftovers. And the only leftovers we have is casserole and a few sandwiches."

The three children eye each other before looking back at their babysitter and nodding at him.

"Can we go play with my toys now?" Newt asks his brother with puppy dog eyes.

"Sure," Theseus chuckled, finding it cute that his little brother decided to use the same old trick he had used on their parent's when he was Newt's age. "just don't fall and smash any of mum's vases you know she won't like you for that. Also, don't fall in general because she won't like me for that."

Newt and Tina giggle simultaneously, covering their mouths in the process before looking at each other in excitement.

"That goes for all of you, okay?" Theseus repeated, impressing the importance of what he just said to both Goldstein.

The three toddlers nodded at him, as the two older ones began to run up the stairs towards Newt's room, leaving Queenie behind.

"Those two are going to cause a lot of trouble for all of us as they grown up," Theseus remarked, talking to Queenie who just looked up at him and smiled, finally feeling a little comfortable with her new babysitter.

"Queenie, c'mon!" Tina yelled from upstairs, wondering where her little sister was and why she hadn't joined them yet. "Newt has so many toys. You'll love it! He even has dolls and toy soldiers."

Queenie started to run as fast as her feet can take her, almost falling on her face as she lost her footing. Luckily, Theseus had deftly caught her. So he hoisted her up onto his hips and carried her up the stairs and decided that it was much easier for him to have all of them in Newt's bedroom.

As soon as he entered his little brother's bedroom, Queenie began to squirm in his arms, wanting to be freed so she can go play with her sister and her new friend. Theseus gladly set the little blonde girl down and shut the door behind him before settling on his brother's bed, struggling a little bit because he was a tad taller than it could take.

He watched in amusement as the three children started to make up stories of princesses, damsels in distress, and soldiers going to save them. He took out a copy of The Tales of Huckleberry Finn and began reading, unable to concentrate on the story at times because his attention was on the story that the three children in front of him were creating. He couldn't help but smile at how similar Tina's way of thinking was with his brother's. They had the same imagination that there were times they finished each other's sentences.

Playtime passed by so quick that by the time the clock stroke twelve and lunch time was upon them, all three children were whining about not wanting to stop playing to have lunch. That was, until they heard their grumbling stomachs and agreed to go down for a bite to eat.

Despite Theseus' best efforts to get the three of them to take an afternoon nap, Newt, Tina, and Queenie had managed to get him to agree to let them play some more. The three children ran across the front yard with the teenager watching them from the front porch. Newt led the two Goldstein sisters in the quest to find a hidden treasure as they traipsed around the garden, ruining some of the vegetables that Helena had successfully grown. Newt eventually led the two sister's to the far edge of the yard where he kept a few of his own hidden treasures. He grabbed one of his most prized possessions, a ball that Theseus had given him last year before he left for boarding school.

"Here you go milady," Newt says in a fake adult voice as he faked bowed and presented the old ball to Tina, Queenie peaking at the "treasure" from behind Tina's back.

"This is my brother's ball," Newt explained as he saw the puzzled expressions on the Goldsteins' face. "he gave it to me last year before he left. He told me he wanted so bad to have a brother to play catch with but that I arrived too late that we weren't able to do it together."

Tina frowns as she listens to her new friend speak, her young mind reeling at the thought of not having her own sister in her life, unable to imagine not having someone to play with like Theseus, and she realized that also Newt, did.

"He told me that he hopes that I find someone to play with so that this ball could finally experience being played with by two people and not just one," Newt continues as he looked at the ball, which had marks from the times when it hit the fence of their house because Theseus only had that to throw the ball with. He looks up at Tina, their eyes locking almost immediately. "and now I'm giving it to you."

Newt smiles at his new friend before handing her the ball and standing up. He runs off towards Theseus who was just finishing up The Tales of Huckleberry Finn. Tina looked at the ball that was shoved in her hands and saw how much it meant to Newt. She held it with both hands and promised that one of these days they will get to play with it together. Something this special to the Scamander brothers, deserved it's time to be valued and played with. She laid it back where Newt had taken it from, deciding that it should stay here for the time being even though it was hers now. She will come back again, and she and Newt would play with it.

The two sisters then walked over to the two brothers by the porch.

"Theseus, play with us, please!" Newt whined as he tried to get his brother to get his nose out of the book that he was reading. The older Scamander merely glanced at his brother and said to give him a minute before returning to his book.

