Chapter Text
Summary
Theseus Scamander was a man of many means. A boy born with “pure-blood” and great wealth was already destined for a comfortable life, but in the company of god-like looks and a staggering skill set in defensive magic such a boy would both gain fame and leave a legacy.
To his colleagues, a war-hero.
To his peers, competition.
To the hopeless romantics, Gryffindor’s very own Romeo.
But to Arabella Brooks? A prat.
A Gryffindor with a hero-complex and a sorry excuse for a brother. A man who solemnly swore to protect the witches and wizards of Britain but at the cost of neglecting the one who needed him most. His little brother, Newt. Her best friend.
Prologue
Arabella Brooks never saw herself as brave, rather realistic. To her she didn’t see the bravery in putting herself in the line of fire for someone else. Growing up, it was instilled at her from a young age that she could deal with a lot. That if she could still be standing after a confrontation with her father, then she could take on the pain of anyone around her.
It wasn’t until the summer of her fourth year that her mother severed the link between herself and her father. An act of self-preservation that Arabella had been vying for for too long .
The sudden pruning of her family tree is what led to her transfer from IIvermory to Hogwarts. Seeing as for the past 4 years she was a member of the Wampus house she was immediately sorted into Gryffindor. Though she was in the same year as the younger Scamander, her elevated skill-set in defensive magic is what led her to sitting next to Theseus Scamander in her first class of the day, 6th year Defence Against the Dark Arts.
It didn’t take long for them to take to one another.
They bickered about the superiority between muggle and wizard literature and whether or not Dumbledore was “conventionally attractive” (Ara said no and Theseus said yes), in addition to travel (Theseus being shell-shocked in initially hearing her north-american accent). And though she was argumentative, opinionated and incredibly loud, as said by her peers and Dumbledore, Theseus couldn't help but egg her on. He found the reddening of her ears endearing and her snide comebacks heartwarming. Being as popular as he was, many tried to make him laugh, but she was the first to make him laugh. In fact it was his piggish snort that got them each their first detention of the year and a deduction of 5 house points each.
Her first detention… at Hogwarts.
His first, and last, detention ever. The only blemish on his otherwise perfect record.
To this day, he still thinks it was worth it.
~
Their initial meeting ended with a book-swap. The only agreed upon course of action to conclusively determine which genre of literature was better. Muggle vs. Wizard.
Him giving her his ragged copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and her giving him The Picture of Dorian Gray. Each book being the most cherished of either of their collections. But neither knew it then.
As two of them traipsed out of the classroom, a comfortable silence grew between them. An understanding. Only 10 steps into the corridor did their moment end and the silence was broken by a snap followed by the echoing sounds of both shock and excitement from their peers.
Both, being Gryffindor, immediately sped up their movements to break through the crowd of students to find a young Hufflepuff boy kneeling on the stone floors of the castle, clutching his nose while his blood stained, his once yellow, tie red as a boy donned in red and gold sneered down at him. It was then that their paths untimely diverged, for longer than either of them knew. Ara immediately crouches down to the Hufflepuff boy’s level while Theseus turns to question and talk down to his housemate, and apparent friend’s actions, like a toddler caught climbing onto the counter.
“Are you alright?” Ara asked
“Well apart from the space between my face and where my nose used to join, I'm just dandy. I’ve had worse I’m afraid.” Spoke the boy
Finding herself holding in a laugh at the boy's attitude, she gently asked to help him up and, with his permission, softly held his elbow as she pulled him up from the cold floors.
“Is there anywhere, ugh, medical in the castle where I can take you?”
“I would normally say the hospital wing but I’m rather embarrassed to have already been there today.”
“Oh?” she replied, both their lips twitching slightly upward.
“Long story.”
“Well, I’m happy to go about fixing it myself but the last time I tried to heal someone I wound up dislocating their shoulder. Ironically, while I was trying to realign the other.”
With a look of fear etched on his face the boy quickly shook his head, wincing at the pain it brought and holding his hands steady once more.
“On second thought, the hospital wing is that way.”
Smiling, Arabella nodded her head in the direction he pointed to signal for him to start leading the way.
“I’m Ara by the way.”
“Newt Sc--,” the boy halts, clearing his throat, “Newt, just Newt.”
“You know you don't have to do this right? I’m sure your friends are missing your presence and this really wouldn't be the first time I’ve found my way to Madam Pomfreys alone.”
Quizzically looking across at him she spoke.
“As far as I can tell, I am already with a friend.”
Friend
Shifting his eyes to look at the floor, Newt tried, and failed, to hide his blush.
Accepting his fate, the two kept walking.
~
As time went on Arabella opened herself up to nNwt and inturn, he did the same. Learning about Newt subsequently taught Ara more about Theseus. About the tension within his and Newt’s relationship. The invisible barrier between them and his apparent denial to the fact that they coexisted within Hogwarts together. How the only time Theseus really cared to acknowledge Newt was when he was in the company of Leta Lestrange. All things that triggered a maternal sort of outrage. An urge to protect Newt and provide him with what nobody could, family.
The next time she entered the DADA classroom (after learning of Theseus' behaviour toward his brother, her newfound best friend) she caught a view of Theseus in her periphery. Seemingly relaxed in his seat but tense in how fast he whipped his head around to look at her.
Though she kept walking. In solidarity to Newt, or so she told herself. The last thing she noticed being her copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray resting in front of him.
Unbeknownst to her, the book was chalk full of Theseus’ annotations. Thoughts, questions, opinions, all of it. The final annotation being his, sadly, futile attempt at asking her to accompany him to Hogsmeade. Well, more particularly the muggle book store just outside the village, because she was right. They really are better.
Theseus never knew how he’d fallen off of her radar so fast. Simply believing that she’d chosen Newt over him. Beaten down by how fast a crush could turn crushing he sealed himself shut. From then on only looking for the physical beauty in a partner, rather than their taste in books.
As the students integrated themselves into the real world Newt and Theseus grew further apart while Newt and Arabella seemed to be bound together tighter. She’d supported him through every academic misstep and injustice that led to his expulsion and he had in turn sat by her side through every nuclear family event and feelings of worthlessness. They proved to one another that they were needed, if only just by one another. As time went on they took their act on the road and ended up becoming partners in their careers. Or in Theseus’ words, “codependent and unemployed”. As Newt travelled the world looking for the fantastic beasts it had to offer, Ara stuck by his side all while furthering her own career and education. She continued to study the dark arts in hopes of finding greater methods of defence against them and in turn evolved into being one of the only witches of her age to master wandless magic. Her studies going well enough for her to publish her research. Thousands of witches and wizards were being taught to protect themselves using the most unheard of magic. All because of a halfblood witch who refused to watch her best friend be hexed.
Her book, Wandless For The Wellbeing was published under the pseudonym Dorothea Cain and continues to gain praise every day.