"Please, Theseus, please," Newt begged again, pouting this time, his pout accentuating his chubby cheeks and puppy dog eyes. "You promised."

Tina and Queenie reached the two brothers. The older Goldstein looked from one Scamander to another, waiting for the other to speak.

"That I did," Theseus replied with a devious smile as he closed his book, having just finished it, and placed it on top of the porch table. "what do you want us to play?"

Newt's face screwed up in concentration as he tried to think of a game that all four of them could play. Theseus observed his brother in amusement before turning to the two girls and asking, "are you two joining us?"

"Yes!" Queenie replied in excitement, jumping up and down beside Tina, which made her older sister giggle.

"Let's play 'The floor is lava'!" Tina exclaims in excitement, looking at Queenie who was nodding and agreeing with her suggestion.

"What's that?" Newt asks because he had never heard of the game before.

"It's a game that Queenie and I always play with mommy and daddy," Tina explains. "We play in teams. Just imagine the floor is lava, the goal is for both members of the team to help each other reach the finish line without touching the lava."

"Where's the finish line then?" Theseus asks, his mind starting to create strategies and thinking of ways to win.

"The kitchen," Newt answers immediately.

"Okay, fine," Theseus replies as he walks to Newt's side and positions himself there. "let's say team Scamander versus team Goldstein?"

"That's unfair! You're both boys and you both know this house," Tina complains, crossing her arms against her chest. "Queenie and I won't stand a chance."

"Fine, I get Queenie," Theseus said to Tina as he walked over to Queenie and lifted her to his shoulders, the young blond laughing gleefully as the teenager lifted her up to the air, before looking back at Tina and saying, "you get Newt."

"Okay," Tina replies nonchalantly, walking over to her friend and standing beside him. "Let's start."

All participants of the game took their places, Newt and Tina immediately opting to stand on top of the wooden sofa that Mr. and Mrs. Scamander had placed on the front porch for visitors directly beside the front door while Theseus, with Queenie on his shoulders decided to sit on the chair he had been reading in before the children had convinced him to play. He had strategically positioned it in front of the front door so he could easily get in he didn't notice the two other children were already coming up with a plan.

"Do you trust me?" Newt asks Tina, taking her hand in his as they prepare to start the game."

"I do," Tina nods with conviction despite knowing Newt for only a day.

The two children nodded at each other before looking back at Theseus. The teenager had lowered Queenie onto his lab in preparation to get her inside first before trying to find his way in himself. He looked back at Newt and Tina just as they looked back at him.

"Ready?"

The two friends nodded at Theseus.

"Set."

They all tensed in preparation to dart for Newt's room.

"Go!"

Theseus twists open the door and immediately places Queenie on top of the dresser his mother had positioned at the right side of the door. Newt had managed to climb onto the pillars of the doorframe and hoist his body up onto it. He then pulled open one of the drawers and sat in one that was filled with kitchen towels. Tina was behind him effortlessly keeping herself up on the pillar as Newt opened another drawer and shifted his body so that he was sitting on that one, leaving the other one free for Tina to sit on.

Theseus was having a hard time not planting his feet on the floor to get inside. He almost fell as he attempted to raise one of his feet onto the chair so he could stand on it. He managed to do so by the time Newt and Tina, who had taken off their dirty shoes, were walking on too of the living room sofa, the two of them only a fee feet away from the kitchen.

"Hurry, Theseus, hurry!" Queenie said as she watched their opponents run effortlessly towards the kitchen. "We can't let them win!"

Theseus laughs again before managing to propel himself forward into one of the larger sofas that neither Newt or Tina were on. He flips himself over and grabs Queenie, catching his breath and eyeing the two children who were now jumping from on dining chair to the other.

"Bugger!"

"C'mon, only a few chairs away!" Newt exclaims excitedly as he held out his hand for Tina to take so they could cross to the last few chairs together.

The pair of them leapt from one chair to the other until only one was left.

"On three," Tina said as she and Newt huddled in preparation for their last jump, Theseus and Queenie trailing behind them a few chairs away.

"One. Two..."

They prepare to jump, seeing Theseus and Queenie right behind them.

"Three!"

Newt and Tina jumped onto the last chair, landing with ease on the soft pillow like seat on top of it.

"We won!" They both exclaimed in excitement as they stepped off the chairs and gave each other a hug.

Theseus laughed at the pair of then, settling Queenie down so that she was safe before clapping his hands together.

"Congrats you two," he said before turning to Queenie. "I'm sorry, Queenie, I tried. I'll make it up to you I promise."

"It's okay!" Queenie replies with a smile, their loss not once dampening her spirits. "That was fund. And that's all that matters."

The four of them laughed as the finally heard their stomachs grumbling. Theseus walks over to fridge to take out a few sandwiches for them, offering each child a piece to munch on. They weren't halfway through their sandwiches when both pairs of parents came walking in the wide open front door.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mrs. Scamander asked sternly, her eyes unable to believe the mess that they were met with. "Theseus Scamander explain yourself."

All the adults were in a state of shock at the state of the Scamander home.

"Go on," Mrs. Scamander urged. "you were the one in charge after all.

"We were just having a little fun, mum," Theseus explained as he scratched the back of his head.

"We played 'The floor is lava'!" Queenie exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands in the process.

"'The floor is lava'?" Mrs. Goldstein repeated nervously. "Goodness, you could all have gotten hurt!"

She moved to look at Tina before saying, "Tina, you know we only play that game when there are grown ups around."

"Yes, mommy, but we didn't have anything else to do," Tina explained, knowing that she did something wrong. "and Theseus is a grown up."

"Not grown up enough," Mrs. Scamander said in disapproval, starting to pick up pieces of scattered kitchen towels and linens that had fallen to the floor because of the game that the children were playing.

Theseus began rearranging the dining table, putting back the chairs in their respective positions.

"I'm sorry, mum," he apologized, knowing that he was wrong to have agreed to play a game like The floor is lava with children in the house. "Really."

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein. You could have gotten their daughters hurt."

"That's not really necessary," Mr. Goldstein interjected, not wanting to make matters worse, not after seeing how happy the children looked as they all walked in. "no one got hurt."

"Yet," Mrs. Scamander interjected, raising an eyebrow at her son, who lowered his head in shame.

"It's fine, Helena, really," Rebecca smiled at her new friend. "just promise it won't happen again."

She eyed Theseus, knowing that she probably would have her daughter over here again in the future because of the joy she saw in their eyes as they walked in.

"Yes, ma'am"

"Good," Rebecca replied. "now I think we better head home, leave you all to have some family time. I know we need one."

"Girls, come on."

The Goldstein sisters walked over to their father and took his hand.

"Thank you for a wonderful time," Tina spoke for both herself and Queenie. "we can't wait to do it again."

Tina gives Newt a final smile before the Goldsteins turned around and left the Scamanders. Mr. Goldstein gave Theseus a sympathetic nod, knowing that he would hear an earful from his mother as soon ad they left. They closed the door behind them and walked towards the entrance of the Scamander home.

"So, aside from that whole debacle, how was your day my little angels?" Mr. Goldstein asked.

Tina began rambling excitedly about all the wonderful things they did with Queenie inserting a few little comments of her own as both parents listened to their daughters' tales about princess and damsels in distress, and treasure hunts.

"So you had fun?" Mrs. Goldstein asked, looking down at Tina who was closer to her.

"Yes," Tina confirmed as they reached the entrance of the Scamander home, eyeing the spot where Newt had hidden his treasure, one of them now belonging to her. "we did."

"And you like our new neighbors?"

"Yes," Queenie answered this time.

Tina looked at her sister proudly, happy that they were both on the same page when it comes to Newt and Theseus. "They're our friends."

The two parents smiled, happy that their daughters were settling in just fine, with new friends in their lives even within just a day of moving.

"Can we go back tomorrow mommy?" Tina asks a few minutes later just as they arrived in front of their own home.

"Of course, honey," Mrs. Goldstein replied tenderly, crouching down to her daughter's eye level. "Just promise me no more the floor is lava."

"Promise."

Tina smiled at her mother, who smiled back at her. They walked hand in hand into their new home, happy for the new neighborhood and the new friends they made along the way.

A/N: Another drabble I do hope I got right. Thank you HPFandomGirl23 on twitter for the prompt (it's the title of this fic btw) I hope you liked this, I really enjoyed writing it. I'm really sorry to readers of coffee versus tea for not updating yet! There's one coming real soon I promise. Thanks for reading!